Plainfield Police Chief Appointed During Heated Village Board Meeting

PLAINFIELD, IL — Two months and four days after Plainfield's police chief of 11 years officially retired, the Village Board appointed a new chief — but the move stirred controversy among board members regarding the process used to choose a new leader.

Some trustees cited ongoing issues throughout the selection process, with trustee Cally Larson saying Village Board members had to "beg" for information on the candidates. Larson also raised concerns about Mayor John Argoudelis' behavior during the search for the new police chief.

At Monday night's regular Village Board meeting, the Board voted 4-2, with one trustee abstaining, to approve Robert Miller as the new police chief. Those in favor of the appointment included the mayor and trustees Harry Benton, Kevin Calkins and Tom Ruane. Trustees Brian Wojowski and Larson voted no, while Patricia Kalkanis chose to abstain.

A resident of Plainfield, Miller joins the Plainfield Police Department after serving in Wheaton, where he rose through the ranks to become deputy chief.

"As a long-time resident in Plainfield, [Miller] is somebody who knows our community because he has lived here a long time," Argoudelis told Patch. "He is someone who really wanted this job."

Despite the issues raised by some Village Board members, the new police chief received a standing ovation from audience members and most Board members following Monday's vote.

Following two proclamations at the start of Monday's meeting, the Board sought consideration to remove the appointment of a chief of police from the business agenda. The motion passed 4-3, with Argoudelis joining three trustees in voting yes.

The motion's placement on the agenda was an interesting one: it fell during presidential comments ahead of a motion to approve the presidential appointment of Robert Miller as chief of police with a salary of $160,000.

The reason for the placement, as Village Attorney Jim Harvey explained to trustees Monday night, is because the appointment is "done by the village president or village mayor pursuant to the municipal code. That is a statutory right of the mayor."

"That appointment power is the power of the mayor, and in terms of the Board's role, the Board's role is to simply confirm or deny," Harvey said. "An appointment can't be made unless you work together, the mayor fulfilling his role and you fulfilling your role."

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The process used to select the candidate for police chief was one adopted from the Village of Shorewood, according to Argoudelis.

"It consisted of a six-person committee," he said. "It's much like the Supreme Court: the mayor makes an appointment and the legislative group — the trustees — vote yes or no on that appointment."

The committee, which consisted of village staff, two outside police chiefs and Plainfield's mayor, reviewed more than 32 resumes submitted for the position. The pool of candidates was narrowed down to 10 and later to three before the six committee members ranked them based on qualifications.

"Through that process, Robert Miller ranked head and shoulders above; he ranked the highest," Argoudelis said. "A consensus of six individuals from different positions ... said 'Bob Miller's a great guy. He'll make a great chief.'"

But some trustees expressed concerns with the process used to select the new chief using a committee.

Trustee comments, which later devolved into back-and-forth exchanges between trustees, began after a motion to second Miller's appointment.

Larson said she believed the item should not have been on Monday's agenda, saying there were "five weeks of no discussion" prior to the vote. She said that during the process of interviewing candidates for police chief, Board members had to "beg" for information about candidates, all while being "berated and screamed at."

"The hours of being screamed at to the extent where sets of doors outside of our own had to be closed because of the mayor's behavior," Larson said. "While the contents of the [executive session] meeting cannot be disclosed, the conduct was a disgrace at multiple meetings."

Wojowski echoed Larson's sentiments. "She's right about the behavior," he said. "It was bad. In a corporate world, that would never, ever stand."

Larson made it clear her concerns were with the selection process and the mayor's behavior, not with Miller. "Nothing that has been said tonight or at any point in time has anything to do with the candidate before us or any candidates that have applied. I want to be very, very clear about that."

Wojowski and Benton both apologized to Miller and his wife, who sat in the audience during Monday's meeting.

"My votes tonight are in no way, no shape against the police department," Wojowski said, addressing Miller. "I hold those men and women so close to my heart. ... I'm confident in your leadership abilities; I'm just not confident in the process that was done here."

In his address to Miller, Benton shared his own unfiltered opinion about the process and the Village Board.

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"I am pretty embarrassed of the conduct over the course of my career on the board here," he said. "There has been constant back-door deals, name-calling, manipulative things going on, and I'm just sick and tired of it. We're supposed to be doing the work of the people. It is completely disingenuous to the people we represent."

He continued: "Everybody that's been part of this ... has always been honest, transparent and forthright. We are putting staff in a really, really bad position, and we are going to lose them if these games don't stop today. I don't care what anybody thinks politically. I don't care what clique you're part of. You need to move the hell on and start doing the work of the people and remember who your boss is, not who your friends are."

Ruane — after saying Benton's comment about back-door deals "hit me like a bat" — said he hopes the Board will work to fix the process because "not one person likes this."

Argoudelis said the differences between Board members "don't matter" because "what's best for Plainfield is to appoint a great, qualified person to be our next chief and let him start doing his job and let our police department have new leadership that they know what's going on [so that] there's no uncertainty going forward."

"Mr. Miller has been here twice now," Argoudelis said. "He wants the job. He's a resident of Plainfield. He is a person who has held in there despite the fact this has been a process, let's say, of sorts. Regardless, we are here tonight ... to appoint a highly qualified individual to be our next police chief, and that should be the thing we look at first and foremost."

Argoudelis told Patch: "We have a very open and transparent process, with a committee of six individuals reviewing all the candidates. As mayor, it is my legal obligation to make the appointee, and I chose Robert Miller. ... I respect the opinions of my fellow committee members when making the appointment."