Naperville council looks for more hiring oversight
A move that could give Naperville City Council unprecedented approval over the hiring of retired Naperville public safety employees for civilian positions is coming under fire from the police union.
Council members on Tuesday took the first step toward granting themselves the power to approve all future hiring decisions in which a retired Naperville police officer or firefighter is being rehired to a city position outside public safety.
The proposed requirement applies specifically to retired employees who are receiving pensions from the Naperville Police Pension Fund or the Naperville Fire Pension Fund when they seek employment in a city job that could qualify them for a pension from the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.
It also will be broadly written to include employees looking to move the other way — those who are considered for rehiring into public safety after resigning or retiring from city positions for which they are eligible for an IMRF pension, said Margo Ely, city attorney.
Council members requested the oversight because of concerns about a few recent instances in which retired internal candidates were chosen for city jobs that became available once a hiring freeze was lifted.
“It’s important to note each of these hires have been made after a competitive selection process,” Ely said. “It’s not a systematic issue.”
Seven police officers or firefighters have been hired into civilian jobs in police, public works and information technology over the past 10 years, and two of them switched jobs in July, Ely and City Manager Doug Krieger said. Another high-profile rehire is police Chief Robert Marshall, chosen in May 2012 to serve as chief after 28 years as a sworn police officer and seven years as assistant city manager.
Councilman Grant Wehrli said the two July cases of rehiring retired public safety employees don’t cast the city’s employment policies in the best light.
“This practice, from someone on the outside looking in, looks a little suspect,” he said. “I’m not saying anything nefarious happened, but ... that just doesn’t put the city in a good light.”
A resolution officially granting power to approve rehires will come back to the council for a vote at a later meeting.
But the police union wants the same council members who voiced unanimous preliminary support for the change to instead leave hiring decisions to Krieger and top city staffers.
“We believe the city council should trust the people who are currently responsible for hiring employees and not overstep their duties and responsibilities and target retired Naperville public safety employees,” the union said in a written statement. “This resolution is biased, condescending, discriminatory and should be voted down.”
The union said the council is looking to “overreach” its authority in a way that could put its own retired employees at a disadvantage for certain positions, such as civilian jobs in the police department that lend themselves to candidates with past policing experience. Those jobs could be filled with retired cops from other towns without the additional requirement of city council approval, under the proposal discussed Tuesday.
“Should a retired Naperville police officer be hindered when they apply for an open position, solely because he or she is receiving a pension?” the union said in its statement. “Why are we punishing the city of Naperville employee from obtaining employment, but encouraging other candidates who are accepting similar pensions?”
Wehrli said the move to require council approval would not prevent retirees from applying for other city jobs. But Councilman Doug Krause said he would oppose any future rehires.
“I think if someone decides to retire from the city, they are retired from the city,” Krause said. “Give someone else a chance.”
With or without additional city council oversight, Krieger said Naperville will continue to fill all open positions based on merit.
“The reason for the rehires in the past has been for those positions, they were the best candidates for the job,” he said.