Elgin council to be informed of internal investigations
A year after Elgin's city manager was reprimanded for inappropriate behavior during a staff meeting, the city council decided on new rules requiring the city council to be informed of internal investigations regarding high-ranking city officials.
The new measure approved unanimously Wednesday requires the city council to be informed of investigations regarding the city manager, the mayor, any council member, the corporation counsel, the professional standards officer, the police chief, the fire chief and chief financial officer/budget director.
Such investigations are done by the office of professional standards, part of the city's law department. The ordinance now also spells out that the city council can assign investigations to an outside entity when it is "in the best interests of the city."
The move was initiated by Councilwomen Tish Powell and Carol Rauschenberger. The council had a preliminary discussion last week and approved the changes Wednesday without discussion.
The move is to "clarify a process that was not clear before," Rauschenberger said last week.
Councilwoman Rose Martinez said the measure is about transparency. Councilman Terry Gavin said, "We should be included in the loop."
A city employee last year lodged a complaint about City Manager Rick Kozal's behavior toward another employee, former Director of Neighborhood Services Colby Basham, during a senior staff meeting in January 2018.
When interviewed by professional standards officer Jim Barnes, Basham said Kozal choked him during the meeting. Kozal called it a "bro hug." Other witnesses said they believed Kozal's actions were playful or joking.
Kozal said he was sorry Basham misconstrued the incident, and that it would not happen again.
After the investigation wrapped up, the city council discussed it in closed session in March 2018. Some council members said they would have liked to assign the investigation to an outside investigator because the city manager is the boss of all employees, including the professionals standards officer.
Mayor David Kaptain said he believes such investigation should automatically be assigned to an outside entity.
Councilman Toby Shaw said he didn't question "the validity or the quality" of the investigation done last year.
"This hopefully will never have to come up again," Councilman John Steffen said.
In addition to reprimanding Kozal, the council directed him to look for opportunities for training for himself and senior staff members to avoid such situations in the future. Kozal and senior staff members participated in an "ethical decision-making workshop" done by a consultant in June, city spokeswoman Molly Center said.