Board approves interim workforce-development director to prepare corrective plan

Kane County approved an interim appointment Tuesday to lead the county’s workforce-development functions while staff prepare a corrective-action plan to meet state benchmarks.

Jamie Labrillo, director of human resources, told the board the county needed immediate management support after a vacancy in the workforce-development director role. The county executed an emergency procurement and contracted with a retirement-eligible professional who has local government human-resources and city-management experience.

John Duque introduced himself to the board as the interim director. Duque said he will work three days a week, meet with staff individually and deliver a corrective-action plan to Springfield by April 30 to address benchmark shortfalls that could affect workforce-development funding. "I'm coming in this week with kind of a student's mindset to learn, and to determine and understand what's going on workforce development," Duque said.

Labrillo said the interim appointment was routed through a temporary-agency arrangement that often places IMRF-eligible pensioners in short-term assignments; the county used an emergency purchase affidavit to move quickly. Board members asked whether budget offsets existed; Labrillo said the costs will be covered within the workforce-development and grant-funded budget lines and no general-fund adjustment was requested.

The board approved the interim appointment by roll call.

Ending Duque said he will prioritize meeting staff, understanding current operations and submitting the corrective-action plan by the statutory deadline. Board members thanked staff for moving quickly to ensure continuity of leadership in a grant‑funded program.