Peoria County committee reviews workforce and vacancy reports, asks staff for data on grant-funded positions; moves to executive session on labor relations

Peoria County Operations Committee Chair Launius opened the Jan. 7, 2025, meeting and moved the committee through routine business, including a review of workforce and vacancy reports and a staff update on grant-funded positions, before voting to enter executive session to discuss labor relations.

The workforce report presented to the committee covered November applicants and new hires (the report's "upper third"), employee demographics compared with Peoria County census data ("middle third"), and employee separations ("bottom third"). Angela, a staff member who ran the report for the committee, said the materials were before the panel and offered to answer questions. "Happy to answer any questions," Angela said.

The vacancy report compared filled and vacant positions for November; the version shown included a "green portion" indicating data from the prior month. No committee members asked substantive questions about either report during the meeting.

Committee member Danny updated members on follow-up work regarding grant-funded positions. "We're sorting through that now, and the holidays put a little bit of a delay on it," Danny said, adding that he and Camille had begun conversations with Angela and Heather in finance and that Gabe McLeod had taken a lead in providing data back to the committee. He invited other members to contact him or Camille if they wished to provide input or participate.

Before adjourning the open portion of the meeting, the committee handled routine procedural votes. The committee approved allowing member Bridal to participate by phone, approved the minutes from the Dec. 3, 2024, meeting, and voted to move into an executive session to discuss labor relations. Exact roll-call tallies were not recorded in the transcript; named votes available in the record include Brian indicating he voted "aye" when asked during the minutes vote.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to allow member Bridal to attend by phone: moved by Betty, seconded by Rob; voice vote "aye"; outcome: motion carried. (Transcript: voice vote; no numeric tally provided.) - Motion to approve minutes from Dec. 3, 2024: moved by Eden, seconded by Betty; outcome: motion carried; Brian is recorded as voting "aye." (Transcript does not list a full roll-call tally.) - Motion to move into executive session for labor relations: moved by Eaton, seconded by Rob; outcome: motion carried; ayes recorded on the voice vote.

What the committee directed and what remains open Staff were asked to continue compiling data about grant-funded positions; Gabe McLeod is the staff lead on returning data, and county staff in finance (Heather) and human resources (Angela) are involved. The committee did not take any policy action on staffing levels or on the grant-funded positions during the open meeting; the discussion was limited to status updates and requests for additional information.

The meeting then moved into executive session for labor relations, as authorized by the committee's motion; no actions from executive session were reported back in the public portion of the transcript.