Schererville board debates pension-board hiring rules, approves one new firefighter hire

Schererville Town officials debated proposed changes to how the town’s firefighter hiring list is handled and unanimously approved moving forward to fill one open firefighter position.

The discussion centered on recommendations from the town’s pension board, circulated Feb. 13, that would change how candidates who cannot meet certification or pension-fund requirements are treated on the certified hiring list. A staff member reviewing the statute said the law currently produces a rank-ordered list and that pension-board medical and psychological clearances typically occur only after a department selects a candidate for hire. "The statute clearly states that, once the candidates are on the certified list...the chief has requested to fill a spot, that the next step is, they still be of good moral character, and they...pass the pension board requirements for both physical and the psychological examination," the staff member said, adding, "that's how the system works already."

Fire Chief Robert Patterson explained the practical sequence: online evaluations and interviews create the ranked list; when a department selects a candidate it then…