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Villa Park trustees authorize third‑party background checks and approve police, fire candidate changes
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Summary
Trustees approved removing several candidates from police and fire eligibility lists, issued a conditional offer to a fire candidate, and authorized a third‑party background‑check service at a cap of $250 per applicant to comply with a new state law and reduce staff hours.
Villa Park trustees approved a series of personnel actions on Tuesday, removing several applicants from police and fire eligibility registers, approving a conditional offer for a fire candidate and authorizing a third‑party background‑check service for police and fire hiring at a not‑to‑exceed cost of $250 per applicant.
The meeting opened with routine business and a unanimous vote to approve the consent agenda. The fire department update followed; Deputy Chief Mitsukakis reported that two candidates — Stanley Phil and Joseph Egan — had withdrawn after accepting other jobs and that multiple other applicants had asked to pass for now or were not yet paramedics. Mitsukakis said one candidate, Michael Anderson, had been recommended for removal from the eligibility list because he “was not very compliant in the process” and was “less than truthful” on his application; the trustees moved and approved that removal.
Deputy Chief Mitsukakis also said that Justin Jennings had completed his background and the department would extend a conditional offer pending psychological and medical clearances; trustees voted to approve the conditional offer.
On police hiring, trustees returned from an executive session and approved motions allowing the police department to extend conditional offers to multiple candidates and to remove specified names from the department’s final eligibility register, including candidate number 25 (last name Rotondo). A motion to amend the police final eligibility roster carried after reconvening later in the meeting.
Trustees then addressed how the village will conduct pre‑employment background investigations. Staff and the village attorney described a new state law discussed in the meeting packet (referred to in the record as “50 ILC” and discussed locally as the “Massey Act”) that increases the scope and time required for employment history checks. Police staff described a vendor service that aggregates former‑employer records and said the vendor charges $137.22 per applicant for an employment history report. The police chief and attorney characterized the service as a way to reduce investigator hours needed to gather records from multiple former employers.
A commissioner moved to authorize the police department to enlist that third‑party background‑check service for both police and fire candidates at a price not to exceed $250 per applicant; the board conducted a roll call vote and approved the motion. The trustees discussed that invoices would flow through village administrative review before payment and that the cap would avoid repeated returns to the board if the vendor’s per‑applicant price changes in the near term.
Chair emphasized that formal actions must occur outside executive session; the attorney reiterated that only commissioners have an entitlement to be in executive session but may invite staff or others as needed. Trustees recessed midmorning and reconvened to finish business, then moved to adjourn at 10:25 a.m.
The actions taken — removals from eligibility lists, conditional offers and authorization to use the third‑party background service at a not‑to‑exceed per‑applicant amount — will affect upcoming hiring rounds and the administrative process for pre‑employment checks. The village provided a timeline for the fire deputy‑chief promotional assessment center on May 11 and a written exam on May 18.
