Oak Park could change the way it hires officers who handle parking tickets, zoning violations and other low-grade offenses in the village.
The Village Board discussed revisiting the process it uses to hires adjudication officers during their meeting Feb. 18.
The discussion came about during a motion to renew one-year contracts with the village’s current set of adjudication officers, who are employed with the village as independent contractors.
Their contracts expired on Jan. 31 and they’ve been operating under the guidelines of those expired deals since then, according to village staff during Wednesday’s meeting.
Oak Park’s Office of Adjudication hears a wide range of cases involving violations of municipal ordinances that were once heard in the Cook County Circuit Court. It handles civil cases, which include but are not limited to: police tickets, parking tickets, unlicensed businesses and zoning violations.
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Typically after both sides have been heard, an administrative law judge will determine whether the person facing a citation or violation is liable based on the evidence presented. If found liable then fines, penalties and costs are imposed.
“People think it’s a form of customer service, but it is adjudication,” said Village Board member Adam Salzman.
Village Board member Glenn Brewer agreed, saying residents have come to him with complaints about the current set of adjudication officers the village employs. He wanted to table a renewal of their contracts and investigate if these complaints were legitimate and not just residents angry about the outcome of an adjudication hearing.
Salzman and board member Peter Barber said Oak Park’s current hiring policy for an adjudication officer is too hands-off. Salzman added he wanted clearer guidelines for how the village handles the records it keeps for independent contractors like adjudication officers while also “tightening up” that particular office’s standards and guidelines.
Village President Anan Abu-Taleb agreed and wanted to table the vote until the board had more information.
“Can we approve a 60-day contract and gather information? I don’t like not being in a contract with them,” said Brewer.
Village Manager Cara Pavlicek and Village Attorney Paul Stephanides said independent contractors working for the village have a termination clause in their contracts and can be fired immediately at any time.
“I want them to know I didn’t want to approve this,” said Abu-Taleb before the vote.
Abu-Taleb and Salzman were the only two board members to vote against renewing adjudication officer contracts with John Stack, Susan Davis Brunner, Darlene Redmond and Carrie Washington.
Alex Hernandez is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.