The Public Services Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, January 6, 2003, @ 6:30p.m. in the Administration Building’s Conference Room East.  Chairman Marlene Allen called the meeting to order.  Members present were Pat LaVigne, Sue Leifheit, Eileen Dubin, Eric Johnson, Richard Osborne and Robert Rosemier.  Members absent were Steve Faivre and Julia Fullerton. 

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Moved by Ms. LaVigne, seconded by Mr. Johnson, and it was carried unanimously to approve the December 2002 minutes.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Moved by Ms. Leifheit, seconded by Mr. Rosemier, and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda as presented.

COURT SERVICES REPORT

Ms. Margi Gilmour, Court Services Director, briefly reviewed her monthly Adult and Juvenile Reports.  The Adult Report still remains consistent with just a slight increase, but manageable.  The Community Services Report shows the number of hours completed and that the numbers have diminished slowly because of the season. 

The Juvenile Report for November still shows 1 female in residential placement.  There were 10 kids detained with one detained twice.  Out of those 10 detentions, 2 were for the 1^st time, 4 were for the 2^nd time, 2 were for the 3^rd time, 2 were for the 7^th time, and 1 was for the 8^th time. 

Mr. Rosemier asked Ms. Gilmour about what happens to people that don’t finish their assigned hours that are shown here on the Community Services Report?  Ms. Gilmour said that sometimes the court will extend the hours or they will take those hours that have not been completed and convert them over into a fine.  The other option that the court does is convert the hours to SWAP hours and then those people will report to the Sheriff for this program.

PUBLIC DEFENDER’S REPORT

Mr. Kenneth Johnson, Public Defender for DeKalb County, reviewed his report for the committee.  He stated that the numbers are consistent.  He also informed the committee that the full-time attorney that he hired in December 2002 (Ms. Morelli) is pregnant and will be leaving his employ in February.  Therefore, there will be a vacancy in his department that he will need to fill when she leaves.  He also reported that he has been assigned another murder case to defend.  This is the murder that occurred on the east side of Sycamore.

SUPERVISOR OF ASSESSMENTS INTRODUCTION

Ms. Margaret Whitwell, DeKalb County Supervisor of Assessments, introduced herself to the new members on the committee and explained what her department does and how it interacts with other department within the County. She said that she is the Chief County Assessment Officer and works in accordance with state law and regulations from state agencies.  She reports directly to the Department of Revenue.

She and five employees, two of who maintain the cadastral maps for the entire county, staff the department.  All of her employees have Certified Illinois Assessing Official designations and continue to attend assessment classes that are conducted by the Department of Review and the Illinois Property Assessment Institute.

Her office is responsible for some of the following items:  gathering and publishing assessments, maintaining the assessment, exemption, and address data base for the county, maintaining record for all exemptions available to taxpayers, maintaining and updating the cadastral maps for the county, processing all deeds and Real Estate Transfer Declarations, and send all county building permit information and all sales information to the township assessors.  (See her handout attached to these minutes.)

Ms. Whitwell explained that she also acts as the Clerk of the Board of Review and acts as Chairman of the Farmland Assessment Review Committee.  With regards to the Board of Review she said that her office is responsible for gathering evidence, taking care of correspondence, organization of and recording of hearings, PTAB follow-up if needed.)  She said that for a residential hearing they can last about 15 to 20 minutes, but a commercial hearing can last longer. 

SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT INTRODUCTION

Sheriff Roger Scott introduced himself and Chief Deputy Kevin Hickey to the committee.  Sheriff passed out a booklet (attached to these minutes) for the committee review about his department.  Sheriff Scott briefly reviewed the Motto for his office and stated that his office seeks to fulfill this mission by meeting public safety needs, performing law enforcement functions, and maintaining a secure County Jail.  

Sheriff Scott then reviewed page 3, which mentions the mandates that his office meets.  He mentioned that everything they do refers back to one of these mandates.  He also mentioned his Organization Chart on the last page, which shows how his office also works with the County Board Office and the Merit Commission.  The Merit Commission began in 1970. The Commission maintains a certified list showing the names of those candidates he can hire and promote.  The 3 people that sit on the Merit Commission are ones that are recommended to the full board for appointment. 

He stated that he works closely with the Coroner/ESDA Departments, the State’s Attorney, Court Services Department, County Board staff and County Administrator, Finance Office, Highway Department and Public Defender. 

He said that with regards to the Communications Division and 911, his office is working on a 2-year project with the Cities of Sycamore and Genoa.  Phase 1 has started and Phase II will begin around February 2003.

Sheriff Scott mentioned that there is a Major Crime Squad that just cracked a major homicide case in Sycamore.  Chief Deputy Kevin Hickey is the Chairman of that Squad which was established in 1999.

He then mentioned the Citizen’s Police Academy that his office runs.  It educates the public as to what his department runs into every day.  They hold a mock trial and do traffic stops, etc.  He then showed a brief video for the committee to view what the weeks of training in the academy involve (See the Sheriff’s Department for this tape).   

Finally, Sheriff Scott commended his staff on how well they perform their day-to-day duties.

Before adjourning, Chairman Allen mentioned that Ms. Mary Olson, Director of the Community Services Department, had sent out a letter to all county board members with regards to their Revolving Loan funds.  Chairman Allen said that it looks like the applicants will be able to get the loan approved and be able to run the new Hardware Hank store in Shabbona, Illinois ( see letter attached to these minutes).  Chairman Allen said that it has been quite awhile since they have been able to award this loan to anyone because of the state requirements that need to be met by the small business. 

The meeting time was discussed because there were two committee members that have a conflict with the 6:30p.m. time and wanted it changed to 7:30p.m.  Because Ms. Fullerton and Mr. Faivre were not present, it was agreed by the committee to table the item.  Moved by Mr. Rosemier, seconded by Mr. Johnson, and it was carried unanimously to table the item until next month and that Chairman Allen would speak to Chairman Pritchard about other alternatives.

ADJOURNMENT

Moved by Mr. Johnson, seconded by Ms. Leifheit, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting. 

                                                          Respectfully submitted, 

                                                          __________________________________
                                                          Marlene Allen, Chairman

_____________________________
Mary C. Supple, Secretary