The Public Services Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, August 2, 2004, @ 6:30p.m. in the Administration Building’s Conference Room East.  Chairman Marlene Allen called the meeting to order.  Members present were Julia Fullerton, Eric Johnson, Pat LaVigne, Sue Leifheit, Richard Osborne and Robert Rosemier.  Members absent were Steve Faivre and Eileen Dubin.  Others present were Margaret Whitwell, Jill Olson of CASA, Margi Gilmour and Ken Johnson. 

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES 

Mr. Johnson asked to have a sentence added to the July Minutes reflecting the statement from State’s Attorney Ron Matekaitis that he would be asking for more money for his office during the budget process. 

Moved by Ms. Fullerton, seconded by Mr. Rosemier, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended July 2004 minutes.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Moved by Ms. Leifheit, seconded by Mr. Johnson, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended agenda. 

SUPERVISOR OF ASSESSMENTS REQUEST: 

          Ms. Whitwell, Supervisor of Assessments, presented a resolution to the committee and said that there is new legislation for the increase of the income limit for the Senior Freeze Exemption from $40,000 to $45,000 beginning in 2004.  The deadline is usually July 1^st.  She would like to extend the deadline to the end of December so that she can include all the people who may now qualify that did not in the past.

          Moved by Mr. Rosemier, seconded by Mr. Johnson, and it was carried unanimously to forward the resolution to the full board for approval.

PUBLIC DEFENDER’S REPORT 

Mr. Ken Johnson, DeKalb County Public Defender, said that his numbers are higher this month because of the fact that the previous month they had one less attorney in the office.  One attorney is back from maternity leave, which is good news.  However, he did lose one of his attorneys to the State’s Attorney’s Office.  She had been with his office for three years now and basically ran his misdemeanor division.  She is a very good attorney.  What does concern him, however, is that she left his office for a lateral move at a 10% increase in pay at the State’s Attorneys Office.  When he called the Finance Department to find out how this could happen, the explanation that he was given was that it was because the State’s Attorney is an elected official and he can choose his salaries and Mr. Johnson has to choose his salaries according to the budgetary guidelines.  He encourages his attorneys to move on to bigger and better places.  His concern is his ability to negotiate at the level that the State’s Attorney can.  If it continues, he feels that it is not fair to his employees in his office. 

          Mr. Johnson then said that he would like to comment on what the State’s Attorney’s Office said last month at the committee meeting.  Mr. Johnson said that he does keep a felony call, and does go to court on a daily basis.  His client base consists of the most complex litigation that his office will see and the most difficult clients that his office has.  His office takes an active role more times than not, he does his own investigations, he does not have a police force that he can call upon to do the investigations for them.  They visit all crime scenes and they personally investigate all cases going to trial.  He said that they do not react to all State’s offers, sometimes his office suggests offers to the State’s Attorney’s Office.  They will say that my client is looking for “x”, and “this is how we can resolve this”.  As for witness preparation, his office does prep his witnesses, they interview state witnesses, they interview police officers…., etc.  There are numerous things that they do on a daily basis that keeps them very busy and currently they are running at capacity. 

He will be interviewing for a new attorney in the next couple of weeks and then he will have to train that new individual too, which will keep him away from his caseload and the rest of his management duties.  At the current salary level that he is required to hire under, he will not be able to hire anyone with experience.  In closing, he invited all board members to visit his office and see what he and his staff do and see what the taxpayers are paying for.

COURT SERVICES REPORT 

Ms. Margi Gilmour, Court Services Director, said that her Juvenile Report for June shows no residential placement.  However, in July her report will reflect that there is one person in placement.  She had 12 detainees of which, 5 were for the 1^st time, 3 for the 2^nd time, 1 for the 5^th time, 1 for the 7^th time, 1 for the 8^th time and 1 for the 9^th time.  The Intergovernmental Agreement with Kane County continues to hold strong.  If it continues at this rate, the money should last until early 2006.  Summer camp is going great and will be winding down next week Friday.  The kids have had a very good experience. She said that  the written report would be forthcoming regarding the summer camp too.  The SWAP Program is also going along fine. They have had one Adult SWAP in Franklin Township Park and the Juvenile SWAP involved a road pickup. 

The Adult Report remains consistent and manageable.  The Community Services continues to see a good number of hours completed because of the warm weather. 

Mr. Rosemier asked about item #3 on the Juvenile Report and wanted to know if they will be going before a judge?  Ms. Gilmour said yes, but that after turning 17 years of age they are considered an adult.  They are moved out of the juvenile facility and placed in adult confinement.  Currently that person is out of the jail.

CASA ANNUAL REPORT 

          Ms. Jill Olson, Executive Director of the DeKalb County CASA, reviewed her annual report for the committee.  She said that the increase in paid hours for her staff is because of the county’s funding for her program.  She was also able to add another person to her staff because of the county’s funds and secure a conference room next to her office where the advocates can now meet privately with her and her staff.  That has made a huge impact for them and they are very grateful for it.  She also said that they anticipate increasing their number of advocates in the fall training class.  They usually train 6 to 10 advocates in each class and they hold these classes twice a year. The fall class has 6 advocates attending with a total of 60 advocates in her office.

          Page 2 shows where their monies come from.  The one thing that they thought would be included in these figures was a grant awarded to them for $12,500 from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.  It is in question due to budget issues and was not included in the projected expense line at the time of this report, she said  (see report attached to these minutes).  They don’t have it yet because of the state budget crisis.  Since the state budget has passed they are waiting to see if that budget has been approved or cut. 

One reason that that money is important is twofold.  One reason is because it is a lot of money for their office.  The second reason is that it goes towards salaries and operating expenses for her office. It is one of a few grants that will allow her office to use the money that way.  She said that she usually  applies for this grant annually. 

Her fundraising campaign covers about 20% of her budget.  They do three major fundraising events a year. 

Their expenses have been pretty consistent.  She doesn’t expect any unforeseen expenses coming up this year or into next year.

In the end Child Abuse will not go away, said Ms. Olson.  They are seeing a slight decrease in cases coming into the court system currently.  They feel that it is temporary and they do anticipate the numbers going up again at the end of the year.

Chairman Allen asked if the increase in rent is due to the conference room?  Ms. Olson said yes.

Chairman Allen asked, who determines what case is important or not?  Ms. Olson said that the primary person would be the Judge, then DCFS and the State’s Attorney.  .

Mr. Rosemier also asked that if the $12,500 does come in for her office, could she carry it over into next year’s budget?  Ms. Olson said yes, and we might use it for salaries since it can be used for that reason.

Before closing, Ms. Olson thanked the committee and the county board for their grant monies and their help because it has made a huge difference in her office.

ADJOURNMENT 

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

                                                          Respectfully submitted,

                                                          __________________________________

                                                          Marlene Allen, Chairman

_________________________________
Mary C. Supple, Secretary