Aldermen Express Concern Over City Hourly Employee Time Cards

By Mick Parsons For The Prairie Advocate News

MOUNT CARROLL – Towards the end of the last city council meeting, Mayor Carl Bates alluded to an issue involving two aldermen, city employee time cards, and what could either be a miscommunication, a misunderstanding, or a clear case of fraud. Two alderman, who he didn’t identify, had gone through employee time cards. After consulting city attorney Ron Copland, Bates said that dealing with employee records was “an administrative” function and that the aldermen were the legislative arm.

The aldermen in question were Doris Bork (Ward 2) and Nina Cooper (Ward 1), both of whom have expressed concern in the past about how the city tracks hourly employee hours. Bork, who lives across the street from the Public Works Building, has maintained for years that some city employees are arriving late, leaving early, and reporting differently on their time cards. Three years ago, the city council installed a time clock at the Public Works building, which should have put an end to the concerns. But according to Bork and Cooper, some city employees in various departments, including the Police Department, are misrepresenting the hours they work.

“It’s fraud,” said Bork “They’re making the tax payers of Mount Carroll pay their wages, and they’re ripping them off.”

Both Bork and Cooper say they decided to look through time cards because they were concerned about Mount Carroll part-time police officers who were getting paid for being on duty but were not, in fact, on duty. Police coverage is one of many issues that some members of the council – in particular Bork and Cooper – have had since Fred Cass took over as Chief of Police. Including Cass and the two full time officers Dennis Asay and James Burch. The City of Mount Carroll has 13 police officers. The baker’s dozen of part time officers generally have other jobs and other obligations – another issue that has been discussed at City Council before.

In the most recent instance, Bork says she was called by an officer who was supposed to start at 7 in the morning, when local children are beginning to go to school. This part-time officer, who has not been named, asked “like he was asking for permission,” says Cooper, if he could show up for work at 8 instead of 7 because he needed to take his son to school. Bork says when she told him no, he didn’t show up for work until 8:30.

The time clock issue has an added wrinkle – the police department doesn’t use the time clock. According to Carroll County Sheriff Jeff Doran, Mount Carroll officers typically radio into the county when they’re on duty. This is registered in a computer, but that has nothing to do with how the officers are paid. Officers are paid, it seems, based on the honor system. Chief Cass puts the schedule together and the part-time officers are paid based on when they are scheduled to work and the hours on written time cards they turn in. This makes a certain amount of sense, on the outside. After all, if you can’t trust the local cops, who can you trust?

The ability of part-time officers to do their job has been a subject of discussion at recent city council meetings. Cass himself has admitted before – while making the case that Mount Carroll needs to hire another full-time officer – that some part-timers have been known to call off in the past because of the responsibilities from their full-time jobs or family. Bork has been vocal in her belief that if officers can’t fulfill the needs of the job that they should be taken off the roster; but she has also been slow to embrace the idea that the city needs another full time cop.

Sheriff Doran also pointed out that the Mount Carroll officers report in, even though they don’t have to – Thomson, for example, doesn’t – and that they never radio in when they’re going off duty so that “burglars with scanners” won’t know when there is and isn’t a cop on duty.

Police Chief Fred Cass was unavailable for comment.

Cooper said that once they noticed this in the police department time cards, she and Alderman Bork decided to go through the time cards from other city departments. Bork says that in spite of the time clock, some city employees are still turning in handwritten time cards that say they’re working more hours a day than the punch cards say they’re working. In addition, she says that city workers knock off an hour early on Friday, “to go to that tavern downtown” using the excuse that they don’t take a lunch. But she says she has seen people go in the Public Works Building with food.

Aldermen Cooper and Bork’s concern is that fraud is taking place. For the mayor, the issue boils down to who’s job is whose.

“We don’t necessarily have an HR division,” he said, “but it rolls through me. I’m the mayor; I’m the administrator.” He says that he works with and listens to the legislative branch – the aldermen – but that ultimately the mayor and clerk are responsible for the administrative duties – under the direction of the legislative branch.

“Therefore,” he said, “if they have a problem, they need to come to me.” This time he says they didn’t come to him, but instead showed up at city hall “just to rifle through” records. “I’ve said that in the past and it had not been a problem. There had been a discussion once, I got the information they requested. It’s not open, in my mind.”

Although he wasn’t willing to point out who the aldermen in question were during the city council meetings he did say he was frustrated. “I’m disappointed with what they’ve done behind the scenes,” he added. “It’s just unacceptable to the community and to the people they represent and the people they’re responsible for.”

Bates also added that when city council voted to put in the time clock, that most of the board didn’t really want it and that it was a way to appease. “I personally believe we should throw that time clock away. I didn’t think we needed it in the first place. I think there’s animosity against hourly people and anybody who gets minimum wage. I can’t fix that, that’s their mindset, and that’s just too bad. I think we have responsible people, and they do a great job. I don’t think we need a time clock.”

In looking through Illinois Municipal Code, one thing is abundantly clear – the mayor is correct about being the administrator. Municipal Code 65 ILCS 5/3.1-35-20 states that the mayor “at all times may examine and inspect the books, records, and papers of any agent, employee, or officer of the municipality.” It’s also abundantly clear that while the mayor’s duties are clearly outlined, the duties of an alderman aren’t as delineated. In fact, Illinois Municipal Code only stipulates that alderman are required to vote if they are present and are not allowed to abstain, except in the case of a stated conflict of interest.

Both Bork and Cooper maintain that the time cards are available to them through the Freedom of Information Act. According to an opinion by Illinois State Attorney General Lisa Madigan, “the names, salaries, titles, and dates of employment and officers of public bodies;” are considered public documents under the Freedom of Information Act. However, some records are held as exempt, such as: “personnel files and personal information regarding employees or officials of public bodies.” She goes on to explain that, in determining whether or not the disclosure of the information in question would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, the courts have applied a balancing test with the following factors:

1. Plaintiff’s interest in disclosure; 2. the public interest in disclosure; 3. the degree of invasion of privacy; and 4. the availability of alternate means of obtaining the records.

It should be noted that “information bearing on the public duties of public employees or officials shall not be considered an invasion of personal privacy and that information that would otherwise be exempt as a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy is not exempt if disclosure is consented to in writing by the subject of the information.”

There’s no court action currently involved in this situation, and there very well may not be – so that part of the legal jargon can be dismissed. For now. The only other thing that’s clear about FOIA and the separation of powers and responsibilities as outlined in Illinois Municipal Code is that, like all legal documents except The U.S Constitution and The Bill of Rights, there’s enough room for debate on both sides.

“It’s been going on a real long time,” said Cooper. The problem, she says is that while it’s a small town where people talk and nearly everything is known or suspected, that the community doesn’t really know what’s going on. Or, at least, they’re not willing to talk about it publicly. She also adds that people are reluctant to rock the boat. Cooper has been on city council since 2007 and has lived in Mount Carroll for 12 years. She said she decided to run because she saw the inequity in the way the rules were being applied. “Rules should be transparent and applied evenly,” she said

And while the mayor maintains that she and Bork should have talked to him before going through the time cards themselves, Cooper says that whenever it’s brought up, the mayor either ignores the comment, says something and changes the subject, or the council is too divided on the issue to vote. She adds that in addition to their hourly pay that the city provides them with “excellent benefits. We give them health insurance with no deductible and contribute to two different retirement funds. (the IMRF and Social Security.)” She also said that employees get a uniform allowance that many of them don’t use for uniforms. It should be noted that while city employees don’t have to pay a deductible on their health insurance, it’s impossible in most cases for city workers to afford to insure their families.

Cooper and Bork believe it’s important for the citizens of Mount Carroll to know what’s going on if the situation is ever going to change, especially given the city’s current budget issues. “Having the community knowing what’s going on is really important,” Cooper said.

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