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Record of Proceedings

Joliet Board of Fire and Police Commissioners Meeting - May 11, 2026

Meeting Portal — Monday, May 11, 2026
BodyJoliet, Illinois
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, May 11, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Good evening.

0:01

I will call to order the City of Joliet Board of Fire and Police Commissioners meeting.

0:06

Today is Monday, May 11th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.

0:11

Roll call, please.

0:12

Commissioner Adamowski.

0:14

Here.

0:15

Commissioner Coleman.

0:16

Here.

0:17

Commissioner Pons?

0:18

Here.

0:18

And Commissioner Stefanski.

0:20

Here.

0:21

We have a quorum.

0:22

First up on our agenda is the approval of minutes from April 13th, 2026.

0:29

Is there a motion to approve said minutes?

0:31

Motion.

0:31

Second.

0:33

Roll call.

0:34

Chairman Adam Oscar.

0:36

Aye.

0:36

Commissioner Coleman.

0:37

Aye.

0:38

Commissioner Ponds.

0:39

Commissioner Stefanski.

0:41

Aye.

0:42

Motion carries.

0:43

Next is citizens to be heard on agenda items.

0:47

Is there anybody who would like to speak on an agenda item?

0:52

Hearing none, we'll move on.

0:53

Do we have a secretary's report?

0:55

We have no secretary's report.

0:58

Okay, Chief and Chief, just to clarify, we do have we have no need for a closed session, correct?

1:04

Correct.

1:05

Okay.

1:06

Then we will move to fire department agenda items.

1:15

On the agenda of the first item was approval of Joliet Fire Promotion lists.

1:20

After conferring with the fire department, we'll postpone those to the June 8th meeting.

1:25

So therefore, the next agenda item is Joliet Fire Department promotion.

1:39

Good evening.

1:40

We had uh a retirement on Friday, so we're looking to replace him with the lieutenant.

1:45

Uh Lieutenant Tony Gerani retired Friday.

1:48

So next up on our list is apparatus operator Paul Purcell.

1:53

I've reviewed apparatus operator Paul Purcell's personal file and found no reason for him not to be promoted to lieutenant.

2:00

Questions for the chief.

2:02

Hearing none, is there a motion to approve the promotion of apparatus operator Purcell to Lieutenant Purcell?

2:09

Motion.

2:11

Second.

2:12

First and a second.

2:13

Roll call, please.

2:14

Chairman Adamowski.

2:15

Aye.

2:16

Commissioner Coleman.

2:18

Aye.

2:18

Commissioner Pond.

2:19

Aye.

2:19

Commissioner Stepanski.

2:21

Aye.

2:21

Motion carries.

2:22

Congratulations, Lieutenant Purcell.

2:24

Thank you.

2:26

He's not here.

2:28

Thank you, Chief.

2:29

Next up our police agenda, police department agenda items.

2:35

First on the agenda is Joliet Police Department promotion list correction.

2:41

In effect, there was an administrative error.

2:44

So we will make a motion, second, and approve the change, and at the conclusion of the meeting, we'll approve and sign.

2:53

So therefore, is there a motion to correct the police department promotion list?

2:59

Motion.

3:00

Second.

3:01

Roll call, please.

3:02

Chairman Adamovsky.

3:03

Aye.

3:04

Commissioner Coleman?

3:05

Aye.

3:05

Commissioner Pond.

3:06

Aye.

3:06

Commissioner Stepanowski.

3:08

Aye.

3:08

Motion carries.

3:10

Next on the police department agenda items Joliet Police Department promotion.

3:15

Chief.

3:24

Good evening.

3:25

Uh Commissioners.

3:26

I have reviewed the work history of Sergeant Candidate Robert Korzak and found that throughout his career he has received numerous awards, including two life-saving awards, an officer of the year award, numerous unit merit awards, accommodation, and division recognition awards, including some letters of appreciation from citizen.

3:45

In addition, he has no disciplinary record.

3:47

As a result, I find no cause to prevent him from preventing his duties if promoted to the rank of sergeant.

3:53

Thank you.

3:54

Question for the chief.

3:55

Hearing none, is there a motion to approve the promotion of Robert Korzak from Sergeant to Master?

4:02

I'm sorry.

4:04

Motion.

4:05

Hold on one second.

4:06

To approve the promotion of Master Patrol Officer Robert Korzak to Sergeant Corzak.

4:12

Motion.

4:13

Second.

4:14

Roll call, please.

4:15

Chairman Adamowski.

4:16

Aye.

4:17

Commissioner Coleman.

4:18

Aye.

4:18

Commissioner Pond.

4:19

Aye.

4:19

Commissioner Stepanski, aye.

4:21

Motion carries.

4:22

Congratulations, Sergeant Korzak.

4:31

Next on the agenda is new or old business, not for final action or recommendation.

4:36

Under this heading, we have a discussion regarding the initial number of applicants selected for oral examination for the new police department eligibility list.

4:49

Good evening.

4:50

Gina Logalbo with Human Resources.

5:00

The human resources department wanted to let the board know that we're we've edited the email that goes out to interested applicants for the police department.

5:14

But that's that's essentially it.

5:18

So when we have a lot of applicants, we're we're not going through all the testing procedures with all the the you know hundreds of applicants, um, but we want to send a notice to all those applicants to let them know that they're still on the eligibility list, so to speak.

5:37

So if you'd like to see the the full email in detail, we can share that um after the meeting.

5:43

So what you're doing is you're you're everybody's going through the written and all.

5:48

Everybody's now I'm on.

5:52

Everybody's going through the written and the oral.

5:55

Not exactly.

5:57

So you'll pick uh a certain amount to go through to start the testing.

6:03

Or what stages will they will you uh so everyone will take the written okay and like it starts off um dear Juliet Police Officer Applicant.

6:16

In total, 213 applicants took the written exam for the Juliet Police Officer hiring list, and the City of Joliet has elected to advance the top 100 applicants to the next phase of testing, oral board interview.

6:30

Okay.

6:31

Very good.

6:33

And then what happens to the second half of applicants?

6:36

Is that for consideration down the line?

6:38

Yes.

6:38

So I can proceed.

6:40

Um at this time, uh unfortunately your score did not qualify you to be in the first tier of 100 candidates.

6:48

Please be advised that applicants ranking 101 through 213 will remain on the list until the list expires and will be notified if advanced to the next phase of testing.

7:00

Your current position on the list is whatever that number is.

7:05

And and then the last paragraph is explains that we're not posting or releasing the written uh test scores because they are not final eligibility scores.

7:16

Any other questions?

7:18

Um was there was there any uh um issues from the police department side on that?

7:24

Or is that uh something?

7:26

No, there were no issues on this side.

7:28

Uh we're fortunate this time around to have this many applicants.

7:31

We have not experienced this in the past four to five years.

7:34

Okay, very good.

7:36

Anything else?

7:37

Yeah, any other questions.

7:41

Okay, thank you so much.

7:43

Um next up on the agenda is public comment.

7:46

Is there anybody who would like to approach the dais and make a comment?

7:53

Okay.

7:54

Hearing none, is there a motion to adjourn?

7:58

Motion.

7:59

All those in favor say aye.

8:01

Aye.

8:02

Any opposed?

8:03

Motion carries.

8:04

Meeting is adjourned at 539.

8:08

Thank you so much.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████69%
Personnel Matters████████████████████31%
Summary of Proceedings

Joliet Board of Fire and Police Commissioners Meeting - May 11, 2026

The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners met on Monday, May 11, 2026, at 5:30 PM in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 150 West Jefferson Street, Joliet, Illinois. Commissioners present: Chairman Quinn Adamowski, Natalie Coleman, Tomas Ponce, and John Stefanski. Commissioner Pat Strocchia was absent. Also present were Fire Chief Jeff Carey, Police Chief Bill Evans, Deputy Police Chief Sherrie Blackburn, and Deputy Director of Human Resources Gina LoGalbo. The meeting adjourned at approximately 5:39 PM.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the Board of Fire & Police Commissioners meeting on April 13, 2026, were approved unanimously by a vote of 4 ayes (Adamowski, Stefanski, Ponce, Coleman) with Strocchia absent.
  • Joliet Police Department Promotion List Correction: The commission approved a correction to the police department promotion list due to an administrative error. The motion carried unanimously (4 ayes, Strocchia absent).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public spoke during either the agenda-item or non-agenda public comment periods.

Discussion Items

  • Postponement of Fire Promotions Lists: The approval of the Joliet Fire Promotions Lists was postponed to the June 8, 2026 meeting after conferring with the fire department.
  • Fire Department Promotion – Lieutenant: Fire Chief Jeff Carey reported that Lieutenant Tony Gerani retired on Friday, May 8, 2026, creating a vacancy. He recommended promoting Apparatus Operator Paramedic Paul Purcell, whose personnel file he reviewed and found no reason not to promote. The commission approved the promotion unanimously.
  • Police Department Promotion – Sergeant: Police Chief Bill Evans reviewed the work history of Master Patrol Officer Robert Korczak, noting he received two life-saving awards, an officer of the year award, numerous unit merit awards, accommodations, division recognition awards, and letters of appreciation from citizens, and had no disciplinary record. The chief found no cause to prevent promotion. The commission approved the promotion of Robert Korczak to Sergeant unanimously.
  • Discussion on Oral Examination Applicants for New Police Eligibility List: Gina LoGalbo, Deputy Director of Human Resources, outlined the process for the new police officer eligibility list. She explained that 213 applicants took the written exam, and the city elected to advance the top 100 applicants to the oral board interview phase. Applicants ranked 101 through 213 will remain on the list until it expires and will be notified if advanced later. Written test scores are not released because they are not final eligibility scores. Police Chief Evans noted that the department has not seen this many applicants in the past four to five years and confirmed there were no issues from the police side. No action was taken; the discussion was informational.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved the minutes of the April 13, 2026 meeting (unanimous).
  • Approved the Joliet Police Department Promotion List Correction (unanimous).
  • Approved the promotion of Paul Purcell from Apparatus Operator Paramedic to Lieutenant (unanimous).
  • Approved the promotion of Robert Korczak from Master Patrol Officer to Sergeant (unanimous).
  • Postponed the approval of the Joliet Fire Promotions Lists to the June 8, 2026 meeting.
  • No action taken on the discussion regarding the number of applicants selected for oral examination; the item was for information only.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening. I will call to order the City of Joliet Board of Fire and Police Commissioners meeting. Today is Monday, May 11th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. Roll call, please. Commissioner Adamowski. Here. Commissioner Coleman. Here. Commissioner Pons? Here. And Commissioner Stefanski. Here. We have a quorum. First up on our agenda is the approval of minutes from April 13th, 2026. Is there a motion to approve said minutes? Motion. Second. Roll call. Chairman Adam Oscar. Aye. Commissioner Coleman. Aye. Commissioner Ponds. Commissioner Stefanski. Aye. Motion carries. Next is citizens to be heard on agenda items. Is there anybody who would like to speak on an agenda item? Hearing none, we'll move on. Do we have a secretary's report? We have no secretary's report. Okay, Chief and Chief, just to clarify, we do have we have no need for a closed session, correct? Correct. Okay. Then we will move to fire department agenda items. On the agenda of the first item was approval of Joliet Fire Promotion lists. After conferring with the fire department, we'll postpone those to the June 8th meeting. So therefore, the next agenda item is Joliet Fire Department promotion. Good evening. We had uh a retirement on Friday, so we're looking to replace him with the lieutenant. Uh Lieutenant Tony Gerani retired Friday. So next up on our list is apparatus operator Paul Purcell. I've reviewed apparatus operator Paul Purcell's personal file and found no reason for him not to be promoted to lieutenant. Questions for the chief. Hearing none, is there a motion to approve the promotion of apparatus operator Purcell to Lieutenant Purcell? Motion. Second. First and a second. Roll call, please. Chairman Adamowski.

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