Village Places Limits On Hiring

It’s official. No relative of a Grayslake village employee or currently elected official will be hired for any village position per a new ordinance approved by trustees to continue a transparent and merit-based employment process.

At Tuesday's village board meeting, Mayor Rhett Taylor said the village always had an informal practice of placing limitations on its hiring practices, but it was never part of the Village Code. Placing an official ordinance on the books, said Taylor, is simply “good government.”

“This ordinance will affirm the village’s existing merit-based and transparent hiring practices," he said. "By approving it, these existing hiring practices become law.”

What prompted the ordinance, said Taylor, was not any sort of complaint, but rather a desire to “protect the integrity of the town.” Taylor told Patch he is also considering other village practices that may merit an ordinance, though he would not specify which.

The new ordinance prohibits the hiring of relatives of village employees and currently serving elected officials for any village employment position. For example, the child of a village employee or currently elected official cannot apply for a position at the Grayslake Aquatic Center.

Additionally, the ordinance prohibits the hiring of currently serving elected officials for any village employment position until five years after their last day in office. For example, an outgoing mayor could not apply for the position of village administrator until five years after leaving office.