• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Darien cancels police chief candidate social

JANESVILLE — There will be no opening pleasantries for the Darien Police Chief candidates after all.

The village decided Tuesday to cancel a social event to introduce the five candidates and their spouses to village trustees and community stakeholders. The social was to be held in closed session to discuss employment matters.

Village Administrator Diana Dykstra said the social, originally scheduled for Friday, contained too many unanswered open meetings law questions, and the village attorney advised the village to cancel the event.

Dykstra said one of the concerns was that if someone during the social brought up a topic not slated for discussion, it could violate state Open Meetings Law.

"It just seemed that to satisfy all the requirements under the law that they ought to err on the side of caution and cancel the event," Dykstra said.

The village still plans on holding interviews with the five candidates starting at 9 a.m. Saturday. Candidates for the police chief position include three Illinois police officers, a town of Geneva police commander and a special agent with the state Division of Criminal Investigation.

The village plans to hire a new chief by Saturday at the earliest. The new chief would fill the vacancy left by Steve DeVoy, whose yearlong battle with the village ended in a settlement with the village and his resignation in May.