Thread: Hire more Latino firefighters

Ledesma: Hire more Latino firefighters

By Andrea Hein
STAFF WRITER

JOLIET — Councilman Alex Ledesma's request for greater diversity on the Joliet Fire Department and a charge that minorities are passed over for white candidates sparked a hot debate at a council meeting Tuesday.

"We have to go out there and go after those minorities," Ledesma said during the gathering earmarked for discussing citywide issues.

"I'd like to see more Latinos on the fire department."

But some officials don't think the process is a problem.

"Why don't they apply?" Councilman Tom Giarrante asked Ledesma.

The Board of Police and Fire Commissioners that oversees employment decisions for the fire department is taking applications for the eligibility list that is used to hire firefighters.

Applicants for the job that comes with a $45,278 starting salary have to meet numerous requirements, including a prerequisite that is unique to the fire department: They must live within Joliet's city limits during the entire application process.

Other city posts only require candidates to reside within Joliet once they have been hired.

Of the fire department's 209 firefighters, 14 are black and three are Hispanic, Deputy Fire Chief Steve Engledow said Wednesday.

Ledesma thinks Joliet officials should lift the residency requirement during the application process in an effort to attract minority candidates from outside Joliet.

The councilman, who represents the city's East Side and many Latino and black residents, asserted that he thinks decisionmakers find something wrong with minority applicants.

Giarrante, a former firefighter and fire union official, rebuffed Ledesma, saying the councilman was questioning the police and fire board's integrity.

"I do not agree with that," he said. "I think that they hold everybody to the same standard."

Residency requirement

The police department previously hired solely from within Joliet but lifted the requirement when officials claimed they could not find qualified candidates in the city, Giarrante explained.

The fire department has never had that problem, he added.

"We're getting plenty of qualified applicants," Giarrante said.

Councilwoman Jan Quillman said she did not see the harm in opening up the positions to people outside the city: Her husband was hired by the police department before the family lived in town. Now many members of their extended family live and are active in Joliet, she said.

The councilwoman also feared that someone could sue the city over its policy.

Councilman Tim Brophy thought the elected officials' duty is to current Joliet citizens.

"We took an oath to do the best we could for these people here," Brophy said of hiring residents first.



Minority residents


Some officials also said Joliet has a diverse population, so taking applications from minorities outside of the city is unnecessary; rather; more minorities in Joliet need to apply for the posts.
Already Joliet has to spend between $70,000 and $90,000 to test would-be firefighters and widening that pool would drastically increase those costs.

And the city is reaching out to minorities, some staff said.

Recently the fire department hosted two information sessions, which were open to anyone but geared toward minorities, at a station on the city's East Side.

"We would like to see more minorities apply," Engledow said.

More information on firefighter applications is available at City Hall or on the city's Web site at www.cityofjoliet.info.


- View Andrea Hein's Web log at blogs.suburbanchicagonews.com/ahein/ or contact her at (815) 729-6018 or ahein@scn1.com.

07/27/06

Well I think it would be safe to assume a whole lot of them are Illegal. Secondly......since they are assimilating so well into our society they most likely don't know you're hiring unless you advertise in a SPANISH paper or on the SPANISH radio or TV. But to think there are people that are qualified, and they want to bend the rules just to get Latinos.

"Why don't they apply?" Councilman Tom Giarrante asked Ledesma.

They can check Joliet Prison. That`s still in operation, is`nt it? . I remember going to some livestock auctions near the prison when I was a kid.

But truthfully... I`m hearing this all of the time. (We need more Latino`s) what makes Latinos so much better? Cheap labor?