The second attempt by Caseyville Mayor Len Black to fire the village’s chief of police has been put on hold by court and Village Board order.

Caseyville Police Chief Jose Alvarez

Jose Alvarez was fired by Black on Friday, 16 days after firing him the first time. Alvarez obtained a temporary restraining order on March 4 barring Caseyville from terminating him until a formal hearing before a judge Friday. The Village Board voted unanimously Wednesday to bar him from being terminated again until March 19,when they will meet for their regular monthly meeting.

The motion, introduced by Board member  Brenda Williams at a special meeting Wednesday, also included a provision barring Black from meeting, alone, with Alvarez before March 19.

“But, why can’t I meet with him?” Black asked.

“Because every time you do, you fire him,” Williams responded. The packed room at Caseyville Village Hall, which had thinned from the overflow crowd in attendance earlier, erupted in laughter.

The motion came during a special meeting that was to have been preceded by a closed session meeting of the Board, Black and Alvarez. The discussion, Board member Kerry Davis explained to the audience, was to have allowed the Board to meet with Alvarez to allow him to respond to Black’s complaints that led to both terminations. The Board has not had that opportunity, Davis said.

However, the published agenda did not call for a closed session. To not violate the Illinois Open Meetings Act, the Board could not have the meeting. Rather than have another special meeting, Williams made the motion to retain the chief at least until the March 19 meeting.

The Board was also unable to reinstate the police evidence clerk, hired by Alvarez, who Black recently fired. Williams said Black had fired her because she told someone else she might quit. The clerk, who was not named, could not be reinstated because the matter was not on the agenda. The item is to be on the March 19 agenda.

Prior to the special meeting, during a regularly scheduled committee meeting, the Board and Black heard from several members of the community on the topic of the police chief’s employment situation, as well as other items. Despite Black’s request to “keep this short,” at the beginning of the public input portion of the meeting, the discussion lasted approximately one  hour.

Many speakers, like Candi Eaves, asked for greater transparency in their government.

“I believe there is a lot of political retribution going back and a lot of favors going around. It is time to stop leaking things to the press. Stop leaking the dirty laundry and try to heal this community,” Eaves concluded to loud applause from the audience.

Davis sought to assure the gathered citizens that due process would be followed this time when determining Alvarez’s employment status.

“I want to make this clear. The police chief will not be dismissed until this board approves it,” Davis said, to another round of applause.