Caseyville Mayor Leonard Black thought he had finally won his three-month battle when he cast the deciding vote that terminated Police Chief Jose Alvarez on May 21. More than four months later, the battle continues.

Jose Alvarez

Judge Stephen McGlynn Friday ordered the Caseyville Village Board to provide Alvarez a hearing to address charges brought against him that led to his termination. Village Trustee Brenda Williams, chairman of the police and fire commission for the Board of Trustees, said she has not yet seen the order but, if a new hearing was ordered, she will attempt to have the hearing and another vote at the next scheduled Village Board meeting Oct. 15.

Mayor Leonard Black nor Alvarez could be reached for comment.

Alvarez and his attorney, Bob Jones, had argued that they were not given a hearing on May 21. Jones first attempted to raise the objection that his client was not given a chance to address the charges just before the May 21 vote for termination when he spoke from the audience at the Village Board meeting.

“And that’s all we discuss…,” Jones said before Black interrupted him to tell him he could not speak at that time. Audience participation at Caseyville meetings is the standard and is not usually curtailed.

Mayor Leonard Black signed an affidavit for the case that indicated “Jose Alvarez and his attorney were given an opportunity to be heard in closed session,” and Trustee Ron Tamburello told The Metro Independent on May 21 that there was a hearing.

“I read the charges, he addressed each one,” Tamburello said. “I wasn’t too happy with some of the answers he gave.”

When asked on May 21 why she voted against terminating Alvarez, Williams said she did not believe he was given due process. After the meeting, Jones called the event “beyond the theater of the absurd.”

McGlynn asked then Village Attorney Chris Cueto, on May 21, if the Village had any objection to the closed session being recorded and kept under seal in case McGlynn needed to later examine it to ensure due process was carried out. Cueto agreed there was no issue with recording the meeting.

The Village never provided the video to Alvarez or his attorney and has consistently objected to a request that it be provided only to McGlynn. The Village argued, after May 21, that Alvarez was never entitled to a hearing and, therefore, what happened in the closed session was irrelevant.

New Village Attorney Brian Manion provided case law that demonstrated a police chief hired from outside the department can be terminated by a simple vote of the mayor and Board of Trustees and does not need to be given a hearing to address the reasons for termination. A chief hired from within the department must have a hearing before termination.

Prior village attorney John Gilbert, however, sent Alvarez and his attorney a letter dated May 12, which indicated Alvarez would receive a hearing. Cueto argued in court on May 21 that Alvarez would receive a hearing that evening.

Jones successfully argued that he and his client relied up the notification from Gilbert, as well as a subsequent email from a Gilbert associate indicating that a hearing would take place on May 21, to their detriment.

Jones said he was happy with McGlynn’s decision, even though he and Alvarez were not successful in their attempt to bar Village Trustee Rick Casey Jr. from voting on Alvarez’s termination.

Casey has an ongoing Equal Employment Opportunity Commission case against him from his time with the St. Clair County Highway Department. Alvarez was the sole investigator on the case. As a result of the investigation, Casey was demoted and took a pay cut of about $20,000 per year.

McGlynn noted during multiple hearings that the standard for a judge to disallow the vote of an elected official is very high and direct financial benefit or detriment must be proven. During the May 21 hearing, McGlynn said the board could act on its own.

“You’d think they’d at least ask him to recuse himself,” McGlynn said.

The Board did not ask Casey to recuse himself and he did not voluntarily recuse himself.

“I voted to hire him,” Casey said. “If I was the only one that voted to fire him, it would have looked funny.”

Casey was one of four votes in favor of termination. Three trustees voted to retain Alvarez.