With 17 vacancies within the Evanston Police Department, Cmdr. Ryan Glew said the staffing shortage is placing a strain on officers. The department transitioned to a 12-hour work schedule instead of an eight-hour one to fill gaps in the roster, he said.

Mikhail Geyer, a detective and the police union president, said many are struggling to adapt to the schedule differences.

“A lot of people have to cover for where the gaps are at this point,” Geyer said. “So, overall, it’s a lot more stressful having to deal with how things have gone out.”

EPD has some of the most severe vacancy issues within the city government. But departments throughout the city are looking for employees: some for seasonal positions, some for positions City Council just funded and some for long-standing vacancies.

Megan Fulara, Evanston’s human resources division manager, said hiring efforts stalled earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic. The city is now trying to fill vacant positions but is running against a nationwide issue — what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce described as “unprecedented challenges trying to find enough workers to fill open jobs.” 

“(The) problems that the recruitment and perhaps retention issues that the city of Evanston is facing are not unique,” Fulara said. “This is something that all employers are facing right now — is a hand-over-fist grab for employees.”

To improve EPD hiring efforts specifically, City Council voted to boost police pay with a gross wage increase of 26% over the next four years at its Jan. 23 meeting. Glew said this would make contracts more competitive with nearby departments, which he said is important both for retention and for lateral hires — meaning when EPD hires people who are already certified.

While Fulara said certain positions requiring specialized skills — like in forestry — remain hard to fill, other department heads said they have still seen enough qualified applicants. 

Fulara said the city hired more than 800 employees in 2022, both full-time and seasonal. Sue Pontarelli, the 311 Contact Center/Police Service Desk manager, said after ramping up hiring efforts, the 12 Police Service Desk positions have been filled, although three employees are still in training.

Likewise, Evanston Fire Department Fire Chief Paul Polep said EFD recently received approval to hire seven additional people to staff a third ambulance. While the department’s applicant pool shrunk slightly, Polep said this follows national trends and hasn’t dramatically impacted EFD’s ability to recruit.

“Things kind of work as a roller coaster — you’re uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill, and I just think we’re kind of in a lull right now,” Polep said. “But we’re always going to need firefighters. We’re always gonna need paramedics.”

Polep said EFD is also lacking a fire captain but is planning to promote a firefighter from within the department.

To continue the hiring momentum, Evanston is now actively seeking a recruitment and retention coordinator, Fulara said. The coordinator will work to advertise the benefits of working with the city and help prepare employees for promotion.

But as the city increases hiring efforts, Kimberly Holmes-Ross, the community engagement director of Evanston Cradle to Career, said she would like to see more emphasis placed on whom the city hires.

“It would be nice if Evanston residents did have access to these really good jobs to work with their city,” she said.

Holmes-Ross works on community outreach by sharing job opportunities on social media, through a newsletter and in a weekly podcast to ensure interested Evanston candidates have equitable access to job opportunities.

Several candidates running for City Council also expressed interest in hiring more Evanston residents — especially Black and brown people — during a forum Saturday.

“City staff and city leadership should reflect the community,” Ald. Juan Geracaris (9th), who is running for reelection, said Saturday. “That means Evanson residents and people who look like people who look and live in Evanston.”

Fulara said the new recruitment and retention coordinator will track hiring metrics to examine who gets hired and promoted. She also said she is open to prioritizing Evanston residents for vacancies, should she receive such direction from City Council.

She also said she would like to focus on retention to avoid some of the delays that come with training new staff members.

“When you fill those vacancies, it’s not necessarily a magic beam that’s planted,” Fulara said. “There’s training, there’s onboarding. It takes a while to get somebody up to speed.”

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Twitter: @avivabechky

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Twitter: @ava_mandoli

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