Every government is corrupt and every person corruptible (with the exception of the late Mother Teresa.) It is so frustrating to continually read reports of various Illinois Inspectors General and not feel exasperated and powerless. But I will let the “Dr. Phil” show deal with the psychology behind crooks and just report the facts about the latest quarterly posting of the Inspector General’s Office (IGO) of the City of Chicago.
The Municipal Code of Chicago (Section 2-156-120) requires the city’s IGO to file four reports a year on the activities of the office. But who ever really bothers to read these long reports? Chicago media might mention them in passing, but no in-depth study is really done. Of course, I read the whole report and will highlight a few of my favorite parts below, followed by my comments on the particular investigation. The IGO report does not give any names of the people who were investigated, even those found guilty. That is because the Chicago Municipal Code does not allow them to publish the names. Chicago likes to protect the guilty!
The report starts with a long letter of explanation from the IGO with a summation about what the office accomplished in the previous quarter. Want to know why the City cannot balance its budget? “The IGO Audit Section issued audit reports this year identifying millions in misplaced, misdirected and misspent funds.” What is being done to recover this money? It is OUR (the taxpayer’s) money! I want it back! You should too!
One of the more interesting sections of the cover letter dealt with the frustration of the IGO to accomplish what it needs to do as an independent office. How can the major Chicago media ignore the plea of the OIG and not take Mayor Daley to task on this? Or is there just too much corruption to cover?
“One item not noted in the quarterly report is the Inspector General's continued difficulty in exercising independent authority to operate and manage the office. In June, the IGO informed the Mayor of its plan for restructuring the office to meet our fiscally challenged environment by better serving a longstanding but little appreciated part of the IGO's mission under its enabling ordinance - the promotion of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. This plan did not require additional City resources, but rather shifted existing positions to work on this part of the office's mission. The restructure was written into the IGO's budget which was approved by the City Council in November and received the Mayor's verbal support. However, the Administration has not permitted the office to effectuate the plan. The primary goal of the IGO is to save the City money by rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse while finding efficiencies. This goal can only be achieved if the IGO is truly independent. We cannot be truly independent if the Administration, through control of how we spend our budget and staff our office, has functional veto power over our operations. Fundamentally, the lack of a budget floor and independent spending authority places the functional integrity of the IGO's essential operations and independence at risk.”
IGO Case # 07-0807
“An IGO investigation found that a laborer with the Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) falsified his/her time while on duty by going home after swiping in for work in the morning, and also by going home for lunch and remaining there for substantially longer than his/her allotted 30 minute lunch break. The IGO recommended that the laborer be suspended for 30 work days. DSS agreed with the IGO’s findings and recommendation, but a mediation session lowered the discipline to 29 days.”
I don’t understand why someone cannot be fired for falsifying work records! Try doing that in the real world.
IGO Case # 08-0898
“An IGO investigation determined that a Department of Revenue (DOR) supervisor abused his position by requiring two of his supervisees to drive him to work in the mornings. The supervisee DOR employees – while on City time – would drive a City vehicle from a Department facility on the north side, pick up the supervisor at or near his home on the south side, and return to the north side facility. When interviewed by the IGO, the supervisor and supervisees repeatedly lied, giving false and evasive responses to direct questions. As such, the IGO recommended that the supervisor be suspended for 30 days and the supervisees be suspended for four days each. DOR suspended the supervisor for 15 days and each of the supervisees for one day.”
These city employees not only basically “stole” a city vehicle by illegally driving it to pick up their boss, but then everybody lied about it once they were caught. The punishment level is a joke!
IGO Case # 09-0330
“An IGO investigation found that a delegate agency, the delegate agency’s president, and its chief executive officer defrauded the City by falsely representing that the delegate agency was current with its payroll tax obligations, when, in actuality, the agency had an outstanding tax balance of up to $1.35 million. The delegate agency also defrauded the City by using taxpayer grants for purposes unrelated to the mission of the organization, including payments made for school tuition, personal vehicle loans, and expenses related to a business owned by the president’s husband. Lastly, the IGO determined that the delegate agency submitted reimbursement claims for expenses the agency did not pay, including approximately $56,000 in false expense claims for audit, health insurance, and payroll expenditures. The IGO recommended that the City permanently debar the delegate agency and its president from conducting business with or receiving funding from the City and seek recovery from the delegate agency and its president for the approximately $56,000 in expenses the agency falsely claimed for reimbursement."
Delegate agencies are companies that are independent social service agencies funded by grants and supervised by the Department of Housing and Economic Development. They serve those in need. I guess they needed more for themselves personally than the community they were supposed to serve!
The IGO received 406 complaints in the quarter but had to decline investigating 311 cases “due to a lack of resources.” Since the office admits they don’t have the capability to investigate complaints, city employees will continue stealing time and money from the city. If one is certain they won’t get caught, they might as well be corrupt since it pays well…and there is little punishment, if any, when nabbed.
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