County Ethics Board Recommends Assessor Berrios Fire Son, Sister
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jun 26, 2012 10:10PM
Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios
The Sun-Times obtained a copy of a recent report by the Cook County Board of Ethics recommending Berrios remove his son and sister from the Assessor's office payroll. Shortly after Berrios was elected Assessor in 2010 he hired his son Joseph "Joey" Berrios to a $48,000 per year job as a residential property tax analyst, and his sister Carmen Cruz as his $86,000 director of taxpayer services. Both Joey Berrios and Cruz received promotions and several pay raises since. (Berrios's daughter Vanessa also works in the Assessor's office, but was hired by former Assessor Jim Houlihan 12 years ago.)
The board found Berrios to be in violation of the County Ethics Ordinance which, among other things, prohibits elected officials and other county employees from hiring or directly supervising a relative. The Sun-Times quoted from the report:
“Maintaining the public trust and confidence of those that government serves, is a key component of being a fiduciary. The hiring and or employing of family members as County employees undermines this public trust,” according to the three-page report signed by Board of Ethics Chairperson Roseann Oliver. The report goes on: “Rather than promote an open and transparent governmental hiring process, this conduct promotes the opposite, a closed and opaque process.”
Berrios has long said he'd prefer hiring relatives because "they've got experience, and I'm hiring people with experience." You know, for when saying "fuck off" isn't enough. Which Berrios may be doing right now. The County Ethics Ordinance doesn't have the weight behind it to truly effect transparency in government. It can enforce a fine— in this case $10,000, one for each relative—but not much else.
Berrios told the Sun-Times his son and sister aren't going anywhere. "I’m not going to do anything until my attorney tells me what the hell I should do."