The Tribune calls many of City Inspector General Ferguson's suggestions "politically poisonous," and they definitely are -- but at least he's thinking outside the box. more ›

We wonder if city Inspector General Joe Ferguson wakes up every morning cursing having to go into work. The man who heads the city department charged with rooting out waste, corruption and mismanagement in city government and improving its effectiveness and efficiency must have to look at his job as a Sisyphean endeavor some days. more ›

The suicide of former Metra chief Phil Pagano and the subsequent revelations regarding his finances could have something of a silver lining to them. The General Assembly, working with the Better Government Association, RTA and good-government lobbyists, passed legislation establishing an Inspector General for the transit authority that oversees CTA, PACE, and Metra. more ›

Just a few weeks after the news that Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios hired his son and sister, county Inspector General Patrick Blanchard and ethics board chief MaryNic Foster have issued a two-page "advisory" cautioning against hiring family members. While the report was not aimed directly at Berrios, the timing of the advisory, along with the fact that Berrios was among the recipients of the memo has forced Berrios's office to defend the hiring. more ›

With Christmas just around the corner, City of Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson is urging a total ban on city workers accepting gifts from contractors with business before the city. The recommendation comes as Ferguson releases a report detailing gifts accepted by Department of Transportation employees including meals, golf outings and sports tickets. According to the report, department contractors spent more than $10,000 on gifts for more than 40 employees over a two year period ending in December of 2008. more ›

Mayor Daley is taking credit this afternoon for an audit into the mileage reports of the Fire Department's Fire Prevention Bureau. The audit conducted by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, showed that nearly 80 percent of the bureau's 108 drivers falsified mileage claims that Ferguson estimates cost taxpayers "thousands of dollars" in 2009 alone. more ›

Almost six months after voting to create a watchdog post in the City Council, aldermen have finally finished establishing a commission to pick the person that will hold the post. Five people have been invited to join a panel to pick three candidates for the job. The city council will then vote on which candidate becomes the legislative IG. more ›

By a 28-17 vote, the City Council approved a plan to hire their own inspector general to oversee aldermen and their employees. But the plan approved is being called "watered-down": for an investigation to begin, a sworn complaint must be signed by the accuser and approval must be given by the City's Board of Ethics. In fact, no one's happy about the whole thing. From the Sun-Times: more ›

In a series of closed-door meetings, Mayor Daley's lobbyist and Chicago's Inspector General, Joseph Ferguson, met with Aldermen to lobby for an ordinance that would give the IG authority to investigate the city's legislators. According to an investigation by the Tribune, Ferguson and Joan Coogan, head of the mayor's Intergovernmental Affairs office met in small groups last week with aldermen to push the ordinance. more ›

When Mayor Daley first appointed a former federal prosecutor to the Inspector General office five years ago in the wake of scandals such as Hired Trucks, he probably thought of it more as a gesture than anything that might bring about real problems for him. Boy, was he wrong. Since then, there's been a lot of tension between the City and the IGO as the IGO has done their job and kept after the city. In the latest development of this ongoing battle, the Inspector General's Office is taking the City of Chicago to court in an effort to get access to documents and records pertaining to a 2006 no-bid contract award. Our media crush Carol Marin has the details at the Sun-Times: more ›

David Hoffman, the city's Inspector General who has tussled with Mayor Daley many times in the past, is stepping down from his position to make a run at the U.S. Senate. The Sun-Times has a list of some of Hoffman's biggest battles with Daley, the most recent being the parking meter deal that Hoffman claims cost the city almost a billion dollars. more ›

Mayor Richard Daley said Wednesday that City Inspector General David Hoffman has "done a very good job"; and can stay on for another four-year term "if he wants to". "He hasn't stepped on any toes. He just does his job," said Daley. "I don't know why you say he's stepped on toes. He does his job. Rightfully. And that's what his authorization is. He's done a very good job. Yes. He's been very good. Yes. He's done a good job. I've always said that." more ›

The audit of a Chicago Health Department warehouse revealed that nearly $1 million's worth of drugs had either expired or disappeared, due to shoddy record-keeping and/or lax security. The warehouse on the Near North Side stored medicines, vaccines, birth control, antibiotics, condoms and baby formula, but nothing harder than that. The city lost its license to handle harder drugs last year for the same reason: poor record-keeping. more ›

It looks like more people are tattle-telling on Cook County employees. The Sun-Times reports that investigations into misconduct by county employees have spiked this year, with 44 new investigations between July and September. There were only eight new investigations during that same time last year. Joseph Price, the county's former inspector general who was replaced this month, began a total of 91 new investigations so far this year. more ›

The jury in alleged mobster Anthony Calabrese's trial may hear an audio tape of him beating the living the shit out of someone, even though he's on trial for armed robbery. The Sun-Times got ahold of a transcript of the tape, and it really reads like a scene right out of The Sopranos. Except the curses are blacked out. [S-T] more ›

In a 43-6 vote, the Chicago City Council voted to create a new Office of Compliance to police city hiring. Critics have charged that the new office will compete with, and therefore undermine the effectiveness of, the city Inspector General. Daley lauded the vote while reassuring critics, telling the Tribune, "it is the primary responsibility of the inspector general to investigate allegations of misconduct. ... At its core, this department is about assuring that the... more ›

You know, all these food posts today made us hungry around the offices. If they've done the same for you, here's some reading material for you while you we ourselves a plate of something. Just the kind of publicity BP needs right now. The source of an oil leak that made its way to Munster, Indiana's storm sewers Monday night was one of BP's seeping, inactive pipes. In addition to jurors getting to view... more ›

The Mayor's Office and the Office of Inspector General have differing opinions on who should monitor city hiring practices. A newly signed deal ensures Illinois is Pepsi country for the next ten years. Albertson's, the parent company that owns Jewel Food stores, is one of the supermarket companies involved in the recall of botulism-tainted French-cut green beans. When the statewide indoor smoking ban goes into effect in January, the "cigar-at-a-steakhouse" dudes might have to... more ›

- Our Litigious Society: Cook County resident Jose Trujillo files a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the company and exclusive wireless carrier AT&T misled iPhone buyers by not clearly informing them that the iPhone battery was sealed, and could only be professionally replaced. - It's Called the Hippocratic Oath: Atheist and agnostic doctors are as likely to provide care for the poor as religious physicians. - A Chicago firefighter is accused of criminal sexual... more ›

Just as Arne Duncan announced that Chicago Public Schools has to delay decisions about its budget until the cracker jacks in Springfield stop embarrassing the hell out of their constituents, he got some bad news: The Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Board of Education is recommending that the state board of education pay back $16.8 million in federal funds CPS may have misused. The feds aren't really saying that CPS didn't need... more ›

While we've been busy enjoying the nice weather over the weekend, and trying to get back in the groove this week, lots of other newsworthy stuff has happened here in the City by the Lake. Let's take a look back at everything that's happened so far this week: Daley Picks a New Chief of Staff; Local Press Makes Bad Sports Jokes. As Daley promoted Ron Huberman to try and save the CTA's ass, he's tapped... more ›

Mike Quigley would have you believe that he supports good government for Cook County. He came into office in 1998, the lone reformer on the bloated and corrupt board. By his second term, he found brotherhood: joining forces with Forrest Claypool, Larry Suffriden, and Tony Peraica, they managed to form an alliance and win some victories against John Stroger's Machine. In 2005 he threw his hat in the ring to challenge the former County Board... more ›

Chicagoist wants you all to go to this story and look at the expression on CTA Board President Carole Brown's face as she rides a bus this February. Classic. The picture accompanies an article detailing Brown's plan to have the CTA's Office of Inspector General do an audit to see if buses and trains are cleaned as often and thoroughly as they should be. At a board meeting Wednesday, Brown was given the party line... more ›

Has Cook County politics become so cynical, so corrupt, and so arrogant, that it just doesn't matter anymore? If recent calls for an investigation of $500,000 that is "missing" from the county budget are any indication, we have to wonder if there is a light at the end of the tunnel for both taxpayers in Cook County and the people that use the services that the county finances. Tony Peraica, the Republican that was supposedly... more ›

Yesterday, County Board President candidates Todd Stroger (D) and Tony Peraica (R) both promised to cut county jobs. Stroger, the front runner and front man, won’t give any specifics other than saying that the County is top-heavy and could use some consolidation. Oh yes, he uses the favorite political chestnut of auditing the books in order to make a decision. Peraica proposes to make cuts of about 4,000-5,000 jobs through attrition and consolidating the County’s... more ›

As you know, last week the Inspector General, who we will henceforth be referred to as Inspector Gadget due both to the close approximation of some of the letters and our affable immaturity, set up a hotline so people can call in when they suspect city corruption. Or, you know, when they just feel like talking. Oh, hell, they’ll make something up if they have to—they just want to be loved! more ›

Yesterday Chicago’s Inspector General, David Hoffman, announced a new hotline and secure website for tipsters who want to rat out their fellow city workers engaging in corrupt practices and illegal patronage. Hoffman said when he arrived on the job six months ago the office lacked the technology and expertise to properly handle such issues. But now a quick call to 866-IG-TIPLINE (448-4754) or a visit to ChicagoInspectorGeneral.org is all it will take for city workers to turn in their peers. more ›

Chicagoist has previously discussed how working for the Department of Water Management seems to be a non-stop party. From fat overtime checks to gambling during work and drug rings, the Water Department is the place to be! more ›

The George Ryan trial resumed yesterday after a holiday break, and the prosecution continued to try to convince the jury that Ryan is a money loving sellout who used the Secretary of State and governor’s office to line his pockets with wads of cash. Yesterday former state prosecutor and Patrick Quinn testified that when Cook County State's Attorney Jack O'Malley offered suggestions of how Ryan could clean up corruption in the secretary of state’s... more ›

Okay, so not yet, but there will be. more ›