The Sun-Times continues its investigation into ex-cons being hired by City Hall today with a piece that counts 139 former offenders who have obtained jobs from the city in the past two years. Mayor Daley has long championed the practice of hiring people who have been convicted of crimes, believing that they've paid their debt to society and deserve a new lease on life. But this is Chicago and the list puts into question who some of these ex-cons know and if that influences their obtaining employment with the city. more ›

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has made clear that the county government needs to make tough cuts to balance a $470 million budget deficit. County Assessor Joe Berrios has complied by laying off 53 workers from his department. But readers familiar with Berrios' records should not be surprised that his sister, son and daughter were not among those laid off. And Berrios found room in his department budget to hire a woman who's long been rumored to have more than a professional relationship with him, as well as her son. more ›

By now we know that Joe Berrios has something resembling an enemies list. But what about those who he makes enemies of? Berrios's firings of former Assessor Jim Houlihan's staff and the hirings of others, including his son and sister, may be in violation of the Shakman Decrees. more ›

Less than a month on the job and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is tackling some of the problems her predecessor left behind. This week she met with state officials to try and sort out the mess that Stroger's infamous "zoo party", paid for with funds allocated to help county flood victims, left for her. more ›

Lots of ass-covering going on right now at the Illinois Department of Transportation regarding the employment of one Ralph Peluso. Peluso, aka "Curly" was hired two years ago by IDOT, despite being an alleged bookie for the mob and having his name brought up in the "Family Secrets" trial. Peluso, who is a former associate of Frank Calabrese, Sr., was named in more than two dozen pieces of evidence during that trial and was scheduled to testify against Calabrese, but changed his mind. more ›

City Colleges of Chicago received approval today to use $1.8 million in tax increment financing to take over the financially beleaguered Harold Washington Cultural Center in Bronzeville. The center, built on the site of the former Regal Theater, has long been plagued with cost overruns and accusations of patronage, nepotism, mismanagement and possible violations of federal tax law. more ›

Losing a county-wide election by a staggering margin, having one of his cronies arrested on fraud charges, these are the things that should leave a politician wondering how safe he might be in the eyes of both the public and prosecutors. But no, outgoing Cook County President Todd Stroger appears to be hellbent on making sure that people with political connections have a safe paycheck place to work. more ›

There might not be anything as un-sexy as water infrastructure. Which is probably why a year or two ago, you would probably have gotten blank stares if you had asked your neighbors about the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, a quasi-governmental agency responsible for dealing with the region’s water system. Despite its sizable budget, taxing powers, and massive impact throughout Chicagoland, MWRD has remained off of most people’s radar. But that has changed in a big way in 2010 as a series of high profile stories have shined a light in WWRD’s direction. more ›

In yet another shocking expose, it turns out that patronage workers (specifically those that are exempt from Shakman oversight) were given large pay raises between 2006 and 2009. Those workers, 28 forest preserve employees, had all contributed financially to the campaign funds of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger; his late father, former board President John Stroger; or the 8th Ward Regular Democratic Organization. more ›

Former Cook County patronage worker Tony Cole spoke to the press yesterday about his frustrations with how he's been treated by Todd Stroger, his friends and his family in the wake of the county's most recent hiring scandal. "President Stroger should have never fired me," Cole told the Sun-Times. "He wasn't my father. He wasn't my dad he just gave me an opportunity," Cole told ABC7. more ›

Tony Cole, the former steakhouse busboy that county board president Todd Stroger hired to a $60,000 a year county job in spite of his felony convictions for check fraud, is back in the news. According to an investigation conducted by the Sun-Times, Cole continued to get paid by the county for time his spent in jail (the Cook County jail, no less!) between Nov. 19 and Nov. 21. Cole was incarcerated for violating the terms of an order of protection against an ex-girlfriend. more ›

The Sun-Times dug up an obscure piece of testimony from Al Sanchez's corruption trial earlier this year. Referring to Jack Drumgould's statement that the Bureau of Electricity, part of the city's Department of Streets and Sanitation, was known as "Madigan Electric" because of many city workers connections to the state's House Speaker, the paper takes a closer look at campaign contributions to Mike Madigan from bureau employees. "In all, 16 employees of the bureau have contributed a total of $45,200 since 1997 to the speaker's 13th Ward Democratic Organization and to Citizens for Lisa Madigan, according to campaign records," the Sun-Times reports. more ›

Stepping in to do what Governor Pat Quinn has been unwilling or unable to, House Speaker Mike Madigan introduced legislation Thursday that would, in one fell swoop, terminate all political appointments who were nominated by the Governor between January 11, 1999 and January 29, 2009. To wit, the Officials and Employees Termination Act of 2009, HB4450,

Provides that the terms of office or employment of all designated officials and employees are terminated, by operation of law, effective on the effective date of the Act. The designated officials and employees are (i) the heads, assistant heads, and deputy heads of executive State agencies who were nominated by the Governor between January 11, 1999 and January 29, 2009 for a position that requires the advice and consent of the Senate, (ii) members of executive boards or commissions who were nominated by the Governor between those dates for a position that requires the advice and consent of the Senate, (iii) employees of executive State agencies or executive boards or commissions, whose employment in a Rutan exempt position began between those dates, (iv) employees of executive State agencies or executive boards or commissions, appointed to a term appointment between those dates, and (v) any other official or employee who was nominated by the Governor between those dates for a position that requires the advice and consent of the Senate.

While White House adviser Valerie Jarrett got a special ethics waiver to help out with Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid, Mayor Daley was busy dropping the hammer on public school principals for Olympic Week in America. The president of the Chicago Public Schools board, who is also a member of the Chicago 2016 Olympic committee sent an email out to city principals April 22, urging them to get their schools behind the bid. According to the Tribune, Board President Michael Scott sent out an email saying "I am requesting that you register your school for Olympic Week in America. Please take a few minutes to identify a staff person who can register your school." Scott's e-mail added that each school's participation would be graded as "gold, silver or bronze," and that activities to promote the city's Olympic bid include raising the Chicago 2016 flag at the school and including Olympic-themed activities in the classrooms. Scott's email said that one of his staffers would follow up with principals by phone. more ›

County Commissioner Tim Schneider tried to publicly ask Board President Todd Stroger about the ongoing Donna Dunnings-Tony Cole controversy last week. Stroger told Schneider that he's meet with him privately to answer any questions he might have. That meeting has yet to happen, the Sun-Times is reporting. more ›

Todd Stroger's figured out that he may be in some deep trouble come election day in Cook County. There are myriad reasons for this, from the exorbitant tax hikes we've suffered to the lack of quality county services we're ostensibly paying for, to the sheer arrogance of his administration as they've filled the county's payroll with friends and family while calling critics racists. But Stroger isn't worried about any of that, at least not if his latest series of personnel moves are any indication. To wit, Stroger personally hired convicted check-kiter and one-time steakhouse busboy Tony Cole. Cole, who was convicted of writing bad checks in Georgia, was hired as a $58,000-a-year administrative assistant in the budget department and later promoted to a $61,000-a-year human resources assistant posistion in the highway department. Stroger fired Cole when the Sun-Times revealed the conviction. Late last week Stroger fired his Chief Financial Officer and cousin, Donna Dunnings, because of "explosive" and "not flattering" allegations that Cole made, which Stroger felt would interfere with her ability to do her job. more ›

In a lawsuit that should come as a surprise to nobody, the Chicago Park District is being sued for switching Soldier Field's cleaning contract to a company that is owned by one of Mayor Daley's biggest fundraisers. more ›

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Robert Sorich's appeal of his 2006 conviction on fraud charges. Sorich, Mayor Daley's former patronage chief, was found guilty of rigging city hiring to give jobs to politically connected workers. Along with former Department of Streets and Sanitation official Patrick Slattery, and former Sorich aide Timothy McCarthy, Sorich's attorneys argued that since the men never took bribes or kickbacks, they couldn't be convicted of violating the "Honest Services" statute, which prohibits public employees from breaking the law for gain, even if it isn't personal gain. more ›

New allegations have come to light in the ongoing federal investigation of patronage and fraud in the awarding of contracts for the O'Hare Expansion Project. According to the Sun-Times, 45th Ward Alderman Patrick Levar's brother Michael is under investigation. According to the Bright One's sources, Michael Levar, who was Mayor Daley's point man on the project, is a "major focus" of the far-reaching investigation. He's suspected of working with Diamond Coring, a concrete cutting and paving company that is accused of operating a phony female-owned company, the Stealth Group Inc, or SGI. Diamond Coring has contributed nearly $12,000 to Ald. Levar in campaign funds. more ›

Citing a recent county ordinance encouraging contractors to give ex-convicts a second chance, two county employees with criminal records defended their jobs. James D'Amico is responsible for maintaining county buildings, and Myron Colvin is a grant writer for the county's scandal-plagued job training program. D'Amico pleaded guilty to making threatening phone calls during a charged political race in 1996, and Colvin pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault after a club fight in 1989. Both chalked it up to being young. more ›

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of four former Daley aides yesterday, including City Hall's former patronage chief Robert Sorich. "We concluded that the defendants actions do constitute mail fraud, and that the statute is not unconstitutionally vague as applied to the facts of the case," the three-judge panel said in its 29-page opinion. You can read the whole opinion here. (PDF) more ›

As promised, retired Cook County Judge Julia Nowicki spoke to the board of county commissioners yesterday about her most recent hiring report. Nowicki, who was appointed to oversee hiring practices as part of the patronage settlement with the county, told the board that she had "information about current illegal patronage," and that she is still receiving dozens of allegations of illegal patronage hiring. She also discussed the need to hire more staff for the county's HR department, saying that the lack of adequate staff has negatively impacted the county's ability to police itself. more ›

U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen, who has been overseeing the City of Chicago's compliance with hiring, awarded $3.6 million in fees to the lawyers who have been working on the matter for over a decade. Calling their work exemplary, Anderson pointed out that “without the expertise and efforts of plaintiff’s counsel, the plaintiffs likely would not have achieved any recovery,” according to the Tribune. more ›

Todd Stroger dismissed a 54-page report (PDF) on patronage yesterday. The report, filed last week by retired Cook County Circuit Judge Julia Nowicki, the federally appointed hiring monitor for the county, documents allegations by more than 220 people that illegal patronage practices occurred over two years ending February of last year. more ›

Convicted criminal and ex-City Clerk Jim Laski, fresh off his incarceration, has published a book about taking the fall in the Hired Truck scandal--and he says Mayor Daley knows more than he's letting on. Wait, wait, wait, hold the presses: Mayor Daley is intimately involved with scandal and patronage, but he'll deny it? Noooo. more ›

Corruption in Chicago has evolved, according to federal hiring monitor Noelle Brennan. According to the annual report Brennan released yesterday, blatant abuses and manipulation of the hiring system in the city is no longer a problem. But patronage has moved to "more subtle types of manipulations of the hiring process." Brennan has been the hiring monitor since August of 2005, when federal prosecutors uncovered a fraudulent hiring scheme that led to Daley's former patronage chief Robert Sorich in prison being sentenced to 46 months in prison. more ›