Aldermen Take One Step Forward on Oversight

By Kevin Robinson in News on Mar 24, 2010 2:00PM

Aldermen moved forward yesterday on a plan that is part of Mayor Daley's plan to get the city out from under federal hiring oversight, with a key committee signing off on the mayor's proposal to put his Office of Compliance out of business. (Daley put the Office of Compliance together in late 2007, telling reporters then that “I know there have been many questions raised about whether this office will compete with the inspector general. … At its core, this department is about assuring that the city is complying with the many local, state and federal requirements.”) The measure will send five Office of Compliance staffers over to the city's Inspector General, and give the IG more funding and authority over hiring. The mayor hopes this move will get federal monitors (including Federal Judge Wayne Anderson) off his back about patronage in Chicago.

But aldermen still aren't too excited about the other part of Daley's proposal - to give the IG authority to investigate corruption and wrongdoing in the City Council. 50th Ward Alderman Bernie Stone has been especially outspoken about the change. “That would mean the executive branch would control the votes of the aldermen. That’s the same type of power J. Edgar Hoover tried to get over Congress [so he could] use that power to blackmail Congress,” Stone said earlier this year. Under former inspector general David Hoffman, the city IG started an investigation into vote fraud in the 50th Ward after being tipped off following Stone's narrow 2007 runoff re-election over challenger Naisy Dolar. That investigation ended with Cook County prosecutors charging Stone’s 50th Ward Supt. Anish Eapen with official misconduct, including absentee ballot fraud and mutilation of election materials. Stone has previously threatened to "wipe [the] entire office [of Inspector General] out of the budget."