Another day goes by and the Chicago Office of the Inspector General is shortchanged by the Daley mob clan. I reported a long time ago, the Commissioners of Daley's Administration have the power to stop an investigation by the OIG. Simply put, if the OIG busts another one of Daley's rats getting a promotion, stealing, and acting illegally, the investigation is shut down. I cannot tell you how many reports we made to clean up city hall and nothing was done. The FEDS have allowed Daley and his goons to keep ripping off the public. Despite the fact the OIG insists employees report corruption, employees are finding out the Office of the Inspector General is a front. I am already on the record demanding the complete independence of the OIG, period. I personally saw confidential OIG reports on the desktops of Water Department employees. By why waste taxpayer's money investigating when the fix is in? It only invites retaliation. All of us at the Municipal Advocate General are working to improve the working conditions of city employees and taxpayers. Get involved in this election soon, Chicago is in dire straits, thanks to Daley and his crooked friends. Patrick McDonoughCity watchdog says cuts threaten independence
Jan 15, 2011 02:36AM
It looks like his successor is having similar problems.
In a cover letter attached to his latest quarterly report, Inspector General Joe Ferguson went public with his "continued difficulty in exercising independent authority to operate and manage" his office.
Ferguson wants to restructure his office "without additional resources" to do more audits–like those that targeted Chicago's minority business program, suggested budget-cutting alternatives and accused Daley of leaving nearly $1 billion on the table when he privatized Chicago parking meters.
According to the letter, Daley offered "verbal support" and wrote the reorganization into his final budget only to block Ferguson from filling 16 openings in his 77-employee office. The 20 percent vacancy rate rises to 25 percent when mandatory furloughs are factored in.
"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," Ferguson wrote.
"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. The lack of a budget floor and independent spending authority places the functional integrity of the IGO's essential operations and independence at risk."
Mayoral press secretary Jacquelyn Heard said the unfilled vacancies in the inspector general's office are "no more prevalent" than they are in any other city department during these challenging economic times.
"We all have had to cut back and do more with less. It just sort of challenges us all to be better managers," Heard said.