ChicagoClout

2009 flubs and fiascoes of Mayor Daley ANALYSIS | Privatizing parking meters, failing to win Olympic bid leave the mayor reeling December 27, 2009 BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter Mayor Daley has endured countless highs and lows in his 20-year reign, but the seesaw seemed to stop in 2009: It was one gigantic downer. The city's parking meter privatization fiasco drove Daley's approval rating to an all-time low -- and most of the $1.15 billion windfall was drained to fill a massive budget shortfall. Daley's Olympic dream went up in first-round flames. Chicago learned it's losing talk-show icon Oprah Winfrey, two major trade shows at McCormick Place and the $2.5 billion deal that would have privatized Midway Airport. One of Daley's staunchest City Council supporters was indicted after wearing a wire for more than a year. A former top mayoral aide was convicted. Another committed suicide. And the mayor's wife of 37 years suffered two more cancer setbacks. Between punches, Daley did manage to use a $25 million city subsidy to lure United Airlines to Willis Tower and a $16 million settlement with Bensenville to remove one of the last remaining obstacles to his massive O'Hare Airport expansion. He also celebrated 20 years in office. But even that milestone -- on April 4 -- passed with little notice. "I was surprised. I thought somebody would ask me a question on that," a visibly hurt Daley told reporters five days after the anniversary. The year began on a sour note for the mayor, with the city forfeiting $153 million in federal funds to create bus-rapid-transit service that would have sped the commute for thousands. Federal bureaucrats refused to grant a 13-day extension to approve one of the strings attached: congestion-reduction fees for downtown parking and deliveries. Then came a rare Daley retreat. In a city where the Blizzard of '79 buried then-Mayor Michael Bilandic, a City Council rebellion forced Daley to reverse a snow-removal policy that saw City Hall use less salt, plow side streets during normal working hours to avoid costly overtime and skip side streets altogether after minor snowstorms. Chicago turned into a national laughingstock when a 14-year-old police impersonator scammed his way into going out onto the streets with a real officer for five hours, even driving a squad car. Police Supt. Jody Weis called the incident "unforgivable" and "horribly embarrassing." The mayor was livid. The Daley shuffle continued with the appointment of CTA President Ron Huberman to replace Arne Duncan to head the city's schools. Before departing to become President Obama's secretary of education, Duncan had recommended his chief education officer, Barbara Eason-Watkins, as his replacement. Daley ignored the advice and picked Huberman, who had endeared himself to the mayor as the City Hall chief of staff who cleaned house after the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals. The City Hall version of musical chairs also shifted Aviation Commissioner Richard Rodriguez to the CTA. Huberman is an education neophyte. Rodriguez has no background in mass transit. Both moves exposed how thin the mayor's bench of trusted advisers had become. The mayor later also replaced his chief financial officer, chief procurement officer, budget director, inter-governmental affairs director and inspector general in 2009, along with the CTA Board chairman and commissioners of streets and sanitation, aviation, health, human resources, general services, fleet management and animal care and control. In March, years of globe-trotting -- in part to promote Chicago's ultimately failed 2016 Olympic bid -- came back to haunt Daley. The mayor and his wife were accused of taking multiple trips aboard a $31million jet owned by a nonprofit under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and Congress. Daley insisted he had no tax obligation from the trips. It wasn't long before the mayor was back in his defensive crouch. Former Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez, longtime head of the Hispanic Democratic Organization Southeast, was convicted of rigging city hiring and promotions to reward soldiers in the HDO army who campaigned for Daley and his handpicked candidates. Following an all-too-familiar script, the mayor read a statement apologizing for the rampant hiring fraud on his watch. But he refused to answer questions about politically damaging trial testimony -- which might be replayed now that a federal judge last week ordered a new trial for Sanchez. Fallout from the Sanchez verdict was nothing compared with the backlash that followed the 75-year deal that privatized Chicago's 36,000 parking meters. Steep rate increases that forced drivers to stuff their pockets with quarters would have been bad enough. But broken pay-and-display boxes and overstuffed and improperly calibrated meters made it even worse. No other issue during the Daley years -- not even the mayor's infamous midnight destruction of Meigs Field in 2003 -- has resonated more with Chicagoans than the parking-meter mess. For political opponents, it's the gift that keeps on giving, with pay-and-display boxes freezing up during a recent cold snap and another rate increase scheduled to take effect as 2010 begins Friday. Drivers vented their anger by vandalizing meters and boycotting on-street parking, punishing already-struggling local merchants. The issue saw aldermen run for cover from a deal they'd approved in record time. Daley defended it but acknowledged that City Hall botched a too-quick transition. Inspector General David Hoffman piled on by concluding that taxpayers would have been $974 million better off if the Council had raised rates by the same amount and kept the meters for the next 75 years. Chicago was deprived of an even bigger windfall when Daley's $2.5billion plan to privatize Midway Airport collapsed for lack of financing. That left taxpayers with a $126 million down payment but no apparent way to shore up underfunded city pensions that threaten to become a financial albatross for future generations of property owners. The Midway deal fizzled just as a burgeoning financial crisis triggered a dire warning: Without another round of unpaid furlough days for city workers and other union concessions, Daley would lay off 1,600 employees. All but three city unions ultimately agreed to the mayor's demand, reducing the number of pink slips to 431. With city revenues plummeting, the mayor also yanked off the table a five-year, 16.1 percent pay raise that police officers had deemed inadequate to begin with. Thousands of police officers chanting, "Daley sucks," marched around City Hall in a protest timed to embarrass the mayor during the International Olympic Committee's final visit to Chicago. Daley had more important things on his mind. His wife, Maggie, underwent a biopsy of a lesion on her spine, a sign that her 7½-year battle against metastatic breast cancer, which has defied the odds, had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. It would be the first of two major setbacks for Chicago's 66-year-old first lady. By year's end, she was temporarily using a wheelchair while undergoing radiation treatments for a malignant tumor in her right leg. Her health wasn't the only Daley family crisis. Federal subpoenas issued to city employee pension funds prompted the mayor's nephew Robert Vanecko to drop out of a risky real estate venture involving $68 million in pension funds. It wasn't soon enough for the mayor, who insisted that he had tried to get his nephew out of the deal nearly two years earlier, only to be ignored. The Daleys are a close-knit family, usually closing ranks at the first whiff of trouble. This was the first time the mayor had ever aired the family's dirty laundry in public. "I love my nephew. It's difficult for me to have my disappointment in him made public," the mayor said, offering an explanation that was difficult for many Chicagoans to swallow. An even tougher sell was the mayor's surprise promise in June to IOC members meeting in Switzerland. After repeatedly insisting that he would never put a blank check behind Chicago's Olympic bid, Daley offered to sign a host-city contract that amounted to an open-ended guarantee from local taxpayers. Blindsided by the mayor's promise and burned by the parking-meter deal, aldermen demanded another City Council vote. To insulate taxpayers and keep public support from hemorrhaging, Daley asked Chicago 2016 committee Chairman Pat Ryan to line up more than $1 billion in private insurance. And he ordered Ryan to hold a series of public hearings in all 50 wards. It worked. After extracting concessions, aldermen approved the blank check. That set the stage for what Daley hoped would be a "defining moment" in Chicago history akin to the Great Chicago Fire and the World's Columbian Exposition. The mayor's spirits soared even higher when President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey agreed to join Daley in Copenhagen for the final sales pitch to the IOC. On Oct. 2, thousands of volunteers jammed Daley Center Plaza for what they thought would be a celebration. Instead, Chicago suffered a knockout so stunning it took the city's collective breath away. The 2016 Games would be held in Rio de Janeiro. Chicago was knocked out in the first round of voting. After exhausting his political capital on the Olympics at the expense of higher priorities, the mayor had virtually nothing to show for it -- only 18 first-round votes. Daley returned home to face a $520 million city budget gap, a $300 million CTA shortfall and the continuing fallout from the horrific videotaped beating death of a Fenger High School student. Some wondered whether the Olympic debacle would mark the beginning of the end for Daley. They questioned his will to dive back into Chicago's toughest problems without the bonanza of federal funding, jobs and contracts that an Olympics would have provided. The mayor responded by showcasing a political resiliency that has long been underestimated. He threw more money and police officers at the vexing problem of youth violence, turned up the heat to end the stalemate over allowing more Wal-Mart stores and ribbed reporters for dancing on his grave. "You have my obituary already set. You've been writing that for years. ... I don't know why you already put me in the grave," he said. Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th) dug his own grave by allegedly accepting $40,000 in home improvements, meals and sports tickets from a West Side developer in exchange for zoning changes that netted the developer millions. But it was Carothers' decision to wear an electronic eavesdropping device that sent shock waves through City Hall. The alderman's wire has already led to charges against a Naperville businessman accused of trying to buy airport concessions. The Carothers bombshell paled by comparison with what happened Nov. 16. The body of Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott, a longtime and invaluable Daley confidant, was found face-down in a foot of water with a gunshot wound to the head in a lonely downtown spot along the Chicago River. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide. A shaken Daley accused her of grandstanding and jumping to conclusions. The police kept investigating. They ultimately reached the same conclusion. Months before committing suicide, Scott had been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating how students are chosen for admission to some of Chicago's elite public schools. Questions have also been raised about school expense-account spending and about his development deals, some conflicting with his role as co-chairman of Chicago 2016's Outreach Advisory Council. Scott's death left a giant void in Daley's shrinking inner circle and at the Board of Education, where budget troubles threaten to increase class size and force teacher layoffs, pay cuts and reduced pension contributions next year. Those painful choices were avoided this year after the mayor signed off on a $43 million school property tax increase. Daley managed to avoid tax and fee increases in the city budget only after nearly using up reserves from the parking-meter deal that were supposed to last for 75 years. He expected to be hailed for his foresight in helping Chicago avoid the tax increases and police layoffs faced by other deficit-ridden cities. Instead, he drew accusations of mortgaging the city's future. Winfrey -- for whom Daley closed North Michigan Avenue to make way for her 24th season premiere -- delivered a knockout punch as 2009 mercifully drew to a close. She announced that the 25th season would be the last for her Chicago-based show. She was pulling up stakes for sunny California to focus on her cable network. It was a painful but fitting end to a year that Daley would undoubtedly just as soon forget. (Response) I think Fran Spielman gave the knock out punch! WOW!!!

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December 26, 2009 Plumbers work hard, earn their pay While I agree with critics who say the city plumbing inspector accused of violating codes should be fired, why bring his salary into it? I am a union plumber and proud of my trade, though I've been laid off for 21 months. What do critics think is a fair wage? If I were working now my salary would be similar, though as a private-sector plumber I would not get paid holidays, sick days, vacation, etc. I am tired of people commenting negatively on our pay and charges for work performed. I and every other union plumber out there went through five years of apprenticeship, and we work very hard to earn that money, whether that's rodding out sewer systems, plumbing single-family homes or 95-story high-rises. We do the work that you don't want to or don't know how to. It's a skilled trade, and you pay for that skill. Without qualified plumbers and the plumbing inspectors, everyone's health could be put at risk through improper water connections or sewage disposal. Instead of complaining how much a plumber makes, next time thank him for providing safe drinking water for you and your family and for getting that razor out of your sewer that you flushed down the toilet so your home isn't backed up with raw sewage. Michael Hanley, Canaryville Doing the crime -- but no time Former Ald. Ed Vrdolyak gets caught trying to steal million-plus dollars. He gets a couple of football players to write the judge a letter. He walks. Former Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez, convicted of fraud in a City Hall hiring scheme, waits around long enough and finds a judge to reverse his conviction. City plumbing inspector James Kendrick, working without a permit and using city materials for free, gets his job back. A reputed made man in the mob, now behind bars, finds a judge who grants him the OK to go to a top-notch restaurant on Christmas Eve. My money says Blago walks. Any takers? Gary Odom, South Shore (Chicago Clout Responds) I hope you enjoy this Chicago Sun-Times Reader's response to the James Kendrick Story. The extent of the story goes far beyond what these comments write. I am sorry to report this Plumber really has no clue as to what is really going on regarding Plumbers and Plumbing positions in Chicago. The Chicago Plumber's Union has one of the worst unemployment rates for a "profession" in Chicagoland. Local 130's unemployment rate is about 85%. The dues and fees are in the thousands every year. James Sullivan a hack at best, rehired the same bunch of bust-outs to continue the corruption at the expense of the membership. In Chicago, there are no new Apprentices which might cause the termination of the do-nothing teaching staff. One of the guys writing into the Sun-Times assumes Plumbers in Chicago are trained to do the job; many of these licenses are bought like candy over the counter. Michael McGann, a famous Chicago Plumbing Inspector will walk us through the buying and selling of Plumbing Licenses in Chicago next week. There is a much greater problem with the Plumbing license law in Illinois than most people realize, so you might want to consider bottled water for your family in Illinois until the problem is resolved. The City of Chicago again should thank Fran Spielman for another story that goes deeper than meets the eye. Patrick McDonough

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Fired city inspector is back at work 'BETRAYAL OF PUBLIC TRUST' | His job was to bust people for working with no permit -- he did side job with no permit December 23, 2009 BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter A $93,840-a-year Chicago plumbing inspector caught doing a side job with no permit, city license or secondary employment form allowing him to perform the "side job" is back on his main job. The Human Resources Board, which is appointed by Mayor Daley, has overturned James Kendrick's firing and converted his punishment to a five-month suspension without pay, which he has already served. Kendrick returned to work Thursday for the first time since July 17. He refused to comment. The board agreed that Kendrick's behavior "warranted substantial discipline," but not the firing ordered by Buildings Commis- sioner Richard Monocchio, said Buildings Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey. "We felt justified in terminating him. This was a betrayal of the public trust. He's a plumbing inspector in the Troubled Buildings Bureau. He . . . knows that, in order to work, you need a permit," McCaffrey said. The Chicago Sun-Times reported last summer that Kendrick was installing a flood-control system for a homeowner in the 3500 block of North Octavia when he inadvertently broke the water pipe leading to the home. When Water Management investigators arrived, they found that the homeowner who hired Kendrick had not obtained a permit and that Kendrick did not have city licenses to perform the work. The violations were particularly egregious because Kendrick was assigned to a task force that busts people for working without permits. He was further accused of asking investigators for city-owned parts -- lead packs and copper -- to repair the broken pipe. Pat McDonough, one of the responding investigators, was "disgusted" by the board's reversal. "They have people engaging in criminal activity who come back to work, then they go after and fire people who don't have political clout," McDonough said, describing himself. "They destroy their lives, take away their pensions and force them to spend their pensions fighting to get their jobs back," he said. "It sends the wrong message to guys like us who put our lives on the line squealing on these guys. Why bother blowing the whistle or showing up in court?" McDonough helped blow the whistle on the Hired Truck scandal, got fired in 2005 for allegedly violating the city's residency requirement and was hired back after a city hearing officer reversed his firing. In between, there was explosive testimony at McDonough's hearing from a co-worker who claimed overtime was for sale at Water Management and that gambling was rampant on city time at city work sites. In the final ruling, hearing officer Carl McCormick described a work site "akin to a hellish nightmare" where bribery and bullying reigned supreme. He said it was "difficult to envision a worksite more indecent." The reversal of Kendrick's firing comes one week after an Office of Compliance survey showed Chicago employees report only half the incidents of misconduct they witness -- compared to two-thirds in other cities --because they don't think anything will change or because they fear retaliation. "It sends a horrible message to all city workers," McDonough said. Mayor Daley needs to figure out people are broke and tired of corruption in Chicago. Thank you again to Fran Spieman, she has a bright light and uses it!!!

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December 19, 2009. Mayor Daley looked very foolish and embarrassed Chicago in front of the whole world. CNN exposed the many Chicago school kids slaughtered on a "Daley" basis. Alderman Sandi Jackson was on CNN trying to put a crazy spin on this horrible situation. Sandi looked like Michael Jackson, and had a low cut dress that was not appropriate based on the tragedies Chicago School kids suffered. Alderman Jackson was bailing out Mayor Daley and her husband was not to be found. Sandi was correct when she stated the black male unemployment in her ward is about 60%. Barack Obama is enjoying himself in Hawaii despite the mess Daley has made in Chicago. Chicago needs to find out why our black youth are being killed in the street and everyone keeps quiet. Chicago is in huge trouble financially. If Chicago has bad winter, all hell will break loose by summer. I have said it here for years, black youth need jobs now; the kind of jobs the Daley family and friends get. It is time for Obama to stop with all the vacations and get back to work for America. Obama got his bad habits from Daley, the jetsetter. Photo by Patrick McDonough.

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Survey says Chicago city workers less likely to blow whistle on misconduct Todd Lighty Chicago city workers are less likely to report job-related misconduct than their counterparts elsewhere, largely because they don't believe the problem will be fixed and they fear retaliation from bosses, a new survey by Mayor Richard Daley's hiring compliance office reveals. The snapshot into City Hall work culture found that Chicago employees report only one out of every two instances of misconduct that they witness. Workers for other local governments, however, were more likely to disclose on-the-job wrongdoing, reporting two out of every three instances of misconduct. Anthony Boswell, the executive director of the mayor's Office of Compliance, said he is going to create new initiatives, including training programs, to address Chicago workers' concerns about being retaliated against. "If people think nothing will happen when they report misconduct or if people believe they will be retaliated against, then they are likely to say nothing," Boswell said. "We are going to work on that." Boswell said city workers need to be encouraged to report even mistakes that may not amount to misconduct and be assured they won't be punished. The survey also found that a paltry 17 percent of Chicago's workers believed they will be rewarded for following compliance and ethical standards. Boswell ordered the survey, which cost approximately $40,000. The survey took the pulse of more than 1,800 workers and was conducted in August and September by the Ethics Resource Center, a private, nonprofit organization. The survey's error margin is 2.2 percentage points. You can read the survey here. Other highlights include: * Eighty-one percent of Chicago's workers said the primary reason they don't bother reporting misconduct is because they believe nothing will be done about it. Of those who reported misconduct, 26 percent said they were retaliated against. * Only 62 percent of Chicago's workers believe City Hall has a strong culture of compliance and integrity. That's far below that of workers for other local governments from around the nation, where, overall, 80 percent believed they have a strong, ethical work culture. * The most likely misconduct witnessed by Chicago workers involved abusive behavior, 27 percent; lying to employees, 21 percent; discrimination, 20 percent; hiring violations, 15 percent; and conflicts of interest, 15 percent. * Chicago's workers were less likely to report hiring violations, sexual harassment, and on-the-job abuse of email and the Internet. * The survey found that 93 percent of city workers were aware of the Office of Compliance, which Daley created in 2007 to promote ethical conduct. But workers surveyed said they were less likely to seek guidance from that office than from other city resources.

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The Chicago Park District has a wonderful musical program at Green Briar Park and Warren Park. December 11, 2009 was the first performance for my son Patrick, a gifted young guitar player. I am happy Patrick will join the musical program very soon. Cutbacks in the Chicago Park District are very short sighted. These music programs are great for unity and fellowship for people of every background. The Music Instructor was Emery Joe Yost and the Park Supervisor was Timothy Gibson for the evening program. When I was a young lad, I was part of the City Wide Youth Orchestra, as a bass player. Money spent on these programs is well invested, they teach kids to work together and understand teamwork. Green Briar Park is located at 2650 West Peterson. I look forward to covering more of these concerts. One of the best parts of the show was watching ll the proud parents. Photo by Patrick McDonough

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Quid Pro Quo in the Cook County Court System. Many people are scratching their heads when they see an admitted crook like fast Eddie Vrdolyak, walk away from a fair sentence for his violation of truth, justice, and the American way. When anyone goes in front of a court room, they invest time, money, and effort to persuade a judge and jury to their side. Many people cannot afford justice, but they feel so strong about an issue they are willing to go into debt to clear their name. Understanding the basics of how the Cook County Judicial System works can help you into making a decision into having a lawsuit or not. You must remember, many of the Judges feel they are perfect, keep the blindfolds on, and dispense justice without err. Phooey. The cold reality is the Quid Pro Quo, favors, backslapping, paybacks, or as we say on my website Clout, Chicago Clout. One of the ways to combat this is to become educated, informed, and diligent in your efforts to make sure you have an equal chance to have the law upheld. Many judges should remove themselves from cases, but they do not. Human nature is to side with those who helped us, and there lies the problem. I started thinking about this when I received a call from David Glowacz, a bright journalist whom accused me of being a journalist. My content might be accurate and interesting, but to become a real journalist is to learn the behind the scene rules that are the icing on the cake. Just like a court room, the real deals are made behind the judge's chambers. I want you to know I do believe in our system of laws, but we need to find a way to remove politics and favors. A great example is Judge Clare Elizabeth McWilliam, a judge with a great Irish name; she is from the north side of Chicago. I politely called her clerk Virginia and talked to a Jim from her office. Well I just got a message from her clerk Virginia and found out the great indignation of not receiving a call from the judge to discuss matters that concern the public. The judge was too busy, and then through the grapevine I found out Clare did not want to be on my cable show. Remember when a friend coughed into their hand and said B.S."? I was going through Clare's Itemized Expenditures for her campaign to become judge. I want to "Clarify" why certain political operatives show up time after time. I wanted to know what the going rate to become a judge was and what is expected from Chicago unions and local politicians to finance their campaigns. I wanted to know what the going rate is to get signatures on a cook county ballot, is the old rate of a dollar per signature fair, or is the current rate of two or three dollars inline. Many real Chicago Journalists might not want to tackle this issue, but now is the time and place. Look at all the players and political operatives that had something to do with Judge Clare Elizabeth McWilliams's campaign, what do they expect, justice? Patrick McDonough.

Posted by at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Mayor Daley is going to the Bathroom. Mayor Daley steps into a car. Mayor Daley washes behind his ears. Mayor Daley's wife talks to low income kids in the ghetto. Mayor Daley takes charge. Mayor Daley changes everything that needs changing. Mayor Daley robs Peter to pay Paul. Mayor Daley sits in a highchair. I am wondering what the heck in going on in Chicago as of late. Lots of puff and minor stories of no consequence. It seems the Chicago media is under strict orders to make Daley look like he is doing something. I will let you know what is really going on so you do not walk around stupid. You, the dope with the silly look like you just got a tax bill. Daley is lowering a head tax. So what, it does not change anything. It is peanuts. Daley is going to fix McCormick Place. McCormick Place is supported by Chicago taxpayers with many fees. You already pay for McCormick Place. Daley is going to fix the budget on the backs of Chicago City Workers. The days off with no pay are making the list of work fall further behind. The work load in the Chicago Water Department is fallen so far behind, Daley will hire private contractor to make up the work this winter. City workers will be asked to work on Sundays for double time off. That means the workload will fall further behind if they refuse. Many City workers will not work in the freezing cold for time off, would you? To pick up the work load, Mayor Daley hired private contractors to mark and locate pipes underground. Many times they are mismarked and Mayor Daley does not charge the company for the mistakes they make. Many City workers are leaving the jobsites early and swiping out near their homes. The Chicago Inspector General does nothing. The Department of Water Management does not care. This action is hours stolen from the Chicago Taxpayers. Chicago private contractors are working with no supervision at all. Example, Mayor Daley sent work crews to repair basins that were cemented over and blocked. It caused a funeral home to almost flood. Mayor Daley brags of the improvements to the streets, but the contractors pave over broken water mains. Chicago City workers stand around doing nothing in almost every department while Daley sends the work to private contractors. The Daley family is hiding family in other countries while they wait for favorable legal rulings. Mayor Daley is hiding Patrick Daley in Russia after Patrick Daley served his country in sensitive positions in the U.S. Army. Do you really think the KGB did not sit him down when he wanted to do business in the former USSR? The bottom line is going to be the weather to decide Daley's fate. If Chicago has a rough winter, Daley is in lots of hot water. The teamsters were smart to not accept the crazy work rules dumped on the other union workers. Not one union reduced dues despite many workers taking a $20,000.00 per year pay cut. Daley is taking money from the sale of assets and handing the peasants little bits of cheese. Chicago is in trouble, big trouble. Illinois is in trouble, big trouble.

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If you check the latest bids for the City of Chicago you will not find a group of 14 jobs as Construction Laborers. Many people in Chicago are out of a job. Unskilled jobs like Construction Laborer are prized for those that are not educated. This is an entry for political connected for sons and daughters of those who oiled the Daley political machine. The current bid is bid announcement No. 0880900011 It is an internal bid to give these jobs to a few chosen so they can keep their jobs that might be eliminated soon. These jobs pay $35.20 an hour for anyone that can pick up a bag of dirt. A physical test to determine the eligibility needs to independently overseen. Why would I say that? Just a few years back a lady with several children was hired for the job and then tested after a few weeks on the job. She injured herself in the test area behind 39th and Ashland and thus the City of Chicago was on the hook for a nice workman's compensation claim. The idiots at the department never used my photos for evidence of a false claim. The last bunch of laborer hires was directed towards minority and women. The result was several hires that cannot do the job and are placed in cozy arrangements. It is unfair to place laborers in desk jobs when they should earn taxpayer's money digging hole and unloading trucks outside. It is time to hire clerks to work inside the office at reduced pay, Chicago is broke. If you want a nice City of Chicago job making $70,000.00 a year you have until tomorrow. If you were not made aware of this posting, get all your unemployed friends together and I will help you file another lawsuit against Mayor Daley and the City of Chicago. Click the underlined below for the Sun-Times Story. Picture by Patrick McDonough Pictured is Charles Walker. City Hall hit again for delays in reporting hiring violations December 6, 2009 BY LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporter ldonovan@suntimes.com The court-appointed monitor tapped to clean up hiring practices at City Hall has issued another stinging report detailing "the most significant instance" yet of city foot-dragging when reporting apparent violations of federal rules. In her report filed Friday in federal court, Noelle Brennan criticizes Mayor Daley's Office of Compliance for many delays in filing a final report detailing a 2008 investigation into a deputy human resources commissioner's alleged violations of hiring rules. The commissioner was later fired for a different hiring violation, Brennan said. "The problem is simple -- the Hiring Plan requires that hiring violations and irregularities get reported -- [the Office of Compliance] failed, repeatedly, to do so,'' Brennan wrote. "This is not the first time our office has received misinformation from the City; however, it is the most significant instance.'' Brennan is charged with monitoring the city's compliance with the federal Shakman decree barring using political considerations to determine who gets hired or promoted for many city jobs. She said a final report on the commissioner's case was necessary to provide a "record of the violation ... create a precedent for future corrective actions, [and] prevent the employee from being rehired at some later date.'' The monitor singled out compliance executive director Tony Boswell and another compliance manager for criticism. City officials said Boswell was not available for comment Saturday, but Mark Meaney, first deputy director of the office, said a clerical error may have touched off this criticism. The word "draft" appeared on a report submitted to the monitor and others, but the label should have been removed because it was actually the final report, Meaney said. "We have enjoyed a close working relationship with the monitor, and we have a lot to learn from her, and we accept her constructive criticism," Meaney said. "We know we have made mistakes along the way, for which Executive Director Boswell has apologized."

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