This bid was hidden from the posting process for a week. It is called fraud. It is called a Shakman violation. The job pays $97,760.04 base pay. The candidates considered will not need any special licenses. I was told this is for the sewer workers. In the old days you needed a real plumber's license to become a boss in the Chicago Water System. This job was called a District Foreman in the times of yesterday. The name was changed just after the Hired Truck Scandal. The City of Chicago does not need more guys making a hundred thousand plus dollars playing computer games. Is Mayor Daley going to get rid of the Water Department consultants? Election time is near folks.
June 8, 2010 Saul Charak has a long legal battle to return back to work that rested today. Saul was terminated from the City of Chicago for an alleged residency violation. Saul is a person that endured anti-Semitism for his entire tenure while employed by the City. Many City employees will never have a chance to clear their name or receive proper representation and return back to work. I overheard a conversation today in the Chicago Department of Human Resources that confirmed my suspicions; some people have greater access than others. Some former employees will wait longer and some former employees will suffer longer before the return to work. (If ever)
As you spend more time in court, you notice patterns and the way people act when they testify. You can observe nervous, scared, and confident witnesses. As someone that became involved in Saul misfortunes as of late, I decided to observe today's hearing. I was concerned because Saul is one of the most generous persons and helped many Chicago city employees when faced with troubled financial times. During Saul's employment with Chicago, he was ridiculed, teased, both physically and verbally tortured because he is Jewish. Saul also suffered because of his health concerns and his advanced age. As far as I can tell, I think the hearing officer was fair and impartial. I could also tell everyone was looking forward to wrapping up the hearing and just move on. Today, I noticed several things that were of great concern to me. Witnesses under subpoena did not show up to court, not just once but several times. The city has not been cooperative in producing witnesses in the past and now make defense lawyers jump through hoops to obtain city employees to testify. I find this an insult to the American justice system. Every witness should appear if a fired employee wants to get their job back. I also think all of these cases should be appealed to a real official judge, a sitting judge voted into office by the people. This setup is no different than the 400 west Superior hearing center that is ripe for a visit by the F.B.I.
In sworn testimony, it was very obvious the denials and lack of concern or responsibility given to Saul when he was attacked physically and verbally. The City of Chicago defense was to object when Saul provided proof. It really bothers me when bosses leave a worker to their own devices when physically attacked. I also do not like when responsible parties trained in the law wash their hands of supervisors ducking their responsibilities. The investigations are not transparent and leave the taxpayer's on the hook if challenged.
Chicago did not challenge a boss telling a Jewish subordinate, "blow out the fire in the ovens". This was according to sworn testimony by a witness, stunning. Another employee also testified to the best of his ability but was stopped continually causing him some confusion. After this man testified, I interviewed him in the hallway. He said, "They referred to him (Saul) as, "The Jew". He also said he was intimated and a little confused. He was upset because, "he was not able to talk about everything and the way you (he felt) feel". He also said, "They should have had a Spanish interpreter, but he did understand what they said". Under oath the following was general statements, "Saul was treated differently because his nationality, they were coming after him since 2008 and he was treated different. I wish Chicago's top journalists take the time to see what goes on at these hearings. Mayor Daley should investigate the way Jewish workers are treated by his Administration. Shame.
On another note, the bid for Chief Plumbing Inspector is going under much closer scrutiny, please call your clout (Madigan) and the 19th ward goons and tell them play stupid if the FEDS call. Several complaints were made regarding the bid process. In a video made last week, I told you who was going to get the job. How did I know? How do you ask? Same way Sneed finds out everything. Night!
Well not quite. Make sure you keep a close eye on the impending lawsuits against the Department of Water Management. Read the article by Fran Spielman. Click on the extended entry.
Bottling Lake Michigan water worth exploring, new commissioner says
But says city has no plans to privatize water system
Comments
June 8, 2010
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
Mayor Daley has "no plans" to privatize Chicago's water system, but bottling and selling the city's "exceptional" tap water is worth exploring, newly-appointed Water Management Commissioner Tom Powers said today.
"The quality of the water that the department puts out is exceptional. In some cases, it's better than bottled water," Powers said after his City Council confirmation hearing.
Asked if Chicago might someday bottle and sell Lake Michigan water, Powers said, "As far as how you go about doing that -- I don't know how practical that is. It's something you'd have to look at."
After holding the line on taxes in 2010 by draining reserves generated by the $1.15 billion deal that privatized Chicago parking meters, Daley declared his intention to continue the Great Chicago sell-off.
Speculation has centered on privatizing all or parts of Chicago's water system, including the Jardine and South filtration plants, city pumping stations, water billing functions or just the sewer system.
Some insiders believe Daley might have appointed Powers with marching orders to move the department at the center of the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals more aggressively toward privatization.
After the City Council's Budget Committee approved his appointment, Powers tried his best to shoot down the privatization talk.
"The people on the street and the people behind the desks at the Department of Water Management do an outstanding job. . . . There are no plans to privatize any of those functions," Powers said.
Aldermen who questioned Powers today had more mundane concerns than privatization.
They were focused on quicker restoration of Chicago streets after sewer, water and transportation projects are completed.
"I don't think a restoration job should sit for two years," said Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30th).
"I've got some e-mails I'm gonna hand you at the end of this meeting about [projects] that have been a year-and-a-half and not restored," said Ald. Ginger Rugai (19th).
Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said he hopes Powers will "accelerate coordination" between construction crews from the Departments of Transportation and Water Management after Powers spent the last 14 years at CDOT.
"The constituent just knows it's the city. They don't care who [tore up the street]. It needs to be coordinated. When someone does half of a job in the taxpayer's mind because it's not their work or it wasn't their cut, we've really got to figure out how to streamline that," Tunney said.
Mayor Daley ordered the dead folks at O'Hare removed so his great Airport expansion could continue. On June 26, 2010, Mayor Daley special contractors were dumping waste water on the graves of Chicago dead,, buried and looking for eternal rest. The entire area has hundreds of gallons of dirty and stinky waste water soaking into their gravesites. This has been going on time and time again. I have seen an absolute new low with Daley's contractors. I caught this contractor several times and nothing is being done. Where is Mayor Daley? Where is the Office of the Inspector General? Photo by Bruce "The Alderman" Randazzo. Who is watching the henhouse?
