Chicago Clout demands documents from the Department of Water Managment

March 9, 2017
Patrick McDonough

Office of the Attorney General
State of Illinois
Lisa Madigan, Attorney General
500 South Second Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706

Attention: Laura Harter, Assistant Attorney General
Re: Request for Review- 2017 PAC 46448

Thank you for your letter dated today. I have attached all documents for your reference
to save you time.

My response:
I am a member· of the press, registered with the Chicago Police Department. I have for
years attempted to obtain records from the Department of Water Management
(DOWM). The DOWM uses stalling tactics. The DOWM has been in the crosshairs of
several Federal investigations and several employees have been sent to jail. It is my
opinion; the same conduct and behavior is continuing. FOIA is to expose the secret
dealings and politics that control the DOWM.
If you go to my website, \V\V\v.chicagoclout.com you will see I am involved in several
stories that are of public interest. One is the death of an DOWM employee involved in a
cave-in. For almost two decades, I have reported official complaints to the Illinois
Department of Labor. A man is dead, his family will never see him again due to the
inactions of the DOWM and the IDOL, to make shoring a reality. I was also the victim of
safety violations at the DOWM. Nothing has changed.
Chicago taxpayers pay millions of dollars to injured city workers that cannot show up to
work due to negligence at the DOWM. Some injured workers are also subject to
retaliation depending on their politics or lack of politics. The DOWM has a “job search”
program with no clear-cut policies. My original request was for one month of these
searches so I can determine if the taxpayers are receiving a good “bang for the buck”. I
also want to make sure all injured workers are subject to the same rules and regulations.
I broke down the prior request to one week while I am waiting for your original ruling.
The weekly document total of that request is 24 pages submitted by injured workers.
Only six employees were required to submit weekly job searches per his FOIA response.
Mr. Litherland’s (FOIA officer of DOWM) document preparation math does not add up.
His time request is unsubstantiated. In this day and age, a public department with an
almost billion-dollar budget still using primitive paper management practices, seems
unlikely. The paperwork should always be made into a PDF, not faxed and stapled.
I was accused by Gary Litherland on “being on a fishing expedition”. Mr. Litherland also
wanted to release all 750 pages if I was willing to forego all supporting documents. I
want to have all documents to make a clear and concise report to the public. Gary
Litherland does not release documents in a timely manner. His department does not
have enough workers or his department is side stepping FOIA.
My requests will hopefully enlighten folks that have had unfavorable experiences in
workers’ compensation system run by Alderman Burke, the Chicago Committee on
Finance, and. the Department of Water Management. Thanking you in advance, I remain

Chicago Clout