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!!!