Judge orders monitor to oversee hiring

August 3, 2005

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Legal Affairs Reporter
 

Days after one Chicago city official pleaded guilty and admitted that political hiring is a way of life at City Hall, a federal judge Tuesday took the drastic step of appointing a monitor to oversee the city's hiring.

While he was very polite to City Corporation Counsel Mara Georges, U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen lamented how "disappointed" he was and what a sense of "violation" he felt after years of being assured by city attorneys that they had cleaned up hiring at City Hall.

The monitor, Noelle Brennan, will issue a report Sept. 6 recommending what action Andersen should take. The judge could ultimately take the "radical" step of having the monitor sign off on every hire the city makes, he said.

Daley's solution on hold

In the meantime, city officials should provide Brennan with any documents she asks for and cooperate with her, Andersen said.

"We are pledging our full cooperation with the monitor," Georges said.

The appointment puts on hold, at least for the moment, Mayor Daley's plan to outsource city hiring. "I don't believe we will do anything without checking with the monitor," Georges said.

'We've been burned'

Before Andersen ruled, Georges -- who still argued Tuesday that corruption in city hiring is "isolated," not "pervasive" -- asked the judge to hold off on any ruling for 90 days while the city drafted a "revised hiring plan."

Roger Fross, attorney for Michael Shakman, whose lawsuits led to the Shakman Decree against political hiring, asked the judge not to give the city any extensions.

"I'm afraid we've been burned a couple times here, and that's enough," Fross said. "This is the most serious violation in the life of the case and that's saying something because this case has been around since 1969. The problem is not in procedure or rules or plans, it is the culture of patronage."

Andersen, who has presided over the case for the past five years, agreed, even though the U.S. Attorney's office had likewise asked for a 120-day delay because prosecutors don't want attorneys in the civil case taking statements from witnesses that could complicate the criminal cases against city officials.

Andersen said he appreciated prosecutors' concern, but, "I'm not willing to just sit here and let time pass without addressing the problem."

'No good . . . looking backward'

His compromise was to give Brennan marching orders to make recommendations on how to fix the city's hiring "looking forward. No good, at least at this point, is going to be done by looking backward."

Brennan is a former official of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who worked on the sex harassment suits against Mitsubishi and Dial soap.

'I'm not willing to just sit here'

Some courtroom remarks from U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen:

"The sense of violation that anybody who loves this city has is almost overwhelming . . ."

"I think both of us [the judge and Michael Shakman] are disappointed in ourselves for taking at face value the representations made to us . . ."

"I suppose I hope the deepest disappointment is felt by the elected officials of the city of Chicago, not only in the [alleged misrepresentations about] hiring and promotion but the basic dishonesty in dealing with the court . . ."

"I'm not willing to just sit here and let time pass without addressing the problem."

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