Feds seize county hiring records

Feds seize county hiring records
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH, STEVE PATTERSON AND NATASHA KORECKI Staff Reporters
September 22, 2006
COPYRIGHT BY THE CHICAGO SUN TIMES


FBI agents raided at least seven Cook County offices Thursday morning looking for evidence that officials were illegally doctoring tests or otherwise cheating to give government jobs and promotions to politically connected applicants.

"Step away from the computers," one of the 25 FBI agents who massed at the county's Human Resources Department told employees. The agents arrived at 9 a.m. and stayed long past dark poring through records, taking some with them.

The raids came a month after a Sun-Times story quoted county department heads as saying former Cook County Board President John Stroger's patronage chief Gerald Nichols pressured them to hire clouted people for jobs in which political hiring was prohibited. And the raids followed several years of news reports detailing alleged corruption, mismanagement and patronage hiring in county agencies.

FBI agents also appeared at Stroger Hospital, Oak Forest Hospital, the downtown Cook County Forest Preserve offices, Provident Hospital, Cermak Hospital and the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center to serve subpoenas for records.

The subpoena served on the Forest Preserve District requested information on employees whose hires were supposed to be free from political influence, said spokesman Steve Mayberry.

County attorney Laura Lechowicz Felicione said the other subpoenas and the search warrant served on the Human Resources Department sought the same information, though she refused to provide copies.

Feds made house calls, too

But sources said the raids and the federal investigation center around Nichols and allegations of corrupt hiring and promotion practices under him. Nichols couldn't be reached for comment.

"We're looking for possible evidence of a crime," said FBI spokesman Ross Rice. The search warrant is tied to a criminal affidavit that is under seal.

In an Aug. 21 Sun-Times story, Eric Petraitis, a mid-level county Highway Department boss, said Nichols called him after Petraitis interviewed two candidates for a job and Nichols told him to hire the one who got the lowest score. That employee, Dwayne Robinson, is a close friend of Ald. Todd Stroger (8th), the Democratic nominee to succeed his father as County Board president.

Petraitis said he had been coached in earlier interviews with former Ald. William Krystiniak (23rd) -- personnel chief for the Highway Department -- to fudge test scores for the clouted, so Petraitis dummied up a new evaluation form for Robinson with higher marks. Robinson got the job. The story quoted other unnamed current and former county officials saying Nichols had made similar calls to them.

One county employee recently interviewed by federal agents said they asked questions about Nichols and his role in hiring. Questions also involved patronage allegations raised in recent newspaper stories, the employee said, but Nichols "was definitely the center of their attention."

Federal agents also visited some county employees at home Wednesday night, handing them subpoenas, sources said.

Many employees sent home

The feds also dropped a subpoena at the Juvenile Detention Center, where youthful offenders are held. Detainees claim they have been beaten by workers there. Critics say the facility is overseen by unqualified political appointees.

Late last month, County Board President Bobbie Steele moved Nichols out of her office, then put him on administrative leave pending an internal investigation, allowing him to continue to draw his $114,000-a-year salary.

Attorney Michael Shakman asked a federal judge to appoint a monitor to oversee county hiring, saying the Sun-Times story on Nichols and an earlier one last year on a "clout list" of county hires produced by Commissioner Roberto Maldonado's office proved the county was violating the "Shakman decree" against political hiring. Maldonado did not return calls Thursday.

County Human Resources Director Mark Kilgallon called employees into a staff meeting after FBI agents arrived and told most of them they could go home for the day. Since John Stroger suffered a stroke in March, Kilgallon has jointly overseen county hiring with John Stroger's niece, county budget director Donna Dunnings.

Nichols at work for Stroger

Kilgallon, of Morton Grove, has given almost $3,000 to support the 8th Ward's political activities, while giving more than $4,000 more to support the political campaigns of John and Todd Stroger. A seven-year county employee who makes $141,725 a year, Kilgallon declined comment while escorting a federal agent from one personnel office to another. Kilgallon has been active in John Stroger's political campaigns and once shared office space with Nichols.

Todd Stroger tried hard Thursday to distance himself from Nichols, a longtime friend and neighbor who has been active in Todd Stroger's campaign.

Nichols still serves as secretary of the 8th Ward Regular Democratic Organization John Stroger headed for years. Asked who's running the organization now that John Stroger suffered a stroke and moved out of the ward, Todd Stroger said "that would be me at this point," though he said because he's busy with his campaign, state Rep. Marlowe Colvin is leading many of the efforts.

"I haven't spoken to Gerald in a real long time," Todd Stroger said. "He's not been involved in the organization since his administrative leave."

But Nichols was at the 8th Ward office Thursday morning calling supporters to sell them fund-raiser tickets to an upcoming event, Todd Stroger's campaign confirmed.

Peraica: Stroger is lying

Todd Stroger's Republican opponent Tony Peraica says it's "a lie" that Nichols isn't helping Todd Stroger's campaign, pointing to Nichols' public appearances with Todd Stroger at the Bud Billiken Parade, the Independent Voters of Illinois endorsement session and other political events.

Peraica said federal investigators will find "a criminal conspiracy to deny the rights of well-qualified persons and applicants jobs that were instead given to the politically connected. ... Test scores were rigged. Applications were falsified in order to allow hiring of clearly unqualified individuals, some with criminal histories."

The federal investigation of Cook County hiring could have implications not just for Todd Stroger's ward but for other clout-heavy wards such as Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan's 13th Ward, the Lipinski family's 23rd Ward, county Commissioner John Daley's 11th Ward organizations and others that have had success placing people on the county payroll.

As federal investigators pursue similar investigations of corruption in the city and state governments, they also have focused on Tony Rezko, a major donor to John Stroger's campaigns who has several relatives on the Cook County payroll.

Contributing: Rummana Hussain and Fran Spielman