Category Archives for ‘Corruption’

Chicago is often called “The City that Works,” but according to a report by Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman, that title should not necessarily include the city’s sanitation department.

It only takes a quick review of the day’s headlines to know it’s going to be another bad, bad day for Mayor Daley, who is on the cusp of releasing a city budget that is an estimated $420 million in the red.

Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: Trashing the taxpayers

For years, the Daley administration has used city jobs in Streets and Sanitation to reward political workers. The bloating comes with a price, and now we know it — about $21 million a year. That, according to the inspector general’s report, is the total when you add up the money spent on the city wages for no work, plus other lost savings.

That’s $21 million Chicagoans pay every year for nothing.

Chicago Tribune: Your tax dollars at work

Like his father, he has bought labor peace during his 19-year tenure, in part by not demanding an end to such wasteful nonsense as the three-man garbage crew; many suburbs deploy one-man trucks. Now comes elaborate proof that the mayor’s garbage operation is a costly scam on taxpayers… With budget dollars tight and taxpayers furious with every level of government, maybe Daley finally will attack systemic cheating like this rip-off by garbage workers. He’ll never have a better excuse to downsize these three-man crews.

Shockingly (NOT!), union leaders are already crying foul, offering up a conspiracy theory that claims Mayor Daley is in cahoots with the Inspector General in an attempt to justify cutting sanitation jobs before Daley’s big red budget release.

Chicago Sun-Times: Garbage crews ‘paid to do nothing’ city surveillance finds

Lou Phillips, business manager for Laborers Union Local 1001, said it’s no accident that Hoffman issued his report at a time when hundreds of laborers are targeted for layoffs to ease a budget crunch.

“Sounds a little bit like a witch hunt to me. They’re laying off 1,080 people. Over 300 are members of Local 1001. Read between the lines,” he said. “It could be a downed truck. It could be between loads. There’s a number of different situations” that could cause down time.

Downed truck. Truck between loads. Right, right, right…

Read the full report for yourself- and prepare to be disgusted.

Category: Corruption | Comments »

Nothing is more disappointing than when a public official believes they are above the law and abuses the public trust. That is exactly what happened with Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. His decision to lie under oath and to continue to deny it has cost the taxpayers of Detroit thousands of dollars and brought shame upon every elected official in Michigan. I hope the stiff penalties that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is facing will serve as a warning to other elected officials that it is better to tell the truth than lie to the American people.

If you would like more information about this item I have posted an article about the subject.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who will lose his job because he lied while under oath at a police whistle-blower trial, has just pledged to tell the truth as he prepares to admit his guilt as part of a plea deal he just struck with the Wayne County Prosecutor.
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The deal calls for Kilpatrick to plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice by committing perjury, agreeing to serve four months in jail, pay up to $1 million in restitution, and serve five years’ probation. He also agreed not to run for office during that five-year span.

The mayor will turn over his state pension to the City of Detroit, which paid $8.4 million to settle two whistle-blower lawsuits three former cops filed against the city. The mayor was charged with eight felony counts ranging from conspiracy to perjury to misconduct in office to obstruction of justice after the Free Press revealed that the mayor lied on the witness stand during a police whistle-blower trial and gave misleading testimony about whether he intended to fire a deputy police chief investigating allegations of wrongdoing by members of his inner circle.

In a rushed monotone, Kilpatrick told the court: “I lied under oath in the case of Gary Brown and Harold Nelthrope versus the city of Detroit … I did so with the intent to mislead the court and jury, to impede and obstruct the disposition of justice.”

Click here to read the rest of the story.

Category: Corruption | Comments »

Although Louisiana has become Ground Zero for transparency progress, there is still a long way to go until state and local governments can really develop a reputation for clean and efficient government. After reading local LA news, I have a couple of suggestions for any public servant’s transparency “to do” list.

#1- Develop written procedures and guidelines for government credit cards BEFORE waste and theft occur. Audit statements monthly.

Example you should not follow: Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price has recently found himself in hot water (again) when an audit found he had misused his city credit card to purchase private vacations and other personal expenditures. Some city councilmen commented publicly that they had no knowledge these expenditures were taking place. My solution? Put all expenditures online for journalists, taxpayers, and even the city council members to scrutinize and take a proactive stance against corruption and sneaky spending with public funds.

#2- Give public information to the public, with or without request. No questions, no excuses.

Example you should not follow: Robert Morgan of TheTownTalk.com points out in a recent column that government employees often do not understand basic open records law, and may choose to delay the delivery of requested documents in error. Mr. Morgan names names in his article, citing examples from Rapides Parish Schools and the city of Alexandria.

I will continue to watch Louisiana’s media and new media for updates on how they are finding their way to the land of milk, honey, and open government.

Category: Corruption, Transparency Legislation, sunshine | Comments »

The Pottsmerc.com editor has an ax to grind- with corrupt incumbent Pennsylvania legislators. In response to a poll taken by Quinnipiac University, 3 out of 4 Pennsylvania residents do not believe the legislature will take steps to improve ethics in their state capitol. The poll was taken in the wake of the Bonusgate scandal.

Therein lies the real danger in such scandals — as well as the possible solution.

People get so discouraged with the process, they begin to withdraw altogether. They shrug their shoulders, roll their eyes. Another day, another scandal in Harrisburg.
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It was just a few years ago when voters, outraged over a pay raise voted by the Legislature in the wee hours of the morning, took out their revenge in a more practical manner. First they vented their spleen. They demonstrated. They wrote letters. They held protests at the state Capitol. Then they got serious. They voted.

A lot of politicians didn’t even wait for the dust to settle. They left Harrisburg before they could be shown the door in the primaries. Several longtime pols who dared appear on the ballot were unceremoniously dumped from office.

It’s time for voters to get involved one more time. Three of four people in the state do not believe the Legislature will take the necessary steps to clean up their act.

Citizens should do it for them. At the voting booth.

This is sound advice for many, many -too many- cities. Voters of New Orleans, Chicago, Youngstown, Detroit.. are you listening???

Category: Corruption | Comments »

Yesterday, I wrote about a case where a media company was seeking transparency in the El Paso court system. The judge has since told the government to explain its secrecy by September 5th. From Newspaper Tree…

“We hope this is the first step in opening up the court docket and proceedings. The current veil of secrecy does nothing but undermine confidence in the integrity of the probe. Since the beginning of the American democracy, a free press has always been part of a transparent judicial system. We hope our efforts will restore that openness and trust in Judge Montalvo’s court,” said James Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which is representing Newspaper Tree and its parent company, the El Paso Media Group.

Category: Corruption | Comments »

Media and media companies often receive a bad rap for biased reporting, monopoly of information, and not embracing technology. However, in the fight for open records, the media is a powerful ally.

According to the El Paso Times, attorneys working on behalf of El Paso Media Group and Newspaper Tree are asking a federal court to unseal documents relating to a case involving corrupt public officials. They also are requesting that future court hearings are opened up to allow oversight by the public, press, and legal professionals.

So far, nine people have pleaded guilty to charges relating to the investigation. The first public official to plead guilty was Travis Ketner, former chief of staff for El Paso County Judge Anthony Cobos. On June 8, 2008, Ketner pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit mail or wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery in attempts to manipulate district courts.

According to the motion, 35 of 80 people targeted by the FBI’s investigation are “past or current public officials” and “prominent community figures.”

“Since the first public official pled guilty, nearly all the Court’s documents and hearings have been sealed under court order, although, upon motion of Carl Starr, an earlier intervenor, the Court did make public some documents in redacted form,” the motion states. “That result, however, in Intervenor’s view did not comply with the mandate of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution because of its narrowness and the extraordinarily long period of secrecy.”

Secret documents, secret hearings, secret court dockets… what’s going on in El Paso??

Category: Corruption | Al 1 reactie »

The Chicago Sun-Times made a public step towards transparency this past weekend when it began to post salary information for every state, Cook County, and Chicago city employee through its website, found here. The Sun-Times acknowledged Illinois has a culture of corruption that cries out for such scrutiny, and that the public needs tools like these to effectively police its government. The article also made this point:

Through your taxes, you are paying these salaries, and you have a right to know where the money is going — whom you’re paying and how much. It’s a point the politicians often forget. Much of that money out of your pocket –from property taxes, sales taxes, state income taxes and other fees and fines — pays government employee salaries. As it gets tougher for you to buy milk, meet the mortgage and fuel up — never mind any extras — it’s all the more fair and right that you know where that tax money is going.

Right on!

In an earlier response to corruption, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes opened up a database that cross-references state contracts and campaign contributions. You can find that website right here.

Additionally, the Better Government Association has a searchable salary database for the following taxpayer-paid positions:
* City of Chicago
* Cook County
* Cook County Forest Preserve District
* Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority
* Chicago Housing Authority
* Chicago Transit Authority
* Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
* Chicago Park District
* Chicago Public Schools
* City Colleges of Chicago
* State of Illinois

Looks to me like Illinois might be getting for reform after all…

Category: Corruption | Comments »

Today, New Jersey State Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D) submitted his resignation effective immediately following pornographic material being found his official, taxpayer paid for computer.

According to PolitickerNj.com, “Cohen checked himself into an undisclosed mental institution last week after the Attorney General’s office seized computers from his legislative office. A staffer in the office found what are alleged to be pornographic pictures of minors on Cohen’s computer.”

This is another example of government corruption where an elected official believes that he is not required to follow the same laws as the everyday citizen.

It was reported that Republican and Democrat leaders of the New Jersey Legislature immediately ordered all legislative computers be equipped with the most advanced internet filtering software.

The question all taxpayers should be asking themselves is why wasn’t this software already installed?

It is sad that another elected official has betrayed the trust of the people that elected them to office.

Shame on you!

Category: Corruption | Comments »

New York state seeks to produce 25% of its energy from renewable sources by 2013. Great goal- it reduces our dependence on foreign oil, helps use new technologies for clean energy, and develops a renewable resource. What’s not to love? Call me crazy, but maybe it’s the palm greasing, conflicts of interest, and corruption involved with closing the deals with local town boards.

According to the Democrat and Chronicle, Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champagne investigated allegations of corruption and found seven town board members that had conflicts of interest in his one county. Town boards have the ultimate say in whether wind farms come to their communities, and some board members have made the unfortunate choice of seeking to lease their own land to wind farm companies. Critics wonder if wind energy companies are actively seeking to do business with town board members in order to facilitate approval for their proposals.

With Champagne’s assistance, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is now getting involved.

Champagne has turned over his cardboard box of documents on cases across the state to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Last week, Cuomo issued subpoenas to two of New York’s major wind-farm developers, saying that “if dirty tricks are used to facilitate even clean-energy projects, my office will put a stop to it.”

The investigation comes as wind-farm companies are lining up at town halls with deep pockets and the promise of economic development for governments starved for new revenue to fund schools, fix roads and pay for emergency services.

So what is the moral of this all-too-familiar story? All taxpayer-sponsored programs need to be open to public scrutiny, and elected officials need to be held accountable when they have ethical lapses. Visit Sunshine Review to shed some light on your community.

Category: Corruption | Comments »

From the files of “Coulda Seen That One Comin’”…

Illinois distributed $20,000 grants to 89 organizations to assist with after-school tutoring for the 2007-08 school year. Unfortunately, a Chicago Tribune investigation of 48 of the grant recipients found that about half of those 48 organizations were not running programs, and a third were under the care of a person with less-than-stellar financial histories.

The Tribune reported:

All of the questionable projects share the same sponsor: West Side Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago), who awarded many grants to campaign workers and donors, the investigation found.

The state board tried to tighten the grant process after the Tribune first raised questions about it two years ago. But lawmakers and education officials have continued to award the grants.

The oversight remains so feeble, in fact, that education officials in three cases handed out money to programs where felons, one a convicted murderer, worked with children. The state contract bars such convicts from doing so.

Education officials also didn’t heed red flags in the applications. Grantees promised to tutor on a “dailey bases” and teach “fluenty in speaking.” Another wrote that he’d pay himself $475 a month for a year to tutor children. When state officials e-mailed back that the grant lasted only six months, he replied that he’d pay himself $950 a month.

In some cases, the grantees provided instruction so unorthodox that it’s difficult to determine the educational value. The Al Malik Temple for Universal Truth spent its $20,000 grant to teach children how their birth date and name influence their destiny.

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According to interviews with recipients, Hendon sponsored 44 of the 48 grants reviewed by the Tribune. He said he works hard in Springfield rounding up votes for Blagojevich and Senate Democrats. “I deserve more money,” he said. “I fall on all the swords down there.”

Of the 44 grants Hendon awarded, at least 21 went to people who campaigned for him or donated to his re-election efforts. Hendon said he wasn’t rewarding campaign workers; they just happened to apply.

Senator Hendon, allow me the honor of helping you out with a little Public Service 101. You do not “deserve” taxpayer money. You’re not entitled to it. It is not a prize to deliver to campaign workers. It is entrusted to you by your constituents and the hardworking taxpayers of Illinois to be used for legitimate, worthy, quality programs that benefit the people that pay your salary.

Learn this lesson: Transparency, and a competitive bidding process, is necessary in ALL instances where tax dollars are used.

Category: Corruption, Transparency in Schools | Comments »