Citing the recent revelations about questionable contracts approved by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley is seeking a federal inquiry into whether the county misspent grant funds.
A number of news reports have highlighted so-called "24-9" contracts - those that come in just under the $25,000 threshold that requires County Board approval.
Quigley yesterday asked the Government Accountability Office to look into whether the county mishandled federal funds in the months following Stroger's defeat in the Democratic primary. Read more...
The question of new hires and salary increases have raised the collective eyebrows and ire of County Board members lately. A report released yesterday shows County Board President Todd Stroger is not the only one to dole out raises. Forrest Claypool's staff got pay hikes, as did others in the health system and sheriff's department. (Sun-Times/Tribune/Daily Herald)
RELATED: Stroger staff members got raises after pay freeze. (Sun-Times)
Carla Oglesby, Stroger's embattled deputy chief of staff is back after serving a five-day suspension following disclosure her PR firm got $29,975 in county money days after she was hired. Still unclear: Why she was suspended, as the county's inspector general continues his investigation. Read more...
When county commissioners voted in favor of a county-wide hiring freeze last week, they did it with the goal of preventing County Board President Todd Stroger from going on a spending spree in his last months in office.
Wary of past hires that embarrassed the county, and with the bad taste of several current scandals in their collective mouth, commissioners voted 16-1 in favor of the freeze.
Stroger has hired six Shakman-exempt employees since he lost the Democratic primary Feb. 2, including deputy chief of staff Carla Oglesby, a $120,000 a year employee hired on Feb. 16, now on unpaid leave as an investigation into contracts here company received is underway. Read more...
The weekend likely can't come fast enough for County Board President Todd Stroger.
A stream of negative news stories is creating a rocky week for the administration.
Reports surfaced that his deputy chief of staff, Carla Oglesby, had approved a $24,975 contract for her public relations firm just days after she took the county job. That launched an ethics investigation into Oglesby, who is now on unpaid administrative leave, and some inside the Stroger administration wonder why she is still on the payroll.
(The administration announced yesterday that Stroger ordered all his department heads to produce every contract issued in the last two years, as it seeks to cooperate with the investigation.)
Read more...
County commissioners are looking to put the kibosh on what they call a pattern of underhanded hiring and spending by outgoing County Board President Todd Stroger.
The ill-fated hire of a now-indicted former Detroit Public Schools executive and a payment to a Stroger’s aide’s firm that flew beneath commissioners’ radars are the latest in a series of events that have prompted Commissioners John Daley, Bridget Gainer and Larry Suffredin to call for increased transparency in hiring and spending.
At Tuesday’s County Board meeting the trio will introduce an ordinance that will require the administration to provide more detail on spending and hiring decisions.
Read more...
