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Cook County Agrees To Bring In Hiring Monitor

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Nov 30, 2006 10:42 am US/Central

Cook County Agrees To Bring In Hiring Monitor

Administrator Will Watch For Patronage Hiring

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CHICAGO (AP) ― Cook County commissioners have agreed to install a court-appointed administrator to oversee and improve hiring practices.

The agreement is part of a settlement in a federal court dispute between attorney Michael Shakman and the county. Shakman asked a judge in August to appoint an outside monitor to look for problems in county hiring and he wanted the continued enforcement of the Shakman Decree that bans political clout from influencing most county hiring.

County attorneys had said an outside monitor was unnecessary because retiring Board President Bobbie Steele already issued an executive order to end any hiring irregularities.

The settlement, which Cook County commissioners agreed to on Wednesday, is to be filed Thursday with U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen.

"I think this is a broad, far-reaching, effective, fair settlement of claims that will do the county good. It will do the public good," Shakman said.

Patronage has long been a tradition in Chicago and throughout Illinois. It means that those who win the elections get the jobs.

In September, FBI agents raided the Cook County hiring offices in what county officials said was an investigation related to political patronage hiring.

The agreement, if approved, would allow the county to stop adhering to the Shakman Decree in 2009.

County officials said Andersen wants retired Cook County Judge Julia Nowicki to be the administrator to oversee the hiring.

The administrator will be able to sit in on interviews and question employees to determine whether political clout had anything to do with hirings, promotions or who receives overtime. After the administrator is appointed, that person will have 30 days to file a report recommending the breadth of the job's powers, according to the agreement.

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