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County Recorder Of Deeds Accused Of Patronage

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May 26, 2007 10:43 am US/Central

County Recorder Of Deeds Accused Of Patronage

Attorney Shakman: Gene Moore Used Politics To Pick Layoffs

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CHICAGO (STNG) ― Cook County Recorder of Deeds Gene Moore is accused of using politics to decide who would be laid off from his office.

Attorney Michael Shakman wants Moore and his chief deputy, Darlena Williams-Burnett, held in contempt of court for violating a federal order prohibiting politics from being used to determine who fills most jobs.

"I'm not aware of any violations at all," Moore said. "This is the first I'm hearing of it."

But Shakman's claim, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, says Moore "has engaged in substantial, illegal patronage hiring, promotion and firing" of employees.

Politics decided who got full-time and summer jobs, it adds, with many of those summer jobs, intended for students, instead going to "middle-aged political workers," former employees say.

The filing names more than 20 people hired based not on qualifications, but politics.

The County Board approved the November hiring of former Judge Julia Nowicki to monitor county hiring processes as part of an effort to settle Shakman's claims that the county was violating a longstanding decree to make thousands of county jobs politics-free.

But Friday's filing says that when Moore had to slash jobs to meet a budget in March, he used clout to decide who would be fired.

The filing also says Williams-Burnett distributed memos promising compensatory time in exchange for political work.

"This is all strange to me," Moore said. "I have no idea what [Shakman's] talking about."

(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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