Stroger’s Cousin Back on the Payroll
Remember Todd Stroger’s cousin?
You know, Donna Dunnings — the one who was hired as Cook County’s Chief Financial Officer, and then fired amidst scandal?
Well, she’s back…
Donna Dunnings will be paid $79,000 a year to run the Cook County Stimulus and Revitalization Project, which provides funds to help developers return to the tax rolls properties they buy with large delinquent property tax bills, said Eric Herman, spokesman for Assessor James Houlihan. She starts in 10 days, he added.
As the county’s chief financial officer, Dunnings was paid nearly $176,000. Stroger forced Dunnings’ retirement in April 2009, after she was caught up in the controversy of former steakhouse busboy Tony Cole, who Stroger hired for an executive post even though he didn’t have a college degree. She bailed Cole out of jail while he was employed for the county.
The taxpayer-funded revolving door of county government continues to spin…
Stroger Administration Phone Records Released
A few weeks ago, the Better Government Association sued the Stroger Administration to force the administration to release phone records related to former patronage worker Tony Cole — the former busboy with a troubled past hired to a nice county contract, who somehow was tied to the firing of Stroger cousin/county CFO Donna Dunnings.
As the Chicago Tribune reports, those phone records have been released:
Records released Tuesday by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s office show that up to 18 calls a day were made between the government cell phone of a patronage worker and the personal cell phone of Stroger’s cousin, the county’s former chief financial officer.
Stroger dumped both his cousin, Donna Dunnings, and Tony Cole, a former steakhouse busboy with a criminal record, amid the burgeoning scandal in April. Stroger at the time said only that he feared Cole, who worked briefly as Dunnings’ personal assistant, would make “explosive” allegations about her.
The county phone records suggest regular communication between Cole and Dunnings, both of whom have denied a personal relationship. The hundreds of calls documented include a 46-minute phone call that began at 3:30 a.m. Christmas Day, as well as six phone calls on New Year’s Eve and Day.
Dunnings did not return phone calls seeking comment, and an attempt to reach Cole via e-mail failed.
Stroger Forces out Cousin from Job as County CFO
Filed under: Budget, Corruption, Reform, Spending, Taxes, Todd Stroger
It’s reported today that Todd Stroger has forced out his cousin from her position as Cook County’s chief financial officer due to the disclosure of her relationship with a convicted felon who was also on the county payroll.
More from CBS 2 Chicago:
Stroger “asked for and accepted” Dunnings’ resignation, according to a news release from Stroger’s office.
The move follows what the news release called “disclosure of issues related to a personnel matter that could conflict with her ability to fulfill her responsibilities as chief financial officer.”
Further information was not provided in the news release, but in an interview Friday morning on the WLS-AM show “Don Wade & Roma,” Stroger said the controversy stemmed from Tony Cole, a former college basketball star who received a patronage job in late 2008, and was fired after Stroger learned that he had a felony criminal conviction.
Don’t mess with Donna Dunnings
Don’t mess with Cook County’s Chief Financial Officer/Stroger cousin Donna Dunnings…that is, unless you want to get flipped “the bird.”
The Sun-Times reports this morning that Dunnings gave “the finger” to Sheriffs Department Budget Director Alexis Herrera during a meeting in the county board room this week.
The incident followed a tense discussion in the hallway behind the board room over a proposed budget amendment. The conversation involving Dunnings, Herrera and Sheriff Tom Dart’s undersheriff, Zelda Whittler, was peppered with profanity and finger-pointing by Dunnings, sources said.
Perhaps the funniest part of this incident is Dunnings’ response to the Sun-Times:
“I was teasing with a former employee. We tease all the time. If someone thinks it’s more than that, f— ‘em.”
Our fellow bloggers at Chicagoist put it best today when they wrote: ”Stay Classy, Donna Dunnings.”
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