Keep the Roaches Scurrying

July 13, 2010 by CookReformer
Filed under: Corruption, Spending, Todd Stroger

If you’ve ever had a roach problem, you know that turning the light on causes the roaches to scurry and seemingly disappear.

Turn off the lights, however, and the roaches reappear.

So it is with the corrupt and inept in Cook County. Shining a spotlight on them sometimes has a short, temporary effect (either through firings or jail time), but as soon as the spotlight is turned off, the roaches reappear….

This morning’s Sun-Times provides a great example of why we need to keep the spotlight on Cook County corruption. And it’s a prime example of why we need to keep Tony Peraica serving on the Cook County board:

The Cook County Highway Department was poised to hire six new truck drivers in recent months — without giving applicants a behind-the-wheel driving test.

When county hiring monitors raised a red flag and began to investigate, one official said, they found three of the six finalists for the snow plow jobs hadn’t provided a driving record as required.

That’s despite letters of support for each candidate — authored by highway department bosses — noting that each applicant had a “good driving record,” said Mary Robinson, the Shakman compliance administrator charged with ensuring the county adheres to a federal court-ordered ban on political hiring.

After Robinson met with county officials, the hirings were nixed.

“It appeared some of the [job] candidates had political sponsors,” Robinson told the Sun-Times.

That’s one of several examples Robinson will provide in a report this week to a federal judge overseeing the Shakman consent decree. Robinson said some progress has been made, including ongoing work on an automated job application system.

But some county employees see the Shakman decree as a hurdle, not a court order.

“There are many people in the county who still feel all they have to do is get it past us, as opposed to changing how they do the hiring.”

Imagine that: the county insiders view the law as a hurdle to be crossed, rather than a rule to be followed.

We’ve got our work cut out for us, but we’ll keep on fighting and making a difference.