Trenches of Democracy

Excerpts from the second semi-annual report by Shakman Compliance Administrator (CA) Julia M. Nowicki:

H. Irregular Job Posting and Hiring Procedures… Continued

Another allegedly common practice was to revise the minimum qualifications required for a job in order to tailor the job for politically connected individuals. Under this scenario, a job is posted but is later withdrawn or the position is not filled. The position is then reposted with different qualifications. These new qualifications appear to be tailored to fit a particular individual. In nearly every case brought before the CA, the subsequent qualifications are less stringent, allowing a candidate who would not have qualified under the first set of qualifications to qualify.

One claim provides a good example of this practice. This claim also provides an excellent illustration of how complex the machinations of patronage can be. The claim alleges a position was posted at a department within the Bureau of Health. Numerous applications, including applications from claimant and one from an allegedly politically connected applicant, were submitted. Documents show that twenty-eight individuals were interviewed, including the claimant. The allegedly politically sponsored applicant was not interviewed. A document found in the application file, dated after the conclusion of the interviews, states the position is not to be filled by the current crop of applicants because “downtown” wished to fill the position.

Soon thereafter, a second position within the department was posted. According to claimant the job posting was removed within hours (as per County policy, a job opening is to be remain posted for two weeks). The claimant was told by HR personnel that the posting was removed under orders from “downtown.” Later, the allegedly politically connected applicant was given the second job but only after it was changed in the budget to the first position (a job the applicant was not qualified for and did not receive an interview). CA staff reviewed the documentation and noted that several hiring documents in the applicant’s file do not correspond to the application and several dates do not follow a standard hiring time line. The applicant was granted the position days after she made a monetary donation to Citizens for Stroger.

To be continued…

You can read the full Shakman report here.

Tags: Cook County, Nowicki, Patronage, Shakman, Stroger

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