Posted on 09/21/2006 11:43:19 AM PDT by chicagolady
FBI agents descended on Cook County government offices this morning, serving a search warrant in an investigation that apparently centers on county hiring practices.
FBI agents could be seen carrying boxes of documents out of the Cook County Human Resources Department at 118 N. Clark St., as county human resources director Mark Kilgallon and county general counsel Laura Lechowicz Felicione looked on.
“We are fully cooperating” with the investigation, Felicione said.
While the seizure of documents proceeded downtown, federal agents served the search warrant at other county offices, too — including Provident Hospital, Cermak Hospital and the forest preserve district.
The federal agents hit the county offices starting at 9:15 a.m.
FBI spokesman Ross Rice said the search warrant is tied to a criminal affidavit that is under seal. “We’re looking for possible evidence of a crime,” Rice said. No arrests have been made and no charges filed, FBI sources said.
The search warrant comes one month after the Chicago Sun-Times reported that county officials said they routinely were told to hire politically connected candidates for county jobs over candidates who scored higher on civil service exams. A Cook County Highway Department supervisor, Eric Petraitis, said he felt coerced to change test scores to hire candidates connected to former Cook County Board President John Stroger.
Following that report, County Board President Bobbie Steele ordered the suspension, with pay, of Stroger’s patronage chief, Gerald Nichols, and four lower-level employees responsible for administering employment tests.
The Sun-Times also reported in late August that nearly 1,300 people were added to the Cook County payroll in the months after Stroger suffered a stroke.
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
I lived in downtown Chicago, between Diversy and Fullerton on Lakeview, for 15 years until 1990. My wife and I used to eat at a restaraunt Ambria at the Belmont Hotel. One had to book a half year in advance to get a reservation. Best fois gras I ever ate. In Chicago. It was about $50 a portion way back then but boy, those geese were singing another tune.
Man, you know how to live! :)
So is Patsy a goofd guy?
Remember: free Scooter!
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