Those Quaker kids are just too damn bad.
Sheriff’s deputies, auditors descend on Harvey’s city hall
March 21, 2014|By Matthew Walberg and Joe Mahr | Tribune reporters
Cook County sheriff’s deputies and officials from the state comptroller’s office descended on Harvey’s City Hall on Friday to begin auditing financial records in an effort to enforce a watchdog law long ignored by the scandal-plagued south suburb.
The action came on the same day the Tribune reported on questionable insider deals in Harvey occurring while the city’s appointed comptroller is warning that the suburb is heading toward financial ruin. The deals included $88,000 to a firm tied to the mayor’s son for social media work — the quality of which experts questioned.
That story followed a series of Tribune articles in February that documented how Harvey has become arguably the most lawless community in the region, reeling from the effects of high violent crime rates, subpar policing and shaky finances amid ineffectual or nonexistent oversight from state and federal authorities. That included the suburb failing for years to follow a law — overseen by the state comptroller — that requires cities and villages to perform yearly audits.
Under Illinois law, if a town does not complete its audit, the state comptroller is allowed to hire auditors to do it and bill the town for the work.
On Friday, four sheriff’s vehicles arrived at the south suburb’s aging City Hall, joined by an SUV and a minivan with state plates. About a dozen people from those vehicles entered City Hall and walked into the office of the city clerk, an elected official whose job includes keeping and tracking the city’s records.