Better Government Association

Daley: 'This government is running smoothly'

By Fran Spielman - Chicago Sun-Times
April 11, 2006

Mayor Daley said today he is “very proud of all my conduct as a private citizen and as a public official” — but he refused to comment on allegations that his former patronage chief ordered city computer files destroyed and agreed to have his own computer demolished to cover up political hiring at City Hall.

“There is an ongoing investigation … I have said that over months and months and months….I’m not going to be commenting on anything in regards to this investigation. Simple as that…I just cannot comment on that. I wish I could. But I can’t,” Daley said.

However, the mayor went out of his way to assure voters who might be alarmed by the latest headlines in a Hired Truck scandal that has branched out into city hiring.

“The integrity of the city of Chicago is very solid. I’ll be very frank. This government is running smoothly. It is running very well in regards to the citizens. If there’s any allegation, I take them all seriously in regards to anything. And I will get to the bottom of it…We have a city that has thousands and thousands of employees. They are doing their job each day. We take every allegation seriously. And we’re answering each and every one of those,” he said.

Earlier this week, federal prosecutors filed court papers that flesh out their case against former Daley patronage chief Robert Sorich and three other former city employees who allegedly schemed to rig the city hiring process in favor of pro-Daley armies of political workers.

Sorich was accused of secretly ordering computer files — and his own computer — demolished just days after an FBI agent interviewed him about hiring practices at the Water Department.

The 93-page filing also revealed that Sorich’s secretary had more than 5,700 entries on a city laptop computer related to “political employment requests.” In yet another new detail, the personnel director in the now-defunct Department of Sewers was allegedly advised by her predecessor to “deny everything — deny, deny, deny” if anyone asked about how the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs in general and and Sorich in particular controlled the hiring process.

The mayor’s repeated refusal to comment on the new allegations stands in stark contrast to his posture last summer.

At that time, Daley insisted he did not sign off on political hirings at City Hall and had no personal knowledge of alleged criminal activity — including test-rigging, sham interviews and color-coded charts to track political sponsors — that federal investigators said have made a mockery of the Shakman decree against political hiring.

“I don’t play any role in hiring. No, I don’t. I never have. I don’t sit there and say, `I’m going to hire you or hire you or anyone else.’ I don’t know of any political hiring personally. People have opportunities. But, no. I don’t know of any political hiring per se, because that violates the Shakman decree,” the mayor said at that time.

“I had no knowledge of any criminal activity — whether it's shredding or testing or altering papers — whatsoever. That’s fundamentally wrong. I would not do that. If I had any knowledge, I’d come forward with it.”

When federal investigators first went public with their allegations about a “massive fraud” in city hiring, Daley went out of his way to defend Sorich, his right-hand-man Tim McCarthy and Patrick Slattery, all of whom hail from the mayor’s native Bridgeport. He called them “good people who are oustanding in the community…The allegations against them do not fit what I know about them.”

On Tuesday, the mayor never mentioned the three accused men, who are scheduled to go on trial next month.

Sorich’s father was Richard J. Daley’s photographer. The former patronage chief also spent years as personal driver and 11th Ward secretary for John Daley, the mayor’s brother. Slattery is married to the mayor’s personal secretary.

In the latest court filing, prosecutors revealed for the first time the behind-the-scenes pressure exerted by a Carpenters Union official to hire his 19-year-old son as a building inspector.

They contended that: IGA pushed to hire Andy Ryan; then managing deputy commissioner Chris Kozicki allegedly revised the score he gave Ryan after a job interview; and then Buildings Commisioner Stan Kaderbek allegedly told Kozicki that hiring Ryan “would help in maintaining good relations” with the union.

When Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin blew the whistle on the Buildings Department scandal in 2004, Daley pinned the blame solely on Kaderbek. He accused the commissioner of “stupidity” for failing to verify the credentials of Andy Ryan and a handful of other unqualified inspectors recommended by the union and subsequently fired.