The Chicago Board of Ethics is looking into allegations that a former high-level employee in the mayor’s office solicited a job for his or her child from a city contractor, allowed the contractor to perform unsolicited work for the city and attempted to facilitate $9.6 million in payments to the contractor, even though the contractor was not entitled to the funds.
The Chicago Office of Inspector General revealed the findings in its latest quarterly report. The OIG also found that city aviation department employees drank alcohol on the clock, falsified time records, stole city property and lied to investigators. Among other things, the report also detailed investigations of Paycheck Protection Program loan fraud and a “substandard” police investigation after a fatal collision involving a Chicago Fire Department vehicle.
In a statement provided to The Center Square, a spokesperson from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s press office said the high-level employee referenced in the OIG report was a member of a previous administration and is not actively employed by the city.
“That being said, Mayor Johnson takes allegations such as these very seriously and remains committed to transparency and ethical governance. Referenced City Departments and agencies have responded in a manner necessary to uphold the highest ethical standards,” the spokesperson said.
The inspector’s report said some of the investigative work reported this quarter was hampered by the city’s withholding of information.
“The City’s compliance with its obligations to cooperate with OIG should be an area of ongoing concern; we have improved and clarified the law around OIG’s access to City records, but that law is only as good as the City’s compliance with it,” the report said.
