Surprise, Surprise

They are pretty busy over there at the FBI investigating the mayor's office, the governor's administration, and now Cook County. At least someone's working on the taxpayer's dime around here. This investigation has been going on since late last year. Sun Times:

The raids came a month after a Sun-Times story quoted county department heads as saying former Cook County Board President John Stroger's patronage chief Gerald Nichols pressured them to hire clouted people for jobs in which political hiring was prohibited. And the raids followed several years of news reports detailing alleged corruption, mismanagement and patronage hiring in county agencies.

And how about this:

In an Aug. 21 Sun-Times story, Eric Petraitis, a mid-level county Highway Department boss, said Nichols called him after Petraitis interviewed two candidates for a job and Nichols told him to hire the one who got the lowest score. That employee, Dwayne Robinson, is a close friend of Ald. Todd Stroger (8th), the Democratic nominee to succeed his father as County Board president.

More from the Tribune "FBI raid targets county job files". Comments from the illustrious Democrat candidate for Cook County Board chairman Todd Stroger, caught by surprise by reporters:

Stroger said he was not surprised by the investigation, and he added, "I don't think it's a surprise to many people. And I don't know what they are looking for or what they will find."

Stroger sought to distance himself from the federal probe.

"That's my father's administration," said Stroger, who was speaking at a news conference on an unrelated matter when the news broke of the federal search. "At this point, I am a city councilman and that is the job I've been doing."

County Commissioner Forrest Claypool, who lost to John Stroger in the March Democratic primary, said he was not surprised that the federal government is now probing hiring at the county.

"County government has been a patronage dumping ground for years, a place where unqualified politically connected people have been dumped by the thousands," Claypool said. "It wouldn't surprise me if lines were crossed and laws were broken in the hiring practices in Cook County.

"It's sad that reform at the county government is likely to come through law enforcement rather than through the political process," Claypool added. "We've known for years about these problems and very little has been done about it."

Well, Claypool tried in the Dem primary where he faced one Stroger, and lost. Now the anointed one, Todd "that's my father's administration" Stroger faces county commissioner and reform candidate Tony Peraica. Peraica has a good chance to beat Stroger and the Cook County patronage machine, if enough committed people turn out on election day. But it's not just a question of padding the payroll with patronage buddies. The Juvenile Detention Center is a disgrace. According to the Sun Times, "Detainees claim they have been beaten by workers there. Critics say the facility is overseen by unqualified political appointees."

And surprise, surprise, a big fundraising buddy of our Governor "Big Fat Check Blagojevich" has surfaced in this investigation too---one Tony Rezko.(also here)

Let's give the Cook County machine a surprise to remember.

Previous posts: Break the Stranglehold, Stroger Steps in It, GOP Questions Poll