* NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern got a tip a while ago that Kieran Sheridan, the $175,000 per year Chief Operating Officer and Chief Development Officer of the Chicago Department of Aviation, was living in Naperville instead of the city. That would be a big no-no. So, Ahern and her team sprang into action after Sheridan told her he and his family were living separately…
However, when NBC5 Investigates sent a letter to Sheridan at that Chicago address, it was returned two weeks later, marked “return to sender.”
NBC5’s political reporter Mary Ann Ahern then visited the Chicago apartment and confirmed with building managers that Sheridan did, indeed, pay rent on an apartment there. The managers accompanied Ahern as she slid a second letter from NBC 5 under Sheridan’s apartment door, where she observed other papers stuffed in the door which had not yet been retrieved.
NBC 5 Investigates searched public databases and uncovered several documents which all pointed to Sheridan’s residence in a Naperville subdivision called Windgate of Three Farms, including mortgage papers, a property deed, tax bills, incorporation records for an independent consulting company and a driving citation, all of which listed the Naperville residence as his home.
One document posed the question “will the [Naperville] property be the buyer’s principal residence?” and Sheridan answered “yes” on the document.
Oops.
And then they staked him out…
On two separate occasions over the last month, NBC 5 cameras recorded Sheridan leaving his Naperville home, each time wearing his Chicago Department of Aviation I.D. card around his neck. In both instances Sheridan then drove to his office at O’Hare.
Sheridan resigned yesterday. Watch Ahern’s report here.
Also, props to the mayor’s press team for burying that item on a very busy news day.
…Adding… I forgot to post this response from a Naperville legislator…
- YSW - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:19 am:
Not sure who would be worse to get a call from, Mary Ann Ahern or Ronan Farrow. She gets the goods.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:20 am:
Mary Ann is also a nice and fun person.
- Will Caskey - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:21 am:
To be fair, municipal residency restrictions are garbage and serve no good purpose
- Responsa - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:25 am:
Oh, that dig on the mayor’s press office was good.
- efudd - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:28 am:
“To be fair”
Fair’s got nothing to do with it.
- Iggy - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:28 am:
I dont blame him, who wouldn’t want to live in Naperville. Oh well.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:30 am:
Itās a simple thing;
You want this gig, you haveta move. Thatās it. Move to the city.
Now Sheridan resigned due to being disingenuous and being caught doing it.
Was it worth it? Itās a job.
- Been There - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:30 am:
===To be fair, municipal residency restrictions are garbage and serve no good purpose===
Right or wrong they keep people in the city. Probably mainly all those white people on the southwest and northwest sides. Housing values in those areas would plummet if they got rid of the residency requirement. Along with the property taxes that go with those values.
- Da Big Bad Wolf - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:31 am:
I donāt get why the post office wouldnāt deliver a letter to Sheridanās second apartment though.
- Boone's is Back - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:32 am:
===Also, props to the mayorās press team for burying that item on a very busy news day.===
LOL
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:35 am:
===Oh, that dig on the mayorās press office===
That wasn’t a dig. It was a legit compliment. Textbook stuff here.
- DuPage Bard - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:37 am:
Cool she got someone fired because the city has goofy residency requirements. Funny because the airport legitimately is in Rosemont. The city boundary out to O’Hare running along the Kennedy looks like it was drawn in the legislative map room.
Just my two cents I think residency requirements are ridiculous. Forces cops, firefighters, teachers, plumbers, electricians, maintenance workers, etc to stay in a city they can barely afford anymore. The neighborhoods they used to call home have all been bought out by big money. The gentrification of Chicago isn’t just in poor areas it’s also where the middle class city workers used to call home and got pushed out.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:39 am:
===Funny because the airport legitimately is in Rosemont===
You *sure*?
Didnāt Rosemont give up a single strip of land (for free water) to have OāHare a part of Chicago?
- Ano - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:40 am:
Gothcha!
Wish this kind of diligence was applied to violations far more egregious
- Will Caskey - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:41 am:
It is neither true that the city would see a significant outflow from removing all of its residency requirements, nor that Chicago is unaffordable.
Chicago is segregated, not unaffordable. There is plenty of perfectly good low-cost housing. It is just not where white city employees prefer to live.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:42 am:
I also don’t care about the residency requirement, and growing up in Oak Park saw first hand how many people violate it. Who cares though? Except for police and fire, there is really a thin justification for the requirement anyway.
- Da Big Bad Wolf - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:43 am:
==Cool she got someone fired because the city has goofy residency requirements.==
Sheridan knew about the requirements before he took the job. He even got a second apartment to deceive the city. And he certainly could afford that plus a Naperville home. What are you saying, that employers shouldnāt be allowed to have ārulesā?
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:52 am:
It does not even make much sense for police and fire. If there is an all hands on deck fire on Howard St., it is going to take a fireman from Beverly much, much longer to get there than a fireman in Evanston.
- Jocko - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:00 am:
Kieran Sheridan looks old enough to remember what Rahm went through when first running for mayor of Chicago. Apparently “rules are for thee, but not for me.”
- Bourbon Street - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:05 am:
Gotta wonder about the judgment of someone who knows that Ahern is investigating his residency, but still canāt be bothered to pick up āpapers stuffed in the doorā of an apartment heās renting thatās close to where he works.
- City Zen - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:06 am:
Shades of Pam Zekman chasing city workers down alleys yelling, “Why aren’t you at work?”
- Annonin' - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:18 am:
Wow…one down and 25K to go.
Surprised NBC5 would spend that much time on the item
Surprised the exec not smart enough to know in this era there are 100s of “unappreciated” staffers looking to drop a dime. Probably some Naperville neighbors — remember this squirrelly Wherli’s hood.
BTW residencey helps maintain a good level of upper middle class families is urban area. Towns in central IL might learn a lesson.
- Ano - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:34 am:
==surprised NBC5 would spend that much time on the item==
Nothing more important to spend your time on than hunting down public employees. The new definition of criminal, I guess.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:35 am:
===Nothing more important to spend your time on than hunting down public employees. The new definition of criminal, I guess.===
He was the COO of Aviation. He wasnāt an āEngineer IIIā employee.
- Paddyrollingstone - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:36 am:
I totally support the residency requirement. If you want to work for the City, you need to live in the City. Itās not like its a secret that you didnāt know about when you took the gig.
As for it not making sense that a fireman might live in Beverly and have to go to a fire on the far north side, I would assume unless its all hands on decks that the fire companies closest to the fire get the call and (obviously) at that time, its whoever is on duty in the firehouse that would go to the scene.
- Da Big Bad Wolf - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:51 am:
==I would assume unless its all hands on decks that the fire companies closest to the fire get the call and (obviously) at that time, its whoever is on duty in the firehouse that would go to the scene.==
Not a fireman, but I would assume that as well.
- City Zen - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:01 pm:
Chicago’s residency requirements are one big circular reference. To work for Chicago, I have to live in Chicago. But it’s expensive to live in Chicago, so the city has to pay me a premium. That premium contributes to Chicago being too expensive. Lather, rinse, repeat.
==BTW residency helps maintain a good level of upper middle class families is urban area.==
Are Hinsdale policemen required to live in Hinsdale? Are Oak Park teachers required to live in Oak Park?
- Streator Curmudgeon - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:03 pm:
Nice work, Ms. Ahern.
Sheridan should have called for advice from Alan Keyes.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:04 pm:
===Are Hinsdale policemen required to live in Hinsdale? Are Oak Park teachers required to live in Oak Park?===
How many Oak Parks and Hinsdale do you need to equal Chicago?
Not all cities/towns/villages are the same.
- Doomed in Illinois - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:13 pm:
While I understand that it was a rule and he broke it, I don’t agree with residency requirements. I could see having a distance requirement. Seems like tit-for-tat to me.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:15 pm:
===I donāt agree with residency requirements.===
Then donāt take a job with the city.
Simple enough.
- Fav humsn - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:38 pm:
The silly thing is he would have saved himself a commute by spending a few nights there. Tuesday through Thursday would have worked and kept his job. Add Monday if you wanted to be safe.
at least he wasn’t using Twitter to talk about how great Naperville is….
- City Zen - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:38 pm:
==How many Oak Parks and Hinsdale do you need to equal Chicago?==
NYC has a two year residency requirement for city employees, then they can live anywhere in the surrounding counties. They seem to have survived.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:40 pm:
===NYC===
Weāre not New York.
You think you can get passed an abandoning of the residency requirement? Have at it.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:43 pm:
Iāll look forward to the next city council meeting with an ordinance reversing Section 2-152-050 of the Municipal Code of Chicago.
- Dotnonymous - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:57 pm:
This guy was indefensibly deceptive…in the time of poor excuses.
- Mark - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 1:16 pm:
When I worked for the Cook County Forest Preserve she staked out a restaurant where several coworkers would sleep behind during the day, she nabbed a supervisor from y division who slept there for like 4 hours. Classic
- TKMH - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 1:22 pm:
==Just my two cents I think residency requirements are ridiculous. Forces cops, firefighters, teachers, plumbers, electricians, maintenance workers, etc to stay in a city they can barely afford anymore. The neighborhoods they used to call home have all been bought out by big money. The gentrification of Chicago isnāt just in poor areas itās also where the middle class city workers used to call home and got pushed out.==
I’m of the belief that police officers should actually have to live in the place they police. It’s a good way to keep the force connected to the very communities they’re in charge of protecting. Quite a shocking concept, I know.
If the city is becoming unaffordable for middle-class families, and it is, the solution is simple: fight NIMBYism and build more housing. Changing the residency requirements for city workers doesn’t really strike at the heart of the gentrification problem you suggest, which affects private sector workers as well.
And Mary Ann Ahern, as usual, is outstanding.
- Bogey Golfer - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 1:47 pm:
=Iām of the belief that police officers should actually have to live in the place they police.=
A number of communities cannot enact this requirements as their housing stock is priced above what they pay their public employees (including teachers) and the residents prefer it that way. Know of a few towns where the Manager/Administrator was given a stipend to afford a residence within that community.
- Original Rambler - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 1:49 pm:
I think a big part of this guy’s situation is the intent to deceive the city by renting the bogus apartment. If he’s willing to be untruthful about his residence, how do you trust him with his significant work responsibilities?
I also support the residency requirement. If you can’t accommodate it, don’t accept the position.
- James - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 2:17 pm:
The dishonesty is what is troubling; presumably Sheridan was qualified for the position. I wonder what his job application to the City says about his residence.
- A guy - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 2:57 pm:
=Iām of the belief that police officers should actually have to live in the place they police.=
A very good case can be made that they should not live in town given the work they do in town. For their sake, their family’s, and the community that asks them to enforce the law without any hesitation.
- Skeptic - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 4:23 pm:
At least he didn’t try to get his daughter into Peyton Prep. /s
- Been There - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 7:05 pm:
===The city boundary out to OāHare running along the Kennedy looks like it was drawn in the legislative map room.===
Actually that is not the strip of land connects OāHare to to the rest of the city. Itās actually along Foster Ave. But Foster stops at the forest preserve and the boundary crosses the river there. Unless you hiked through the woods and waded through the river there is no way to get to OāHare without leaving the city.