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* In a follow-up to a post the other day, court-appointed monitor Noelle Brennan has doled out an average award of about $8,400 to more than 1,400 people for the City Hall hiring fiasco. Another 104 people who submitted claims were found ineligible for a half-dozen reasons.
One person got $100,000 from the $12 million pool of money. Brennan also awarded $45,000 to two people; $55,000 to three people; $65,000 to six people; and $75,000 to another half-dozen individuals.
The 18 people in the top tier of awards “provided detailed accounts of discrimination and numerous pages of supporting documentation,” according to her report:
“Some claimants detailed sham interviews in which they were asked irrelevant questions and told that the position was already filled by a pre-selected candidate. Claimants were told that they would never be promoted unless they contributed time and/or money to city-sponsored candidates,” the report states.
You can view the report here, however, none of the people getting money were named in the report.
* One of the biggest winners was the son of Ald. Bernie Stone.
Jay Stone was awarded $75,000 because of his claim that he was a sure loser in his 2003 aldermanic election against Ald. Ted Matlak (32nd) because Matlak had the support of the political army commanded by now-convicted former First Deputy Water Commissioner Donald Tomczak:
“I’m in shock. I’m in awe,” Jay Stone said. “The message is we should hold fair and competitive elections in Chicago. I never stood a chance because I was up against a seasoned political army that was being paid for by the taxpayers of Chicago.”
This strikes me as a little crazy. I can understand the argument for doling out compensation to people who may have lost city jobs or appointments because of a rigged process. (Even though I don’t know if I necessarily agree with that because it hasn’t actually changed the system.)
But to give an alderman’s son $75,000 because he lost an election because “he didn’t have any clout”? If you go by that logic there are people all over the city who should be cashing in. Discuss.
posted by Kevin Fanning
Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 10:38 am
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the whole payout system makes no sense. Giving more money to people because they have better complaints….REGARDLESS of their actual qualifications compared to the other applicants for a position?
For any single job, only one person can get it. If they really want to do this bizarre settlment, they need to gather the applicants by position, and determine who would have got the job based on qualifications. That single person then gets the reward.
No money should be given for losing an election. The settlment is just as corrupt as the solution, paying out dead beats and whiners. Il courts are filled with people who had lots of pages of alleged corruption they self servingly created, and lost their claims at summary judgment. This whole thing is a sham.
Somone should see hom many people are being compensated for the loss of th same job!!! after all only one person could have ever got the position, but unbder this sham every applicant gets paid.
This is past nuts, it would look like the bad plot to a sopa opera if it were not real life.
Comment by Ghost Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 10:48 am
Jay Stone appears to have some clout with Brennan. I guess you can’t blame the guy for asking, but what prompted her to make the award? What in the world does it have to do with Shakman? There are a lot of loser candidates kicking themselves this morning that they didn’t come up with this weird, but successful, complaint.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 11:01 am
The whole system for awarding the $12 million has been arbitrary and kind of goofy. It’s sad that Daley got so greedy a hiring monitor was needed in the first place.
Comment by Independent Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 11:21 am
By this logic, Jim Oberweis and John Cox should be able to recoup the millions they’ve dropped in their respective races over the years, since the insiders and combine denied them office. Brennan and Cox were truly unsuited for this job. OF COURSE Stone was denied a position with City government based on politics when he SOUGHT EMPLOYMENT THROUGH THE POLITICAL SYSTEM!
Comment by Outsider looking in Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 11:29 am
I should have known that this post would elicit Combine responses….
Comment by Kevin Fanning Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 11:32 am
Uh-oh I think Mr. Fanning is a believer now! Unless of course that’s sarcasm.
Comment by Levois Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 12:06 pm
“If you go by that logic there are people all over the city who should be cashing in.”
starting with fir-instance Bernie Stone challengers Naisy Dolar or Greg Brewer, given that two Stone campaign workers are in court charged with vote fraud?
Comment by BannedForLife Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 12:07 pm
What a joke. Stone lost 3-1 to Matlak because he was a stooge. Waguespack was a weak candidate, with every bit as much political opposition, and still managed to beat Matlak.
Comment by Wow Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 12:20 pm
You’re right the Jay Stone thing is just crazy.
Maybe I should apply for some of that cash because I decided to not run against my Alderman because I knew she would beat me with her machine. That’s a totally ridiculous payout. If I were still a City taxpayer I’d sue over her allocation of that settlement, just beyond stupid. If Jay Stone really wanted a City job I’m sure his old man could have scored him one BTW - LOL.
Comment by Napoleon has left the building Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 2:19 pm
Alderman Stone’s kid seems like he meets all of the qualifications for a political job in Chicago: He believes in “entitlements”, he believes in “nepotism”, and he has no sense of shame nor any understanding of the concept of honor & integrity.
He should go far in Cook County and Chicago politics.
Comment by Aaron Slick Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 2:41 pm
I thought the purpose of the fund was to compensate applicants and employuees who were denied job opportunities because of pre-selction or other related patronage practices. Givng Stone’s son $75,000 because he lost an aldermanic election that he never had any chance of winning in the first place is absolutely ridiculous. This allocation to Jay Stone leads me to question Brennan’s competence.
Comment by Captain America Friday, Mar 28, 08 @ 3:55 pm
This payout to Stone is totally absurd and sets a horrible precedent. This is the type of stunt we’d expect from the Blago or Stroger administrations…not the federal monitor! As a taxpayer of Chicago, there needs to be a public hearing on this and Ms. Brennan needs to completely explain her actions and rationale.
Comment by Nero Saturday, Mar 29, 08 @ 10:49 am
This is amazing. There are all kinds of candidates screwed by insiders. Should they all apply for bucks?
Comment by Outrage Saturday, Mar 29, 08 @ 6:27 pm
Oy…give twelve monkeys a typewriter!
Just getting way to good at playing the game and not worrying at all about any rammfications for our actions.
Comment by Annon Monday, Mar 31, 08 @ 11:10 pm