Rise of the Inspector General

"As a former federal prosecutor, David has the skills and experience necessary to root out corruption and help us maintain the highest ethical standards in city government." That's what Mayor Daley said when he appointed David Hoffman as city Inspector General in 2005.9 Coming from an administration as infamous for corruption and waste as Daley's, the notion of "maintaining" high ethical standards, much less aspiring to them, was a stretch. But with a federal investigation of patronage hiring at City Hall, the Mayor needed to look like he was serious about improving transparency. And, whether Mayor Daley knew it or not at the time, he was. To people who expected little from an office that had been passive in pursing bad practices since its establishment in 1989, Hoffman provided a big surprise by aggressively and even relentlessly targeting wrongdoers.

Before resigning in August 2009 to run for the United States Senate, Hoffman instigated more than 50 criminal cases. Using his background as a respected federal prosecutor, he was able to involve the United States Department of Justice in a number of those cases - something that had happened only rarely before his arrival. In the process, Hoffman became "the most prominent counterweight to the mayor's virtually absolute lock on power." 10

Although Mayor Daley denied it, claiming he was ready to re-appoint Hoffman to another four-year term, the inspector general became a liability for the mayor. 11 In a scathing report, Hoffman lambasted the city for its hastily decided deal to lease parking meters, which brought in a billion dollars less than it could have or should have. (see Transportation Report)

In July 2009, two weeks after Hoffman recommended to the mayor that one of his aides, Human Resources Commissioner Homero Tristan, be fired for lying during an investigation of hiring abuses, Tristan resigned.12 Hoffman additionally refused to stop investigating a sewer inspection company in which Daley's son and nephew held hidden ownership stakes once the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the company received millions of dollars in additional work from the city with no competitive bidding.13 Daley's nephew, Robert Vanecko, was also investigated by the Inspector General and U.S. Attorney's Office for dealings that involved the use of $68 million of city pension funds for lucrative real estate investments.

Furthermore, Hoffman's office revealed that sanitation crews in 10 wards worked an average of less than 6 hours out of the 8 they were being paid to work. It was estimated that the cost of the wasted work hours to taxpayers, factoring in wages, benefits, gasoline and maintenance, was nearly $21 million a year.14

Some critics said Hoffman's office did not aim high enough in its investigations. While crediting Hoffman for his work ethic, Mick Dumke in the Chicago Reader "wondered why he seemed to go after low-hanging fruit when the entire tree was rotten." 15 The convictions that emerged from the federal-city probe of corruption in building and zoning regulation looked respectable on paper, but as far as bribes are concerned, the tickets offered by contractors and developers to city officials for sporting events were pedestrian.

However, any corruption is worth weeding, and Hoffman's persistence energized efforts to expand the powers of the inspector general and increase the budget of the office. In 2009, Alderman Joe Moore (49th) introduced a proposal that would give the inspector the authority to investigate wrongdoing by aldermen. The power was not granted, in part out of concerns that the inspector general, a mayoral appointee, would abuse it for political reasons by investigating opponents of the mayor.

Moore additionally called for the inspector general to be chosen from a list of candidates drawn up by an independent panel of judges, prosecutors, law enforcement representatives, and nonprofit watchdogs. He also called for the extension of the inspector general's term from four to six years, along with an increase of no less than 0.15 percent of the entire city budget "to protect the inspector general's office from retaliatory budget cuts from either the mayor or city council." Based on the 2009 budget, the inspector general's office would get nearly $9 billion, up from $5.9 million, with the new provision.16

Alderman Patrick O'Connor (40th), the Mayor's City Council floor leader, also offered a proposal to empower the inspector general to investigate aldermen. However, his plan called for an Inspector General Review Board to share the appointment power between the Mayor and the Council.17

As rankled as Daley may have been by Hoffman's probes, the Mayor was able to take credit for the clean up efforts of his inspector general since he had appointed him. Hoffman was confident his hand-picked team of attorneys, auditors and investigators would continue fighting the good fight in his absence. On October 9, 2009, he was replaced by former Assistant US Attorney Joe Ferguson, a favorable decision in the eyes of the public and Mayor Daley. Ferguson took over during a time of conflict and controversy, and it remains to be seen how he will compare to his predecessor.18