Political hiring still thrives in Chicago, monitor says

Political hiring is still thriving at City Hall despite high-profile efforts to stamp out patronage, according to an annual report from a federal monitor.

The report by Noelle Brennan was filed in federal court Tuesday and alleges that city departments continue to find ways to work around rules that prohibit the hiring of politically connected candidates.

"Whereas the city's compliance had substantially increased during 2006, the same cannot be said for the city's compliance in 2007," Brennan wrote.

Jenny Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the Law Department, said Tuesday that the city is cooperating with Brennan and has never intentionally misled her.

Brennan was appointed as a federal monitor in 2005 by U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen after Mayor Richard M. Daley's former patronage chief was arrested on charges that he and others conspired to rig the city's hiring process. They were convicted last summer by a federal jury.

Brennan's report also alleges that city workers who violate hiring rules aren't being punished, leading to ongoing violations.

She said the inspector general is investigating alleged hiring abuses by two high-ranking aides to Daley.

Most patronage hiring is banned under a 30-year-old federal court decree in a lawsuit filed by attorney Michael Shakman.