Ex-Kane official to oversee Cook Co. Forest Preserve hiring

A federal judge Wednesday named Elburn's Jan Carlson as a hiring monitor for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, adding to the growing number of governments now under a court-ordered "compliance administrator."

The administrator's job is to make sure that governments are obeying the Shakman Decree, a historic settlement between attorney Michael Shakman and several area governments that forbids political hiring, firing and promotion for most typical positions. Top administrative or cabinet-level jobs remain exempt from the decree.

Carlson represented a good choice for the spot, said U.S. District Judge Wayne Anderson, because he has seen the Shakman decree from both sides. Back when the Shakman suit was originally filed, Carlson was Kane County Clerk of the Circuit Court and, by virtue of his position, a defendant in the case. He had to oversee changes to hiring procedures in the office, and so has a realistic perspective of how change can be implemented, Anderson said.

Carlson recalled how, before the creation of the clerk's human resources office, applicants needed a letter from a precinct committeeman and their local party chair to land a job.

"That was a different time and a different place, but that's how it was done," he said. "I had the benefit of ... changing that."

More recently, said Anderson, Carlson has worked for Noelle Brennan, compliance administrator for the city of Chicago, and investigated hiring practices in the sewer department. Carlson is also an RTA board member.

Of his new position with the forest preserve, Carlson said: "I don't know what I'm going to find there, but it's important that taxpayers' money is not squandered, and that the process of government is transparent. That's where my focus is."

The order naming Carlson also institutes a claims procedure for forest preserve employees or applicants who feel they were politically discriminated against in hiring, firing or promotions.

Cook County government, technically a separate government, had a similar procedure and ended up paying $3.2 million to settle more than 100 claims. The forest preserve has fewer employees and will likely end up being cheaper.

In a related matter, Shakman attorneys Roger Fross and Brian Hays of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell told Anderson they were close to an agreement with the county on naming someone to handle future hiring complaints besides county Inspector General Patrick Blanchard.

The consent decree had named the IG as the person responsible, but Shakman objected when Blanchard was being considered for the job because Blanchard had served as a county state's attorney who defended the county against the Shakman lawsuit. Shakman argued Blanchard had a basic conflict of interest and could not vigorously pursue political discrimination complaints. Since the Shakman decree gave Shakman the right to object to who the county put in charge of investigating hiring complaints, he essentially had a veto over who was named to the position. Nonetheless, county board members ignored Shakman and pressed ahead, naming Blanchard the inspector general.

Now, it appears, the hiring complaint investigation functions will be removed from Blanchard and another person will be hired to perform that duty, meaning taxpayers will foot the bill for two employees instead of just one.

Daily Herald Staff Writer Josh Stockinger contributed to this report.