Ethics board criticizes ex-Stroger aide
The Cook County Board of Ethics issued a scathing report echoing the charges made against Carla Oglesby, former deputy chief of staff for President Todd Stroger.
The report, released Friday by the Stroger administration, accused her of five violations of the county's ethics ordinance. She was charged with violating her fiduciary duty, exerting improper influence, and having an interest in county business, a conflict of interest and dual employment in arranging a $24,975 check for her own public-relations firm shortly after joining the Stroger administration early this year after previously serving as his campaign spokeswoman.
The Stroger administration declined to comment on the report, as it has done on questions of who granted Oglesby the right to draw checks, a power not held by previous deputies in that position.
The report did not mention Eugene Mullins, the Stroger spokesman identified in the criminal complaint against her as also exerting influence on her behalf and on behalf of the so-called 24-9 contracts she arranged, for just under the $25,000 figure requiring county board approval.
The report recommended termination, but Oglesby resigned when she was charged with theft of government property and official misconduct early this month. Commissioners are planning to raise the issue of whether the county is contesting unemployment benefits for her at a meeting on Wednesday.