Kirk joins calls for Stroger probe
U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk has joined the calls for a deeper investigation into the administration of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger.
The Highland Park congressman and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate today called on the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Commerce to look into allegations of the "alarming misuse of federal funds."
Kirk pointed to the Stroger administration's recent hiring of eight firms to conduct census outreach. Several Cook County commissioners questioned the companies' qualifications and the contract amounts - many just below the $25,000 threshold that requires county board approval.
"These reports indicate a pattern of misuse and mismanagement that warrant a full investigation by your office," Kirk wrote in a letter to Commerce Inspector General Todd Zinser Kirk. He cited the Commerce Department's oversight of federal census funds, as well as his own position on the House Appropriations Committee, which funds the census.
Kirk also cited an earlier and ongoing federal investigation into Cook County's "Project Shield," which was accused in 2008 of diverting federal Homeland Security funds to "bankrupt companies, phony addresses (and) politically connected businesses" via "falsified documents."
Kirk is running against Democrat Alexi Giannoulias in the Nov. 2 election.
Last week, Democratic Chicago U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, a former Cook County commissioner, called on the U.S. Government Accountability Office to look into the census-outreach contracts. The contracts were approved by Cook County Deputy Chief of Staff Carla Oglesby, Stroger's former campaign spokeswoman, who is already under investigation by the county inspector general for approving a $24,975 contract for her own public-relations firm just as she was being hired to her full-time county position.
Stroger's office declined to comment on Kirk's request, although Director of Communications Eugene Mullins has insisted the census firms were reputable and the contracted work was performed.