Court clerk candidates wrangle over hiring, patronage
"The Cook County court system is broken," charges Jacob Meister, one of three candidates running in the Democratic primary for clerk of the Cook County circuit court. The office is responsible for maintaining records for one of the nation's largest court systems.
Meister, an attorney and civil rights advocate, blames four-term incumbent Dorothy Brown, who he says presides over an office rooted in patronage and "mired in ethical and operational dysfunction."
Brown refutes the allegations, saying hiring and promotion is merit-based and that her office does its job well.
Chicago alderman Michelle Harris is also running in the Democratic primary. Harris did not respond to interview requests and did not complete a Daily Herald candidate questionnaire.
"We've handled hiring properly. There is no 'pay to play,'" said Brown, who denied allegations that clerk employees who contributed to her campaign were more likely to be promoted.
She says she has fired contributors and non-contributors equally and she's promoted people using the same standards. She says she fully complies with the Shakman decrees, a federal court order stemming from a 1969 lawsuit, implemented to eliminate patronage in government employment.
Meister claims 350 of Brown's employees are exempt. "That's not your management team. That's called patronage," he said.
Brown said some of those employees are holdovers from when now Appellate Court Judge Aurelia Pucinski held the office, ending in 2000.
Brown also responded to questions about a federal investigation into the clerk's office. Brown was subpoenaed last October and the FBI took her county-issued cellphone as part of the probe of "possible criminal violations in connection with the purchasing of jobs and promotions" in the clerk's office.
No charges have been filed against Brown and her phone has been returned.
The probe centers around former employee Sivasubramani Rajaram, 48, who federal prosecutors say was rehired in 2014 weeks after he loaned $15,000 to Goat Masters Corp., a company whose president is Benton Cook III, Brown's husband. Rajaram was charged with making false statements to a grand jury. He next appears in federal court on April 26.
"That was a private, properly handled transaction," Brown said.
The revelation of the federal investigation prompted the Cook County Democratic Party to revoke its endorsement of Brown in favor of Harris.
Brown says losing the party's endorsement was a disappointment.
"I felt they were premature," she said. "As public officials we have enemies who will call and give false allegations against you."
Diane Shapiro, Republican committeeman for Chicago's 46th ward, is running unopposed in her party's primary.