FOR RELEASE:
January 16, 2024
PRESS CONTACT:
Deanna Shoss, Communications, 773-478-8417
Click here to hear from Inspector General Deborah Witzburg on 2023 Fourth Quarter Report highlights: https://youtu.be/JCvhS_rVshA
The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) released Friday its Fourth Quarterly Report of 2023, which summarizes concluded investigations, inquiries, intakes, and other operations of OIG, from October 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. This report has been filed with City Council pursuant to § 2-56-120 of the Municipal Code of Chicago (MCC).
“OIG marked some critical, measurable successes in 2023, particularly in the fourth quarter,” said Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General for the City of Chicago. “In the fourth quarter, OIG was found in full and effective compliance with and released from its obligations under the consent decree entered in Illinois v. Chicago—the first and only component of City government to fully satisfy and sustain compliance with its obligations. Also in the fourth quarter, in our investigative work, we reduced our count of cases open more than a year by nearly a third. We closed 139 cases in 2023. Our investigative work has not only gotten swifter but we have been markedly more aggressive in our pursuit of bad actors who break the rules; nearly half of the cases in which OIG has successfully pursued findings of probable cause in investigations into violations of the City’s ethics rules in the last decade were in 2023 alone. In this quarter, we report on the successful prosecution of an individual for obstructing an OIG investigation—the first such prosecution of which we are aware.”
In its quarterly report, as provided by law, OIG publishes de-identified summaries of sustained, completed investigations within the quarter. Among others, OIG investigations reported this quarter have established:
- Two Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (DBACP) employees incompetently performed their duties when, during the protests and unrest following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, they improperly issued a cease and desist notice to a not-for-profit for a purported failure to obtain a retail food license. The employees demonstrated a lack of necessary knowledge in applying the MCC, a lack of ability in the assessment of evidence, and a lack of knowledge regarding DBACP instruction for the issuance of a cease and desist notice. OIG recommended that DBACP impose discipline against the two employees commensurate with the gravity of their violations, past disciplinary record, and any other relevant considerations; DBACP issued verbal counseling to one employee and a verbal reprimand to the other.
- An elected City official terminated the employment of two City employees shortly after the employees disclosed to the official they believed the official was violating the City of Chicago Governmental Ethics Ordinance (GEO) and the U.S. and Illinois Constitutions by using City resources to host religious-themed events. OIG requested that the Board of Ethics issue a finding of probable cause to believe the elected official violated the GEO; the Board of Ethics voted unanimously to do so at its November 2023 board meeting.
- An elected City official misused City resources for personal political purposes. OIG’s investigation revealed that the official directed another employee to use their City time and assigned tools to further the official’s personal, rather than City, goals. OIG requested that the Board of Ethics issue a finding of probable cause to believe the elected official violated the GEO; the Board of Ethics voted unanimously to do so at its November 2023 board meeting.
- A former Office of the City Clerk (OCC) payment service representative committed thefts of cash payments they received for the sale of City stickers pursuant to their position with OCC. The employee resigned from their position during the investigation, and OCC referred the employee for placement on the ineligible for rehire list. The matter was referred for criminal prosecution.
- A City debt collection contractor misused its access to the City’s debt collection portal to assign itself unripe utility debt for collection. The contractor subsequently submitted invoices to the City seeking a contractual 25% contingency fee for its collection of the debt, which required no meaningful collection efforts, as the account at issue had been regularly paid by the customer. As a result of the contractor’s conduct, it received over $200,000 in improper contingency fee payments from the City. When the Department of Finance (DOF) learned of the contractor’s possible misconduct, it limited debt collection contractor access to its systems and withheld payments from the contractor. After OIG’s investigation, DOF disabled the contractor’s access to all City systems; the Department of Law terminated the City’s contract with the contractor; and the Department of Procurement Services (DPS) initiated debarment proceedings against the contractor.
- A former high-level DPS employee engaged in unauthorized secondary employment and unauthorized use of City resources to engage in that secondary employment. The employee also presented fraudulent documentation to DPS during his employment application process purporting to show that their secondary businesses were dissolved. Those documents were never filed with the proper authority, resulting in the businesses remaining active despite the employee asserting otherwise to DPS. The employee resigned from DPS during OIG’s investigation; DPS referred the former employee for placement on the ineligible for rehire list.
In addition to its investigative work, OIG released five publications this quarter, including one on the City’s use of gang data, draft versions of the Audit and Program Review Annual Plan and Public Safety Outlook detailing potential projects for 2024, follow-up reports on the Tax Increment Financing Ordinance and the City’s Video Release Policy, and more. In the fourth quarter, OIG processed 1,853 new intakes.
Read the Report:
Read the full report, released on January 12, 2024.
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About the Office of Inspector General
The mission of the independent and nonpartisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct inquiries into most aspects of City government.
If you see misconduct, mismanagement, ineffectiveness, or inefficiency, we need to hear from you.
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