Hired Truck Program

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The Hired Truck Program is a scandal-plagued program in the city of Chicago that involved hiring private trucks to do city work. It was overhauled in 2004 (and phased out beginning in 2005) after an investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times revealed that some participating companies were being paid for doing little or no work, had mob connections or were tied to city employees. City employees were supposedly barred from the program. Truck owners also paid bribes in order to get into the program[1].

The Hired Truck Program officially came to an end Monday September 18, 2006; At the end of Friday September 15, 2006's work day, the final eight Hired Trucks were laid off permanently.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Investigations of the program

The Sun-Times investigation began when a reporter on his way to work passed by an abandoned gas station, the home of a single red truck that bore a sign saying it was leased to the city of Chicago's Hired Truck Program. The reporter eventually staked out a city water crew for five days, watching four Hired Trucks sit idly during each eight-hour shift. Each truck cost taxpayers $50.17 an hour.

The scandal eventually sparked a Federal investigation into hiring practices at Chicago City Hall, with Robert Sorich, Mayor Daley's former patronage chief, facing mail fraud charges for allegedly rigging city hiring to favor people with political connections. On July 5, 2006, Sorich, 43, was convicted on two counts of mail fraud for rigging city jobs and promotions.[2]

[edit] Political fallout

Despite the revelations in the Sun-Times, the city defended the program. As the first indictment was unsealed from a sweeping Federal investigation, Chicago City Corporation Counsel Mara Georges said the $40 million-a-year program "is a good program which does a good benefit to the taxpayers of Chicago. It saves taxpayer money. It allows the city to efficiently get jobs done. It is the appropriate use of private resources, as opposed to the city having to engage in its own use of resources.”[3]

The scandal has been damaging to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, whose brother sold insurance to three major trucking companies. Additionally, 25 percent of all Hired Truck money went to companies from Daley's 11th Ward power base and $108,575 in campaign contributions flowed to the mayor from companies in the program beginning in 1996.[citation needed]

In February 2005, Daley denied complicity in the unfolding scandal saying, "Anyone who believes that my interest in public life is in enriching my family, friends or political supporters doesn't know or understand me at all. My reputation and the well-being of this city are more important to me than any election."[4]

In February 2006, John Briatta, whose sister is married to Cook County Commissioner John Daley, the mayor's brother, pleaded guilty to taking at least $5,400 in bribes to steer Hired Truck work to a trucking company.[citation needed]

The litany of cases of bribery grew to include former City Clerk James Laski, who was charged in January 2006 with taking bribes and obstructing justice after federal agents caught him on tape encouraging witnesses to lie to a grand jury and deny that they had been giving him $500 to $1,000 a week in cash bribes to keep getting business from the Hired Truck program.[citation needed] Laski resigned his $135,545-a-year job and gave up his law license. In March 2006 he pled guilty. Laski came into office as a reformer after his predecessor, City Clerk Walter Kozubowski, was convicted in a ghost payroll scheme for paying a total of $476,000 to six "ghosts" for little or no work over a dozen years.[citation needed] Kozubowski was sentenced to five years in prison. In June 2006, Laski was sentenced to two years in prison.

It was also revealed that tons of asphalt paid for by the city were stolen by truck drivers in the Hired Truck program. The asphalt was then used on private jobs.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Tim Novak and Steve Warmbir e = January 2004. "Clout on Wheels", Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2006-07-11.
  2. ^ Rudolph Bush and Dan Mihalopoulos. "Daley jobs chief guilty", Chicago Tribune, 2006-07-06. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. (free registration required)
  3. ^ Spielman, Fran (2004-01-26). Clout on Wheels: Charges filed in Hired Truck probe. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2006-07-11.
  4. ^ Spielman, Fran (2005-02-09). Clout on Wheels: Daley dumps Hired Truck Program. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2006-07-11.

[edit] External links

An actual Hired Truck Owner and Participant

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