FBI ethics probe causes Chicago alderman to hold off on White House honor

On the same day the White House announced an honor for Chicago Alderman Joe Moore as a “pioneer for political reform, governmental transparency and democratic governance,” Moore also revealed that he had been questioned by the FBI in an ethics probe concerning some of his former employees. As the Chicago Tribune reported: The accusations involving...

On the same day the White House announced an honor for Chicago Alderman Joe Moore as a “pioneer for political reform, governmental transparency and democratic governance,” Moore also revealed that he had been questioned by the FBI in an ethics probe concerning some of his former employees.

As the Chicago Tribune reported:

The accusations involving the ex-employees surfaced in a report from Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan, one of several cases of alleged aldermanic wrongdoing the council’s watchdog highlighted.

Khan contends that Moore, who has represented Rogers Park since 1991, fired a woman in 2009 after she complained about political work being done in his ward office in violation of city laws. The report says Moore, 49th, paid the woman $8,709 — the equivalent of 31/2 months’ salary — and told her not to speak to anyone about the political activities in the ward office.

The report also says Moore, who has long been considered a progressive voice on the council, fired his chief of staff in 2007 and paid him $13,497 more than he should have based on the number of unused sick days the chief of staff could have accumulated.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Moore decided to hold off on collecting the honor pending the outcome of a city ethics probe.

While Moore labeled the accusations as “totally baseless,” if proven to be true they would apparently be evidence of a former employee being paid hush money to cover up the commission of a crime.

This isn’t the first time the “hush money” issue has been brought up in recent weeks in Chicago. Former Metra CEO Alex Clifford made headlines with a potential $740,000 payout in a separation agreement with Metra that included a “mutual confidentiality” clause. It was later revealed Clifford had written a memo to Metra Board members alleging pressure to engage in patronage employment practices regarding the dismissal of employees and giving raises to other employees during a pay freeze.

Since 1976, Illinois has had the nation’s third-highest number of public corruption convictions. While no charges have been filed in either case, headlines like these reinforce the perception that Illinois is one of most corrupt states in the country.