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Patronage in Illinois, or Shakman Is Dead, Long Live Shakman
Wednesday, June 25th, 2014
Robert Wechsler
It's the end of an era. Last week, according to an
article in the Chicago Tribune, a federal
magistrate declared that Chicago was released from the 1972 Shakman
consent decree, which was supposed to end patronage (for a long
time, however, patronage went underground; see my 2006 blog post on
this). From now on, there will be no more federal oversight
over city hiring.
But Michael Shakman, the lawyer who filed the original lawsuit and recently requested the end of federal oversight, says that this is not the end of the story. “None of us think there will never be another example of patronage hiring in the city or public employment influenced by patronage. That's unrealistic to expect, but it is realistic to expect and recognize that the city has put in place the systems and the people and the commitment to clean up its act.”
These systems govern hiring, firing, promotions, discipline, overtime and the like. They are designed to remove the influence of politics from these decisions. The city has set up internal policing by the Department of Human Resources and the inspector general's office.
Mayor Emanuel, who is credited with instituting these systems, did not say that the mission has been accomplished. Instead, he said that "every day we've got to earn [the people's] trust.”
This decision is not just about federal vs. city oversight. It's also about costs. A court-appointed hiring monitor has cost the city $22.8 million since 2005 (that's in addition to the city's internal hiring monitor).
But not everything is looking up in Illinois. According to an NPR story, "Shakman is asking the federal court to appoint a monitor to oversee Illinois government hiring practices because of widespread patronage claims there." The case is focused on the state Department of Transportation, which apparently has many more political positions than the U.S. Supreme Court allowed in Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois, 497 U.S. 62 (1990).
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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But Michael Shakman, the lawyer who filed the original lawsuit and recently requested the end of federal oversight, says that this is not the end of the story. “None of us think there will never be another example of patronage hiring in the city or public employment influenced by patronage. That's unrealistic to expect, but it is realistic to expect and recognize that the city has put in place the systems and the people and the commitment to clean up its act.”
These systems govern hiring, firing, promotions, discipline, overtime and the like. They are designed to remove the influence of politics from these decisions. The city has set up internal policing by the Department of Human Resources and the inspector general's office.
Mayor Emanuel, who is credited with instituting these systems, did not say that the mission has been accomplished. Instead, he said that "every day we've got to earn [the people's] trust.”
This decision is not just about federal vs. city oversight. It's also about costs. A court-appointed hiring monitor has cost the city $22.8 million since 2005 (that's in addition to the city's internal hiring monitor).
But not everything is looking up in Illinois. According to an NPR story, "Shakman is asking the federal court to appoint a monitor to oversee Illinois government hiring practices because of widespread patronage claims there." The case is focused on the state Department of Transportation, which apparently has many more political positions than the U.S. Supreme Court allowed in Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois, 497 U.S. 62 (1990).
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
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