Mayor Daley's Secret Political Hiring List

The Chicago Tribune reports:

A confidential list maintained by the sister of Victor Reyes, a former top aide to Mayor Richard Daley, identified campaign workers who wanted--and often got--government jobs or promotions.

Virginia Reyes, a bookkeeper for her brother's pro-Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization, kept the list on a computer she used at a consulting firm run by the mayor's former campaign manager, according to a source familiar with HDO's inner workings.

The list, which was obtained by the Tribune, contains names of HDO campaign workers, the public jobs they wanted and their leaders in the political organization.

Maintaining such a list is not improper, and it is not clear how the list obtained by the Tribune was used. Virginia Reyes declined repeated requests for comment.

But using such lists to lobby City Hall for jobs would appear to skirt a long-standing civil court order restricting political hiring, officials said.

And federal authorities conducting a criminal investigation into city hiring allege that political operatives presented lists of campaign workers to Daley aides. Administration officials are accused of rigging the hiring and promotion process to reward allies.

Could you imagine what the EEOC would do if a major corporation favored only people from Mayor Daley's old neighborhood?? Patrick Fitzgerald has probably come to the conclusion that Chicago city government is a racketeering enterprise.