Cook County Goes To Court To Keep Patronage Hiring

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Cook County Board President Bobbie Steele's administration is following Chicago's lead in trying to end the Shakman consent decree that prohibits political hiring in county government.

Her attorneys argued in motions Friday that the consent decree is unnecessary because, when Steele took office in August, she issued an executive order banning political hiring,

Steele's new administration should not have to take the blame for alleged patronage hiring under the former administration of John Stroger, argued the same Cook County attorneys who represented Stroger and now represent Steele.

The county is in court because attorney Michael Shakman asked a federal judge to appoint a monitor to oversee hiring at the county in light of recent Chicago Sun-Times stories exposing violations of the ban on political hiring.

But the county's attorneys went beyond fighting the appointment of a monitor Friday and filed an additional motion asking the judge to vacate the consent decree altogether.

Running a patronage scam makes extortion money from the taxpayers much easier.