Study: Corruption merits inspector general
BY CASEY TONER Sun-Times Media June 25, 2012 11:46AM
Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman and head of UIC's Political Science Deptartment, presented the results of a report detailing corruption that has afflicted more than 60 suburbs in Cook and surrounding counties and has ensnared more than 100 public officials and police officers, including 17 mayors and village presidents. He is calling for a suburban inspector general to rein it in. | Al Podgorski~Chicago Sun-Times
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Updated: July 27, 2012 6:14AM
Saying that suburban municipalities are copying the corruption playbook of Chicago, a former Chicago alderman on Monday proposed creating an independent suburban inspector general to police local officials.
“Many contracts and businesses in the suburbs have bribery and corruption as part of (their) business expenses,” said Dick Simpson, the head of the political science department at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
At a news conference at the Cook County Building in Chicago, Simpson unveiled a report — “Green Grass and Graft: Corruption in the Suburbs” — that he co-authored documenting corruption cases that have ensnared more than 100 suburban public officials — including at least 17 mayors — and police officers dating to 1974.
He suggested the state, the counties or the suburbs themselves could create the inspector generals offices. A local inspector general’s office could cost as much as $500,000 per year.
He said that would be a fraction of the cost of the problem, which he said was $500 million a year statewide and which he referred to as “the corruption tax.”
Simpson estimated they could be established within a year with the right support.
The inspector general would refer cases to the states attorneys, attorney general and U.S. attorney.
