From the Chicago Sun-Times

Official charged in city hiring scandal
By Matt O’Connor
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 18, 2005, 1:33 PM CDT
The federal investigation into corruption in Chicago's Hired Truck Program entered a new phase today, as an official was charged with rigging the city's hiring process to guarantee jobs to political favorites.
Patrick Slattery, 42, director of staff services for the city's Streets and Sanitation Department, was charged in a federal criminal complaint with one count of mail fraud.
Slattery turned himself in to federal authorities this morning and made an initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole. The judge released Slattery on a $4,500 recognizance bond and set his preliminary hearing for July 26.
Defense attorney Patrick Blegen told reporters after the hearing that his client was innocent and "we're very much looking forward to contesting these charges in court.''
The criminal charge against Slattery resulted from a continuing federal probe that has resulted in 19 convictions to date stemming from wrongdoing in the city's Hired Truck Program.
Acting at the direction of "top city officials" in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Streets and Sanitation, Slattery guaranteed jobs and promotions for people with connections to local political organizations, certain aldermen and labor unions, according to the criminal complaint.
According to an FBI affidavit accompanying the complaint, Slattery got the names of those who were supposed to be hired from an unnamed Individual A or Individual B.
The 24-page affidavit said Slattery and several "co-schemers'' fixed the job interview process and falsified rating forms to implement hiring decisions that had been made beforehand by politically connected officials in the city's department of intergovernmental affairs.
It said Slattery administered about 40 hiring procedures designed to comply with the Shakman Decree annually, "virtually every time manipulating and falsifying the ratings.'' The Shakman decree barred political hiring for roughly 37,000 city jobs.
The Tribune on Sunday reported federal investigators had turned their attention to the Daley administration's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, known as IGA. Authorities probing links between political work and city jobs raided IGA's fourth-floor office at City Hall in April.
Since Mayor Richard Daley took office in 1989, top officials in IGA have nurtured and directed pro-Daley political organizations, rewarding their foot soldiers with city jobs, according to City Hall insiders.
Some city officials with ties to the political organizations have been indicted in the Hired Truck probe and charged with offering jobs, raises and overtime in exchange for campaign help.
IGA is responsible for promoting Daley's legislative agenda in the City Council, Springfield and Washington. Politicians report that IGA also has been the place to go for city jobs.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.