Jesse Jackson Jr. talks corr
By NATE HERNANDEZ
Associated Press Writer
September 25, 2006, 4:15 PM CDT
CHICAGO -- Jesse Jackson Jr., who is exploring a possible mayoral bid, met Monday with the attorney responsible for a federal court order that bars politics from influencing the hiring process at City Hall.
The Democratic congressman asked Michael Shakman a variety of questions about patronage and public corruption during an hour-long meeting in the attorney's downtown Chicago office.
Afterward, Jackson told reporters that taxpayers need to be educated about the economic costs of "cronyism." He also criticized Mayor Richard Daley's opposition to the 1983 Shakman Decree, characterizing the city's efforts to vacate the ban as a waste of taxpayer money.
"I believe fundamentally that it is time for a change and that the taxpayers deserve a better steward of their money than they're getting," Jackson said.
A phone message left with the mayor's press office Monday was not immediately returned.
The city filed a motion to vacate the consent decree in 2002.
Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said Shakman and the city are working to reach a resolution in the case.
"The settlement negotiations involve a number of different possibilities related to our hiring procedures," Hoyle said on Monday.
She acknowledged that there are various expenses associated with the case.
"There is a use of resources, there is no doubt about that. But I just can't attach a specific dollar amount to it," Hoyle said.
Jackson, the son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, is up for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in November. Once that is over, Jackson says he'll decide whether to join the race for mayor.
Shakman said his conversation with Jackson centered on his legal fight with the city. The meeting was not an endorsement of Jackson's possible mayoral candidacy, he said.
"Candidates and election officials call me all the time," he added.
Shakman first sued the city in the early 1970s after he lost a race for delegate to the Illinois Constitutional Convention.
He blamed his defeat on a rival campaign's use of patronage workers. The resulting 1983 Shakman Decree bars the use of political affiliation as a basis for hiring all but about 1,300 of the 38,000 jobs on Chicago's city payroll.
A 1987 court document estimated that the city saved $15 million a year by imposing a ban on political hiring and firing, which roughly translates to about $33 million today, Shakman said.
Jackson said city officials need to be held accountable for the "massive fraud" that has cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
"Changing the culture of corruption in the city requires more than mouthing empty words or turning a blind eye," Jackson said. "It demands a serious, concrete and conscientious commitment from the top to honesty and integrity, and to fairness for all."
Copyright © 2006, The Associated Press
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