Chicago Sun Times Editorial: How about some compassion for those stuck with the bill?

Chicago Sun Times Editorial: How about some compassion for those stuck with the bill?
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
June 30, 2009
http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1644942,CST-EDT-edit30b.article


Why is it whenever someone in the Daley administration gets tangled up in a hiring abuse investigation, the mayor invokes family values?

When the mayor's former patronage chief Robert Sorich and three other city employees were convicted as part of a City Hall hiring fraud investigation a few years back, the mayor said "they are very fine young men, and their families."

When Daley's former head of Streets and Sanitation, Al Sanchez, was convicted for much the same behavior, the mayor noted Sanchez is "very proud of his family."

And last week, when city Inspector General David Hoffman alleged that the mayor's head of human resources, Homero Tristan, lied during an investigation and should be fired, the mayor said Tristan was "dedicated," a "good civil servant" and -- you guessed it -- a "family man."

To be clear, no one's saying these guys don't love their families.

Families have nothing to do with it -- unless you count the families of the hard-working men and women passed over for city jobs or promotions because they had no clout.

Nor is anyone claiming Sorich and company murdered anyone.

Their crimes -- in the case of Sorich and his cohorts, and Sanchez -- are much less serious.

As for Tristan, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing, the allegation that he covered up a mistake by lying to Hoffman's investigators is much worse than his supposed infraction. In his own defense, Tristan says he did nothing wrong.

But all of his doesn't make hiring problems something to be treated lightly.

Which seems to be the attitude at City Hall, from the top down. An attitude that has cost taxpayers millions of dollars in legal fees and in payouts to passed-over employees.

City Hall can either get serious and clean up the mess -- or taxpayers can get out their checkbooks.