2016 Cook County
Budget Hearings: Office of the Independent Inspector General
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
The mission of the Office of the Independent Inspector General (OIIG) is
to detect, deter, and prevent corruption, fraud, waste, mismanagement, unlawful
political discrimination (Shakman patronage issues) and misconduct in the
operation of Cook County government.
There are currently 17 employees in the office with one job opening. Mr.
Patrick Blanchard is the Inspector General, he has two deputy Inspector
Generals. There have been 310 complaints to this office for the current year;
this is an increase from last year. OIIG
works with the Cook County Ethics committee, and also covers the Health and
Hospital system and Forest Preserve.
Most of the questions and comments by commissioners during
the budget hearing related to referring candidates for jobs within County
government. There was concern about the hiring practice and how applicants are
selected for interviews. Commissioner
Deborah Sims stated that one of her constituents sent in applications for a job
32 times and never even had an interview or a response from the Cook County HR
Department. There was discussion of
creating a person to oversee the hiring
practices of the Health and Hospital Systems since they employ the largest
number of people in Cook County. Cook County Jail is second.
Most commissioners seemed pleased with the work of this
office. Patrick Blanchard is satisfied with OIIG budget.
Submitted by Nancy Marcus
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