A federal watchdog is saying Cook County's court clerk's office still needs oversight to root out undue political influence from its hiring and promotion practices, but recognizes that an appellate ruling, instigated by Gov. JB Pritzker, will likely end supervision.
Chicago lawyer Susan Feibus was appointed by a federal judge as a so-called "special master," tasked with making sure Cook County Circuit Clerk Iris Martinez complies with the federal Shakman Decree. In 1969, Chicago lawyers Michael Shakman and Paul Lurie sued the Cook County Democratic Party to fight patronage. That suit led to the so-called Shakman Decrees, which are federal court orders barring politics from improperly controlling Illinois government jobs and allowing federal oversight of hiring.
Feibus, through her attorney, Sue Gombis, of Chicago, submitted a report Nov. 15 to Chicago federal district court Judge Edmond Chang. The report noted improvement has been made.
"Clerk Martinez appears committed to Shakman compliance. To [Feibus'] knowledge, there have been no founded claims of unlawful political
discrimination. And the [clerk's office] in large measure has acted in good faith to remedy instances of non-compliance that have been identified," Feibus said.
However, problems remain.
Feibus said the clerk has not furnished the Shakman training handbook, for supervisors and human resources personnel, to those employees. In addition, the human resources department is understaffed, according to Feibus. Further, the clerk's director of compliance, who is assigned to ensuring compliance with Shakman, seems to be operating as a member of human resources, instead of auditing and monitoring employment practices.
"While it might be easier to ignore these issues, [Feibus] would not be fulfilling her duties and responsibilities" under Shakman "if she did," the report observed.
In Feibus' view, a "durable remedy" involves an "effective and independent" compliance director. Feibus explained the human resources department is to enforce the compliance handbook, while the director is to "make sure that Human Resources does its job right." Without this arrangement, the compliance program is "shattered," according to Feibus.
Feibus noted the "importance of training to create and maintain a culture free of political influence." In this light, supervisors and human resources staff must be trained beyond the training given non-supervisory employees.
The handbook addresses such matters as: probationary performance evaluations; time and attendance; overtime and compensatory time; training; and notices of employment action.
Feibus acknowledged these issues are probably moot, because of an Aug. 5 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which ordered the end of Shakman Decree supervision over Illinois government offices run by the governor. In that decision, judges concluded Shakman monitoring had continued too long and strayed from its original purpose. The ruling came about after Democratic Gov. Pritzker and his ally, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, urged the appeals panel to terminate Shakman, maintaining the state had eradicated corruption from hiring and promotion procedures.
Shakman and Lurie disputed Pritzker's claim corruption in hiring was a thing of the past, but the appellate judges — all appointed by Republican presidents — said the Shakman Decree can no longer endure constitutional muster.
As a consequence of the appeals decision, Judge Chang vacated the Shakman Decree over the governor’s office and agencies under the governor’s supervision.
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and County Assessor Fritz Kaegi are next in line to use the reasoning in the Pritzker case decision to slip from Shakman oversight, and have asked the court to allow them to exit the decrees.
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, who also is a high ranking official within the Illinois Democratic Party and has been accused of patronage hiring decisions, is also seeking to escape federal scrutiny of her office's hiring and promotion decisions, amid contentious proceedings with Shakman and Lurie. The reformers have said Yarbrough is simply attempting to end the oversight, while serious questions remain over her commitment to the reforms needed to do so.
Jonathan Bilyk contributed to this report.