Todd Stroger may be on his last legs politically, but the Cook County Board President is still stirring up controversy.
The city’s inspector general is looking into allegations that Stroger improperly hired his campaign manager to a county job after the election, the Sun-Times reports.
Stroger hired Carla Oglesby as his deputy chief of staff – a $116,000 a year job – after he lost the Feb. 2 primary to Toni Preckwinkle.
Oglesby’s public relations firm CGC Communications subsequently received a check for $24,975 for consulting work.
Payouts of $25,000 or more require full board approval. Stroger’s check only required approval from his purchasing agent.
“This is obviously an abuse of power,’’ said Commissioner Timothy Schneider, a northwest suburban Republican to the Chicago Sun-Times. “. . . Whether the contract was signed and paid for just prior to her coming on as an employee or whether she was an employee at the time is irrelevant.’’
A statement from Stroger’s office claimed the Department of Homeland Security hired CGC to help inform millions of suburbanites that the state could provide disaster relief funds to them following flooding in 2008, according to the Sun-Times.
The office declined to answer any further questions by the paper.