My former neighbor in Chicago BS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman has an amazing story this week. Zekman found that Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas has a county-supplied driver who makes $94,000 a year and a cleaning lady making $57,000 a year.
Zekman’s staff secretly filmed Emanuel Hatzisavas as he waited for such things as Pappas to complete her yoga lessons at the East Bank Club.
When confronted with the film, Pappas had this to say: “You know what, okay, alright, you know what look.” That should wrap it up.
Pappas insists that she has paid $150 a month to reimburse the county for private use of the personnel. Pappas is shown stating “I don’t know, Pam I’m not hiding him.” However, the driver is hidden in the budget as a “Project Leader.”
Pappas is a lawyer who continues to list herself as in private practice on her resume.
Cook County is struggling under a mountain of debt.
Source: CBS
Jonathan Turley
EASY folks EASY, you don’t have to worry, the Government of Illinois KNOWS this is a LOT of money…that’s why they are going to increase our state taxes 66%…
And their safety standards for nursing homes, they found a way to pay for that too…they raised the bed tax!!
WOW, are these people GOOD or what!?!?
I worked as a financial analyst for the City of Boston for 3 years. There the budget department were civil servants with guaranteed employment absent misconduct. It is very difficult for me to believe that there weren’t civil service employees who didn’t know about this and didn’t file reports about it.
Also, I am of the opinion that almost all of our current economic problems are caused by or enabled by failure to have an attorney regulation system in which all misconduct complaints are public. In practically all states, attorney misconduct complaints are not public unless they are pursued. To the best of my knowledge, none of the attorney regulators are elected so there is no public review of their performance and no public accountability. However, I think in all complaints are sent to the complained about lawyer so the complaining party has to worry about reprisal. The attorney regulators should use an Internet system based on blog software where anyone can file a complaint with supporting documents if applicable and then if there is an innocent explanation the complained about attorney can publicly respond.
I think the ABA’s position that only states can regulate attorney misconduct is totally wrong. I’d like to see “Better Bar Associations” who make an effort to have only honest lawyers as members. Then members of the Better Bar Associations should be able to get work from people and businesses who want to assure their spouses, employees, constituents and customers that they hire honest lawyers. This would give honest lawyers a competitive advantage. Currently, honest lawyers are at a competitive disadvantage because many people actually want to hire crooked lawyers to do dishonest things.
seamus,
Your malapropism was nearly appropriate.
“kind of crap”
Hey Prof.,
I live in Cook County. This is the king of crap that’s turning otherwise reasonable people into tea-baggers. I volunteer to be the named plaintiff against her for fraud. I think a Civil R.I.C.O. suit could be brought here.
Many muni drivers are cops, to provide protection for public officials, and work lots of overtime to coordinate with their passengers’ schedules, so it’s no surprise that this driver got so much money. If truth be told, this is probably a low figure for this position, considering all the meetings an office holder can go to, both day and night.
The cleaning person? No explanation.
Prof. Turley – if you were more prone to spouting baloney, then you might have been, as you say, Pam Zekman’s “former neighbor in Chicago BS.” Perhaps when you lived back here, you were more full of BS, and being in DC reduced it? (Contrary to the normal trend!)
(Yes, I know that you meant to type “CBS”, but given Pam’s propensity to chase people down the street asking annoying questions, I thought your little Freudian typo was pretty funny!)
OK, I’m making fun of Pam, and she is pretty grating pretty often, but she’s exactly right to embarrass Pappas over this silliness! For a Republican, she was a quick study in the ways of Cook County Democrats.
Also, never mind the $97k salary, how much in fringe benefits does “Project Leader” Hatzisavas get a year? Pension, full health insurance, etc?
I hope they did not get any audio recorded, cause they do not play that 1st Amendment game in Ill.
“Project Leader/Driver”get it?
I want to know where to apply….
rafflaw,
You would need to become fluent Greek.
It’s all Greek to me.
BBB,
I could easily wear the hat if they show me the money! I would even pay for the tolls!
As I think AY would say”somehow it makes sense to me”LOL!!
“However, the driver is hidden in the budget as a “Project Leader.” “
Flying nun: the job is in “The Windy City”.
Blouise,
“Come on … I bet you’d look very cute in beanie!”
Nope. My ears are too big. When I wear a hat my ears stick out. 🙂 Then I have to deal with flying nun syndrome.
BBB,
Come on … I bet you’d look very cute in beanie!
rafflaw,
“Do they think they are entitled to this kind of largesse?” Yes
“Do they think that it is ok because everyone else is doing it?” Yes
“She should be tossed immediately.” She will if enough people scream. It will be interesting to see.
“If she doesn’t lose her job, I want to send her my resume because I could do the driving for much less.”
I was thinking the same thing. 🙂 As long as I don’t have to wear a chauffeur hat. That’s a deal breaker.
Raff,
“If she doesn’t lose her job, I want to send her my resume because I could do the driving for much less.”
My thought exactly.
That is an amazing story. I just don’t understand what these politicians are thinking. Do they think they are entitled to this kind of largesse? Do they think that it is ok because everyone else is doing it? She should be tossed immediately. If she doesn’t lose her job, I want to send her my resume because I could do the driving for much less.
government service is a license to steal in most cases.