C H IC AG O PA RK D IS TR IC T
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
WILL FLETCHER
INSPECTOR GENERAL

740 N. SEDGWICK ST., 3RD FL.
CHICAGO, IL 60654
312.742.9500 (MAIN)
312.742.3333 (OIG HOTLINE)
312.742.9505 (FAX)

2019 FIRST QUARTER REPORT
To the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners, Park District employees and Residents
of the City of Chicago,
It is with great pleasure that I present the Chicago Park District Office of Inspector General’s
2019 First Quarter Report and express my gratitude for the support of the Park District’s
administration and Commissioners. I would especially like to acknowledge the members of
OIG’s staff who have demonstrated their commitment to the mission of impartial
government oversight and the evolving role of the office.
In the first quarter of 2019, OIG once again reported on a variety of matters unquestionably
within the office’s jurisdiction but very likely in contrast to the role initially foreseen for it by
the Park District, at least as indicated by the resources dedicated to its staffing. OIG has only
one full-time investigator and a compliance officer who also has an investigative caseload.
OIG relies heavily on three part-time investigators. Not surprisingly, it’s proven a challenge to
retain qualified part-time investigators unless they have another source of income and
benefits either in the form of a pension or a salary from other full-time employment.
As noted in our 2018 Fourth Quarter and Annual Report, the Park District has demonstrated
a genuine commitment to independent oversight and the promotion of transparency.
However, if it was once believed that OIG would be adequately staffed with mostly part-time
investigators whose skillsets were best suited to surveillance-based employee misconduct
cases (e.g., time falsification, residency violations), any objective review of the matters on
which OIG has reported in the last few years compels that such notions be put to rest.
Although the Park District has a smaller budget and fewer employees than the City of
Chicago and other sister agencies, it unquestionably has the same need in proportion for an
office of inspector general equipped with the capacity and expertise to competently review
varied and complex issues. OIG has proven adept at handling cases in all areas of its
jurisdiction but not without significant strain. And the number of investigations and reviews
OIG initiates reflects on the office’s capacity to open additional matters and not from a lack
of subject matter warranting its attention.

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

OIG’s members are among a handful of Park District employees who directly report to the
Board of Commissioners and provide assistance for its responsibilities in the “management
and control of business and property of the Chicago Park District.” The need for investment
in robust oversight is self-evident: the Park District has more than 3,600 year-round
employees (increasing to more than 7,500 employees during the summer months) and an
annual budget of $464 million. Further, the Park District transacts business with hundreds
of vendors, contractors and service providers every year. In 2018, the Board of
Commissioners approved approximately $91 million in contracts with external entities.
OIG calls on the support of the Board of Commissioners for additional resources to hire
personnel with the skillsets and experience necessary for the office to inhabit the scope of
its mission to promote efficiency and prevent fraud, waste and abuse throughout the Park
District.
Sincerely,

Will Fletcher
Will Fletcher
Inspector General

2

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
Updates on Previously Reported Matters, p. 4
Former Member of a Park District Advisory Council Pled Guilty to Stealing Council
Funds; Ordered to Make Restitution Payments, p. 4
OIG Recommendations from Prior Quarterly Report Still Pending Park District
Responses, p. 4

Investigations, p. 5
Employees Collected Cash for Scrap Metal Sales and the Park District Never
Received the Payments; Park District Enacted New Policies in Response to
Investigation, p. 5
Employees Misuse of Park District Tax-Exempt Status to Buy Personal Items at Sam’s
Club, p. 6.
Park District Hired Administrative Employee Without Verifying Required Bachelor’s
Degree; Employee Did Not Have the Degree, p. 8.
Employee Falsely Certified Friend’s Community Service, p. 9

Quarterly Information, p. 9
Hiring Compliance Monitoring Activity – First Quarter 2019, p. 12

3

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

U PDATES ON P REVIOUSLY R EPORTED M ATTERS
A.

F O RM E R M EM B E R O F A P A RK A D VI S O RY C O U N C I L P L ED G U I LT Y
C OU NC I L F U ND S ; O RD E RE D TO M AK E R ES T I T U TI O N P AY M EN TS

TO

S T EA LI NG

In the first quarter of 2019, a former park advisory council treasurer pled guilty in Cook
County Circuit Court to using their position of trust to steal funds belonging to the council
over a period of years. OIG referred its investigative findings to the Office of the Illinois
Attorney General, which prosecuted the criminal case. The plea required the former
treasurer to make restitution in the amount of $10,000.
B.

OIG R EC O M M E ND AT I O NS
D I S T RI C T ’ S R ES PO NS E S

F R OM

P RI O R Q UA R T E R LY R E PO RT S TI LL P E ND I NG P AR K

Significant recommendations from two investigations reported in OIG’s 2018 Fourth Quarter
and Annual Report are still awaiting responses from the Park District. Although the Park
District has no obligation under the Park District Code to respond to OIG’s
recommendations, it has historically done so in a spirit of cooperation and its commitment
to address misconduct, improve operations and revise or create policies where it determines
that such actions are appropriate. The Park District hasn’t indicated whether it intends to
respond to the recommendations below.
1) Investigation involving a nonprofit group
Findings:
Several findings related to the operations of a nonprofit organization, an advisory council and
Person 1, the leader of both organizations.
Recommendations:
a) Permanently enjoin Person 1 from membership in all advisory councils;
b) Demand that the nonprofit organization cease and desist fundraising activities in the name of
the Chicago Park District;
c) Reject all permit or partnership applications from the nonprofit organization (the Park District
agreed to follow this recommendation on a temporary basis following OIG’s recommendation in
March 2018);
d) Conduct periodic audits to confirm that designated nonprofits actually receive the required
share of festival proceeds when special event permits are discounted. Further, enact procedures to
verify that designated nonprofit organizations are nonprofit organizations in good standing;

4

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

e) Consider a referral of the nonprofit organization’s operations to the Internal Revenue Service for
its review; and
f) Consider a referral to the City of Chicago, Cook County and State of Illinois taxing authorities for
review of whether the festivals and events affiliated with the nonprofit organization were subject to
the collections of sales tax.
2) Hiring of Skilled Trades Employee Without Confirming Necessary Credentials
Findings:
a) A newly-hired skilled trades employee submitted false information in their 2017 job application;
and
b) The Park District hired the employee without confirming that their completion of required training
for the position.
Recommendations:
a) The skilled trades employee resigned shortly after their OIG interview. OIG recommended that
the employee’s resignation be classified as “resigned under inquiry” and that their name be placed
on the Park District’s “do not rehire” list;
b) That the Park District commit to verifying that new employees have the credentials and
qualifications for the positions to which they are hired and that current employees have retained all
required certifications; and
c) That the Park District audit whether current skilled trades employees in the same job have
complied with the required training and experience for the position.

I NVESTIGATIONS
1.

E M PL OY E ES C O L LE C T E D C AS H F O R S C RAP M E TA L S A L ES A ND TH E P A RK D I S T RI C T
N E VE R R E C E I V ED T H E P AY M E NTS ; P A RK D I S T RI C T E NAC TE D N EW P O LI C I ES I N
R ES PO NS E T O I N V ES T I GAT I O N

An OIG investigation established that several Park District employees in trades and
landscape departments were selling Park District scrap metal for cash that the Park District
never received. The proceeds amounted to $64,000 in cash over nearly 300 transactions
between 2012 and 2017.
Eleven employees in total sold Park District scrap for cash between November 2012 and
March 2017. Two employees, however, accounted for the bulk of the cash transactions in
that period, collecting $44,000 that should have gone to the Park District. The Park District

5

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

policy on scrap metal has for years expressly directed employees to collect payment in the
form of a check payable to the Park District.
During the period OIG reviewed, more than 75% of the proceeds from the Park District’s
scrap metal sales were paid in cash to employees. In comparison to the $64,000 in missing
cash payments, the Park District received only $19,634 in payments by check.
OIG obtained hundreds of videos and images from the scrapyard that showed employees
bringing in scrap on Park District vehicles while they were on the clock. The transactions
were processed using the Park District’s customer account and the images showed that
employees collected cash payments.
In one of several instances, OIG obtained images that showed employees selling five loads
of chairs taken from the Petrillo band shell in 2014. OIG matched the time-stamped photos
of the transaction to Park District work orders to scrap the Petrillo band shell chairs. The
employees took cash for four of the five transactions totaling $2,139. In one transaction, the
employees accepted a check payable to the Park District in the amount of $425. The Park
District never received any money from the cash transactions.
The two employees responsible for most of the transactions denied taking any of the money
for themselves. They claimed to have given the cash to their now retired Foreman, and
insisted that they didn’t know what the Foreman did with the proceeds.
OIG recommended that the Park District terminate the employment of the two employees
who collected most of the cash. OIG also recommended that the Park District review the
scrap metal policy to implement best practices and instruct any scrapyard vendor with whom
the Park District transacts business to make payments exclusively by check.
The Park District initiated termination proceedings for the two employees and has initiated
disciplinary/termination proceedings for the other employees who took cash payments that
the Park District never received.
The Park District has reviewed its policies and instituted new procedures with stronger
safeguards and better tracking of scrap loads. While the new measures will make
improvements, the Park District’s policy for years was clear that employees were required to
take payment for scrap metal by check, not in cash.
2.

E M PL OY E ES M I S U S E O F P A RK D I S T RI C T ’ S T AX -E X EM PT S TAT U S
I T EM S AT S AM ’ S C LU B

TO

B UY P E RS O N AL

An OIG investigation showed that 24 Sam’s Club members set up accounts using the Park
District’s tax-exempt status, which allows customers to purchase items without paying the
applicable sales tax. Seventeen of the 24 members were current or former Park District
employees, the remaining seven had never been employees. Tax-exempt purchases are only

6

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

permitted when the purchases are made for the Park District. Applying the Park District’s tax
exemption to personal purchases is sales tax evasion under Illinois law.
Three Park District supervisory employees used the tax exemption while purchasing
thousands of dollars of items between 2015 and 2019, most of which was for personal use.
The employees insisted that some of their purchases were for the Park District, each
admitted that many of the items were for personal consumption, a misuse of the tax exempt
status. The employees claimed to not know that their personal purchases were not being
taxed; however, for each tax-exempt transaction, Sam’s Club members were required at the
point-of-sale to affirm that their purchase was “used in [the] operation of an exempt
organization.”
Between 2015 and March 2019, one supervisory employee purchased items totaling $2,810
at Sam’s Club tax-free, using the Park District’s tax-exempt status. That employee also told
OIG that they had purchased a television at Sam’s Club tax-free on behalf of the park’s
advisory council.
Another supervisory employee purchased $9,326 worth of items from Sam’s Club between
2015 and 2019, the majority tax-exempt. The employee and their spouse were routinely
purchasing household items, including beer, food, groceries, and laundry detergent.
A third supervisory employee purchased items in the amount of $14,204 from Sam’s Club
between 2015 and 2019, most of which was tax-exempt. The employee’s records showed
that they were regularly applying the exemption to purchases of groceries, diapers, clothing,
and other personal items.
OIG recommended appropriate discipline for the three employees who were the subjects of
the investigation.
The recommendation is under advisement as the Park District considers appropriate actions
for all of the employees who made unauthorized tax-free purchases at Sam’s Club.
The investigation also showed that the Park District’s Illinois Department of Revenue’s taxexempt letter was widely accessible and vulnerable to abuse. OIG recommended that the
Park District restrict access to the tax-exempt letter.
The Park District followed the recommendation.
OIG also recommended that the Park District:
o request Sam’s Club to invalidate the 24 customer accounts associated with its taxexempt status;
o require the three employees to retroactively pay the Illinois Department of Revenue
all sales taxes owed from their Sam’s Club purchases;

7

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

o restrict use of its tax-exempt letter to employees that it determines should have
access to it and develop policies indicating the proper use of the tax-exempt
certificate and as well as further training about making tax-exempt purchases; and
o determine whether and to what extent the advisory council that supposedly bought a
television has been using the Park District’s tax-exempt status to make purchases.
The Park District has not responded to these four recommendations.
3.

P A RK D I S T RI C T H I RE D A D M I NI S T RATI VE E M P L OY E E W I TH O U T V E RI FY I NG
R E Q U I RE D B AC H E LO R ’ S D EG R EE ; E M P LOY E E D I D NO T H AV E TH E D E G R EE

An OIG investigation established that a full-time administrative employee was hired in the
first quarter without demonstrating proof of a Bachelor’s degree. A Bachelor’s degree is a
minimum qualification for the specific position to which the employee was hired. OIG
confirmed that the employee did not meet the requirement although they claimed to have a
Bachelor’s degree on their job application.
OIG initiated its hiring investigation following several complaints in the first quarter of 2019
about new Park District hires. During a review of recently hired personnel, OIG flagged
questionable statements on the administrative employee’s application about their
education. OIG confirmed with the employee’s university that they were formerly enrolled but
had not received a degree.
To ensure that it wouldn’t be necessary to conduct an investigation after the employee
started work, OIG alerted Human Resources to the fact that the candidate did not have a
degree three weeks before the employee’s start date. Nevertheless, the employee was hired
and began working for the Park District.
In addition to OIG’s outreach to Human Resources, there were several red flags in the
candidate’s application materials that appeared to have been overlooked, including an
incomplete transcript with no date of conferral and an application that listed the employee’s
conferral date as “01/9999.”
There is no indication that the Park District attempted to verify that the employee had
completed the required degree.
OIG found that the selected administrative employee had very limited relevant job
experience. By contrast, other applicants in the same hiring round included managers and
specialists in the public and private sectors. All claimed to have Bachelor’s degrees. OIG’s
review of other candidates’ applications suggested that the administrative employee’s
comparatively limited experience was insufficient to justify a waiver of the educational
requirement.

8

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

OIG recommended that the administrative employee be terminated from Park District
employment. The employee resigned.
4.

E M PL OY E E F A LS E LY C E RT I FI ED F RI EN D ’ S C O M M U NI T Y S E RV I C E

An OIG investigation revealed that a Park District employee submitted documents to a
downstate Illinois county court, falsely certifying that a friend had completed court-ordered
community service. The employee misrepresented their own position on the document and
falsely claimed that their friend had completed their service at the Park District.
The employee’s friend had been sentenced to 100 hours of community service following a
guilty plea to theft and forgery. In November 2018, the employee submitted forms by fax
certifying, as a “Supervisor,” that their friend had completed the service at the Park District.
Under its policies, offenders are not allowed to perform court-ordered community service at
the Park District.
The employee admitted to submitting false information to the county court implicating the
Chicago Park District.
OIG recommended that the Park District take the disciplinary measures it determined was
appropriate. The employee was terminated.

Q UARTERLY I NFORM ATION
Investigations by Quarter
First
Quarter
Opened

20

Closed

7

Pending

18

Second
Quarter

Third
Quarter

Fourth
Quarter

2019
Total

Includes carry-over from 2018. Pending case numbers were revised from last quarterly report because
closed cases were erroneously keyed into OIG’s new case management application as active
investigations during data migration.

9

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

Reviews by Quarter
First
Quarter
Opened

2

Closed

6

Pending

1

Second
Quarter

Third
Quarter

Fourth
Quarter

2019
Total

Includes carry-over from 2018.

Nature of Investigations and Reviews Initiated by Quarter
First
Quarter
Criminal Misconduct or Fraud

3

Waste, Inefficiency, Compliance,
Advisories

3

Other Rule, Code, Ordinance
Violations

16

Second
Quarter

Third
Quarter

Fourth
Quarter

2019
Total

Audits by Quarter
First
Quarter
Opened

1

Closed

1

Pending

4

Second
Quarter

Third
Quarter

Includes carry-over of four audits from 2018.

10

Fourth
Quarter

2019
Total

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

Investigated Parties by Quarter
First
Quarter

Second
Quarter

Third
Quarter

Fourth
Quarter

2018
Total

0

Officers

22

Employees
Other (Agents,
concessionaires
contractors, other parties,
unknown)

5

Internal Assists Performed by Quarter
Department

Human Resources

First
Quarter

Second
Quarter

Third
Quarter

Fourth
Quarter

59

Purchasing

4

Community Recreation

1

Law

1

Internal Assists are OIG responses to Department requests for information, analysis and other
assistance.

Cases Pending Over Six Months
[5]
Reasons:
Complex investigation (generally involve difficult
issues or multiple subjects): 2
Available time and resources: 3

11

2019
Total

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

H IRING C OMPLIANCE M ONITORING A CTIVIT Y – F IRST Q UARTER 2019
OIG reviews and monitors the Park District’s hiring and assignment determinations from the
quarter to ensure that the actions taken comply with the Employment Plan. OIG reports on
its compliance monitoring activities in each its quarterly reports.
1.

Monitoring Contacts by Hiring Departments

OIG reviews all reported or discovered instances where hiring departments contacted
Human Resources to lobby for or advocate on behalf of actual or potential applicants or
bidders for positions that are covered by the Employment Plan or to request that specific
individuals be added to any referral or eligibility list for upcoming jobs at the Park District.
Human Resources did not report any improper contacts by hiring departments for the first
quarter of 2019. Since OIG started reporting the Park District’s hiring compliance monitoring
activity, Human Resources has never reported any improper contacts by hiring departments.
2.

Review of Exempt List Modifications

OIG reviews the Park District’s adherence to exemption requirements and modifications to
the list of job titles and number of positions that are Exempt from the Employment Plan
procedures.
The following modifications to the Exempt List were approved in the first quarter of 2019:
Positions added to the Exempt List (0)
Positions removed from the Exempt List (0)
3.

Review of Exempt Management Hires

Human Resources reported no Exempt hires made during the first quarter of 2019.
4.

Review of Written Rationales

OIG reviews written rationales when no consensus selection (no one from the approved
candidate pool was selected) was reached during a consensus meeting.
Human Resources did not submit any “no consensus” letters during the first quarter of
2019. The last “no consensus” letter OIG received was in 2015 when the Park District was
still under the federal Shakman decree.
5.

Review of Emergency Appointments

OIG reviews circumstances and written justifications for any emergency hires made pursuant
to the Personnel Rules of the Park District Code.

12

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

Human Resources reported no emergency appointments during the first quarter of 2019.
Human Resources has never reported an emergency appointment.
6.

Review of “Acting Up” Activity

OIG reviews all circumstances where employees are “acting up” (performing all or
substantially all of the duties of an employee in a higher-paid classification). Activity in the
first quarter of 2019 showed that 12 employees were “acted up” during the quarter and 8
employees who had been in “acting up” status were placed back in their positions.

Acting Up Activity – First Quarter 2019
First Quarter

Position

Community Recreation

Acted up

Reversed

Physical Instructor (M)
Playground Supervisor

2
2

2
2

2
1
3
2

2
1
0
1

12

8

Operations
Security Guard
Laborer Foreman
Natural Areas Worker
Gardener
Executive Office

Total

7.

Hiring Sequence Audits of Previous Quarter (Q4 2018)

OIG audited a random sample of three Park District hires from the fourth quarter of 2018 for
compliance with the Employment Plan.
The results from the audits completed in this quarter identified non-compliance with the
Plan.
The following hiring sequences from Q4 2018 were audited:

13

 Chicago Park District OIG
2019 First Quarter Report

#4072 Application Development Manager (IT Department) – Non-compliance with Plan identified.
Applicants: 7
Qualified candidates: 5
Candidates interviewed: 3. The Employment Plan requires a minimum of 5 candidates to be
interviewed. Human Resources has indicated that this requirement is not feasible for certain
positions. OIG is open to a revision and suggests that an amendment to the Plan is more favorable
than tolerating non-compliance with it.

#4056 Project Manager – Non-compliance with Plan identified.
Applicants: 15
Qualified candidates: No list of qualified candidates
Candidates interviewed: 3. The Employment Plan requires a minimum of 5 candidates to be
interviewed.
Other: Job position required a Bachelor’s degree. The winning candidate had no degree. The Park
District stated that the candidate had unique qualifications that justified waiving the educational
requirement.
Note: The winning candidate appeared to be pre-selected to run a special Park District project. In
fact, the candidate had previously been an employee of a nonprofit working on the same project at
the same Park District site. In other words, the candidate was doing the same job for the nonprofit
that they are now doing for the Park District. The candidate was hired in November 2018 and
received an 18% raise in January 2019.
The Park District stated that the candidate’ unique qualifications made them ideal for the position.
If so, the candidate should have been hired directly and their position should have been added to
the Exempt List (it was not a position under a collective bargaining agreement). Instead, a hiring
round was held with other candidates in what was ostensibly a competitive process but was most
likely targeted for a specific candidate.
#4092 Marketing Assistant – Compliance with Plan unknown due to lack of information
Applicants: 179
Qualified candidates: Unknown
Candidates interviewed: Unknown
Note: Human Resources did not produce materials about this hiring round in response to OIG’s
requests.

14