KLEPT, Claypool and Peraica call for investigation

Cook County Board President Bobbie Steele ordered that the county not consider politics in hiring and promotion. See Sun-Times (Abdon M. Pallasch). This is already the law and official policy, so it's hard to imagine how having a placeholder president of the county board is going to affect anyone's conduct.

If Steele had fired some people for abusing the system and requested they be prosecuted this would have gotten the attention of the people abusing the system.

Commissioners Forrest Claypool and Anthony Peraica are calling for the U.S. Attorney to investigate allegations of insiders abusing the system. See CBS2 (Joanie Lum).

The Chicago Sun-Times investigation revealed some 1,300 people were hired after Board President John Stroger suffered a stroke that left him incapacitated in March.

"The board members were not consulted, we were not informed that 1,300 employees were placed on the payroll,” said GOP Cook County President Candidate Tony Peraica.

Were these positions authorized by the commissioners? If not, how can this behavior by Team Stroger be justified?

[UPDATE: CBS2 (Mike Parker):

After first saying she was “uncomfortable” about it, Interim President Bobbie Steele Monday declared the hirings appear to be “in order.”

The hiring freeze, she said, exempts health and public safety workers, and most of the new employees are in that category.

Except for the ones that aren't, of course.]