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Illinois State Fair:

Last year we disclosed widespread waste and mismanagement in the operation of the Illinois State Fair and made recommendations for a complete reorganization. A report of this year's operation showed that the operating deficit has been decreased by $984,000. It is likely that further economies can be effected next year. The Legislative Audit Commission in reviewing the results of the investigation suggested that the $2.5 million dollars wasted should and could be saved next year.

An ancillary part of this investigation disclosed that a Cook County Circuit Court judge was involved in improper activities in the renting of concession space. The Illinois Courts Commission conducted hearings into this matter and removed the judge from the bench.

State of Illinois Department of
Conservation

BGA Springfield Investigator James McCaffrey determined that the Acting Director of the State Department of Conservation owned a magazine which solicits and accepts advertising from other state agencies which constituted a conflict of interest. Action was taken to end this practice.

Still more from Springfield ...

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Purchasing Procedures

We disclosed another incident in a series of improper purchasing procedures in the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. In one case, the Superintendent made a large number of separate purchases of new furnishings for the Material Center of Handicapped Children in Springfield. By making separate purchases, this office avoided competitive bidding which is required for purchases of more than $1500. In another case personal photographs were ordered. This information was turned over to the State Legislative Audit Commission which has already condemned the Superintendent for continuing this practice.

School Bus Safety Lanes

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction maintains a staff of 10 safety lane inspectors whose work is duplicative of that being done by the state police. In addition, we disclosed that one patronage employee assigned as an inspector was loafing on the job. The annual cost to the taxpayers is over $100,000.

Legislative Audit Commission

The Commission Report found that the Superintendent of Public Instruction had violated numerous statutes and regulations relating to handling of public funds, and was not operating his office on a businesslike basis. This report endorsed all of the earlier BGA recommendations.

Car Insurance Probe:

The BGA found that at least $25,000 was wasted annually because some state agencies had not participated in a centralized program for purchasing auto liability insurance. Information detailing the savings that could be realized if the agencies participate in the program handled by the Illinois Department of General Services was turned over to the legislative Audit Commission, the General Assembly's watchdog on state expenditures.

Newspapers and the BGA work together to protect the public

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The West

Letter from the editor

By Roy M. Fisher

Side's "best" Democratic precinct captain was sentenced to two years in prison this week for vote fraud. He had been caught falsifying registrations and bribing voters in the 1968 election.

The incriminating facts were uncovered by a joint team of Daily News reporters and Better Government Assn. investigators.

The Daily News and the BGA have worked together successfully on a number of such investigative projects. In each instance, the objective has been to represent the taxpayers in an examination of the performance of local government officials.

The BGA, a privately supported civic watchdog, assigns one or more of its professional investigators to work cooperatively with one or more of our reporters. The findings of the team become the responsibility of both organizations, and are made public first in The Daily News.

Once published, the information is released to other newspapers and to radio and telev on stations, if they are interested. Thus the facts turned up by one investigative team become the common property of all.

THE DAILY NEWS IS NOT the only publication that cooperates with the BGA. A BGA investigator also may work with reporters from The Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune or Chicago Today. But the pattern is the same. Once the originating newspaper breaks the story, the BGA releases the facts to all.

It speaks well for the integrity of the BGA that it can conduct such intricate relations with four competing papers and yet maintain the respect of each.

The 1968 election fraud investigation occupied two of our reporters and two

BGA investigators for about six weeks. When the story was ready to break, we assigned undercover photographers to get the photographic evidence.

The result was such an airtight case that U.S. District Court Judge Julius J. Hoffman had no hesitancy this week in handing down prison terms to two Democratic workers and a heavy fine to a third.

RECENTLY, THE DAILY NEWS and the BGA broke the story of waste in one of the city-administered urban rehabilitation programs. We reported that it is costing taxpayers $1 in administrative costs for every $1 this agency lends to homeowners.

Investigations such as this often require many weeks of an investigator's time. But we can tell very early whether we are on a hot trail. The hotter it gets, the more obstacles there are that seem suddenly to materialize in the reporter's path.

Right now, we're probing into the Lincoln Park redevelopment project. We must be very, very hot because the obstacles are taking on unprecedented proportions.

Lewis W. Hill, the city's commissioner of urban renewal, is feverishly piling obstacle upon obstacle. His most recent was to shut off our examination of government documents and records which, by law, are public.

FRANK ZUNDEL, HIS DEPUTY commissioner announced Wednesday that information about the renewal project will be given out only in response to written questions.

And the questions and answers are to be contained in a press release issued to all media simultaneously. Obviously, the intent of the order is to frustrate what must necessarily be a secret investigation.

We can recall of only one precedent for such an order. Orville Hodge, then state auditor, issued a similar decree-a few weeks before the Daily News broke the story of his million dollar embezzlement.

We're not suggesting that Mr. Hill has any such wrongdoing to hide.

But perhaps we can be allowed the observation that it becomes difficult for a public official to maintain the dignity of his office while scrambling feverishly to cover up the facts from the public.

PART OF CHICAGO'S
COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
LINCOLN PARK 12 CONSERVA

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Photo Courtesy Chicago Daily News

Urban Renewal

The Federal Rehabilitation Loan and Grant program is administered by the City of Chicago on behalf of the federal government to assist property owners in remodeling and upgrading their property. We found that the City of Chicago failed to meet its responsibility in assisting property owners; also, the administrative costs for managing the program by the City were excessive - 50% to 100% administrative costs for a loan. This compares with a 4% administrative cost in the private sector. The program makes low interest loans available to rehabilitate residences in certain designated areas that might otherwise become blighted. We showed widespread waste and mismanagement involving unqualified personnel in the City Department of Urban Renewal. The federal government released a 63 page audit which substantiated our findings. The audit set forth $3 million dollars of waste in this program; $1.7 million dollars was required to be returned to the federal government by the City of Chicago, and the balance of expenditures were regarded as questionable. We also found major deficiencies in the DUR Relocation Program. We completed a study of the Lincoln Park Urban Renewal area. This 50 acre site was razed in 1966. The tax loss is $1,000,000. Approximately 10% of this area has been rebuilt, even though the initial plans called for the rebuilding of the area within a short period after it was razed in 1966.

City of Chicago Department

of Urban Renewal

The City of Chicago has acquired land located in Chicago's Skid Row for a parking lot. The land is vacant and is leased to a private company which operates a parking lot on the site. The lessee has not complied with city ordinances related to the operation of a parking lot.

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Beautification Grants:

A series of bookkeeping errors and other blunders caused Chicago to fail to collect $100,000 from a 1968 federal grant from which the city may be forced to repay a large part of the $900,000 it did receive. The BGA investigation centered on the beautification grant by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development when it was learned that many of the projects undertaken with the money from HUD were wasted and did not qualify for beautification funds under HUD rules. The investigation determined that many of the projects could have been completed for less money if they had been contracted out instead of being done by city crews.

Bureau of Forestry

The City of Chicago announced a sweeping reorganization of the Bureau of Forestry as recommended by the BGA in its earlier investigation. We stated that 3 million dollars of the 5.4 million dollar tree operation budget was being wasted because of loafing and mismanagement. In the first two months after the reorganization the City reported that more than double the amount of trees were being cut.

Suspension of Bureau of
Forestry Foreman

We disclosed that a City of Chicago Bureau of Forestry foreman misappropriated material from the Bureau for his own use. The foreman was engaged in a private manufacturing enterprise and used city material to reduce his cost of production. The foreman was suspended. We urged the Commissioner of Streets and Sanitation to institute new procedures and controls over city property.

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