Thursday, April 24, 2008
Chicago Tribune

From today's print edition:

By Hal Dardick
Tribune reporter

Ten months after repaying the state $2.5 million in job training grant funds because of lax recordkeeping, Cook County officials Wednesday sought approval to make the payment.

“You’re supposed to get permission before the fact,” Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-Riverside) told Karen Crawford, director of the county’s job-training agency, which had to repay the money.

“This is a pretty significant check to have been written without a member of the board knowing,” Commissioner Larry Suffredin (D-Evanston) said. The board approved the payment.

County Comptroller Joseph Fratto said the long delay was “purely an oversight.” The money, officials said, came from leftover funds in an expired bond account.

The President’s Office of Employment and Training is a federally funded program under the County Board president. Since past Board President John Stroger turned evidence of theft over to authorities in mid-2005, four former agency officials and five others have been charged with stealing nearly $1.8 million in loans and federal money.

From the Clout Street blog: