Friday, July 01, 2005
Daily Southtown
by Jonathan Lipman

Cook County Inspector General Joseph Price has cleared Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown of allegations she illegally pressured employees to donate to her political campaign, Brown's office announced Thursday.
Price did not return a call seeking comment.

Former clerk's employee Barbara Nicosia — who publicly accused Brown's office of forcing managers to "sell or eat" Brown's fundraising tickets — said Thursday she was never interviewed by Price.

"You gotta be kidding me," Nicosia said when told of the decision. "He never even tried to contact me."

Nicosia was not a manager, but she spent 30 years working as a clerk at the Daley Center and the Bridgeview and Maywood courthouses before retiring in 2002.

In a three-paragraph news release Thursday, Brown's office said Price "reported that neither statements provided nor statistical information support the allegation that Circuit Court Clerk's Office employees were pressured to financially support Brown's political campaign."

Brown's spokesman, Bryant Payne, said he had no information about exactly what Price's report said or who Price interviewed.

"The results of this investigation support the integrity of the manner in which I, as a lawyer and a certified public accountant — both professions that require high ethical values — have comported myself, while humbly serving the people of Cook County," Brown said in the news release.

The announcement came 17 months after the accusations were first reported in the Daily Southtown.

Price informed Brown's office that the investigation was complete in "late 2004," Payne said.

"Because the inspector general also reports to the Cook County President's office, we had to wait for approval before releasing this information, and (that approval) was recently received," Payne said.

Caryn Stancik, spokeswoman for President John Stroger, said Stroger's office did not order the results withheld.

"It was the clerk's investigation. She requested it, and it's therefore hers to release when she sees fit," Stancik said.

In January 2004, the Southtown reported Nicosia, former manager Ellen Krebs, and other former and current managers said Brown and her top advisers pressured them to sell fundraising tickets or risk losing their jobs.

State campaign records supported some of the managers' claims, showing Brown had an unusual number of employees among her contributors.

Between July 1, 2002, and June 30, 2003, Brown's campaign received 333 contributions of at least $150 each from individuals. Of those 333, at least 179 were from employees of her office, according to state and county records.

The office of Cook County circuit court clerk employs 2,300 people who are responsible for every record that comes through the court system.