Chicago’s inspector general threw in a sensational report that revealed that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office incorrectly blocked public access to a special room in City Hall that included gifts to the city — including designer handbags, cufflinks and a personalized Mont Blanc pen.
A new report from Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s office concludes that Johnson’s office violated the city’s ethics policy, which requires that all gifts worth more than $50 that have been “received on behalf of the city” be logged in a book that will be made available to the public on the 5th floor of City Hall.
But when two secret investigators from the IG office visited the mayor’s office last June, they were denied access to the log and instead were told to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to see it.
Then, when the VV office filed the FOIA request, the mayor’s office refused to respond to it in a timely manner — only to provide an incomplete spreadsheet of gifts more than a month after the application was filed.
“It definitely concerns me,” Witzburg said. “If anything of value is exchanged, we would certainly like to know if these gifts come from people who are looking for influence in some way – whether they are lobbyists or people who do business with the city.”
“Notably, the response to a FOIA request made by OIG as a member of the public came only after OIG also filed a forced document request with the mayor’s office asking for the same information,” the report reads.
Some of the listed 380 gifts included Hugo Boss cufflinks; Givenchy, Gucci and Kate Spade handbags; personalized Mont Blanc pencil; 2003 U.S. national football team jersey; size 14 Carrucci men’s shoes; and even whiskey – if kept in the “gift room” and others in the mayor’s personal office at City Hall. – CBS News
Next, the IG office appeared personally unannounced to see a log of gifts, only for Johnson’s staff to tell them that the city’s legal department told them that the IG needed to make an appointment to get into the gift room. According to the report, the city’s municipal code requires all city employees to cooperate with IG investigations, including making all documents available “as soon as possible.”
And after talking to the legal department, the IG office said in a report that they were told they were “not given access to the gift room” to conduct a full inspection.
“Is it possible that there are a bunch of Gucci handbags neatly on the shelf in the gift room at City Hall and no one is using them and nothing has gone wrong and everything is fine? Yes, it’s possible,” Witzburg said. “But we don’t get much benefit from the doubts here.”
Johnson defiant
In response to the report, the mayor’s office argued that the city’s city ordinance and ethics ordinance do not require them to make the gift room available for unannounced inspection.
“Despite the above, the mayor’s office remains fully committed to ensuring that gifts are available for inspection through a properly planned appointment as soon as possible,” said Cristina Pacione-Zayas, the mayor’s chief of staff, in response to the inspector general’s report. “This administration has followed and will continue to follow all the guidelines of the Ethics Council … It is our duty to do so without objection.”
“I’ve never seen the room they’re talking about,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to shed light on this so-called investigation, you know, but honestly, it carries very little. If people want to take a tour of this room, I’ll sign up because I’ve never been there myself.”
