Well, so much for relaxing following approval of the 2008 budget. Here we go again with the political machinations of the Stroger Jr. administration. Rumors began yesterday, April 3, 2008 and were confirmed within hours that County Board President is scheduling a hearing on April 9, 2008 before the County Board to determine whether Edwin Burnette should be relieved of his duties for “good cause or dereliction of duty.”Now most unions don’t really take a position when it comes to such situations because we represent the members and are not beholden to Management. So why should we care who the manager is? Well the situation is a little different when the manager is doing everything he can to keep his office free from political influence and well staffed. Even if everything he can do includes suing his boss (Burnette v. Stoger 07 CH 33805).But that seems to be the very crux of the proposed resolution which cites six counts of alleged willful negligence. A clear example of the pot calling the kettle black.Although Burnette and his attorney can speak for themselves, (and if the hearing is not a sham, they will have an adequate opportunity to defend him) some of those counts are so outrageous that they deserve comment.Yes, sometimes clients spend years in jail waiting for trial. And it is entirely possible that 34 clients have waited for over 5 years for a trial. But there are many reasons for delay: interlocutory appeals, change in counsel, extensive and voluminous discovery, illness of judge or counsel, death of counsel, fitness for trial, delay in obtaining DNA testing, delay in obtaining documents, etc. Not to mention that a majority of the cases are death penalty cases which require experts and an extensive mitigation history workup. There are even times when attorneys wait for up to an hour at the jail to see their clients because of the lack of staffing at the Cook County Department of Corrections. Some of our clients are housed at facilities hundreds of miles from Cook County and their representation imposes logistical burdens that most people do not appreciate. Some of us work way more than 40 hours a week representing our clients. Some of us work less. But we all work consistent with our professional responibility- as we are contractually and professionally obligated to. And we are paid for working hours consistent with our professional responsibility, not for working 40 hours a week. If the Law Office of the Public Defender was solely responsible for hiring and staffing, then there would probably be no lawsuit captioned Burnette v. Stroger. To say that the public defender is responsible for the lack of staffing is insulting. Human Resources, under President Stroger, controls when someone is hired by the office. My understanding is that to this day, no postings are up at Human Resources for the hiring of entry level public defenders. The ones hired recently are from a batch who interviewed for the job years ago. As to managers, they are seriously understaffed and underpaid. I can only speculate that the reason supervisors are not being hired is because Mr. Burnette does not want our office to be the political dumping ground that we all fear. As to the Special State’s Attorney issue, it seems best left to the forum in which it is pending - Chancery Court. The resolution appears to be a retaliatory and collateral attack on the pending suit and is perhaps an effort to render it moot or at the least, intimidate the plaintiff.So here is the part where I am going to tell my brothers and sisters what I think you should do. Our job is to defend people. It shouldn’t be out of character for us to defend Mr. Burnette - especially when the allegations are as spurious as the ones contrived by Stroger Jr. & Co. At a minimum, we should ensure that the hearing isn’t a sham and has all the trappings of a proceeding where Mr. Burnette receives due process.On Wednesday, take time off to attend the hearing and show your support for Mr. Burnette. Also, make sure you call your commissioner and tell them how you feel. The commissioners who sponsored the resolution are: PERAICA, BEAVERS, GOSLIN, MORENO, SILVESTRI, MURPHY, SIMS, STEELE AND DOODY-GORMAN. Be sure to tell them to vote “no” on this resolution.
April 4th, 2008
Maybe the Burnette lawsuit wasn’t the greatest idea afterall?
I have friends that work for the other offices and they face the same problem from bean counters in hiring for open positions etc…. All of the laid off PDs were welcomed back.
So why the fight especially since the lawsuit is just going to make the next round of union negotiations that much tougher, even with the tax hike?
April 4th, 2008
S.R.,
You’re not a Public Defender are you? If you were, you would write in complete and sensible sentences and you most certainly would not be afraid of any possible or actual consequences of doing the right thing and fighting the good fight. Please do not come on this website and agitate.
April 4th, 2008
Sounds like S. R. is dilly dallying on our blog.
April 4th, 2008
I suspect Stroger already has someone in mind for Eds job. Perhaps a certain subcircui
t judge defeated in the primary with very close ties to the Eight Ward organization?
In any event, if Ed is removed and replaced. it behooves each member to be hypervigilant
regardig contract compliance. Be ready to file grievances when appropriate. If it’s difficult to get grade 3 and 4 promotions now, wait util Strogers people sit on the promotion committees.
April 5th, 2008
Can someone let me know the date, time and location of the hearing? I am assuming all attending should take a personal day? Could we also organize a meeting of some kind to discuss strategy/talking points for the hearing in the off chance there is an opportunity for someone to speak?
April 5th, 2008
Abby:
The meeting is April 9th at 10:00 am. Below is a link to the agenda in electronic form (the one above is the actual letter). It is item #11. Also, below is an excerpt.
Has anyone seen this Northwestern Report that says PDs don’t work 40 hour weeks?
Sounds like Big Brother to me! Did they follow PDs home?
http://www.cookctyclerk.com/upload/syno_html_802.htm
——————————————-
WHEREAS, the Public Defender has willfully or negligently failed to perform the following assigned duties as the Cook County Public Defender in that:
1. The Public Defender failed to notify the administration of the Chicago Community Group’s ongoing report concerning the Criminal Courts; and the Public Defender, as cited in the Northwestern Report, failed to ensure that all employees of his office performed a full forty (40) hour week of work in exchange for their compensation; specifically, the Northwestern Report stated there existed a problem in his office concerning the early departure of assistants after court (See, Exhibit A, page 10); …..
April 5th, 2008
All members should receive, by the end of this week, a letter by snail mail from the board with suggestions for better communication among our local’s members. The letter was written last week but needs a rewrite in light of the new crisis. In the meantime, I suggest this web site is an excellent forum for the exchange of ideas, for members to vent, and a good place to support our union. But our members should recognize that the site is certainly read by management and probably by Stroger & Co. Thus it is not a good place to discuss strategy.
Bruce
April 6th, 2008
As a wannabe in the CCPDO, thank you. This site is great!
The issue of “hours commensurate..” does not equal 40 hours on the clock. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Have not you taken a “comp” day afte a heater trial?
SOB Wannabe
P.S. I am not a union member. Steve Baker
April 7th, 2008
The bipartisan resolution is a non-binding resolution.
I cannot see the impact on our union. Even if the Chancery Court
dismisses our intervenor suit, can someone explain the impact
of this resolution on our current union contract or pending
negotiations.
I do want answers from the Public Defender on the resolution.
First, why has our office not been audited for Shakman Exempt
positions? Why has the Public Defender failed to promote and
file the 15 positions open for grade 3s and 4s? Does the
county require all employees to be put on unpaid leave whenever
they are arrested? What happened the presumption of innocence?
April 11th, 2008
Face reality here.
Ed Burnette is a political lightweight. His contract expires in one year.
Todd Stroger would seem to need a visit to the 10th Floor. By moving to fire Burnette under these ludicrous pretenses, all he is doing is feathering Ed’s retirement nest with the damages Burnette will receive in his personal lawsuit against the County.
This is quite the political City and County.
Amazing how no one in Burnette’s Downtown “Braintrust” could figure out that it just might be a good idea to cultivate friendships with County Board members.
The horse is out of the barn……Todd Stroger must have a relative who just passed the Bar Examination since he can’t seem to wait until May of 2009.
April 11th, 2008
While everyone rallies around Ed Burnette to defend him against these trumped up Stroger and Peraica charges, I am still waiting for Edwin to explain why he just didn’t tell Todd to Go to Hell rather than come to 26th Street and tell the press that he was supporting Stroger’s attempt to furlough us without pay.
Who in the “Downtown Braintrust” advised Burnette that this act of total surrender to Stroger would be looked upon favorably by ANYONE?
The Geniuses who took the PDs Office away from the Chief Judge and hand delivered it to the County Board must really be proud.
April 15th, 2008
Any update on when the hearing will be? Will we get enough notice so that we can take a personal day?
April 16th, 2008
What a waste of a personal day.
April 17th, 2008
I’m not sure, but it could be since it looks as if they plan to have the hearing in closed session. See Item #88 on the above link Stephen put in (comment #6).
No one’s said anything about the timing of “the resolution” & Judge Nowicki’s second semi-annual report. What’s up with that?