Marathon Pundit: ILL-inois: White House announces award for Chicago alderman on same day he talks to FBI

Author in Chicago's 49th Ward

Chicago Ald. Joe Moore (49th) is a useless piece of liberal trash. I lived in his ward for a year--and the first and last time I called his office is when I complained that a condo building was having its garbage loudly picked up at 6:30am every weekday morning, which was illegal in a residential neighborhood.

How did I know that? I was told that by the staff of the alderman's office in the ward I lived beforehand--another condo's waste service was dong the same thing. But Moore's office acted as if I was speaking an obscure language from New Guinea when I explained the law to them.

Soon I was a suburbanite. Huzzah for my family and I.

Moore's claim to fame was yet another contribution to Chicago's laughing stock status--his bill that banned the sale of the goose liver delicacy foeie gras in Chicago. It became law--but was quickly repealed.

Moore is the center of two stories again. And yes, he's adding more credence to Chicago's laughing stock stature.

From the Chicago Tribune:

In a case of only-in-Chicago political timing, the White House announced Monday it would honor Ald. Joe Moore as a "pioneer for political reform," the same day the veteran City Council member revealed he has spoken to FBI agents about allegations he improperly paid two aides he fired.

The accusations involving the ex-employees surfaced in a report from Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan, one of several cases of alleged aldermanic wrongdoing the council's watchdog highlighted.

Khan contends that Moore, who has represented Rogers Park since 1991, fired a woman in 2009 after she complained about political work being done in his ward office in violation of city laws. The report says Moore, 49th, paid the woman $8,709 — the equivalent of three-and-a-half months salary, and told her not to speak to anyone about the political activities in the ward office.

The report also says Moore, who has long been considered a progressive voice on the council, fired his chief of staff in 2007 and paid him $13,497 more than he should have based on the number of unused sick days the chief of staff could have accumulated.