Problem child of powerful Chicago alderman back on city payroll

Carrie Austin and Mayor
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Look who is back on the Chicago municipal payroll? A troubled son of a powerful city council member.

Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) can expect a wonderful mother's day present next year from her son, who is now a supervisor in her ward with the Department of Streets and Sanitation.

From Dan Mihalopoulos in the Chicago Sun-Times:

Last year, this newspaper reported Kenny Austin quit after [inspector general] Ferguson’s office concluded that he crashed a city vehicle while driving on a suspended license and had a co-worker cover for him, to avoid taking a mandatory drug test.

The inspector general said Kenny Austin violated personnel rules by driving on a suspended license, failing to report the crash and falsely claiming that the other city worker in the car actually was the driver at the time of the incident. Drug tests are required for city drivers in on-duty accidents.

Back then, Kenny Austin’s mom said, “My son didn’t do any of that.” Carrie Austin told Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman that her Kenny wasn’t the driver in the 2012 crash and that his co-worker was the one who had lied to Ferguson’s office.

Ferguson called for Kenny Austin to be punished severely, and the city was about to fire him. By resigning before the city canned him, Kenny Austin avoided landing on the city’s “do not hire” list.

Chicago deserves its problems.