Suspended city commissioner moved to Police Dept. :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: City Hall

Suspended city commissioner moved to Police Department

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BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

After serving an unprecedented unpaid three-month suspension for paying millions to a man who once defrauded the city, Fleet Management Commissioner Michael Picardi has found a soft landing at the Chicago Police Department.

Picardi has been reassigned to a $129,096-a-year job as �deputy director� of General Support, which includes the police auto pound, the Equipment and Supply Section, Document Services and Graphics.

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Fleet Management Commissioner Michael Picardi has been reassigned as "deputy director" of General Support at the Chicago Police Department.
(Jean Lachat/Sun-Times)

Picardi is only a year or two away from his maximum city pension. Although he�s taking a $27,996-a-year pay cut from his $157,092 annual salary as Fleet Management commissioner, it should not have a major impact on his pension payments.

Police Department spokesman Roderick Drew denied that Picardi�s appointment to fill the vacant position was in conflict with the �comprehensive management review� Mayor Daley has ordered to make certain �every dollar possible� of the Police Department�s $1.2 billion-a-year budget is being spent fighting crime.

�One of his main tasks will be to look for efficiencies and implement them, freeing more officers to work on the street,� Drew said.

Drew noted that Picardi�s 30-year career included stops in the Departments of Streets and Sanitation, Public Works, General Services, Fleet Management and the Public Building Commission.

�His Chicago Police Department position will draw upon the skills, experience and knowledge of city government that he�s accumulated over that time,� Drew said.  

The Chicago Sun-Times reported in January that Fleet Management has paid more than $11 million to Central Auto Body Shop for fixing up police cars and other city vehicles, even though shop owner John Szybkowski once pleading guilty to ripping off the city for the same kind of work.

Daley read Picardi the riot act, then suspended him for an unprecedented three months.

�It is unacceptable,� the mayor said of the embarassment.

Although Picardi insisted he was unaware of Szybkowski's past, chief of staff Ray Orozco said Daley �demands that his commissioners be held responsible and accountable for what happens in their departments, particularly as it relates to contracting issues.�

It�s not the first time that Picardi has landed on his feet after a demotion.

Last summer, he was swept out as Streets and Sanitation commissioner after coming under fire for  lavish snow removal spending, lax field supervision and allegations of continued personnel abuses.

But, Picardi had a seat when the music stopped in Daley�s latest game of musical chairs. He was allowed to return to his old job as Fleet Management commissioner, replacing Howard Henneman, who retired.

via suntimes.com

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