City plumbing inspector busts himself
ANOTHER SCANDAL | City plumbing inspector who nails others for working without permits accused of doing same thing
James Kendrick is a city plumbing inspector assigned to a task force that busts people for doing work without permits.
On Sunday, Kendrick could have busted himself.
(Courtesy)
Sources said the $85,068-a-year inspector was working a side job installing a flood-control system in the 3500 block of North Octavia -- with no permit and none of the required city licenses -- when he inadvertently broke the water pipe leading to the home.
Kendrick dialed 311 to report the break. When investigators arrived on the scene, he identified himself as a city inspector and asked them for city-owned parts -- lead packs and copper -- to repair the broken pipe, sources said.
Little did he know that one of the responding investigators was Pat McDonough, who helped blow the whistle on the Hired Truck scandal.
"He told me he works for the city and knows people [in high places]. He wanted me to give him all the plumbing parts," McDonough said Monday.
"In the old days, if you wanted a guy to come out and bring you parts for a side job, you'd call the leak desk even if there was no leak. They'd come with the parts and you'd give the guy 30 to 50 bucks to keep his mouth shut. This time, there actually was a leak. But when he said, 'I need some lead packs and copper,' I called the desk and told them to call the police."
When Chicago Police officers arrived on the scene, Kendrick initially refused to produce his city ID, only to cough it up under threat of arrest, McDonough said. He was cited for doing work without a permit and without the required city licenses. A stop-work order was also issued.
The fact that Kendrick did not attempt to bribe McDonough for the parts was no consolation for the notorious City Hall whistleblower.
"He had no permit. There are two or three different licenses needed to do this work. He had none of them," McDonough said.
"He's assigned to a special task force to bust people for doing the exact same thing he was doing. He was breaking the law he's sworn to protect."
Kendrick could not be reached for comment.
Buildings Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey would only say that the department was "conducting an investigation into a report of an employee completing work without a permit." He refused to identify Kendrick by name, citing personnel rules.
Sunday's citation is the latest in a string of embarrassments for the city's scandal-plagued Department of Buildings.
Operation Crooked Code -- targeting corruption in the departments of Buildings and Zoning -- has already netted 23 people, including 15 city employees, on charges that cash bribes and lucrative gifts were paid to ignore building code violations or speed up paperwork.
Earlier this year, building inspector Richard Kus was slapped with a $7,640 overdue water bill after building a new home with a hot tub more than five years ago without installing a water meter.
Kus is the brother of Chicago's former zoning administrator. He has spent nearly six months reassigned to clerical duty pending the outcome of an investigation by Inspector General David Hoffman.
Kus had a water meter installed in January after the inspector general's office requested inspection and billing records.