Report: Fire city public safety exec
The inspector general's office is recommending the firing of the No. 2 man at Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications for alleged contract irregularities that cost taxpayers $2.25 million.
Jim Argiropoulos, the $149,832-a-year first deputy who once served as OEMC's acting director, is accused of engineering a scheme that culminated in the falsification of documents to expedite the purchase of a new 911 dispatch console system from Schaumburg-based Motorola.
(John J .Kim/Sun-Times)
Chicago taxpayers have yet to receive anything for their money.
The alleged irregularities took place in 2004 and 2005 while Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman was running OEMC.
Without a contract to justify the console purchase -- and apparently unwilling to wade through the normal bidding process -- Argiropoulos allegedly ordered underlings to find a way to get it done. As a result, a phony voucher was issued for 18,000 handheld radios under an existing Motorola contract.
No sooner had the company started ordering software than Argiropoulos allegedly demanded an upgrade, with the $2.25 million payment applied to the new system.
When Motorola balked at the demand, Argiropoulos allegedly played hardball: If Motorola didn't give him what he wanted, its future city contracts would be in jeopardy, according to sources familiar with the inspector general's report.
Argiropoulos could not be reached for comment. Motorola spokesman Steve Gorecki referred questions to the city. The company was not accused of wrongdoing.
The Motorola investigation was first disclosed by the Chicago Sun-Times in May 2008.
The following day, the newspaper reported that Argiropoulos had stripped a $104,804-a-year underling of his respon- sibilities after the subordinate provided key information to investigators probing the $2.25 million in payments to Motorola beyond the scope of the company's contracts.