Under Daley, Harris 'very good employee'
John Harris was once Mayor Daley’s version of a utility infielder, hopscotching from deputy police superintendent to first deputy aviation commissioner to the all-important job of budget director.
Ambitious, hard-working, and tough as nails, Harris was also drawn to power — so much so that he left City Hall in a huff to become Gov. Blagojevich’s right-hand man when Daley chose Ron Huberman over Harris as chief-of-staff to clean up the mess caused by the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals.
On Tuesday, Harris’ fateful 2005 decision to change jobs — and how he handled his newfound state power — was at the center of a stunning indictment that will alter the political landscape in Illinois.
Harris was accused of doing the governor’s political dirty work in a series of shakedown schemes that involved the appointment of a U.S. Senate replacement for President-elect Barack Obama and such iconic Chicago institutions as Children’s Memorial Hospital and the Chicago Tribune.
Daley was stunned. The bureaucrat described in the Harris indictment was not the man who had served as the mayor’s go-to guy.
“It’s sad. It’s a sad day. It’s very sad,” the mayor told reporters after presiding over a police graduation ceremony at police headquarters.
“He was a very good employee. I’ll be very frank. You know that. You worked with him. You knew him personally. He worked very hard. … He was budget director. He worked here at the Police Department, Aviation. He had a good work record. I mean — you all knew him personally, his work ethic. [But], once you step over there, you don’t know what they did. It’s very sad.”
Told that Harris was allegedly recorded threatening people on the governor’s behalf, Daley said, “It’s really unfortunate. Really unfortunate.”
Sources said Harris never forgave Huberman for inheriting the chief-of-staff’s job he coveted.
When Huberman moved on to become CTA president, sources said Harris used his power over state purse strings to play hardball with the mass transit agency.
During the fight over CTA funding needed to avert “doomsday” service cuts and fare hikes, Huberman put up signs warning riders that their bus routes would be cut because of a lack of state funding. An angry Harris called his archrival and warned that the CTA would not get another penny until the signs were taken down.
It’s that ugly and bullying side of Harris that was alleged in the federal indictment. But, that was not a surprise to Harris’ former colleagues at City Hall. Harris has been playing hardball with them for years on other issues, including casino gambling.
The change in Harris’ outlook and demeanor was so striking, some former colleagues actually asked Harris to his face, “What happened to you?”
What happened, according to a veteran political observer, is that a desperately ambitious John Harris filled a power vacuum in state government caused by the investigations swirling around Blagojevich.
“The governor isn’t around. He’s never at the Thompson Center. He’s hiding in his house. Everything goes through John Harris. These last few years, he’s been filling the void. John Harris thinks he’s the governor,” the observer said.