In 1969, attorney Michael Shakman, then 27, went to court to tear down Chicago’s patronage system, a bulwark of Democratic machine politics that long poisoned city and state governance. The result was a series of court-ordered reforms known as the Shakman decrees that banned political considerations in hiring and firing in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois government.
More than five decades later, most political offices bound by the decrees’ reforms have demonstrated compliance, and federal oversight of those offices has been phased out.
But there’s one holdout. Longtime Cook County Democrat Karen Yarbrough has been under Shakman decree oversight for more than a decade, first when she served as Cook County recorder of deeds, and then in her current elected post as Cook County clerk.
Though Yarbrough remains under Shakman decree scrutiny, that could change as soon as Thursday, when U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang may decide to end oversight of Yarbrough.
We believe that ruling in Yarbrough’s favor would be a mistake.
There’s a good reason why Yarbrough is the last remaining politician under the watchful eye of Shakman oversight. It’s the same reason why we did not endorse her in the 2018 and 2022 elections for Cook County clerk. Yarbrough has been dogged by accusations of clout hiring dating back to her years as county recorder of deeds, and castigated by the court for violating Shakman anti-patronage rules.
As county recorder, she hired her niece for a $114,000 job as labor and legal counsel, justifying the move by saying, “I think most people recognize it’s important to have someone you know and trust as your legal counsel.” Then-Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard said Yarbrough’s hiring of her niece, who no longer works at the office, violated Cook County anti-nepotism rules.
Blanchard also cited Yarbrough’s hiring as a security officer Jesse Davis, a nephew of U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and a former volunteer for the Proviso Township Democratic Organization, which in the past has supported Yarbrough’s political work. Blanchard said Davis’ hiring violated Shakman rules; Yarbrough called his allegations “much ado about nothing.”
Yarbrough’s patronage problems continued after her election in 2018 as county clerk, and the merger of the clerk and recorder offices in late 2020. U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier scolded Yarbrough in March 2020 for “clear violations” of anti-patronage rules and ordered a monitor to begin overseeing her attempts to comply with the Shakman mandate. Rather than bucking up and complying, Yarbrough challenged Schenkier’s ruling in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She lost.
Last summer, Yarbrough’s court-appointed monitor, Cardelle Spangler, submitted to the federal court a brief that suggested Yarbrough was not ready to be released from Shakman oversight, citing occasions in which the county clerk’s office “repeatedly and materially violated its hiring policies.”
Yarbrough still would like to break free from Shakman scrutiny, and it’s possible she may get her wish.
The Tribune reported that, after a U.S. appeals court put a stop to Shakman oversight of the hiring practices of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration, even Shakman himself “very reluctantly” joined Yarbrough in a court motion to end Spangler’s monitoring of the clerk’s office. “It’s not the way I would have liked to have the story end,” he told the Tribune.
For our part, we don’t think that’s how this story should end.
For far too many decades, Chicago and Illinois politics have been defined by an “I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine” mindset.
Patronage hirings play a key role. They keep perfectly qualified job candidates from getting government posts solely because they lack connections to the pols wielding the levers of power. Instead, it’s the relatives and friends of those pols, or friends of friends of those pols, who get those jobs — no matter how poorly qualified for the work they may be.
Patronage also feeds the deep cynicism that Illinoisans have for how their state, county and local governments are run. How can voters feel confident about the integrity of their elected officials if those officials hire, fire and promote based primarily on whether someone is either a personal friend or a political ally or, most likely, both?
Judge Chang, it’s time to ensure patronage gets relegated to a bygone era, and no longer contributes to the lack of trust that voters have in Chicago and Illinois governance. To finish the job, and until she finishes the job, Yarbrough needs to be kept under Shakman scrutiny.
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