May 24th - Stunning! $108,000 for his own attorney!

May 24th -

Paid to defend poor but doing Stroger's bidding
COUNTY 'It's totally inappropriate': commissioner
May 24, 2007
BY STEVE PATTERSON AND ERIC HERMAN Staff Reporters On paper, he works for the Cook County agency that represents those too poor to hire a lawyer.
But in reality, attorney Richard Velazquez is being paid to give legal advice to County Board President Todd Stroger.
The move has stunned county commissioners and some in the public defender's office, but Stroger said Wednesday there's nothing wrong with his decision to hire Velazquez on the public defender's budget -- only to use him as his own attorney.
'Not good government'"It's totally inappropriate," countered Commissioner Mike Quigley. "It makes the budget an illusion, and it's not good government."
Velazquez, who has had his law license since 2003, is being paid $108,000 a year. He is the poorly prepared staffer Stroger sent to the media last week to defend financial moves Stroger has made since the board approved a $3 billion budget.
Others have been laid offStroger has since struggled to answer allegations that more than $20 million has been spent on items other than what the board intended.
Asked about Velazquez's position, new Stroger spokeswoman Ibis Antongiorgi said he was hired to assist Stroger, and there were never any plans to put him in a courtroom.
The position is one of hundreds filled at Stroger's discretion, and Antongiorgi said "it's not unusual" for people in those types of jobs to be working on multiple tasks.
Public Defender Ed Burnette, who serves at Stroger's pleasure, said he can't explain why Velazquez is on his budget. "I know he's not working within the parameters of our office," Burnette said.
Velazquez, who did not return calls, is filling in for Stroger's $123,000-a-year legal adviser, Laura Lechowicz-Felicione, who's splitting her time at the county hospital.
Velazquez's salary is being paid by an office where 13 lawyers were recently laid off and 65 to 70 employees are being forced to take unpaid days off, all because of budget cuts.
"They're very short-staffed and extremely overburdened," said Roberta Lynch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents public defenders. "We think it's very inappropriate to be spending money from that office, that's supposed to be defending the indigent, for some other purpose."