By Fran Spielman
The Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed Wednesday to root out the “systemic, cultural” problem that has caused constant corruption in the Chicago Fire Prevention Bureau, arguing it’s not as simple as terminating 54 firefighters accused of padding mileage expenses.
“It’s clear that this has a history, meaning it’s repetitive. I feel — reading what I read today — like it’s ‘Groundhog Day.’ It’s not just a personnel issue. It’s a cultural issue. And I’ve directed [Fire] Commisioner Hoff to deal with it — roots and all,” Emanuel said.
Emanuel said he has “zero tolerance” for waste, fraud and corruption of any kind. But he’s also “caught between a rock and a hard place.”
In a “perfect, ideal world,” he could fire the 54 firefighters accused of padding their mileage expenses. But in the real world, a grievance process is required by the firefighters union contract.
“If . . . all 54 got fired for the collective $100,000 in mistakes, through that process that takes close to 10 months, you could end up costing us more than the $100,000 of the original violation,” Emanuel said.
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