Prescriptions to Mitigate Contract Procurement Corruption within the City of Chicago
By: Paris Tsangaris
Chronicling the history of contract procurement corruption within the city of Chicago uncovers flawed practices as well inspires the creation of new processes and procedures to mitigate contract procurement corruption. Evolutionary politics whereby flawed practices are promptly amended or replaced with promising new processes and procedures should be the standard the world over when combating municipal fraud.
Chicago’s first step to increase transparency and accountability is to maintain a current listing of city contracts on the cityofchicago.org website. The website is fragmented and missing data spanning from December of 2009 through April of 2010. Once brought current, the website should be more coherent and intelligible to allow for easy access by all.
Lifelong bans from Chicago City Business competition should be the standard rather than the exception when penalizing fraudulent firms.
Establishment of a credit rating system to qualify participating contractors further incentivizes efficiency and productivity. Firms may receive initial ratings based upon employment statistics as well as operational history. Credit score reductions are necessary when contracts are completed behind schedule and over-budget. Firms receive credit score increases when contracts are completed on or ahead of schedule as well as on or under-budget.
The Inspector General’s Office would be best suited to oversee the relationships which exist between contractors and sub-contractors, determine whether firms are meeting their contractual obligations to qualify for credit increases and reductions, as well investigating the integrity of firm claims relating to MBE/WBE status. Additionally, an anonymous hotline offering monetary incentives and rewards to individuals volunteering information leading to the indictment of conviction of fraudulently operating contracting firms should be established within the Inspector General’s office.
A possible means to create a more competitive and transparent marketplace may be to allow for virtual competition online whereby competing firms bid openly on city contracts.
Despite the best efforts of the bureaucrats and politicians within the city of Chicago, fraud and corruption are persistent and not entirely abolishable. Therefore, the risk of misallocating city resources to fraudulent firms is omnipresent. Contracts dedicated to MBE/WBE as well as the corresponding risk of city misallocation of resources should be spread across as many firms as possible. More small businesses and communities may be supported as a result of the city spreading contracts across as many firms as practicable.
