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player ready...A supporter of Gov. Rod Blagojevich who got a state job under questionable circumstances has been accused by investigators of raising campaign money for the governor on taxpayer time.
The governor’s executive inspector general recommended firing Khalil Shalabi for allegedly conducting personal and political business while on the job at the Tinley Park Mental Health Center, according to a confidential report obtained by the Tribune.
The Sept. 29 report by the office of the executive inspector general alleged Shalabi used his state computer to arrange for a “Governor’s Reception” dinner last month to raise money for Blagojevich’s campaign committee from the Arab-American community.
Inspector General James A. Wright urged the administration to fire Shalabi immediately due to the “egregious nature” of his conduct, which also involved extensive work on his own private businesses while he was supposed to be at work.
Blagojevich is moving to terminate Shalabi, who makes $78,000 a year as director of project development at the Department of Human Services. A spokeswoman for Blagojevich said that as soon as the governor’s office received the report, Shalabi was put on paid leave until his rights to hearings are exhausted and he can be fired.
“We have no tolerance for the kind of activity that was alleged in this case,” spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said. “When there are allegations that someone isn’t playing by the rules, there’s a system in place to investigate it and make sure that problems don’t go ignored.”
Reached by a Tribune reporter on Tuesday, Shalabi declined to discuss the matter.
The performance of political work on state time has long been a problem in state government and has been the subject of federal and state investigations. Former state officials have been convicted of using state resources for political purposes. The Operation Safe Road investigation that led to former Gov. George Ryan’s corruption conviction began as a probe of secretary of state workers in his driver’s license facilities who had been shaking down customers to buy tickets to fundraisers when Ryan was secretary of state.
Shalabi, a native Palestinian who became a U.S. citizen 30 years ago, is a leader of an Arab-American Democratic group that has been a generous contributor to Democratic candidates. The group, identified by the inspector general as a committee but by some of its members as a club, has given at least $10,000 to the governor in past campaigns.
In 2003, Shalabi got his job by the same method that brought in other politically connected candidates hired during the Blagojevich administration. He was hired to work in a county where there was a job opening, but then he was allowed to transfer to work closer to home. State records show that he was hired to work in Boone County, nearly 100 miles from his Lemont home, before he was transferred to Cook County in February 2004.
The use of such transfers has been criticized in previous inspector general reports as a way to avoid hiring military veterans, who get first shot at most state jobs. The report does not address how Shalabi, who according to state records is not a veteran, got his job.
According to the new inspector general’s report, it wasn’t long before Shalabi began doing personal and political business on state time. Documents found in Shalabi’s office reflect work on his political group’s meetings and events dating to December 2003. He also used his state computer to send e-mails with the group’s meeting minutes, letters and brochures discussing its endorsement of candidates and invitations for candidate events, the report says.
Use of state computer cited
Shalabi also used state resources to solicit campaign contributions for the Friends of Blagojevich committee, organizing a “Governor’s Reception fundraising dinner” held on Sept. 12, according to the report. He did that by using his state computer to e-mail and store invitations for the dinner, host committee membership lists and minutes of a July meeting of the group. The governor attended a function hosted by the group and held at Nikos Restaurant in Bridgeview, attended by more than 500 people.
The report said that, in some cases, there is no specific evidence that Shalabi prepared or created some of the voluminous materials on his state computer.
But, the report said, “in all likelihood he did so, given the volume and nature of his e-mail correspondence with [group] members.”
In addition, the reports said that e-mails and other materials show that Shalabi managed personal business investments from his office, including a property development corporation, a communications company and a venture capital investment bank. In one case, inspectors followed Shalabi to a personal business seminar at a Lisle hotel when he was supposed to be at work.
In so doing, the report says, Shalabi was violating Department of Human Services regulations and the state ethics law, a standard toughened by the Democratic governor not long after he took office.
Acting on a tip, the inspector general’s office had been monitoring Shalabi’s work habits since at least April.
During an Aug. 1 interview with Shalabi, the report says, Shalabi initially denied that he even had any outside business activities, although investigators who had been following him saw him tending to personal business on state time.
“Shalabi’s responses during the interview displayed a pattern of denying violations and later admitting to them only when he realized that investigators had evidence contradicting his denials,” the report says.
The report also notes that Shalabi broke ethics rules by sending photographs of the September reception to his office e-mail account from his home e-mail account.
The fact that he did so “even after he had been interviewed by [inspector general] investigators and knew that his conduct was being scrutinized further demonstrates his complete indifference to these ethical standards,” investigators wrote.
Other members of the organization said they don’t believe the allegations. Shalabi is a respected businessman and a leader in the community, friends said.
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Miriam Zayed said she helped to organize the reception for the governor and that she believes all of the work by everyone in the group was conducted in their private time.
“I worked on the fundraiser as a volunteer,” said Zayed. “We meet in the evenings and on weekends, and we never, ever do anything during work hours.”
Vivian Khalaf, a former member of the group’s board, said the room was packed for the event. Blagojevich gave a keynote address, she said, and people “were excited that the governor was there.”
Blagojevich’s campaign spokeswoman, Sheila Nix, said money was raised for the governor at the event, though she did not know how much. She said that information would be reported next week to state election officials. Nix also said the governor does not know Shalabi and that Shalabi does not work for the campaign team.
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