Ethics Board Fines Indicted Ex-Ald. Carrie Austin’s Son $7K for Supervising His Sister-in-Law

(WTTW News) (WTTW News)

The Chicago Board of Ethics fined indicted former Ald. Carrie Austin’s son, who works as an assistant commissioner in the Department of Streets and Sanitation, $7,000 on Monday for supervising his former sister-in-law for six years, in violation of the city’s governmental ethics ordinance.

Lemuel Austin IV, agreed to pay the fine, as part of a settlement agreement he signed with the Chicago Board of Ethics acknowledging the violations after an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General.

Austin, who earns $146,376 annually, has been an assistant commissioner since 2015. He has worked for the city since 2001, records show. Austin could not immediately be reached for comment by WTTW News.

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Even though the city’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance prohibits city employees from supervising their relatives, Austin not only supervised Sandra Jones, who was then his sister-in-law, from 2015 and 2021 but also approved and signed two merit pay increases for Jones in August 2018 and June 2021.

A Streets and San field sanitation investigator, Jones earns $112,212 annually, according to a city database.

In 2018, Austin served a two-week suspension in 2018 after a probe conducted by former Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s office found he had “used an assigned city vehicle for personal use,” in violation of city policy.

“The employee’s personal use of the vehicle included regularly transporting the employee’s children to school and spouse to work on multiple occasions, while on duty for the city,” according to documents from the inspector general’s office.

In 2019, an investigation by WBEZ found six members of Austin’s family worked for the city, including her son, named for her husband, who died in 1994 while representing the Far South Side’s 34th Ward on the Chicago City Council.

Former Ald. Austin’s son-in-law, Frederick Geiger, earns $115,488 as a project administrator in the Department of Buildings

Former Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Carrie Austin to replace her husband, and she held that seat until her resignation in March 2023. She led the City Council’s powerful Budget Committee from 2007 to 2019.

In 2016, the alderperson’s son, Kenneth Austin, resigned from his job as a city laborer after an investigation by the inspector concluded he crashed a city vehicle while driving on a suspended license and avoided taking a mandatory drug test.

In 2017, former Ald. Austin hired Kenneth Austin to work as her ward superintendent. Elected officials are not subject to the city’s anti-nepotism laws. He remains a ward superintendent, earning $99,456, according to a city database.

Former Ald. Austin is scheduled to stand trial on Nov. 3, nearly four and a half years after federal prosecutors first alleged that she took bribes in the form of home improvements including new kitchen cabinets and granite countertops from a developer and lied to federal agents.

U.S. District Court Judge John F. Kness is expected to determine in February whether she is too ill to stand trial, as her lawyers insist.

Indicted in June 2021, Austin’s case was delayed by restrictions put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic, her poor health and the voluminous amount of evidence in the case.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]


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