Politics
Former Inspector General Joe Ferguson Fined $5K for Revealing Botched Little Village Smokestack Implosion Could Have Been Prevented
A still image from a video taken of the demolition of the Crawford Coal Plant smokestack, April 11, 2020. (Alejandro Reyes / YouTube)
The Chicago Board of Ethics voted 4-1 to fine former Inspector General Joe Ferguson $5,000 for violating the city’s ethics ordinance by divulging a confidential report that found city officials could have prevented a plume of dust from enveloping Little Village in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when crews demolished the former Crawford Power Plant.
Ferguson is now the head of the Civic Federation, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group, and has been fiercely critical of Johnson’s financial stewardship of the city.
Ferguson paid the fine, which was levied on Nov. 10, according to records published Friday morning by the board.
In a statement to WTTW News, Ferguson said that while he was disappointed by the fine, he had no regrets about his decision to send the report to two unidentified media organizations.
“This community, long subject to environmental injustice, deserved access to the truth,” Ferguson said. “City government has an obligation to protect its people from this kind of harm and it failed miserably in doing so. So, if given the choice, I would do it again as city officials must be held to the highest standards of transparency and accountability in serving its most vulnerable of citizens.”
The maximum fine the board could have levied was $20,000 for each violation of the Governmental Ethics Ordinance, while the minimum fine was $500 for each violation.
WTTW News was the first to obtain a copy of the report, which former Mayor Lori Lightfoot repeatedly refused to make public, ignoring a resolution unanimously passed by the Chicago City Council demanding its release.
The report was made public two weeks before Lightfoot lost her bid for reelection, finishing third to now-Mayor Brandon Johnson and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas.
The 94-page report was completed by Ferguson on Sept. 27, 2021, just weeks before he left office after Lightfoot refused to reappoint him to a fourth, four-year term in office.
The report determined that city officials put Little Village residents at risk when they allowed the smokestack demolition to proceed on April 11, 2020, based on a permit issued in July 2018 that did not mention the use of explosives.
At the same time, other officials did not do enough to ensure the implosion did not cause a massive dust storm while others brushed off or downplayed concerns about whether the demolition should take place a month after the COVID-19 pandemic swept Chicago, according to the full report.
The former Crawford Power Plant is now a warehouse leased by Target.
The inspector general’s probe found Hilco Global, the firm that demolished the former power plant and built the warehouse, at fault for failing to ensure that the implosion did not endanger the health of the public and faulted officials for not taking steps to ensure a plan to protect the surrounding neighborhood was in place and would be followed.
In addition, city officials did not do enough to ensure that those who lived near the former power plant were informed about the planned implosion with enough time to object or take steps to protect themselves or their families, according to the full report.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
