Cook County's main government watchdog agency will likely have a permanent boss for the first time since fall 2022.
After a lengthy and largely behind-the-scenes investigation, Tyrrell Paxton, a deputy in the county's Office of Independent Inspector General, has been officially announced as a candidate for the special search committee for the agency's new leader.
Mr. Paxton's nomination will be referred to the Cook County Commission's Legislative and Intergovernmental Relations Committee. If approved by the commission and the full Cook County Board, his six-year term would begin in June.
The office investigates waste, fraud and abuse across county governments, including forest preserves and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. Pat Blanchard, the first and last independent permanent IG, retired in October 2022. Since then, General Counsel Stephen Silanosky has served in the interim role.
The office has recently been searching for county employees suspected of federal Paycheck Protection Program fraud. For the past several years, the agency has been using the home of then-candidate J.B. Pritzker in a “scheme” to subject the county board of review and Cook County commissioners to property tax abatements, nepotism, and insinuations of patronage. We have been investigating the scandal in which toilets were removed from the city. I asked the police to throw out my friend's parking ticket.
Mr. Paxton has been with the firm since 2010. He currently serves as the Deputy Inspector General for the Compliance and Program Review Division, where he conducts investigations, program reviews, and investigations.
Prior to joining the agency, Mr. Paxton served as an auditor and fraud investigator at Ernst & Young, according to his biography with the Office of Inspector General. He also previously served as an associate attorney specializing in bankruptcy law at his DLA Piper and as a law clerk to Judge Ronald Berliant in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Blanchard announced his resignation years early to give the county a long road to finding a successor. But the already cumbersome selection process (including two task forces and a national search) was delayed on multiple fronts.
The final selection was postponed, at least in part, because the original ordinance required two members from each political party to serve on the selection committee. With only one Republican on the county commission, commissioners had to adjust the rules last summer.
After the study committee made its recommendations, county officials deferred consideration until after the fall budgeting process and winter break, county General Counsel Laura Lechowicz Felicione told the Tribune earlier this month.
A special selection committee secretly selected one of the two finalists last week. Paxton's name was not released until Thursday. The agency's mission could expand further after November. Maryana Spiropoulos, a Democratic candidate for circuit court clerk, has proposed giving OIIG oversight of the office.
Tribune reporter Olivia Stevens contributed.
aquig@chicagotribune.com
