Monday, June 29, 2009

Daley replaces his Streets and Sanitation boss

Tribune:
Mayor Richard Daley today demoted his Streets and Sanitation commissioner and replaced him with a troubleshooter from another department.

Michael Picardi will return to his old job running the Fleet Management department after rising through the City Hall ranks to become Streets and Sanitation boss in 2005.

Picardi will be replaced by Thomas Byrne, the city's transportation commissioner. Byrne, a former deputy police commissioner, said he "welcomes the challenge."
...
Picardi's high-profile department was the subject of criticism in two key areas in 2008 -- garbage pick-up and snow removal.

In a Daley administration effort to reduce overtime pay, city crews in early December 2008 waited until regular working hours before plowing side streets following a snowfall, leading to treacherous road conditions that had residents and aldermen furious. Picardi reversed course on the snow plowing following the controversy.

In October, the city inspector general reported that investigators who secretly watched city garbage truck crews spied workers loafing for hours each day, taking long lunches at home, drinking beer from plastic cups and even urinating on the street. The report also faulted the Streets and Sanitation department for failure to properly oversee the crews.

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