"Garbage Crews 'paid to do nothing' City Surveillance Finds", (Chicago Sun-Times, October 8, 2008)
Chicago's household garbage is being picked up by crews that work less than six hours a day -- and get "paid to do nothing" for 25 percent of their time on the clock -- costing taxpayers at least $14.3 million a year, the city's inspector general has found.
Hoffman identified "extremely poor supervision" as the "principal cause" for the waste and fraud that Chicago taxpayers can ill afford.
The malingering is so pervasive, the city could literally pick up the same amount of garbage with 25 percent fewer employees, provided the survivors worked a full 8.5-hour shift with 30 minutes off for lunch.
When the cost of employee benefits and the pricetag for maintaining and fueling trucks is factored in, the annual waste citywide approaches $21 million, the inspector general found.
