Aug. 25--Days after Harvey's mayor was accused of directing a federal police grant to pay for a new SUV for him to drive, the city's police chief disputed that the mayor had any involvement in the grant being changed to buy the SUV.
Still, Harvey officials have yet to explain who decided the $51,000 SUV should be assigned to longtime Mayor Eric Kellogg. At the same time, the Chicago Police Department -- the agency administering the grant -- said it never gave permission for the grant to be used that way.
The SUV accusations were contained in a 62-page assessment of Harvey's Police Department by the Cook County Sheriff's Office. The report was given to Harvey officials last week and reported on Friday by the Tribune.
The sheriff's office on Monday stood by its report, which stated that interviews with the chief and the city's grant writer "revealed a change was made to this grant at the request of the mayor." The sheriff's report also said the mayor's use of the SUV appeared to be a misuse of federal grant funds.
The dispute over the mayor's involvement is the latest twist in an already unusual political drama. Last fall, a bloc of Harvey aldermen -- against the mayor's wishes -- brought in the Cook County sheriff to audit the police force in a community that Tribune investigations previously found had a toxic mix of violent crime and subpar policing. The debate has grown only more caustic as Harvey officials debate whether Sheriff Tom Dart should be given more power to investigate corruption in the suburb's government. Amid that debate, aldermen voted to hire a separate attorney to report to the City Council, rather than rely on the appointed city attorney, who is the mayor's niece.
A mayoral spokesman on Friday called the sheriff's report politically biased and a precursor to an unfair power grab -- something the sheriff's office denied. Kellogg's administration ratcheted up the criticism Monday, when acting police Chief Denard Eaves told the Tribune that the sheriff's office was wrong to say that Eaves said the mayor had requested the grant be changed in a way that allowed the mayor to get the SUV.
"I don't know how this thing got screwed up," Eaves said. "At no time, since (the mayor took office in) 2003 to the present time, has the mayor stuck his nose in any of the grants. That's just blatantly false and did not happen."
A top aide to the sheriff, Cara Smith, said the office stands by "every word of the assessment" and "finds their dispute of this issue peculiar, at best, given the real issue is the mayor's use of the vehicle."
Harvey did not dispute that it had originally asked for federal money to buy two police cruisers in 2011 on the argument that community safety was at risk because the impoverished suburb lacked enough working squad cars to adequately patrol during busy shifts.
Nor did Kellogg's administration dispute the sheriff's office's findings that the grant was changed to be for just one car, a new $51,000 Chevrolet Tahoe, which was assigned to and driven by the mayor. Kellogg spokesman Sean Howard has said the mayor's use of the SUV fit a police use because it helped deter crime. He also noted the mayor, a retired school administrator, is a certified part-time police officer for a neighboring town.
The sheriff's report noted Harvey received $60,000 from a funding arm of the U.S. Department of Justice to purchase two police vehicles. Department of Justice officials can seek civil or criminal action if they think a federal grant was misused.
Jose Regalado, Harvey's grant writer, told the Tribune that he received verbal approval to change how the money would be spent. But he wouldn't say from whom, noting he wanted a chance to call the person first.
The Chicago Police Department administered the grant on behalf of the Department of Justice. A Justice spokeswoman did not immediately have answers to whether any changes were approved. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said "at no point did the Chicago Police Department authorize the grant to be used to purchase a vehicle exclusively for the mayor of Harvey's use."
jmahr@tribpub.com
mwalberg@tribpub.com
Twitter @mattwalberg1
