Mayor Lori Lightfoot was also named in the report, as a watchdog criticized her administration's haste in assessing penalties against Hilco.
It's been a year since a botched smokestack implosion in Chicago's Little Village community that led to a thick plume of dirt and dust spreading for blocks in every direction.The city's "negligence and incompetence" allowed a demolition dust storm to blanket Little Village in 2020, according to a scathing watchdog report that also berated City Hall for its response to the debacle.
But the full 94-page report has been kept under wraps by Mayor Lori Lightfoot even as community members, the City Council, Ferguson and others have called for its release. Ferguson declined to comment. City "staff played a direct and active role, driving the planned implosion forward and abandoning their duty to inform and protect the public," Wasserman said after reviewing the report.
"Hopkins and Herrera continually sought to minimize their role in the implosion process, despite conducting the bulk of coordination with Hilco in planning the city's involvement," the report said. Graham had been recommended for discipline, including firing. The city decided a written reprimand was appropriate.
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