City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin embroiled in controversy over ethics claims
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Controversy is swirling around Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin – involving charges that she repeatedly used city employees and resources for her personal benefit.
As CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported Wednesday, the charges were all laid out in black and white.
Outside City Council chambers Wednesday, there was a celebration by those pushing to eliminate the subminimum wage for restaurant servers – as their ordinance moves on to a new City Council committee.
Conyears-Ervin was touted as a featured speaker at the event earlier this week. But she was nowhere to be found.
Kozlov: "Where is the city treasurer today? She was supposed to be here."
Ald. Jessica Fuentes (26th): "Yes, our treasurer is out of town, but she is a champion – and she will continue to remind everyone that she is a champion of a fair wage."
Conyears-Ervin was out of town one day after the Chicago Tribune published a letter written by a Chicago attorney on behalf of two of the treasurer's former employees – alleging that Conyears-Ervin engaged in widespread ethics violations.
The former employees said when they spoke out about their concerns, Conyears-Ervin fired them.
Kozlov: "Do you think it has anything to do with the Tribune story from yesterday about the past allegations of ethics violations in her office?"
Fuentes: "No, absolutely not. The treasurer was scheduled to be out of town way before that publication."
The December 2020 letter was sent to the city's top lawyer and the city's ethics officer. In it, the terminated employees accused Conyears-Ervin of consistently misusing "…City money, City employees and City resources to benefit her private interests…."
Examples cited in the letter include hiring an ex-Chicago Police officer as assistant city treasurer - but actually using him as security – and hiring an administrative assistant and then using her to run errands and a grocery shop on the clock.
Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), the treasurer's husband, was not at a City Council committee meeting on Wednesday – so we could not ask him questions.
In a statement Tuesday, Conyears-Ervin said the city settled with the fired employees, and she could not discuss specifics.
Conyears-Ervin stated that she has never, and would never "abuse or misuse taxpayer dollars."
Conyears-Ervin, by the way, is poised to challenge longtime U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Illinois) for his congressional seat.
In a statement, the treasurer said the city settled with the former employees in the most cost-effective manner for taxpayers.
Kozlov reached out to the attorney who wrote the letter for additional information, but had not heard back Wednesday.
