8/9/2019 Locke Complaint-Office of Inspector General

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February 8, 2015

Office of the Inspector GeneralAttn: Complaint Duty Investigator740 N. Sedgwick, Suite 200Chicago, Illinois 60654

To the Complaint Duty Investigator,

Please consider this letter a formal complaint against Ms. Ronda Locke, candidate for 1st WardAlderman, for violations of the City of Chicago's Governmental Ethics Ordinance. As set forth below,Ms. Locke has violated the Ethics Ordinance by failing to disclose her close connection to a companyreceiving contracts from the City of Chicago and by using City of Chicago property for campaign purposes.

Ms. Locke has violated Section 2-516-150 and Section 2-516-160 of the Ethics Ordinance byknowingly submitting a false Statement of Financial Interest. Ms. Locke's Statement of FinancialInterest correctly discloses that she works as a “consultant” for Christy Webber landscapes and receives

in excess of $25,000.00 per year in salary. However, the Statement fails to mention that ChristyWebber Landscapes signed a half-million dollar contract with the City of Chicago (contract No. 29162)in December of 2013 to do work on the Kennedy expressway. Ms. Locke's “consulting” services for

Christy Webber Landscapes involved marketing and contract procurement. It defies belief that Ms.Locke was not involved in the procurement of this contract or, at the very least, aware that heremployer had significant business with the City of Chicago.

Additionally, Ms. Locke violated the Ethics Ordinance on January 23rd of this year when shesent campaign emails to City of Chicago employees at their work email addresses. These emailsinvited City employees to “get engaged” in Ms. Locke's campaign and contained a link for donations.

This violates Section 2-156-425 which states that candidates may not “intentionally solicit, accept,offer or make contributions on city property.” City emails servers are City property and attempting to

involve City employees, in their official capacity, in her campaign violates the Ethics Ordinance.Moreover, the fact that Ms. Locke's campaign had these addresses in their database is, itself,suspicious, and suggests that Ms. Locke may have used her previous position with the City of Chicagoto gain access to these addresses.

The ethical violations outlined above are not merely oversights or mistakes, but exhibit a blatantdisregard for the Ethics Ordinance which protects our elections process. For your convenience, youwill find a copy of Ms. Locke's Statement of Financial Interests and an email to a City of Chicagoemail address enclosed. In the event that your office lacks jurisdiction over this matter, please

refer my Complaint to the appropriate investigative body.

8/9/2019 Locke Complaint-Office of Inspector General

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