"Old boys network" is a term used to describe the culture that allows political corruption to thrive. According to a study from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, this shorthand term does not accurately reflect the female gender.
"Unsupervised, Ensnared, Relational, and Private: A Typology of Illinois' Corrupt Women" takes a look at the women of Illinois who have been convicted for abusing their official powers. It challenges the notion that "female public officials have a deterrent effect on corruption" and examines the methods and motivations most common among female officials who have been convicted.
Author Ryan Ceresola finds four common themes in the female officials and their crimes.
With this analysis, I suggest that simply changing the gendered composition of a political body will not prevent corruption, and in fact, may encourage different types of corruption such as nepotism or embezzlement used for personal reasons. Instead, I argue that:
- Accesses public resources with little to no supervision
- Collaborates with others in some misdeed
- Commits corrupt acts with family members, specifically spouses or boyfriends
- Uses corrupt gains for personal, rather than career-advancing, reasons.
- Greater representations of women in political bodies will have little to no effect on reducing overall systemic corruption, without a change to the system itself.
- Political bodies in Illinois and elsewhere should ensure that their government officials are supervised, and are independently audited by outside investigative agencies.
- A series of checks and balances should be put into place to discover corruption earlier and more often, especially in organizations where public money is transferred between accounts.
With that in mind, here is a look at 12 of the 20 most recent cases involving women who were part of the culture of political corruption in Illinois.
Miriam Santos--2000
Position: Chicago city treasurer
Crime: Mail fraud, extortion, though the extortion conviction was overturned
Sentence: 40 months in federal prison
Betty Loren-Maltese--2002
Position: Cicero town president
Crime: Racketeering, wire fraud, mail fraud
Sentence: Eight years in prison
Janet Thomas--2004
Position: Harvey School District president
Crime: Falsifying documents
Sentence: 180 days in jail
Patricia Bailey--2005
Position: State representative from the South Side of Chicago, Cook County probation officer
Crime: Perjury and forgery (election fraud)
Sentence: Two years of probation
Arenda Troutman--2008
Position: Chicago 20th Ward alderman
Crime: Bribery
Sentence: Four years in prison
Sharon Hyde--2011
Position: Island Lake director of village-run Creative Playtime Preschool
Crime: Falsifying documents
Sentence: $629 court costs fine
Rita Crundwell--2012
Position: Dixon city treasurer
Crime: Embezzlement
Sentence: 19 years and seven months in prison
Sara Glashagel--2012
Position: Antioch teacher
Crime: Computer tampering
Sentence: One year of probation and 80 hours of community service
Sandi Jackson--2013
Position: Chicago City Council member
Crime: Filing false tax returns
Sentence: One year in prison
Constance Howard--2013
Position: State representative from Winnebago County
Crime: Mail fraud
Sentence: Up to 20 years in prison, but prosecutors recommended six to 18 months
Gwendolyn Robinson--2013
Position: Executive director of the Maywood Housing Authority in Chicago
Crime: Theft and official misconduct
Sentence: 10 years in Illinois state prison
Nancy Dobrowski--2014
Position: Burnham village clerk
Crime: Embezzlement, wire fraud, filing false tax returns
Sentence: 18 months in federal prison
To see the full list of 20 politically corrupt Illinois women (including Linda Hudson, whose crime was wire fraud and theft), as well as the full study on women and corruption, check out Reboot Illinois.
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