Editorial: City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin has some big questions to answer

The city treasurer’s office is the custodian and manager of all cash and investments for Chicago, a place with a $9 billion investment portfolio and a bigger fiscal footprint than some nations. If any officeholder in the city needs to be squeaky clean and wholly trustworthy, this is that officeholder.

But that is not the picture that emerged Tuesday in a letter regarding the conduct of Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, finally obtained by the Tribune and brought to light after the administration of previous Mayor Lori Lightfoot went to court and did its best to keep the letter hidden.

Before we get to the letter, let’s note that Conyears-Ervin, a former state representative who is married to Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, was reelected to her position unopposed earlier this year after first ascending to the post in 2019. At that time, she became the first woman elected to the office of treasurer for Chicago who was not previously appointed.

On May 12, 2022, Conyears-Ervin was the keynote speaker at Chicago State University’s 369th commencement, which heralded her achievements. This year, she told Crain’s Chicago Business that her personal motto was: “In this journey that we call life, remember that you are not better than anyone else. But more importantly, I want you to remember that there is no one better than you.”

Which brings us to the issue at hand. The letter — written by the attorney for Ashley Evans and Tiffany Harper, two employees Conyears-Ervin fired in November 2020 — accuses the treasurer of wholesale misuse of taxpayer resources.

Attorney Michael Kanovitz alleges the treasurer “engaged in a pattern of disturbing conduct against the public trust, many of which violated City of Chicago ethics rules as well as state and federal law. Her consistent and pervasive practice has been to misuse City money, City employees and City resources to benefit her private interests as well as those of her friends and campaign supporters.”

More specifically, Kanovitz alleges that Conyears-Ervin “hired an ex-CPD officer to fill the opening of Assistant to City Treasurer, a job that requires financial training and experience which the candidate was utterly lacking. This employee does not provide any services to the office and does not even come into the office. Rather he serves as a private armed security guard to the Treasurer and is her driver. Similarly, the Treasurer hired Gina Zuccaro for the Administrative Assistant position. Rather than fulfilling the duties of that role full-time, which Ms. Zuccaro is not qualified to do, the Treasurer uses her for personal services like running errands, planning her daughter’s birthday party, grocery shopping and the like. The Treasurer also used City resources to support Ms. Zuccaro’s run for the and (sic) Illinois House of Representatives seat by allowing her to campaign on City time.”

In addition, Kanovitz alleges, Conyears-Ervin “has also been using City resources to advance the agenda of several churches and other religious organizations, many of which support her and her husband ... politically and turn out church members to vote for their respective campaigns.”

It’s important to understand the context: The letter is hardly independent, having been written by the attorney for two disgruntled former employees, and it claims that the two were, in effect, fired for being whistleblowers who pointed out illegal activity. Already, the two have shared a $100,000 settlement from the city, which certainly suggests city attorneys saw some dangers in the situation. But Conyears-Ervin has not been formally accused of any crime.

All that noted, the Lightfoot administration kept the letter with the details secret, seemingly due to a political alliance between Lightfoot and Conyears-Ervin. Last November, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued a binding opinion that it should be released, according to the law. But it took until another administration, that of Mayor Brandon Johnson, for the letter finally to be made public.

Now here we are.

The Tribune reported Tuesday that Conyears-Ervin “declined to address any of the specific allegations in the letter and instead issued a statement late last week that said the city settled the allegations two years ago ‘in the most cost effective manner for the citizens of Chicago.’ ”

Not good enough.

Those allegations are substantive, deeply troubling and, on their face, suggest a lamentable disregard for ethics rules, which are applicable to Chicago’s officeholders for good reason, and possibly illegal activity that merits prosecution. An independent inquiry would have the benefit of obvious witnesses, too, given that the allegations involve the pressuring and/or misuse of several employees in Conyears-Ervin’s office.

Given the amount of public trust her office requires and especially since Conyears-Ervin has said she is considering a run for Congress to replace U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, it is crucial that Conyears-Ervin hold a news conference to address the veracity of the contents of this letter as clearly and specifically as possible. She needs to tell Chicago taxpayers whether or not she plans to hold herself to the rules going forward.

If not, it would surely seem that the city of Chicago needs a new treasurer.

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