The ongoing investigation in the city's firefighter scandal — wherein guys paid others to work their shifts while collecting their full paychecks and never fully repaying the hours — got a little more interesting this week when Frank Jackson released an email from a fire captain to a city law director, sent two years ago, that laid out the pay-to-not-work scheme.
Jackson had previously said that until last year's audit, the city had no knowledge that firefighters were living in other states and dolling out hundreds of dollars to co-workers to cover their shifts. He said he learned about the email in a meeting with the firefighters and that releasing it was the right thing to do. Jackson also said he gives a sucker to every kid he passes on the street and pets every dog he sees. Just the right thing to do.
Anthony Luke penned the note to Chief Assistant Law Director Stewart Hastings in February 2010. He asked if the scheme was legal. Hastings said he would assign the query to a lawyer to research. It appears he never did.
