Joliet hires attorney for unadvertised $85,000 job

Joliet filled a newly created $85,000-a-year position for assistant corporate counsel without advertising the job.

Sabrina Spano started Oct. 5, filling a position that was approved by the City Council a month earlier.

Interim City Manager Marty Shanahan said there was no need to post the job for applicants because Spano’s application already was on file and she was considered fit for the job.

“We had a qualified applicant,” Shanahan said. “She has what we were looking for in a litigation attorney.”

Shanahan noted Spano’s previous work with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

Spano had worked for the attorney general’s Child Support Enforcement Division. She also has worked for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and has been in private practice in the area of family law.

Attempts to reach Spano to discuss her legal experience were unsuccessful.

The City Council on Sept. 4 authorized the creation of the position with a job description that includes “prosecution of ordinance and traffic violations, administrative hearings, real estate matters, procurement, employee relations, legal research and various areas of municipal law including but not limited to civil rights, land use, code enforcement, licensing and administrative law.”

Spano in February had applied to the for the job of benefits/risk management administrator. Shanahan said she was a finalist for that job. He said the city’s human resources department notified the legal department of Spano’s application once the assistant corporate counsel position was created. She was called for an interview and got the job, he said.

The city in early 2016 eliminated a staff of three assistant corporation counsels. The move was described as a measure that would generate more revenue for the city by getting better results in litigation.

A memo to the council from former City Manager David Hales said outsourcing legal work “has yielded positive results” but adding an attorney in-house “for basic matters is a more cost-effective approach.”