Suspended Daley aide lands new six-figure gig at police department

Posted by John Byrne

Ex-city Fleet Commissioner Michael Picardi, suspended by City Hall this year after an embarrassing contracting mistake, has landed a new $129,000-a-year job with the Chicago Police Department.

As a deputy director, Picardi will oversee the police department's general support division, which includes the city auto pound, equipment and supply, and document services and graphics, according to police department spokesman Roderick Drew.

The new gig comes after Mayor Richard Daley suspended Picardi without pay for three months in January  for contracts involving Central Auto Body in the Logan Square neighborhood. The shop's owner, John Szybkowski, was convicted nearly 30 years ago of faking work orders on police department vehicles and giving kickbacks to city workers. Yet that didn't stop him from getting a new city contract.