Maurer Fired

This has been popping up in our comment sections for three or four days now. Shaved had a post up at 2230 hours last night citing the Sun Times article:

• A former high-ranking Chicago Police officer has been fired as $130,380-a-year security chief at O’Hare and Midway Airports amid his complaints about physical vulnerabilities and manpower shortages.

  Tensions between Jim Maurer and aides to Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino have been building for nearly seven months. They came to a boil on Friday, the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, sources said.

And what was the source of the tension?

• That’s when Maurer got into a heated argument with Eileen O’Connor, a top aide to Andolino. O’Connor accused the security chief of “physically attacking” her, sources said. Although Maurer categorically denied the charge, Andolino fired him on the spot.

Maurer may be a lot of things, and although we've never worked directly for him, we have a hard time seeing him physically attacking a woman. That's just too far fetched for words. Andolino, former secretary for Silent Vic Reyes though, well, that's another story.

• Beneath the personality clash is a lingering dispute over O’Hare security.

  Sources said Maurer has grown increasingly concerned about a shortage of police officers at O’Hare and about vulnerabilities in the airport’s physical plant.

  Since late February, when Andolino was placed in charge of both the Department of Aviation and the O’Hare Modernization Program, the singular focus has been on construction, the sources said.

  “Everything is depleted…Police levels are significantly lower than they used to be,” said a source familiar with Maurer’s version of the dispute.

This we can believe completely. Maurer has been outspoken on more than one occasion. It cost him a shot at the Superintendent's job once. And in light of the mayor's message that everything is all right, we're completely safe and we're getting the Olympics, Maurer's concerns would be considered "rocking the boat." And we all know what happens to people who rock Shortshank's boat.