Records show Ald. Gardiner used temporary salary increases to game the system, bestowing large bonuses upon staff, at taxpayer expense.

Alderman Gardiner spent over $20,000 from city coffers on self-promotional items typically paid by elected officials’ campaign accounts.

Alderman Jim Gardiner is being sued by a man who says the alderman falsely accused him of a crime, harassed him and had him arrested.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Chicago federal court, is aimed at Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th); Gardiner’s ward superintendent, Charles Sikanich; the city and seven police officers from the 16th district.

Sikanich was arrested in January 2014 for battery and impersonating a police officer. He also was previously arrested twice for retail theft, according to police.

Public records show that Alderman Jim Gardiner, during his Aldermanic campaign, accepted a $5,000 donation from city contractor Mark Lundgren in violation of city campaign finance laws.

Alderman Gardiner has overridden city officials in order to deliver political favors to his biggest supporters. This is exactly the kind of Aldermanic privilege Mayor Lightfoot campaigned to stop, yet Aldermen’s power to deliver favors remains unchecked…

In Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the Council voted 49-1 to end litigation and approve a settlement with Chicago police officer Laura Kubiak. Kubiak had already won her court case against the city claiming abuse, harassment, and retaliation from a another police officer, Veejay Zala.

Gardiner, with his own history of abuse, harassment, and intimidation of women offered no explanation for his vote against the settlement.

It was revealed on August 4, 2020 that the Ethics Officer still on file with the Chicago Board of Ethics for Alderman Gardiner’s office was his former staffer, Tanya King. King’s last official day with the office November 29, 2019. That’s over 35 weeks without any staff in the office specifically trained to advise the Alderman and staff on ethics questions. What do ethics officers do?

On Thursday, August 6th, the Six Corners Special Service Area (SSA) convened for the first time with the full slate of Alderman Gardiner’s hand-picked Commissioners. In an openly corrupt act, the Commission voted to unanimously choose the winner of the 2021 service provider contract with no debate and without issuing an RFP.

Alderman Gardiner took over the Six Corners SSA with a plan to replace the Six Corners Association with the Six Corners Chamber of Commerce, founded by City Newsstand owner Joe Angelastri. So what? Why is that a problem? Angelastri has a former history with the SSA and their Sole Service Provider, the Six Corners Association (6CA), which includes abuse, harassment, changing passwords on email and accounting systems, installing cameras without disclosure, and a general inability to work well with others…

Alderman Gardiner orchestrated a complete replacement of the Six Corners Special Service Area #28 (SSA) with the purpose of granting the Sole Service Provider contract to his outspoken and dedicated supporter, Joe Angelastri, founder of the Six Corners Chamber of Commerce (SCCC). On March 11, 2020…

There’s a lot of area news and apparent corruption around the area SSA, which involves two other entities, the 6CA and SCCC, but it can be confusing to understand what these organizations are and how they relate to one another, so let’s break it down…

On June 11, 2020 Gardiner somehow managed to get both his official account @AldJimGardiner suspended and his political account @JimGardiner45th outright banned. Twitter cited a violation of their Twitter Rules. It’s not easy to get banned, a dishonor typically reserved for vocal white supremacists like Milo Yiannopoulos…

In September 2019, 45th ward resident and vocal critic of Alderman Gardiner, Pete Czosnyka, found himself facing $600 in fines for “weeds”. Czosnyka fought the tickets in court and won a rare victory against the city for weed violations. The “weeds” in question were really native plants, many of which were originally bought from the City itself.

On January 19, 2020, Alderman Gardiner deleted his Twitter account. It is unclear why, however, this was the sequence of events that preceded the account deletion:

If Jim Gardiner isn’t a Republican, the Republicans certainly believe he’s a Republican.

“When I came out of high school I went into the trades.

I was an iron worker and I hated it. I was tying rebar all day long. I knew that certain steps I took in my life led to that.”

On November 21, 2019, Alderman Gardiner met with members of Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) as well as a subset of Commissioners from the Six Corners Special Service Area (SSA #28) to discuss the Alderman’s threats to hold up the SSA budget if a member of the Commission, who he felt had been critical of him, wasn’t removed from her post.