Chicago's inspector general says a former deputy director of the city's own Board of Ethics should never work for the city again after she drove drunk, caused three collisions near Jefferson Park and battered a bystander. Lauren Maniatis, who once earned $126,396 a year helping enforce Chicago's ethics laws, is no longer a city employee, having left sometime in the month before the watchdog's findings became public.
According to a report detailed by WTTW News, the inspector general recommended Maniatis be placed on the city's do-not-hire list after investigators concluded she drove under the influence, caused three crashes and physically battered a bystander. Police who responded to the Dec. 29, 2025 arrest near Jefferson Park observed that Maniatis had a strong odor of alcohol, bloodshot and glassy eyes, and slurred speech, per the watchdog's findings. The inspector general also found that she lied to officers about her occupation and repeatedly denied drinking or being in an accident before ultimately being arrested and charged with drunken driving.
The investigation further found that Maniatis cursed at Chicago police officers and Chicago Fire Department paramedics who transported her to a hospital after the crashes. Investigators also determined she had brought alcohol onto Board of Ethics premises on multiple occasions and had consumed alcohol at the office once after hours, though not on the date of her arrest, the report found.
A Guilty Plea and a Promotion Gone Sideways
Maniatis pleaded guilty to driving under the influence in February, when she was sentenced to two years of supervision and ordered to pay $1,508 in fines, according to the watchdog's findings relayed by WTTW News. She had been promoted to deputy director of the Ethics Board in May 2025 after previously serving as the agency's legal counsel. It remains unclear exactly when board officials were made aware of her arrest and guilty plea, or precisely when the inspector general's investigation began.
The case lands awkwardly for the agency charged with enforcing the city's governmental ethics ordinance. Longtime Executive Director Steve Berlin, who retired at the end of August after 18 years as the city's chief ethics enforcer, had recommended to Mayor Brandon Johnson that Maniatis be named his successor. Berlin told the board in August that he had urged Johnson to pick his deputy for the top job, a recommendation that now sits alongside the inspector general's call to bar her from city work altogether.
Office Of Inspector General's Reach
The Chicago Office of Inspector General derives its authority from the city's municipal code and can investigate allegations of wrongdoing, audit city programs and even hold public hearings, according to the Office of Inspector General. The office can also issue subpoenas for testimony or documents relevant to an investigation, and city officials, employees, contractors and lobbyists all have a legal obligation to cooperate. When the office makes a recommendation involving employee discipline, city departments are required to respond in writing, though that does not guarantee the discipline sought actually follows.
A separate inspector general investigation into the Chicago Fire Department illustrates how such recommendations can land softer than intended. Inspector General Deborah Witzburg found that fire department members falsified reports and lied to Chicago police to protect an assistant deputy chief paramedic who was allegedly intoxicated while slumped over a vehicle's steering wheel, according to ABC7 Chicago. That report found the paramedic was taken to a fire station and allowed to sleep for 90 minutes in an office rather than facing immediate consequences. The fire department ultimately declined to implement most of the inspector general's recommended discipline or imposed lighter penalties instead; the paramedic retired during the investigation, and the on-duty captain EMT who falsified reports received only a six-day suspension.
A Year of Turnover at the Ethics Board
Maniatis's exit is just the latest disruption atop an agency that has struggled to keep a steady hand on the tiller. Johnson had tapped Karisa Flores as acting executive director, but she left city employment after serving less than two months in the role. Before departing, Flores urged the City Council's Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight in September to tighten the Chicago Governmental Ethics Ordinance, a proposal the council later passed unanimously.
Johnson named Allen Thomas as acting director of the Board of Ethics on Oct. 12. Thomas has worked for the city's Department of Law for a decade and most recently served as chief assistant corporation counsel in its legal information and prosecutions division. The board itself enforces the city's ethics laws and had gone more than a year without a permanent leader as of late August, when Ryan Cortazar was still running the panel after former Chair William Conlon stepped down in July 2025.
On Oct. 14, the City Council confirmed Johnson's reappointment of Cortazar, who was first appointed to the board by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and had served as vice chair since Conlon's departure; Johnson plans to name him chair. The council also unanimously confirmed law professor Michael Schlesinger to the board that day, filling the seat left by Sarah Jin after her term expired.
