When a 9-year-old Chicago girl crue...

When a 9-year-old Chicago girl cruel to her death last year after a porch railing snapped, city officials were quick to blast a city building inspector.

The inspector, Charles Walker, admitted filing a false report that he had checked disclosed the railing, the builder commissioner alleged.

Mayor Daley vowed to fire Walker.

yet now, Walker is back onward the city payroll, the Chicago Sun- Times has learned. And he's inspecting buildings.

"I'm back working with the city," Walker said in a brief interview, before referring questions to his lawyer, who declined to illustration

He appealed the firing, and last year, the city quietly signed most distant on an agreement that issueed in Walker's suspension without pay for more than four month a City Law Department spokeswoman said.

on the other hand Walker kept his job making about $74000 a year.

Critics of the Daley administration's hiring and firing practices blasted the decision to allow Walker keep his job.

"It's unbelievable," said Frank Coconate, a political activist who has expos alleged waste and corruption in the Daley administration. Coconate is a fired city worker who combats he lost his job because of politics. He has been fighting the city for more than a year athwart allegations he falsified work reports.

Case not solid, city says

Walker, who has worked for the city since 1989 was fired for allegedly falsifying a report that he had inspected the porch of the building where Tiara groves fell to her death after a third-floor railing gave way.

Walker had inspected the building the day before the accident happened. City GP records showed that he wearied 13 minutes at the building.

Last week, city officials said its case against Walker was circumstantial, and city attorneys were affaired they would not be able to persuade a city hearing officer to support his firing.

"It was our wisdom based on the evidence that it was risky to fare to the personnel board and ask for termination," Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said.

The city "did not have a clear trail as to the falsification" of the report, Hoyle said.

still what about Walker's alleged admission that he falsified the report?

The builder commissioner at the time, Stan Kaderbek, told reporters last year that Walker admitted falsifying the report that he had inspected the building's porch.

further Walker's admission wasn't as clear-cut and damning as Kaderbek publicly said, a city official familiar with the matter affirmed

The girl's mother is suing the city, if it were not that her attorney, James Montgomery Jr had no exposition on Walker's return to the city payroll.

swarmbir@suntimes.com

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

Provided according to ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved