DALEYS AMONG TRUCKING MAGNATE'S INNER CIRCLE
Michael Tadin has a very powerful circle of friends. Here are a few:
Mayor Daley
Once neighbors while Daley was Cook County state's attorney, Tadin and the mayor have long been labeled childhood friends. Which drives Tadin crazy because, as he points out, Daley is 10 years older. Still, Tadin has given thousands of dollars to Daley's campaign fund over the years, even as he prospered by leasing trucks, heavy machinery and land to the city. Both also serve on the board of the Louis L. Valentine Boys & Girls Club, a Bridgeport institution.
John Daley
The mayor's brother is an insurance broker for Tadin, a relationship that goes back many years. John Daley won't talk about it, though. John Daley, a Cook County Board member who also runs the 11th Ward Regular Democratic Organization, has also gotten campaign donations from Tadin. John Daley also serves on the board of the Bridgeport boys club.
Michael Daley
Another brother of the mayor, Michael Daley is the name partner in the Daley & George law firm. He was Tadin's divorce lawyer. Michael Daley also defended Tadin in a lawsuit last year over a polluted plot of land he sold for $2 million to the United Neighborhood Organization, a Hispanic group. UNO backed out after deciding the land -- tainted with arsenic and other toxins, according to an UNO lawsuit -- wasn't fit for a planned school.
Anthony Fratto
A boyhood friend of Tadin, Fratto was city comptroller under Mayor Jane Byrne, who usually shunned people from Bridgeport, the Daley family's turf. Fratto was an exception. So was Tadin. Fratto now is a senior vice president at George K. Baum & Co., a public finance house that sold bonds for the renovation of Soldier Field, as well as for Millennium Park.
Albert Boumenot
A close friend of Fratto, Boumenot was Byrne's budget director. He's now a partner in one of Tadin's businesses. Boumenot's name often is stamped on Tadin's government contracts as a notary public. Boumenot also works for George K. Baum & Co.
Patrick Harbour
A longtime friend of the Daley family, Harbour's firms have long held exclusive construction contracts at O'Hare Airport. Harbour is also close to Tadin. They created Arsenal Materials along with Peter Ferro to develop a railroad yard on the site of the former Joliet Arsenal in southwestern Will County.
Patrick Huels
Daley's handpicked alderman was forced to resign in 1997 after the Chicago Sun-Times disclosed that his security firm got a $1.25 million loan from Tadin. The loan came after Huels helped Tadin win a city subsidy to build his trucking headquarters in the 11th Ward. Tadin owns part of SDI, the company that provides security at Sox park and at Tadin's trucking headquarters.
Fred Barbara
Barbara is a nephew of the late Chicago Ald. Fred Roti, whom federal authorities say was a made member of the mob. Like Tadin, Barbara also had a big trucking business that did work for the city. The Bridgeport sons created T & B Ltd., buying land across the city and leasing some of it to City Hall. They're no longer partners. Tadin still runs T & B, but it no longer has deals with the city.