Asphalt king to gov: Help
Feds say Blagojevich's answer: Raise me $100,000
Michael Vondra -- construction magnate and asphalt kingpin -- is working on a new business deal with BP, the gasoline behemoth.
And he wanted Gov. Blagojevich to help him out with state environmental regulators.
(Chris Sweda/Sun-Times)
Vondra and the governor talked about the deal last Oct. 6 in the governor's North Side campaign office.
Afterward, Blagojevich decided to hit Vondra up for money -- $100,000 to be raised before the state's new campaign-finance rules kicked in the first of this year.
These allegations are part of the criminal complaint against Blagojevich, but they've drawn little attention because federal authorities concealed Vondra's identity in court records.
But sources close to the case have told the Chicago Sun-Times that the deal involved Vondra, a former chairman of the DuPage Water Commission whose asphalt and construction companies have also gotten millions of dollars in business from the Daley administration.
Vondra -- who's identified as "Individual B" in the criminal complaint against the governor -- hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing. Vondra couldn't be reached for comment.
The feds say Blagojevich's meeting with Vondra is part of their evidence that shows the governor was using his power to try to obtain campaign contributions.
The allegation against Blagojevich involving Vondra, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing:
"On Oct. 6, 2008, Individual A" -- former Blagojevich aide John Wyma, who's now a lobbyist representing Vondra's companies -- "and Individual B attended a meeting with Rod Blagojevich and [the governor's now-former chief of staff] John Harris. [Vondra] sought the meeting with Rod Blagojevich to discuss help Rod Blagojevich could provide to [Vondra's] business venture. After [Vondra] left the meeting, Rod Blagojevich informed [Wyma] that Rod Blagojevich liked [Vondra] and/or [Vondra's] project and wanted [Wyma] to approach [Vondra] about raising $100,000 for Friend of Blagojevich by the end of the year. According to [Wyma], he later learned that Rod Blagojevich reached out directly to [Vondra] to ask [Vondra] to hold a fund-raiser for Rod Blagojevich before the end of the year.''
It isn't clear whether Vondra ended up holding a fund-raiser for Blagojevich. Records show Vondra, his family and companies they're tied to have contributed more than $109,000 to the governor's campaign since 2002. One of those companies, Benchmark Construction, has gotten millions of dollars in state business since 2004, records show.
Vondra co-owns a Bartlett company, Asphalt Operating Services, that wants to build an asphalt-distribution terminal that would handle asphalt produced by BP, according to BP spokesman Scott Dean.
"BP did not know Mr. Vondra was associated with AOS until November of 2008,'' Dean said. "Furthermore, Mr. Vondra was never asked to speak about this proposed project on BP's behalf. No final decisions or agreements have been made with AOS or any other company regarding this proposed project, and BP continues to explore a number of distribution options for the asphalt it produces."
Vondra, 57, has been a close friend of DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, who appointed Vondra to head the county water commission in 2002. Vondra also has served as Schillerstrom's campaign-finance chairman, raising thousands of dollars for DuPage County's top office-holder. Schillerstrom's law firm also has done work for Vondra.
While Vondra oversaw DuPage County's water system, two companies tied to Vondra won construction contracts from the county, submitting the low bids. Vondra resigned from the water commission in May 2006.
The Daley administration has given millions of dollars in city contracts to companies owned by Vondra or linked to him, including Reliable Asphalt, a major supplier for the city's road program.
Vondra's wife and sister ran a landscaping company that got certified as a women-owned business to get city work. And business associates of Vondra are listed as owning Benchmark Construction, which has been certified as a minority-owned construction company to win millions of dollars in city contracts, though Vondra has been identified as Benchmark's president on campaign contributions made to Mayor Daley and other city officials.
All of these companies often subcontracted work out to trucking companies that were also part of the city's Hired Truck Program, which the mayor disbanded after the Sun-Times reported that the companies were often paid to do nothing, costing taxpayers $40 million a year.
Maggie Carson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, said nobody in that department was aware of any Vondra business deal with BP. The IEPA cited a Vondra business -- Reliable Materials Lyons LLC -- in 2006 for allegedly accepting contaminated soils from a construction project at Washington High School on the West Side of Chicago. At the time Reliable operated a "cleanfill" site in Lyons that could accept only uncontaminated construction material, according to an IEPA complaint. Lawyers for Reliable denied that the company did anything wrong, records show.
The IEPA referred the case to the Illinois attorney general's office in August for enforcement, Carson said. The attorney general is to determine if Reliable should face fines or other penalties.