Daley aide hoped to cash in on Rezko deal

Planner agreed to buy home as Rezko sought city's OK to expand

One of Chicago's top city planners agreed to buy a town home from politically connected developer Tony Rezko, even as her agency was deciding whether Rezko would be allowed to expand the project.

Rosemarie Andolino -- who was the second-ranking official in Mayor Daley's planning department -- said she hoped to make a buck by flipping the town house she bought from Rezko, the former high-flying developer now under indictment for fraud and corruption. But the housing market slumped, and, for now, she's stuck with the town house and leasing it out.

Rosemarie Andolino -- who was the second-ranking official in Mayor Daley's planning department -- said she hoped to make a buck by flipping the town house she bought from Rezko, the former high-flying developer now under indictment for fraud and corruption. But the housing market slumped, and, for now, she's stuck with the town house and leasing it out.

Andolino said she and her father agreed to buy the not-yet-built town house in 2003 only after leaving the planning department.

Andolino said she and her father agreed to buy the not-yet-built town house in 2003 only after leaving the planning department.

"I was already gone when I made a purchase like every other citizen," Andolino said.

But, according to an attorney for Rezko's Rezmar Corp., the Andolinos' purchase contract was accepted on June 16, 2003. Andolino didn't leave the planning department until two weeks later, city records show -- on June 30, 2003. She left to run the mayor's O'Hare Modernization Program.

When Andolino signed the purchase papers, city planners were evaluating Rezko's request to build two additional town houses at the 54-unit development on Irving Park Road along the Chicago River, a request that was approved months later, after Andolino had left the agency.

Andolino and her father, Steven Andolino, were among the Rezko development's first buyers and paid one of the lowest prices -- about $434,000. Their home has two bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths, though no view of the river.

Andolino said she never met Rezko. And she said she doesn't recall if she was ever involved with any deal Rezko did with the planning department -- including his failed plans for a blockbuster development on 62 acres in the South Loop, for which Rezko was seeking $140 million in tax subsidies from the city.

The Andolinos closed on the town house in August 2005 and immediately began trying to resell it.

Other public officials have made money buying homes in other Rezko developments and reselling them. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) made a $175,000 profit last year when he sold a home he'd bought from Rezko two years earlier. And Jack Lavin made $50,000 when he resold a home in 2000 he'd bought from Rezko five months earlier. At the time, Lavin was a Rezko employee. He's now the state's economic development director.

Tim Novak

After raising nearly $30 million during his first term, Gov. Blagojevich's campaign cupboard is relatively bare.

He had $283,782 in his campaign chest as of the latest reporting date, June 30. That sum has prompted speculation that Blagojevich wants to keep the fund low because his administration is under federal scrutiny, and the last governor, George Ryan, had his campaign fund seized.

Doug Scofield, Blagojevich's campaign spokesman, scoffed at the idea that the governor has halted his fund-raising.

"I think the second half of the year -- now that the budget is completed -- we're going to turn to fund-raising with a major event sometime this fall," Scofield said.

Blagojevich has not been charged with any crime, but his administration has been served with several subpoenas. And his campaign fund has spent more than $1.1 million on legal fees.

Chris Fusco and Dave McKinney

DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett is NOT related to Daniel T. Frawley, the former Chicago cop who hooked up with Tony Rezko to get a contract to train Iraqi security guards. Birkett and Frawley do have mutual cousins. And Frawley gave more than $10,000 to Birkett's failed 2002 campaign for Illinois attorney general.

Tim Novak and Chris Fusco

Gerald Wesolowski -- the convicted bagman who collected bribes from Hired Truck companies for former city water honcho Donald Tomczak -- is back home. Wesolowski, who was an administrator in the city water department, was released Aug. 24 from a halfway house after serving most of his two-year prison sentence for pocketing $4,000 of the nearly $200,000 in kickbacks he collected for Tomczak, who's still locked up.

Tim Novak