watchdogs
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Madigan son-in-law 1 of 2 RTA officials in harassment probe
THE WATCHDOGS: The Regional Transportation Authority’s top two executives — one of them the son-in-law of Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan — are under investigation over allegations involving sexual and racial harassment of RTA employees, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
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Child-sex felon worked for City Hall, Chicago school system
A Chicago man who was sentenced this week to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a minor and videotaping the attacks had worked since 2008 as a City Hall aide and previously worked for former Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan, records show.
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Out as would-be UNO reformer, exec with ties to Ald. Ed Burke still an insider
THE WATCHDOGS: Martin Cabrera Jr. is out, but he’s still in. The investment banker didn’t stay long after being brought in to oversee reforms at Chicago’s scandal-scarred United Neighborhood Organization. Cabrera Capital Markets, the Chicago financial services firm he founded, has enjoyed multimillion-dollar growth, getting a cut of government deals involving billions of dollars.
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Chicago cop washed hands before tests in death involving his gun
THE WATCHDOGS: As a Northwest Side woman sat dead on her couch with a bullet wound in her head from a Chicago police sergeant’s gun, the sergeant washed his hands before investigating officers tested him to see whether he might have fired the weapon, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.
Judge orders City Hall to pay $60 million in garage-privatization case
A Cook County judge has rejected an attempt by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration to overturn a nearly $60 million arbitration award City Hall owes the private company that operates four city-owned parking garages. But even though it now stands to be paid tens of millions …Read More
WATCHDOGS: Tally in Illinois grant-fraud probe so far: 13 charged, $16M embezzled
THE WATCHDOGS: The U.S. attorney’s office in Springfield has been busy the past few years investigating a variety of fraud schemes involving state grants with 13 people charged so far, six who have pleaded guilty. Two of them have ties to President Barack Obama. Here’s a brief look at each of the criminal cases.
WATCHDOGS: Firm got city deals after hiring lobbyist linked to indicted Rahm aide’s deputy
THE WATCHDOGS: An insurance company got more than $2.5 million in business from the city of Chicago after hiring an Ohio lobbyist with ties to one of indicted former city Comptroller Amer Ahmad’s top aides at City Hall, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.
West suburban fire board pumped up chiefs’ pensions, promoted trustee’s partner
THE WATCHDOGS: A west suburban fire department that serves parts of Darien, Burr Ridge, Willowbrook and unincorporated DuPage County gave raises to two chiefs and an assistant chief in deals that accompanied their departures, pumping up their pensions and clearing a path for the rise of a battalion chief who is now in a civil union with a member of the board that approved the deals, records and interviews show.
Four years later, officer still under investigation in woman’s death
THE WATCHDOGS: Four years ago, a Northwest Side woman died of a gunshot wound from a police sergeant’s gun. The Chicago Police Department and the Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled Catherine Weiland’s death a suicide. But there are still questions about Sgt. Steven E. Lesner’s conduct that night that have never been answered, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.
Broken Teamsters lease puts spotlight on Rahm Emanuel ally John Coli
THE WATCHDOGS: A court fight over a broken lease involving a union representing more than 12,000 government employees in the Chicago area has put a spotlight on John Coli, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s biggest ally in organized labor.
Violent felon back on the job at the University of Illinois at Chicago
THE WATCHDOGS: A questionable decision seven years ago by a politically connected University of Illinois at Chicago administrator has led to the reinstatement of a violent felon to a $73,985-a-year on-campus job.
Preckwinkle dumps top Cook County ethics official who fought Berrios over nepotism
THE WATCHDOGS: Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has fired a top county ethics official who was trying to punish Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios for putting relatives on his payroll.
THE WATCHDOGS: RTA weighs hiring firm linked to House Speaker Michael Madigan
THE WATCHDOGS: The Regional Transportation Authority’s board chairman put off plans to award a consulting contract for as much as $120,000 to a Chicago firm with ties to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan even as former Metra CEO Alex Clifford detailed allegations that Madigan tried to use his clout to get a raise for one Metra employee and a promotion for another.
Ex-partner of Daley son owes City Hall $428K in Chicago sewer scam
THE WATCHDOGS: Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration sued a business partner of former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s son in a company that got lucrative city sewer deals — and has won a judgment of $428,438.74. But Anthony Duffy, who was president of now-defunct Municipal Sewer Services, has yet to pay up.
City Hall insider tied to Chicago Park District ad deal
The Chicago Park District has an advertising contract with a company with ties to Robert Bobb Jr., a venture capitalist who helped former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Patrick Daley get two City Hall deals that paid him more than $700,000.
Berrios’ unlawful political firings expected to cost taxpayers $529,000
County taxpayers will likely be on the hook for the $529,000 expected to be paid to 11 employees who were fired for unlawful political reasons by Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios after he took office in 2010. A federally appointed county monitor assigned to sift through alleged violations of the Shakman Decree, which bans political hiring and firing for certain positions, decided the claims by the 11 former employees were legitimate and has recommended the Cook County Board approve the payment.
New placards aim to beat disability parking cheats
THE WATCHDOGS: The design — a yellow-and-gray-striped placard with a disability insignia — has been unveiled. The applications — about 55,000 a week — are being sent out. And based on the number turned in so far, state officials are hopeful a new disability-parking placard that’s being rolled out will do what Illinois lawmakers wanted: Drastically reduce the number of people who qualify to park for free at meters and, as a result, cut down on the number of able-bodied cheaters who use disability-parking placards to avoid paying to park.
Clout bank sues Ald. Edward Burke’s son over failed Southwest Side project
Belmont Bank — a Northwest Side bank whose clout-heavy owners have long ties to City Hall is suing Ald. Edward M. Burke’s son and daughter-in-law for more than $600,000 over a failed development on the Southwest Side.
CHA brings in Blagojevich prosecutor for probe of $3.9 million deal
THE WATCHDOGS: The former federal prosecutor who sent Gov. Rod Blagojevich to prison is leading a Chicago Housing Authority investigation to determine whether the competitive bidding process for a $3.9 million contract to oversee the construction and rehabilitation of hundreds of taxpayer-subsidized CHA apartments was rigged, sources have told the Chicago Sun-Times.
UNO had money for grand opening but not for contractors on state-funded charter school
THE WATCHDOGS: Cheered on by Gov. Pat Quinn and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the United Neighborhood Organization celebrated the opening of its new $22 million charter school on the Northwest Side last September with a laser light show and fireworks display. The cost? More than $143,000, according to records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. Now, 10 contractors say UNO stiffed them out of more than $1.3 million they’re owed for work they did for the school.
