More Trouble in Melrose…
Melrose Park Village President Ron Serpico can’t be happy about this court testimony:
Michael “Mickey” Caliendo took the stand Thursday in his own defense to dispute charges of racketeering and mail fraud.
Caliendo, 66, former supervisor of part-time police officers at Melrose Park Police Department from 1995 to 2006, was questioned by his attorney, Arthur Engelland.
When asked about the evidence brought against him concerning the assigning of part-time police officers to do security work instead of patrolling the village, Caliendo said the decision was not his to make.
“I would assign part-time police to wherever they told me to,” he said.
“They” referred to his superiors, former Melrose Park Police Chief Vito Scavo, and Mayor Ronald Serpico.
Please read our previous post on Vito Scavo here.
All Signs Point to Olympic-Size Bum Deal for Taxpayers
We just ran across this recent story about the massive cost overruns that plague Vancouver — host city for the 2010 Winter Olympics:
Olympic-related construction bills continue to soar over budget for beleaguered Vancouver taxpayers, with some estimates putting the total added costs at close to $45-million. That’s apart from the troubled Millennium Project to house Olympic athletes, which is over its original budget by more than $100-million and has had to have its financing taken over by the city.
Earlier this year, we saw a major government bailout for the 2012 London Olympic Games — which have been plagued by massie cost overruns for years.
How about last year’s Beijing Olympic Games? Well, according to this story, the initial estimates of a cost of 28 to 30 billion yuan was blown away with actual costs exceeding 400 billion yuan.
What’s to make us think Chicago would be able to avoid these Olympic-size cost overruns?
History, for one. Just look at recent examples of major projects here in the Windy City.
Take, for example, Millenium Park. It’s certainly a nice place to visit — but the project was completed 4 years past its deadline and cost about three times as much as originally budgeted. Taxpayers foot the bill for $270 million of those cost overruns.
And what about Mayor Daley’s proposed CTA “Super Station” at the Block 37 site in Chicago’s Loop? Here’s a quick update on the status of that boondoggle:
After spending $213 million, the City of Chicago has decided to suspend indefinitely construction of an underground “super station” for express train service to and from the city’s major airports and downtown.
To build the station as originally planned, total spending would be about $320 million, more than $100 million over budget, according to city officials. Skeptics say the estimate of an additional $100 million may be low, noting the city has repeatedly underestimated costs on major projects ranging from football stadium renovations to park construction.
The experience of other major Olympic host cities, combined with the City of Chicago’s track record of botched budgets and deadlines for other projects, doesn’t bode well for any taxpayers hoping to avoid footing the bill for the 2016 Olympic Games.
All the more troubling given today’s news about the City of Chicago’s budget woes.
Despite Mayor Daley’s and Pat Ryan’s cheerleading for the 2016 Games … all signs point to a bum deal for the Chicago (and Cook County and Illinois) taxpayers.
Tax Appeals Scandal Grows
The plot thickens in the story of whether or not State Rep. Paul Froehlich abused the tax appeals process for political gain.
As this Fox News Chicago story shows…the investigation may go well beyond Rep. Froehlich:
Alderman Ed Burke Is Against Cook County Jobs
Filed under: Economic Growth, Reform, Spending, Uncategorized
Union-sponsored blog Progress Illinois crows today about a Sun-Times article in which Ald. Ed Burke states his opposition to building a new Wal-Mart in Chicago.
For a primer/refresher on Ed Burke, please read here.
In short, Burke said he’s withholding support for a new Wal-Mart until the company backs the Big Labor-backed “Card Check” bill pending in Congress. That bill would rob American workers’ right to a secret ballot in union organizing elections.
In addition to being undemocratic, that bill would no doubt cost good-paying jobs.
Of course, at the same time unions attack the job-producing Wal-Mart … they outsource their “picketing” work lowly-paid temporary workers.
But, mind you, Burke’s motivation is anything but high-minded. It’s purely political. He is the uber-insider on the Chicago City Council (who has worked hard to unseat Tony Peraica, the host of this blog) who works hard to take care of his political contributors…even if its at taxpayer expense.
According to State Board of Elections reports, his semi-annual campaign finance report for only the last half of 2008 shows $17,000 in campaign contributions for labor. The Burnham Committee, of which Burke is an officer and which contributed $150,000 to his campaign committee in 2008, received about $9,000 in labor contributions during 2008.
Burke has obviously decided to stand with his labor backers — rather than these Chicago citizens who know that Wal-Mart will bring much-needed jobs during an economic crisis.
Stroger Administration Phone Records Released
A few weeks ago, the Better Government Association sued the Stroger Administration to force the administration to release phone records related to former patronage worker Tony Cole — the former busboy with a troubled past hired to a nice county contract, who somehow was tied to the firing of Stroger cousin/county CFO Donna Dunnings.
As the Chicago Tribune reports, those phone records have been released:
Records released Tuesday by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s office show that up to 18 calls a day were made between the government cell phone of a patronage worker and the personal cell phone of Stroger’s cousin, the county’s former chief financial officer.
Stroger dumped both his cousin, Donna Dunnings, and Tony Cole, a former steakhouse busboy with a criminal record, amid the burgeoning scandal in April. Stroger at the time said only that he feared Cole, who worked briefly as Dunnings’ personal assistant, would make “explosive” allegations about her.
The county phone records suggest regular communication between Cole and Dunnings, both of whom have denied a personal relationship. The hundreds of calls documented include a 46-minute phone call that began at 3:30 a.m. Christmas Day, as well as six phone calls on New Year’s Eve and Day.
Dunnings did not return phone calls seeking comment, and an attempt to reach Cole via e-mail failed.
Sister States: New Jersey and Illinois
The Wall Street Journal has this piece today about the link between “Big Government” and corruption.
The piece is right on — and it aptly describes the problems not only in the Garden State, but the Prairie State (and Cook County), as well.
Take, for instance, this excerpt:
Sandy McClure, co-author of the book “The Soprano State: New Jersey’s Culture of Corruption,” agrees that big government is a big reason behind the state’s corruption problem. “You have all these little authorities that everyone has to go to for permission,” she says. “Too much government means too many opportunities for officials looking to cash in. And there’s no way that the press can keep track of it all.”
New Jersey and Illinois. Two peas in a pod.
The Last Line of Defense Against the Tax Hikers
Filed under: Campaign News, Reform, Taxes, Todd Stroger
It’s no secret that some of the other Republican commissioners on the county board get annoyed by Tony Peraica.
He calls it like it is — whether you are a Republican or a Democrat — and they don’t like that.
He puts the good of the Cook County taxpayers above the good of the party, and they don’t like that.
He is the only county commissioner who has been consistent in his support for tax relief, fighting hundreds of millions in new borrowing and utilizing county board meetings to shine sunlight on no-bid contracts and waste.
They don’t like any of that.
So they passed an ordinance aimed directly aimed at preventing Tony from running for both his commissioner’s seat and county board president. Not only would it slap down Tony — they thought — it would also help their liberal Democrat-turned-”Republican” Paul Vallas coast through a primary election.
So, the Republicans in Cook County tried to silence their biggest champion of reform and tax relief in favor of a liberal Democrat?
You bet.
Now, as Kristen McQueary writes this morning, Tony’s fellow commissioners are realizing that their plan backfired.
Paul Vallas decided not to run. And none of the commissioners are now allowed, by law, to run for both their commissioner’s seat and the county board president post.
It should be noted that Peraica himself supported the above ordinance. Because, what they don’t realize is that Tony’s actions on the county board aren’t driven by his desire for hire office. His actions are driven by his desire to be a good commissioner who serves his constituents and actually reforms the county.
Yes, he has run for higher office — but his campaigns have been based on the same message of honest reform that he has carried as a commissioner. The goal has always been to reform Cook County.
Tony is now focused on running for re-election to his commissioner’s seat — and the Republicans’ actions have unknowlingly made his re-election campaign as important as any countywide race in Cook County.
How?
Simple: Forrest Claypool is retiring. Mike Quigley moved on to Congress. Both of those individuals were two of Tony’s most consistent tax relief teammates on the board.
Larry Suffredin — who also votes for tax relief at least some of the time (although he did vote for the massive Stroger sales tax hike) is probably running for county board president, which means he’ll have to resign from the board.
That leaves Tony as the last line of defense against the tax hike coalition on the board.
And that means his 16th District race is as important for taxpayers in Orland Park and Park Ridge as it is for those in Brookfield and Westchester.
They tried to silence Tony Peraica, but have instead made his campaign more important than ever.
Follow the Money of Olympic Demolition Crew
The Sun-Times reports that Mayor Daley officially took a big step toward the 2016 Olympic effort with the awarding of lucrative contracts to construction companies to demolish the current Michael Reese Hospital site:
The Mayor Daley-chaired Public Building Commission today took a giant step toward building the $1.1 billion Olympic Village on the Michael Reese Hospital site–alternately viewed as the riskiest element of Chicago’s bid and its most significant legacy. The PBC awarded $11 million worth of contracts to a pair of companies responsible for building abatement and demolition.
So the first big Olympic contracts are awarded. Wanna bet they’re going toward firms with strong histories of giving campaign cash to Cook County insiders?
Let’s take a look…(the below campamign contributions are just some of those listed on the Illinois State Board of Elections site).
Brandenburg Industrial Service Co. (awarded $7.98 million in contracts)
- Friends of Michael J. Madigan - $20,000 contribution (11/1/96)
- Citizens for Moreno - More than $13,000 in contributions since 2002
- Richard M. Daley Campaign Committee — $2,500 (11/28/01) by company president Thomas J. Little
- Richard M. Daley Campaign Committee — $3,000 since 2001 by company vice president Jack Jasinowski
- Committee to Elect Anne M. Burke (Supreme Court Justice and wife of Alderman Ed Burke) — $2,000 in 2008 by company president Thomas J. Little
- Friends of Edward M. Burke — $1,500 on 11/16/02 by company vice president Jack Jasinowski
- 11th Ward Regular Democratic Organization (John Daley) — $1,250 since 2003 by company vice president Jack Jasinowski
- Friends of Sandi Jackson (wife of Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.) — $3,500 in 2007 by company president Thomas J. Little
- Friends of Blagojevich — $4,000 on 6/19/02 by company vice president Jack Jasinowski
- The Cicero Good Government Group (controlled by insider Ed “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak) — $4,500 since 2003 by company vice president Jack Jasinowski
Heneghan Wrecking Company ($3.19 million in contracts)
- Richard M. Daley Campaign Committee — $1,200 since 2001
- Political committees controlled by Alderman Ted Matlak — $3,200 since 2003
- Friends of Edward M. Burke - $1,500 on 11/19/08
- Citizens for Patrick O’Connor — More than $3,200 since 2000
- 11th Ward Regular Democratic Organization (John Daley) — $1,400 since 2003
- 11th Ward Regular Democratic Organization (John Daley) — $600 on 5/4/09 by company director Hugh Heneghan
- 32nd Ward Regular Democratic Organization — $1,900 since 2000
- Friends of Vi Daley — $5,000 since 2006 by company president Patrick Heneghan
- Friends of Vi Daley — $4,500 since 2007 by company vice president Rita Heneghan
Thanks to Peraica, Cook County May Get a Tax Cut
The Cook County Board of Commissioners finally passed what appears to be a veto-proof rollback of the county sales tax.
It’s not quite the full $1 rollback that Tony Peraica proposed more than a year ago (and again this year, which the board then passed), but it is tax relief and it does appear to have the support of 14 commissioners needed to override Todd Stroger’s promised veto.
You can read Peraica’s statement here.
He also appeared on Fox News Chicago yesterday morning to discuss the tax relief ordinance (video below):
Home Rule? Let the Cook County Voters Decide
by Alderman Richard Hamen, Prospect Heights
On July 6, I presented — and the Prospect Heights City Council approved — a “democracy resolution” urging voters to support the petition process for a referendum on Cook County Home Rule.
We passed this resolution not to take a position on whether Cook County should have Home Rule powers or not, but rather to support the ability of the people to decide their government’s path.
The people of Cook County have never been given the opportunity to decide on this critical issue of Home Rule. The only attempt to let the people of Cook County decide was made by Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica. He asked the Cook County board to place this issue of Home Rule on the ballot so that the people would have a say in their future.
Predictably, the County Board — controlled by political insiders — rejected Tony’s resolution, denying the opportunity for voters to determine their future.
The people have a right to decide the path of their government. I urge my fellow elected officials across Cook County to support resolution to give a voice to the Cook County voters … instead of the select few chiefs desperately clinging to their taxation and zoning powers.
-
Get Mobile Updates
