Suburbs Fall Victim to Political Insiders’ ‘Red Light District’

July 13, 2009 by CookReformer · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Budget, Corruption, Reform, Spending, Taxes

The Chicago Tribune this morning blew the doors off the lucrative scheme by a select group of western Cook County suburban political insiders to cash in on the “red light” cameras that have popped up throughout the suburbs.

Originally proposed as a railroad crossing safety measure, the taxpayer-funded usage of these cameras was vastly expanded by the clout of these insiders who were able to get contracts with more than “50 Illinois municipalities.”

The Daily Herald also weighed in the situation, noting that the cameras are often put in “places with few related crashes” … leading some to wonder if the these cameras are more about revenue and profits than about traffic safety.

So, just who are the political insiders cashing in at the taxpayers’ expense?

Despite being part of a “closely held Israeli-owned conglomerate that does most of its business in Kazakhstan”, the red light scheme is being pushed locally by many of the same folks who are staunchly opposing Commissioner Tony Peraica’s reform efforts in Cook County.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

The company’s sales director is Greg Zito, a former state senator from Melrose Park who also is a longtime Illinois lobbyist for British banking and credit card giant HSBC and the local loan giant it bought, Household International. Those two firms have long been a major source of campaign cash for the red-light legislation’s chief sponsor, state Rep. Angelo “Skip” Saviano (R-Elmwood Park).

RedSpeed also has become something of a gathering spot for associates of Zito and his longtime friend Al Ronan, another former Illinois lawmaker and a lobbyist for RedSpeed since 2007. Ronan — who lobbied for the red-light camera legislation on behalf of Melrose Park — was a name partner in a lobbying firm that pleaded guilty to federal bid-rigging charges in 2004, though Ronan personally was not charged. He also was a major fundraiser for both former Govs. George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich.

Talk about a smorgasbord of Cook County political insiders. And is it any surprise they all have ties to Melrose Park?

Melrose Park is, of course, home to Village President Ron Serpico — a man about whom we provided some interesting bullet points in this recent post. Serpico also ran against Tony Peraica in the 2002 race for 16h District Commissioner — and Serpico’s campaign manager in that race was none other than … Al Ronan.

As for Saviano, he has close ties to Serpico, as detailed in this Champion News article:

Saviano made four contributions totaling $2,200 to Ronald Serpico, former Democratic Mayor of Melrose Park, between February 1999 and May 2004. In turn, Saviano received six contributions totaling $2,100 between June 1995 and June 2001 from Serpico.

And, according to the Tribune article referenced above, Saviano is not only allies with Ron Serpico and a recipient of campaign cash from Greg Zito’s lobbying clients …. he also (surprise!) sponsored the red-light camera legislation in Springfield:

On the House floor, Saviano had the bill rewritten to authorize red-light cameras. Another version of the bill was pushed on a parallel track by now-Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago), though it was the Saviano measure that became law.

We urge you to read the Tribune article in detail. It is an telling (and all too common) story about how political insiders line up to make a profit at the expense of taxpayers … while the politicians in Cook County and Springfield keep trying to convince us that they need more of our tax money.

Voters in the Cook County 16th Commissioner District should also pay heed — because these same political insiders are the ones targeting Tony Peraica for defeat in 2010.

Why? Tony’s push for reform and transparency is a direct threat to their profits.