MAYOR DALEY'S ROTTEN BARREL O CORRUPTION

A local blogger discovered some Mayor Daley inspired art. Photo via True/Slant.

I often wonder why the eff people put up with the corrupt crap that goes on in Chicago. And I'm always glad to find out I am not the only one. From the blog cockroach people - The Mystery of Corruption:

Everyone involved in politics in this city knows that the system of fines and permits is used by the Machine to maintain its power. Who hasn’t heard about a business that refused to put up the campaign sign of a machine candidate only to be “visited” by a team of inspectors from every department imaginable? Who hasn’t noticed a brand new business that had no problem getting started because it happens to be owned by the alderman’s daughter? The bureaucracy is not merely inefficient and bad for business, it is also one of the many ways that the City perpetuates corruption. If the City were to alleviate the bureaucratic bloat, then what would happen to the time-honored tradition of bribing your alderman for a permit or zoning change?

It’s a mystery to me that Chicagoans–tired of all the scandals, tired of having their cars towed after two parking tickets, tired of being taxed for bottled water, and tired of their small businesses being shaken down–have yet to wake up and throw the bums out! When times were good, some may have looked the other way with regard to corruption and excessive taxation, but now, when every penny counts, I hope that Chicagoans will ask themselves...Is Chicago really the city that works?

Speaking of bureaucratic bloat, I also came across this great post regarding today's "reduced service day" for the city of Chicago. Chicago City Government Closed Today - Yet City Still Claims it can Afford 2016 Olympics:

It feels like the City has a lot of fat it can trim from the payroll so that it doesn’t have to shut EVERYTHING down for a whole day every once in a while. We’ve worked on projects for the City, and many people collecting checks from the government don’t do any actual work. There are people whose parents are political Ward Captains and other kinds of operatives in the Daley Machine who sit at a desk and read the newspaper all day. One friend of ours who works for the City has one of these “legacy” workers assigned to her team. His father is a well-known member of the black community loyal to Mayor Daley. So, the son collects a very large salary to sit on his legacy butt during the day, reading magazines, never doing any of the work he’s supposed to do. Our friend can’t say a word about him. His performance reviews are filled out by someone above her. He takes up space in her department and is technically on the books as being part of her team, but he’s free to do as he pleases, collecting big City checks.

How many of these guys are on the payroll?

How many other jobs out there are redundant, particularly in the Parks Department, where City workers are notorious for taking a crew of six guys out to dig a hole: one guy with a shovel, three guys leaning against the truck to keep it from flying away, another guy to supervise the shoveler, and a final guy to make sure the three guys holding down the truck don’t fly away with the truck.

The author also brings up some interesting points about the Olympics, so be sure to check out the full post.

I think former Alderman Dick Simpson really nailed it with this great quote about all of the corruption surrounding Mayor Daley (from the New York Times circa 2004):

Richard Simpson, a former Chicago alderman who teaches political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said political corruption had been an almost unbroken tradition in Chicago since the 1860's, including the two decades the mayor's legendary father, Mayor Richard J. Daley, was in office.

''To list all the scandals he's faced would be a book-length project,'' Mr. Simpson said of the younger Mayor Daley. ''Each time there's a new one, he makes a little change to the ethics ordinance or fires someone. His theory is that there are only a few rotten apples, but the real truth is that the barrel is rotten, and he's not ready to replace the barrel.''

DICK DALEY HAS WORDS

And now, some words from everyone's favorite mayor, Richard "Dick" Daley.

Dick Hearts Rick - Daley defends 22nd Ward Alderman Ricardo "Rick" Munoz, who used clout to get his daughter into an elite Chicago public high school:

“As a parent, he is speaking for not only his family, but his own constitutents,” Daley said. “They don’t have to accept the child. They can refuse the child because [aldermen] have no power over the Board of Education. They don’t fund them. They don’t review their budgets or anything else.”

Sure, no one felt pressure to admit the alderman's daughter simply because the City Council doesn't control the CPS budget. Riiiiiight.

And that isn't even true anyway:

What Daley neglected to mention is that the City Council approves the Board of Education's property tax levy and ratifies the mayor's appointment of School Board members.

Daley should have just taken a cue from his father, King Daley the First, and told the reporters to kiss his ass:

The Mayor's father, Richard J. Daley, once famously sputtered that if reporters have a problem with a father helping his own kids -- think, for starters, son John and the insurance business -- they could kiss his ass. The late mayor's exact words: "If they don't like it, they can kiss my ass."

Dick Defends His Pick - Daley stands up for crony Michael Scott's deal to profit from the Olympics:

Dick Thinks He's Slick - Daley speaks about his call to shake up oversight of the city's scandalous minority business program:

"We want to make it much more transparent and much more effective for those that are applying," Daley said. "The Office of Compliance has become an expert in analyzing, tracking and monitoring processes and making them more effective."

Asked about the cases of fraud that have plagued the program, Daley said fraud also exists in the private sector, not just in government.

Well the private sector does it too! What is this, kindergarten? That still doesn't make it alright. Got it, Dick?

Meanwhile, some aldermen are still waiting for Daley & Co. to fulfill their promise to provide documents relating to the sale of Chicago's parking meters. How's that for transparency.

Sounds like a case for Reformer Man.

OH, VANECKO!

Mayor Daley's nephew Robert Vanecko just won't go away.

The Sun-Times has more on the ongoing saga involving Vanecko and city pension funds. Daley's Nephew Gets Break from City Pension Funds:

Vanecko's negotiations with the pension fund officials are outlined in e-mails and other documents that a federal grand jury recently subpoenaed. Authorities are looking into how the pension funds decided to invest with the mayor's nephew, even though his new company had no track record; acknowledged that, despite potentially big payouts, its investment strategy was high-risk, and had been turned down by six other government pension funds.

Two weeks after the grand jury subpoenas were issued, Vanecko announced in June he would leave DV Urban by July 1. Neither the company nor pension officials would say if Vanecko has indeed left the company he started with Allison Davis, a longtime Daley ally in the city's African-American communities.

The Sun-Times also reports that Vanecko's company plans to build a high rise in the South Loop using city pension funds:

Next up for DV Urban Realty, the investment company Mayor Daley's nephew created to manage city pension money: building a $120 million high-rise in the South Loop.

Robert Vanecko and his company have a contract to buy what's now the South Loop headquarters of the National Association of Letter Carriers at 1411 S. Michigan, which they plan to knock down and replace with a 220-unit apartment building.

DV Urban -- which Vanecko owns with partners Allison S. Davis and Davis' son Jared Davis -- has spent more than $4.7 million from city pension funds on the deal, records show.

Vanecko must be banking on the Olympics. After all, it was Mayor Daley that said this economy isn't getting better any time soon and that the Olympics will be our economic savior. I mean, why else would Vanecko's company be spending pension funds to build a high-rise in the over-condoed South Loop? For the sake of the city workers whose pensions are on the line, I hope he knows what he's doing.

CHICAGO OLYMPICS BROUGHT TO YOU BY MAYOR CRAZY FACE

photo by Johnye West

As long as this Chicago Olympic nonsense is going on, there will be great(!) news coming out of City Hall.

First, as expected we have TIFs for the Olympics! City Creating TIF to Draw $100 Million to Transform Hospital into Olympic Village:

Chicago taxpayers must spend $100 million to transform the old Michael Reese Hospital site on the Near South Side into an Olympic Village.

On Wednesday, Mayor Daley's Olympic bid team confirmed the $100 million price tag to install roads, sewers and utilities, raising questions about how the Chicago 2016 committee and Daley can continually say the Games won't cost taxpayers a dime -- especially when the city is dealing with a fiscal crisis.

While Chicago won't know until October if it will win the 2016 Summer Games, the city has agreed to create a TIF district surrounding Michael Reese to generate the $100 million.

Ben Joravsky has some words about TIFs for the Olympic Village at Michael Reese Hospital. Check out his post More Magic Beans:

Look, people, if you truly believe these games are worth the fortune they will obviously cost us, or if you don't care about the public cost but think your business might somehow or other get a crumb or two from the Olympic pie, than go ahead, join the mayor's parade.

But for your own self respect, please don't be dumb enough to believe the bull.

Also in the news lately is a Daley ally - Olympic supporter, real estate developer, and Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott. He has been subpoenaed in the ongoing federal grand jury investigation of the admissions process at elite Chicago public schools. Scott has also been exposed for his part in a deal to develop land near proposed Olympic venues:

A member of Mayor Richard Daley's team working to bring the Olympics to Chicago has quietly arranged to develop city-owned land near a park that would be transformed for the 2016 Summer Games, potentially positioning himself to cash in if the Games come here, a Tribune investigation has found.

Developer Michael Scott Sr., an early member of the mayor's Olympic committee, leads a group planning a residential and commercial project on lots kitty-corner from the proposed Douglas Park sporting venues, a location where land values could jump if the city gets the Olympics.
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Scott owns Michael Scott & Associates, a real estate development and investment firm. He also serves as president of the Chicago Board of Education, and was in the news earlier this week when he said he was subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury looking into admissions to the city's elite public schools.

Scott's designs on the public land are sure to reinforce concerns of residents that it's the mayor's friends who would benefit from Daley bringing the 2016 Olympics to the city. The story is a familiar one in Daley's administration, where City Hall insiders have personally profited from even the most civic-minded of projects, from recycling garbage to building Millennium Park.

Of course, Daley initially refused to answer questions about another one of his friends caught with his hand in the city cookie jar:

I'm sorry I can't answer questions every day. Every day, I do it enough," Daley said.

Asked by a Tribune reporter when he would be available to talk about Scott's project, Daley said the question insulted him.

"Oh, I do it everyday, you've been with me every day. Never insult me with that question," Daley said. "You're insulting me because every day I'm here, you're never here. And don't print that, so I know you'll print it."

But later, Daley gave in and offered up this wonderful explanation:

Mayor Daley denied Saturday that Michael Scott, a member of the Chicago 2016 committee, would financially benefit from a proposed West Side development near the site of a potential Olympic venue.

"He's not involved," Daley said after the Bud Billiken Parade, where he spent the morning riding a float blasting out the music of Beyonce. "He's supporting the Olympics. Everybody is supporting the Olympics."

...

"The facts are wrong. The conclusions are wrong," Daley said, later adding, "He never had any interest -- none whatsoever."

However, the Tribune's Clout Street blog calls Daley's claims into question:

Scott...is listed as the project's developer. Letters of support from Ald. Sharon Denise Dixon (24th) refer to the project as Scott's development and made no mention of the ministers. Scott said she was mistaken in both letters, though he never asked her to change the wording. Also, in state incorporation papers, only Scott is listed as the only officer of the firm, WMC-I.

Daley attempted to dismiss that. "It doesn't matter, he had no interest," he said.

The mayor also accused reporters of trying to hurt Scott and the city's bid for the 2016 Games.

Naturally, John Kass was there to comment on our beloved Mayor Chucky - Queries Unleash a Terrifying Alter Ego:

Many of you probably don't know this, but the mayor's office insists that reporters stay "on topic" at most of his public events.

"On topic" means that he'll talk about the stunt of the moment, so reporters can give oodles of coverage to the news managed out of the mayor's press office. Many days, the mayor's schedulers inform reporters he'll only accept questions "on topic." And then you see the stunt on TV, the ribbon cutting or the meet-and-greet with the children or the seniors, and you think you're actually watching the news.

But a few local reporters on Friday, including a young Tribune reporter named Dan Blake, figured they should act like reporters, not press agents. So they dared ask "off topic" questions about Michael Scott. That's when the Mayor Chucky came out.

"No," he said. "this is just gonna be on this."

Translation: Shut up and stay on topic.

"When do you think you'll be available next to talk about the deal reported about Michael Scott?"

"Oh, I do it every day," Mayor Chucky insisted. "You've been with me every day. NEVER insult me with that question! You're insulting me because every day I'm here, you're never here. And don't print that! So I know, you'll print it."

Huh? What? All Blake asked was a legitimate question about when the mayor would answer a legitimate question.

On Saturday, the mayor finally talked about Scott, but only long enough to deny, deny, deny and say reporters were making it all up just to hurt his feelings and ruin everything. "You come to conclusions, you're trying to hurt 2016. I don't know why. ...You come to conclusions!"

Oh what would we do in Chicago without a mayor who breaks into a sweaty, angry, "I'm the victim" persona whenever we dare to question his crooked ways?
























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OLYMPIC VILLAGE DEMOLITION: CONTRACTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

So, last week, it began. The city officially awarded contracts to winning bidders for the demolition of the Michael Reese Hospital campus to make way for the Olympic Village. This being Chicago, it is important to take a look at who these winning bidders are, and also, whose campaign war chests these bidders have contributed to. And Reform Cook County has done just that: Follow the Money of Olympic Demolition Crew. Check it out.

And, if you are ever interested in learning a little bit more about who is donating money to Mayor Daley or who is getting city contracts, check out these websites:

CityPayments.org

A database of all vendors, contracts, and payments that have been posted by the municipal government of the City of Chicago to the Vendor, Contract, and Payment Search lookup tool maintained by the Department of Procurement Services.

Crain's Mayor Daley's Contributions Database (browse by Employer, Occupation, Contribution, Type, Date, State, Zip Code)

Using data filed by Mr. Daley's campaign committee with the Illinois State Board of Elections, Crain's created a searchable database of the Mayor's contributions going back to 1999.

DOES CHICAGO HAVE SCANDAL FATIGUE?

daley + tristan = tru luv 4 eva

Check out this great post at Gapers Block - Homero Tristan and Scandal Fatigue:

But, as always, it's important to know exactly what happened, before a scandal turns into A Scandal, where everybody knows the personalities but not the facts. Tristan's resignation and reporters' questions about it caused much Mayoral huffing and puffing, with the Mayor claiming Tristan had done nothing seriously wrong, and insinuating that the IG was running wild

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It is important not to play into that interpretation of reform by unreasonably blowing ethical lapses and transgressions into world-shattering "scandals". This isn't a scandal on par with Hired Truck or dozens of yet-unreported scandals we may soon learn about O'Hare contracting or in the Water Department. We joke about "scandal fatigue" but it is a real problem, and one that has probably unnaturally elongated the life of a political establishment that should have collapsed years ago.
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True, Homero Tristan shouldn't be burned in effigy as a machine hack out to clout jobs for the connected--at least, that's not what he was accused of and there's no evidence that that's what he was doing. At the same time, we shouldn't go ahead and start attacking the motives and character of an Inspector General just doing his job, and trying to make sure that the letter of the federal order is followed exactly. There's a reason the order errs on the side of less discretion for the city in these kinds of situations; it was that very discretion that allowed for shenanigans. Accusing the IG of hating democracy and holding bizarre potlucks in support of Tristan sends the message that "community groups" supposedly in the business of advocating for the people are opposed to independent oversight of government affairs.

If you read this blog regularly, you know I don't suffer from Scandal Fatigue. But I know many Chicagoans do. It's a big reason Daley is still the mayor of Chicago after 20 years of corruption, waste, clout, crimes, tyranny, and greed. Mayor Daley can count on people getting sick of hearing all about his corrupt bullshit. "Oh well, big surprise, it's just the Chicago Way." And they just forget, stop paying attention, or don't care.
















photo credit

WTD PRESENTS: HISTORY LESSON - THE DALEY CONNECTION

photo by Johnye West

You've seen the interactive Daley Family Tree. Now, check out the interactive Richard Daley Relationship Map.








Go to the map. Play around with it. Watch the web of corruption unfold before your eyes.

IT PAYS TO BE RICHIE'S FRIEND

Did you know that Daley's friends who own Millennium Park's Park Grill restaurant do not have to pay for water, gas or garbage collection? The Illinois Appellate Court has also affirmed that they do not have to pay property taxes either, getting them out of a $350,000 tax bill.

Park Grill’s ownership group includes Timothy Degnan, a political ally of Mayor Richard Daley, and Fred Barbara, a friend of the mayor, and Matthew O'Malley, the managing partner of Chicago Firehouse Restaurant, 1401 S. Michigan Ave., who had an affair with a Park District official before the agreement was signed.

Damn, I wish I was your friend Mayor Daley. Sadly, being the mere peasant that I am, I pay for all of these things - water, gas, garbage, and property taxes. Seriously, Dick, you should take me up on that date offer, I think we would totally hit it off. Then, maybe we could work one of these sweet deals for me.

THE CITY THAT PAYS

Mayor Daley likes to give your tax money to his friends and family.

City Spends $22 Million on Rent and Look Who's Getting It:

The city of Chicago spends more than $22 million a year leasing property, usually from clout-heavy landlords and often at higher rents than other tenants pay, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.
...

In all, the city's Department of General Services says it has 75 leases for properties the city uses for such things as libraries, offices, warehouses and clinics.

But the list -- provided by the mayor's staff in response to a Sun-Times records request -- appears to be incomplete. It doesn't include, for instance, the warehouse at 3348 S. Pulaski that the city has occupied on a month-to-month lease since it was acquired by Vanecko and his partners in 2007. City Hall has paid them more than $480,000 in rent over the past 15 months.

...

Among the Sun-Times' findings:

-The city pays the most per square foot for a branch library in Chinatown -- more even than it pays for downtown office space.

-The city has three leases with landlords who are clients of the insurance brokerage run by the mayor's brother, Cook County Commissioner John Daley.

-Two of the city's landlords have hired the law firm of Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) -- in one case to win a cut in their real estate taxes on property leased to the city.

When you pay your property taxes, see that extra money added to your restaurant tab, or fork over $50 for a parking ticket, just remember who is getting rich while your taxes and fees rise. All this money from taxes and fees, all this money from the sale of the Skyway, parking garages, and parking meters...and the city is still broke! The city that works...for the connected cronies of our crooked mayor.

PARKING METER MADNESS

It seems like Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke of the Chicago Reader are the only reporters doing any real investigating around City Hall these days. And they keep coming up with some damning information regarding Chicago's parking meter privatization. An absolute MUST read if you live and/or park in Chicago: The Parking Meter Fiasco: Part III - The Insiders.

But our latest investigation—piecing together public documents, records of City Council hearings, interviews with elected officials and financial experts, company profiles, and previous news reports—reveals that there’s a lot more to the story:

- Not only did William Blair advise the city on the deal—it came up with the idea in the first place. Then it provided the city with the only estimate it ever received of what the system was worth and coordinated the bidding process.

- Two other financial services firms and three law firms were brought in to assist. All were given no-bid contracts for the work, and all appear to have political or personal ties to the Daley administration (which is not unusual for the way the city of Chicago does business).

- The financial advisers were each paid a share of what the city made in cash on the lease deal. William Blair received 0.375 percent of the payout, or about $4.3 million, according to records obtained from the city through a FOIA request. The others, Gardner Rich and Ramirez & Company, each received 0.0625 percent, or $722,813. The attorneys’ fees added up to another $1.3 million. All told, the city paid its legal and financial advisers more than $7 million for their work on the deal.

- At the same time they were helping the city prepare and conduct the bidding process for the parking meter lease, all of the financial firms, including William Blair, were working on other multibillion-dollar deals with the company that emerged as the winning bidder, Morgan Stanley. The overlapping relationships are in violation of the city’s own contracting rules.

- Partners in two of the three law firms hired to work on the deal had previously donated money to Mayor Daley’s campaign. City rules ban contributions to the mayor from employees of city contractors but don’t apply to law firms.

- Together the lawyers and financial advisers—not anyone in city government—determined who would control the parking meter system for the next several generations and how much money they’d make off it. But as private entities, none of these firms are required by law to disclose to the public how they arrived at their plan. And none would talk to us for this story.

I urge you to read the whole article. It is long, but it is worth every minute. While you're at it, read parts 1 and 2 of the Reader's series about Dick Daley's parking meter lease.

I wonder if Daley is shocked by the trouble this parking meter debacle has caused him. I hope he cries about it every night while praying Patrick Fitzgerald doesn't read the Chicago Reader.

photo via Chicago Sun-Times

NOT THIS VANECKO THING AGAIN!

Yes, more news on the Vanecko city pension scandal.

First, a little history regarding the Vanecko family and their ties to the city...with some Mike Royko thrown in for good measure: Mayor Daley...His Nephew Problem...and Mike Royko

[Royko] was writing about another generation of Vaneckos and Daleys and a disease he called "payrolliaitis."

"It isn't anything that would show up through scientific testing," wrote Royko in 1965, "but Mayor Richard J. Daley is a carrier of a fast-spreading germ . . . called payrolliaitis. The symptoms are easy to spot. A person gets close to the mayor. Crunch -- the payrolliaitis bug nips him. He wanders off in the direction of a city, state or county agency, sits down at a desk, and his name breaks out on a payroll."

Royko was talking about the hiring of Robert Vanecko's grandfather, Dr. Michael Vanecko, whose son married the late mayor's daughter. Shortly before the wedding, that Vanecko went to work for the Chicago Board of Health. And later, his son, Dr. Robert Vanecko, was hired as the physician for the city's municipal pension fund. And now today we have the third generation, as his son, another Robert Vanecko, lands a $68 million deal with -- what else -- city pension funds. He severed all business ties with the deal only after the feds began subpoenaing records.

Also, it seems our glorious Aldermen want answers about the city's lease of one of Vanecko's buildings. So do I, city council, so do I.

Unless the city can prove it needed flexibility to get out of the lease quickly, it appears that the month-to-month lease was designed to get around the City Council, said Ald. Joe Moore (49th).

"It would seem to me that someone was trying to hide something," Moore said.

He added, "One of the reasons we have these meetings is so the public and ... media can know who's getting these leases. It begs the question why, in this particular case, it was done in what appears to be a secretive fashion. We are owed an explanation."

Anthony Pascente a spokesman for the city's Department of General Services, did not return repeated phone calls on the lease.

Despite weeks of questions from the Chicago Sun-Times, City Hall yet to produce a lease document or invoices to justify the monthly payments, at a rate of $3.83-per-square foot for 70,565 square feet of space, 20 percent of the warehouse.

You're right Joe Moore, someone IS trying to hide something from us and we ARE owed an explanation. Maybe you and your 49 friends could do something about that. In the meantime, I'll be here waiting for that explanation...Though I'm sure if old Dick Daley ever gives one, I will not believe it. Such is life in the city of Chicago.

PENSION REFORM...PRETTY PLEASE

Following in the footsteps of former Cook County Board "President" Bobbie "Steal" Steele (and many others), a Daley insider will retire and collect two government pensions. The Sun-Times has the story:

By jumping through an early retirement window, Degnan got a lump-sum bonus of 10 percent of his annual city salary. He was also free to collect both a city pension and a CTA paycheck.

His May 31 retirement from the CTA means Degnan can now collect two local government pensions. His annual retirement check from the city amounts to roughly $92,208 or 80 percent of Degnan's highest city salary. After just seven years on the CTA job, he'll collect a $10,997-a-year CTA pension.

...
Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said Robert Degnan's double-pension is particularly galling at a time when under-funded city pensions threaten to saddle future generations of Chicagoans with a debt they cannot handle.

"It's a shining example of why the city's pension system -- and all other local government systems authorized by the General Assmbly -- need to be reformed and structured to what is economically reasonable for taxpayers, rather than insiders who are able to manipulate the system," Msall

I gotta say, as a taxpayer, I am very proud that I can offer up such a cushy retirement to a dedicated city worker. Nevermind saving for my own retirement. I'm just happy to help.

MAYOR DALEY CAN'T HIDE HIS LYING EYES

Man, I am really enjoying the Sun-Times' coverage of Mayor Daley lately. Today, Fran Spielman offered up this great piece about how much of a liar Daley really is: Daley's Tale Hard to Take

If voters are having trouble swallowing the mayor's story, it's for good reason:

HISTORY: In 1991, then-City Treasurer Miriam Santos accused Daley's top political operatives of pressuring her to grease deals with politically-connected pension fund investors....The mayor tried to get even by persuading the Legislature to remove Santos from two pension fund boards, only to have then-Gov. Jim Edgar veto the bill.
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FAMILY PENSION FUND TIES:If Daley had no interest in directing pension fund investments, why did he appoint John Briatta, John Daley's brother-in-law, as a trustee of the Municipal Employees Pension Fund during the 1990s?
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OTHER PENSION BOARD MEMBERS: How could Daley not have known about his nephew's pension fund deal when members of the mayor's Cabinet sit on the boards that made the risky investment?
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FAMILY FEEDING FRENZY:The mayor has allowed his brother Michael's law firm to corner the market on city zoning business. He's allowed his brother, John, to sell insurance to city contractors. William Daley Jr., another mayoral nephew, works for Morgan Stanley, the financial conglomerate whose infrastructure group leased Chicago's parking meters and downtown garages. If the mayor believes it's OK for some family members to cash in on city deals, why would he draw the line at Vanecko?
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LEASE DEAL: If Daley truly believes that "perception is everything" -- and that the perception was "rules were broken and preferential treatment was given" to Vanecko -- why has the city paid nearly $500,000 in the last 15 months to lease space at a South Side industrial site owned by Vanecko and Davis, who bought the property with city pension money? Why was it a month-to-month arrangement that skirted the requirement for City Council approval of leases?

SAME NEPHEW: Robert Vanecko is the same Daley nephew who, along with the mayor's son Patrick, held a hidden ownership in a sewer cleaning company that won millions of dollars in no-bid contract extensions from City Hall.
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SAME OLD SONG: Daley reads from the same script after every scandal -- whether it's Hired Truck, city hiring, minority contracting, Patrick Daley's sewer deal or the $1.25 million bailout loan from perennial city trucking contractor Michael Tadin that triggered the resignation of Ald. Patrick Huels (11th). Daley condemns the wrongdoing, denies he knew about it and cuts the offender off at the knees. The script is getting old.

Some very good questions from a City Hall reporter who has been around long enough to connect the dots. Like I said before, Daley is a liar. I don't care what he says, you better believe he knew all about this Vanecko city pension deal, just like he knows all about every other scandal he claims to know nothing about. Me, I'm sick and tired of all this lying. I'm even more sick of the Daley Crime Family getting their filthy hands all over OUR money. Enough is enough. Where the fuck are you Patrick Fitzgerald?

ETHICS? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' ETHICS!

Huffington Post blogger Ray Hanania doesn't like this Vanecko city pension scandal either: Hypocrisy in Chicago Politics is Deafening

No law has been broken -- that we know of. But, it is genuinely unethical for the city pension funds to put $68 million in the Davis Vanecko firm, called, uncreatively, DV Urban Realty. Who needs to be creative when the City Hall-controlled pension, many of whose members are appointed by the mayor, dumps $68 million in money hard earned by city employees like the Chicago Police?

Defenders of the deal include, of course, Mayor Daley, who brushed off the probe into the deal with his usual jumble of mumbled words. And it was defended by celebrity pundit Paul Green, who on WTTW Channel 11 Tuesday night questioned why people were talking about the deal at all, slamming critics and asking repeatedly, "What is illegal?"

How about, "What is unethical?" Paul.

Green is an insider these days, hobnobbing with the political elite that manage candidates for offices like the U.S. Senate and shaking hands at luncheons where powerful speakers are invited, like Mayor Daley and his government colleagues.

The Chicago pension fund scandal reminds many of the days when the union pension funds would invest millions in casino operations in Las Vegas that were run not by politicians but by mobsters, although oftentimes it has been hard to distinguish between the two, especially in Chicago.

Here you go Mayor Daley and all you fine Chicago politicians out there. If you don't know, now you know:

eth·ics

Pronunciation: \ˈe-thiks\

Function: noun

1: the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation

2 a: a set of moral principles b: the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group c: a guiding philosophy d: a consciousness of moral importance

Learn it. Know it. Live it.

DALEY DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING

Adding to his long legacy of things that he knows nothing about, Mayor Daley distanced himself from the city deal involving his nephew Robert Vanecko.

Mayor Daley: I urged nephew Vanecko to get out of pension deal

“While many of you have speculated that I knew of Bob’s business relationship, I did not,” he told reporters. “I found out about it the same way most people did — in the news when the story broke. When I did find out, I made it very clear that it was not a good decision and that he should end the business relationship immediately.

“But, as an adult, Bob made a difficult decision — a different decision — which leads to a very painful string of news stories that have indeed caused tension in my family. I will not get into the inner workings of my family or your family, except to say that we’re not different than anyone else. Sometimes we agree, and sometimes we disagree.”

“Perception is everything,” Daley went on to say.

No one is bothering to ask why our fine mayor has no knowledge of how $70 million in city workers' pension are being invested.

Over at the Tribune, John Kass put it this way: "Daley seemed rational, but absolutely unbelievable in the Vanecko story."

I'm gonna have to go ahead and agree with Kass on this one. Mayor Daley says he doesn't know anything about this $70 million deal. I don't believe him.

WTD PRESENTS: HISTORY LESSON - THE DALEY FAMILY

With all this hullabaloo about Daley's nephew and his sweet deals with the city, perhaps you were wondering what the rest of the Daley clan is up to. Check out this interactive Daley family tree on the Chicago Sun-Times for just that information.

SUN-TIMES CONTINUES ASSAULT ON DALEY

Mark Brown of the Chicago Sun-Times steps into the fray of this Daley-Vanecko situation.

Daleys' family feud clear sign of high stakes: Rare to see one member of tight clan trashing another

As long as the Daley family insists on its right to feed at the public trough through private business ventures, we're entitled to be as skeptical as we want about any of their assertions of innocence.

We can question the mayor's original claim that he never knew about the pension deal, and we can doubt his nephew would have the backbone to resist his wishes.

But you shouldn't doubt for a minute that it was the mayor's brain trust that uncharacteristically chose to go after Vanecko, the son of the mayor's sister. I interpret that as a sign of Daley in serious self-preservation mode.

One way or the other, this joint investigation by the city inspector general and U.S. attorney is making people uncomfortable. Remember that it started with a look into Patrick Daley's involvement in the sewer cleaning contract.

Daley in "serious self-preservation mode"?! Hopefully US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is inching ever-closer to providing Chicago with an image I would love to see: Mayor Daley in handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit.

JOHN KASS IS NO CHUMBOLONE

Reading Kass's Mayor Daley columns just never gets old. Today, he hits on the scandal involving city pension funds and Daley's nephew: Daley is ill, but not over nephew's deal

Is there anybody in the world dumb enough to believe Vanecko could get his hands on almost $70 million in city funds without Daley's approval?

"I don't know what people believe," Heard said. "I can only hope they understand that he is an uncle, a father, a husband, and that he has family issues. And, that he's a public figure who is held to different standards than most. He accepts that. It just comes with the territory when you're the mayor."

The argument, quite reasonable, goes like this: The mayor is an uncle like millions of other regular guys who can't be held responsible for their nephews, or friends.

But only one uncle is the boss of Cook County. And all Rich Daley had to do, when Vanecko was sniffing around city money, was to shake his head and whisper "no."

Then it never would have happened. Never.

For more laughs and gasps at the expense of our dear Mayor Daley, check out Kass's archive.

MAYOR DALEY IS ANGRY. YOU WOULDN'T LIKE HIM WHEN HE IS ANGRY.

UPDATE: Daley nephew quits

Daleys in turmoil over nephew's deals: sources :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Politics

Sources said Robert Vanecko was told nearly two years ago that his uncle, Mayor Daley, wanted him to get out of a risky real estate venture involving city employee pension funds.

Another Daley nephew, Patrick Thompson, was given the same directive one week earlier -- and promptly dropped out as an attorney representing the Children's Museum at heated community meetings on the controversial Daley-backed plan to build a new Children's Museum in Grant Park.

But, unlike his cousin, Robert Vanecko ignored the mayor's advice.

Now, Vanecko is stuck. He would have trouble getting out of the pension fund deals even if he wanted to because of the collapse of the real estate market.

And the Daley family is stuck with a headline that won't quit and a federal investigation into how a start-up company co-owned by the mayor's nephew won $68 million in pension investments in the first place.

...

Sources said other family members have been trying for some time to convince Vanecko to dissolve his partnership with developer Allison Davis because of the perception that Daley family clout landed the deal.

Vanecko told them he was in the process of getting out, but it never happened, sources said.

Mayor Daley was described as livid and distraught about the controversy, but dead-set against touching off a bitter family feud by publicly criticizing Vanecko, the eldest of Richard J. Daley's 22 grandchildren.

RICH RICHER RICHIE DALEY'S FRIENDS

Daley nephew's deals :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: The Watchdogs

Mayor Daley's nephew Robert Vanecko and Vanecko's business partner Allison S. Davis have been making news lately.

Their real estate investment business, DV Urban Realty Partners, manages $68 million for five city pension funds -- representing Chicago police officers, teachers, CTA employees and other city workers.

A federal grand jury and the city of Chicago's inspector general are looking into how DV Urban Realty got the city pension business.

Since 2006, the pension funds have paid Davis and Vanecko more than $2.7 million of $8 million in management fees the pair are guaranteed by the time their deal ends, on Dec. 31, 2014. Any profits they make on real estate deals with the pension money are to be shared among the pension funds, Vanecko and Davis.

Hmmm...So they get money to buy properties ($), they get to manage the properties ($$), and they get to share in any profits made by those properties ($$$). Sounds like a great deal for all these city workers' pensions. I bet Mayor Daley doesn't know anything about this...

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