You're Never Going To Believe This: Chicago Was Voted The Most Corrupt City In America For The Second Year In A Row!
WTTW- Chicago remains America’s most corrupt city, and Illinois the third-most corrupt state, according to an annual report from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The report, co-authored by UIC professor and former Ald. Dick Simpson, is based on an analysis of the public corruption statistics published by the U.S. Department of Justice.
In 2019, there were 26 public corruption convictions in the Northern District of Illinois, which includes all of Chicago and the northern third of Illinois — double the number recorded in 2018, according to the report.
The rest of the state had six additional public corruption convictions in 2019 for a state total of 32, according to Simpson’s findings based on the most recent DOJ data available.
The report, co-authored by Marco Rosaire Rossi and Thomas J. Gradel, uses a formula that compares the number of each area’s corruption convictions with its population to create the ranking system that incorporates data from 1976 to 2019.
BACK TO BACK DEFENDING CHAMPS!
This should come as no shock to fellow Chicagoans, as we all get to bear witness to the hard work that goes into winning a prestigious honor like this up close and personal on a daily basis.
(And what's really insane is, the authors of this study put a big asterisk on the whole thing saying-
..the Department of Justice’s public corruption conviction statistics for 2019 did “not come close to capturing the significance of that year’s corruption events.”
..because this past year was such a shit show with Covid, the economy, and court cases being put on pause indefinitely. So had it not been for all that Chicago might have put up '96 Bulls type numbers)
For all those on the outside, jealously looking in, wondering, "How the fuck does Chicago continue to defy all the odds?" let me break it down for you.
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Like any championship organization, honorable or corrupt, it starts at the top.
And make no mistake about it. We have arguably the G.reatest O.f A.ll T.ime.
None other than Mike Madigan.
The investigation swirling around now-former House Speaker Michael Madigan centering on allegations of political hiring and contracting at Commonwealth Edison burst into public view in October 2019 with the revelation that federal agents raided the offices of the City Club of Chicago. Now-former President Jay Doherty was a ComEd lobbyist.
MANDEL NGAN. Getty Images.This guy has been Illinois House Speaker since the Theodore Roosevelt Administration (I think). In that time he has managed to somehow stay out of harm's way and out of any scandals despite being the deciding voice on just about anything of significance in this God forsaken state. His power and ability to stay clean has lead some to call him "the John Calipari of politics".
He's basically like the Godfather.
He also loves to credit himself with keeping the White Sox in Chicago.
If you're a major corporation, or player of any sort in Illinois, or looking to do anything here, you have to have his blessing.
How do you get that? Well I'll let you do the math.
But somehow, there was a slip up this past few months and now, by miracle, Madigan has been forced to "gracefully resign".
All over something pretty small in the grand scheme of things, cush jobs at Comed in exchange for the ability to basically do whatever the utility company wanted.
Why would somebody as bulletproof as he resign after 50+ years over something so small you ask?
Well because as the story goes with everything in Illinois politics, it doesn't end there.
NPR - The one subpoena to the speaker's state government office released Friday showed federal investigators had broadened their Madigan-centric public corruption probe beyond just ComEd to include AT&T, Walgreens, Rush University Medical Center and a host of political operatives and lobbyists.
Investigators sought records involving members of Madigan's political organization, his Madigan & Getzendanner law firm, four former state legislators, four former or current Chicago aldermen and a Chinatown land deal in which government mole and former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis were at the center.
It gets better.
The centerpiece of ComEd's corrupt lobbying practices is the manner in which it lavished contracts and subcontracts on Madigan's supporters, dating all the way back to 2011 and lasting through 2019. The feds say that Madigan allies benefiting from ComEd's largesse typically did little to no work for the power company. Besides the lure of contracts, ComEd, with its 6,000-person payroll, offered up jobs for those favored by Madigan.
That corporate generosity came at the same time the state-regulated utility scored big legislative wins in Springfield that required the speaker's blessing, including legislation that benefited ComEd to the tune of more than $150 million, according to the agreement.
In 2016 alone, the Madigan-led House allowed ComEd's corporate parent, Exelon, to hit ComEd ratepayers with as much as a $2.3 billion, 10-year rate increase to subsidize two of Exelon's financially flagging nuclear plants.
Multiple times, the federal filing said, ComEd took steps to benefit Madigan. That included paying an unnamed "Consultant 1," who then passed the money to Madigan's associates who were subcontractors – an arrangement that evaded public disclosure.
WBEZ has previously reported that Jay Doherty, president of the City Club of Chicago public affairs group, was being investigated for being a "pass through" for the utility's deals with politically connected individuals. Both ComEd and the City Club cut ties with Doherty after the radio station reported on his connections to the federal investigation.
So remember, this is just what they actually caught the guy with.
No championship team is a winner with just 1 superstar. Remember, Mike still needed Scottie.
And luckily for Springfield, the city of Chicago is basically the Dream Team.
Carl did a tremendous job covering the slimiest slime ball Alderman to come down the pike in a long while, the one and only Ed Burke, back when he was in the news for being indicted.
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A quick refresher
In May 2019, Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward) was indicted on 14 counts of racketeering, bribery and extortion based on evidence that he repeatedly — and brazenly — used his powerful position at City Hall to force those doing business with the city to hire his private law firm. Most notably, a Burger King in his Ward was trying to get a permit. In this city it's a fuckin mission to do anything. You need to get a permit, to get a permit, to get a license, in order to get a license. It's a fucking joke. Anyway, Burger King is an international corporation accustomed to dealing with regular corporate shenanigans. What they were not used to was "being directed to acquiring Alderman Ed Burke's legal firm to help with their permitting process" by that very same Alderman. They tipped off the FBI. The FBI put together a sting, raided his offices after months of acquiring evidence, and a grand jury indicted him.
Alderman Burke pleaded not guilty. Obviously. This is Chicago after all.
He went on to win his re-election campaign in a laugher because again, this is Chicago.
But because of delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the voluminous amount of evidence involved in the case, Burke has yet to stand trial.
Every championship team also depends on a strong cast of supporting players.
And once again Chicago is DEEEEEEP when it comes to corrupt mother fuckers itching to give their all to the cause.
The highest-profile corruption conviction in 2019 resulted from the guilty plea of former state Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) to charges that he accepted bribes in connection with the placement of red-light cameras in suburban municipalities. Sandoval died in December 2020 after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
This giant piece of shit Marty Sandoval straight up told those scum of the Earth red-light camera companies to feel free setting up cameras wherever they wanted, and to tweak them to bag as many innocent drivers as they wanted. No bullshit.
Seth Perlman. Shutterstock Images.Tribune - The charges came four months after federal agents raided Sandoval’s office in the State Capitol and marked the first public case brought in an ongoing investigation involving Sandoval and the southwest and west suburbs.
He’s also the fourth public official to be charged in a series of sweeping political corruption investigations that first came to light 14 months ago when the FBI descended upon the City Hall offices of Ald. Edward Burke.
In addition to the red-light cameras, the Sandoval probe has touched on the construction and asphalt industry, gambling and casinos, lobbyists, transportation officials, Commonwealth Edison executives and even a suburban cigar lounge.
According to the charges, Sandoval intended "to be influenced and rewarded” in connection with his “continued support for the operation of red-light cameras” in Illinois, as well as for opposing legislation that would have hurt the industry.
Then there's Alderman Willie Cochran.
Chicago Tribune. Getty Images.Former Ald. Willie Cochran (20th Ward) pleaded guilty in June 2019 to wire fraud in connection with allegations he used a charitable fund for personal expenses. Cochran was sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
Sun Times - Thursday, Cochran admitted to a federal judge that he took $14,000 from a charitable 20th Ward fund and used it for personal expenses — an admission that ended his career on the City Council.
We've also got John Coli-
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In addition, John T. Coli, the former secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 727 and former president of Teamsters Joint Council 25, pleaded guilty to accepting $325,000 in bribes from CineScape studios.
I’m just gonna leave this one at that and not add anything else because I have a brain and I have a big enough target on my back as it is. And I am friends with a lot of Teamsters guys who are some of the greatest, most loyal, hardworking salt of the Earth people I've ever met.
The bench's depth doesn't stop there though. No siree.
We've also got the guy many are calling this year's sixth man award winner- Alderman Danny Solis.
M Spencer Green. Shutterstock Images.… the Sun-Times revealed then-Ald. Danny Solis (25th), chairman of powerful Committee on Zoning, wore a wire for the feds, recording Burke over a two-year period. He was pressured to do so after he was confronted by the feds about his own alleged wrongdoing. The feds alleged Solis received sex acts at massage parlors, the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra and campaign contributions in exchange for ushering deals through City Council.
He's like a swiss army knife of corruption. He not only accepted bribes, but he used campaign funds on hookers and Viagra, and then wore a wire to take down his fellow scumbags in City Council.
We've also got Carrie Austin contributing -
In June 2019, the feds raided Ald. Carrie Austin’s 34th Ward office in connection with the case Danny Solis is helping feds to build.
After the Sun-Times first reported in January that Solis was wearing a wire, Austin told reporters: “Not about Danny. I might cry. You don’t do that. You just don’t.”
Burke has denied any wrongdoing. Solis has not been charged.
So the craziest part about all of this is this is just the rundown from last year's headlines. This has been going on for a hundred years here.
And that’s the thing with this place. everybody is so used to things being this way, because they've always been this way, that when news like this stuff breaks people just yawn. Another day another scandal. Rinse wash repeat. Everybody’s numb to it. It's called "the Chicago way" with a snicker.
"Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss" - The Who
We're all lucky, rather #blessed, that Lori & co. are focused on the important stuff, statues, rather than nonsense like all this.