Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
defendants in Cook County courts were bribing judges, the FBI and local police
officials set up phony robberies and drunk-driving cases, then secretly taped
judges and other courthouse staff accepting payments to make the charges disap-
pear. In all, more than 50 lawyers and 15 judges were sent to jail—and there was
nobody they could pay to make those charges go away.
Other scandals, wrapping up only one or two politicians at a time, might have
been smaller in scope but have had just as high a profile. Chicago-based Con-
gressmen Dan Rostenkowski and Mel Reynolds did hard time, respectively, for
skimming Congressional office funds and for having sex with a 15-year-old
campaign worker. Mayor Daley's top lieutenant, Alderman Pat Huels, used his
city position to drum up business for his security firm and was later forced to
resign. Even “reform mayor” Harold Washington, an alleged ghost payroller
himself during his early days in politics, once went to jail for repeatedly failing
to file his income taxes.
The voters forgave Harold for his ethical lapses, although they almost didn't
forgive him for the ethnical “lapse” of being black. White voters and aldermen
and city workers were afraid that Washington would seize the clout that had
always belonged to them and take the jobs, city contracts, and key political
appointments that went with the clout. And, of course, that's what Harold did.
Race shouldn't have played much of an issue, though. Washington was just
following a time-honored Chicago tradition. He was doing for the black com-
munity what Kenna and Coughlin and the original Daley had done for the Irish,
what Fred Roti and Anthony Laurino had done for the Italians, what Jacob
Arvey had done for the Jews, what Rostenkowski and Roman Pucinski did for
the Poles. Harold simply stuck his hand out and recited the city's unofficial
motto, “Ubi est mea?” —“Where is mine?” Paddy Bauler would've been proud.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search