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Mayor Daley's Hired Truck Scandal keeps giving

If you remember, Mark Brown did an article on me, and I promised to keep fighting. Again, we must review every contract at the Chicago Department of Water Management. Every senior employee of the Department of Water Management must be investigated. The employees that have businesses that subcontract to these front companies will be exposed. When will the Citizens finally realize the corruption between the unions, the Daley family, and the mob. How about that Tire company on Pershing Mayor Daley, we know about that deal also. Click here for this great story: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/696638,daley121407.article Patrick Daley is at it again on the taxpayers dime. And you wonder why Patrick Daley joined the Army? Patrick McDonough.

Comments

"Seiser
December 14th - 5:15 p.m.

***, get your facts straight. Unless you were at Grand Beach, do you know for a fact that Patrick Daley swung the bat? He didn't. Another person did. They were charged. Now why don't you stop complaining. The game was fine with you until you lost. Now you want to be on the other side as this great big reformer. Keep talking sh-t about the Irish, you attention whore.

On to other matters...If what the Sun-Times reported is true, then yes, Patrick Daley isn't who people thought he was.

Patrick McDonough: why don't you go ahead and spill. It sounds like you've known him since he was christened, were on a first-name basis, played guitar together, lifted weights and what not. You know him so well. So spill."
"re sizer
December 14th - 6:20 p.m.
What, and waste fine wine on swine?"

what does any of this matter they keep finding new edvidence against this guy and nothing happens anyway

(Response) Enough lawsuits, millions and millions paid to victims of the Daley mismanagement, people will get sick enough to do something. No rush.

Mayor in dark: aide
SON'S SECRET DEAL | Says Daley had no role in sewer firm's pact with city

December 15, 2007
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com
In 1975, Mayor Richard J. Daley quoted his mother as he unapologetically defended his decision to give $1 million in city insurance business to an Evanston firm that included his son.

"There's a mistletoe on my coattail," the late mayor said after that Heil & Heil insurance scandal involving his son John.

Thirty-two years later, Richard M. Daley is struggling to come to grips with a similar conflict involving his son and city business. Only this time, the mayor is not defending it and claims to have had no involvement in or prior knowledge of the deal.

And there's another complication: The mayor's son is a soldier about to go off to war. Daley is flying to Fort Bragg, N.C., today to spend a farewell weekend with Patrick, now headed for an overseas deployment that's expected to include Afghanistan.

"It's completely understandable that people draw a connection between the mayor's son and any business dealings he has with the city or in the city. The mayor understands that," Daley's press secretary, Jacquelyn Heard, said Friday.

"But the mayor loves his son. He is extraordinarily proud of him, and right now that supersedes all else. Right now, the mayor's focus is on his son about to go to war, and he and rest of the family are supporting him in every way possible."

Daley's emotional dilemma stems from Chicago Sun-Times disclosures Friday that Patrick Daley had a hidden interest in a sewer inspection company whose city business rose sharply while he was an owner.

The sewer deal also included the mayor's nephew Robert Vanecko. Sun-Times reporter Tim Novak previously had disclosed that Vanecko got $63 million in city pension funds to invest in a risky real estate venture that involves CHA redevelopment deals.

The mayor's son and nephew never publicly disclosed their ownership stake in Municipal Sewer Services, despite a city ordinance that required such disclosure.

In a Thursday memo to his employees, company Chairman Robert Bobb acknowledged that disclosure statements filled out by his predecessors "contain a number of mistakes or oversights. ... These errors, among others, are why we have new management. We will correct these filings if requested by the city."

Before flying to North Carolina, Daley attended a board of directors meeting for the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Cities Initiative in Racine, Wis. He refused to answer questions about his son.

That left Heard to insist that Daley knew nothing about his son's involvement in the sewer inspection deals until the Sun-Times started asking questions. The mayor's signature appears on city contracts with Municipal Sewer Services. But the mayor's name on all city contracts is actually signed by top mayoral aides who write their own initials next to Daley's name.

"The mayor doesn't sign contracts for this very reason. If someone is signing contracts, you assume they're aware of who's getting it. He doesn't want that. This is not some new practice. It's been that way since he's been mayor," Heard said.

"Readers of the [Sun-Times] story would believe the mayor willingly signed his name to a contract that had his son's name on it. That is not the case. The name was not disclosed. Company owners have acknowledged that mistake."

The front-page story about the mayor's son was the talk of the town among Chicago politicians Friday.

The mayor's brother John sells insurance to city contractors. Mayoral brother Michael Daley and his law partner Jack George have emerged as the city's pre-eminent zoning attorneys during the mayor's 19-year reign. But this is the first time that any of the mayor's children have been tied to city business.

"I think I'm going to avoid peeing on his family," said Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th).

"If this was one of his minions, I'd probably have some comment. But it's his kid, so I'll pass."

Exclusive: Daley’s son's secret deal
CITY CONTRACTS | Mayor signed pacts, but spokeswoman says he didn’t know his son was an owner of a sewer-inspection business that did city work

December 14, 2007
BY TIM NOVAK Staff Reporter/tnovak@suntimes.com
Mayor Daley’s son Patrick had a hidden interest in a sewer-inspection company whose business with the City of Chicago rose sharply while he was an owner, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.

Patrick Daley invested in Municipal Sewer Services in June 2003, along with Robert Vanecko, a nephew of the mayor. The pair cashed out their small investment about a year later, as federal investigators were swarming City Hall in the early days of the Hired Truck scandal.

» Click to enlarge image

Clockwise from bottom left: Joseph McInerney, Robert Vanecko, Mayor Richard M. Daley, the mayor's son Patrick Daley, and Robert Bobb.
(Sun-Times files)

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RELATED PDF
• Bobb's memo to employees

Investor Response
A key investor in Municipal Sewer Services — Robert Bobb, a former federal prosecutor who is chairman of the Chicago investment firm Cardinal Growth — asked for written questions regarding this report and provided the following responses Thursday:

Question 1 — When did Patrick Daley serve his unpaid internship with Cardinal Growth? I am seeking for the beginning and ending date.

Answer 1 — While earning his master’s degree, Patrick participated in the University of Chicago’s Private Equity/Venture Capital Lab. As part of that program, he and several other students, none of whom were compensated, earned course credit working at Cardinal Growth. He was here as part of the program during the 2003/2004 school year.

Q. 2 — Who were the original investors in Municipal Sewer Services, and how much money did each invest? What were the dates of each investment?

A. 2 — Out of respect and commitment to these investors and the hundreds of investors interested in any number of opportunities we are seeking, these transactions involve private parties.

Q. 3 — How did Patrick Daley and Robert Vanecko come to be investors? Did they approach Messrs. Bobb and [partner Joseph] McInerney, or was it the other way around?

A. 3 — We share investment opportunities with hundreds of potential investors. Patrick expressed an interest in this opportunity when he was in our offices as part of the University of Chicago program.

Q. 4 — When did MSS Investors cash out their investment? Please give the specific date when MSS cashed out its investment.

A. 4 — See answer to #2.

Q. 5 — Did MSS Investors recoup their original investment? How much interest did MSS earn on its investment? How much money did MSS receive when it cashed out? Did MSS or its principals receive a cash buyout of $100,000 in addition to their original investment and interest payments?

A. 5 — See answer to #2.

Q. 6 — Did Patrick Daley or Robert Vanecko lobby city officials on behalf of Municipal Sewer Services? If so, whom did they lobby?

A. 6 — The question is absolutely absurd. The answer is a resounding no. Further, the implication in the question is insulting.

Q. 7 — When Municipal Sewer Services filed its economic-disclosure statements with the city in February 2004, Patrick Daley and Robert Vanecko weren't identified as investors. Why not?

A. 7 — The statements filled out and submitted by the former COO [chief operating officer] of Municipal Sewer Services contain errors. The former COO misrepresented investors in the company on those forms. Only he can answer why the forms contain errors. These errors, among others, are why we have new management. We will correct the filings (which are for an expired contract) if the city requests.

Q. 8 — Did Patrick Daley or Robert Vanecko have any role in the daily operations of Municipal Sewer Services?

A. 8 — Patrick and Robert were passive investors in MSS. They had no role in the daily operations of the company or the governance of the investment.

Q. 9 — Records show that MSS Investors LLC received payments from Municipal Sewer Services in 2004 — $4,246.67 on April 7, 2004, a payment described as a dividend, and $13,114 on Dec. 28, 2004, a payment described as a tax distribution for the 2003 tax year. Can you explain these payments to MSS Investors?

A. 9 — See answer to #2.

Q. 10 — MSS Investors LLC invested $100,000 with Gadsden Processing LLC on March 31, 2004. Please explain this investment?

A. 10 — See answer to #2.

Q. 11 — Has Patrick Daley had any other investments with Cardinal Growth? If so, please identify them. Does Patrick Daley have any current investment with Cardinal Growth or any of its partners? If so, please identify those investments.

A. 11 — See answer to #2.

Q. 12 — Has Robert Vanecko had any other investments with Cardinal Growth? If so, please identify them. Does Patrick Daley have any current investments with Cardinal Growth or any of its partners? If so, please identify those investments.

A. 12 — See answer to #2.

Q. 13 — If Cardinal Growth owned 80 percent of Municipal Sewer Services, does it now own 100 percent since [former COO Anthony] Duffy is gone? Whatever the answer, if Cardinal Growth has any ownership of Municipal Sewer Services, then it must identify the name of each investor and their stake in the company, according to the city’s economic-disclosure statements.

A. 13 — Municipal Sewer Services will work with the city to ensure that all disclosures are current and accurate.
Municipal Sewer Services had partnered with a Hired Truck company in the sewer cleaning program.

It’s unclear how much money Patrick Daley and his cousin made from the city contracts, which were signed by the mayor. Five months after they became owners, the company got a $3 million contract extension from the city.

After cashing out at a profit, Patrick Daley — then 29 and a recent MBA graduate of the University of Chicago’s Business School — made an abrupt career change. He enlisted in the Army. He is stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., but is to be deployed next week to an undisclosed location, the mayor confirmed this week.

The mayor’s press secretary said Daley never knew that his son and nephew had stakes in Municipal Sewer Services as the company sought City Hall’s permission to take over two contracts from Kenny Industrial Services.

“Yes, it is the mayor’s son, and, yes, it is also his nephew,” Daley press secretary Jacquelyn Heard said. “But, as you know, the mayor is a very busy man, and he does not make a practice of knowing the details of other people’s investments, including those of his son and/or his nephew.

“The answer to your question, did he know about this, the answer is a resounding no.’’

Beside allowing Municipal Sewer Services to take over the contracts, City Hall twice extended the deals, by a total of 23 months, rather than seeking new competitive bids. That gave the company an additional $4 million of work.

The mayor’s son and nephew never publicly disclosed their ownership stake in Municipal Sewer Services, despite a city ordinance that appears to require such disclosure.

The company also appears to have violated the same city ordinance by not identifying the mayor’s son and nephew as investors in the economic-disclosure statements it filed with the city amid the Hired Truck scandal.

Daley family members have a history of doing business at City Hall. Mayoral brother Michael Daley’s law firm, Daley & George, is often hired to help developers get zoning changes from City Hall. And Vanecko recently got $63 million in city pension funds to invest in a risky real estate venture that involves redevelopment deals with the Chicago Housing Authority. But this is the first report of any of Daley’s children getting city business during the mayor’s 18 years in office.

Heard would not discuss details of the deals involving the mayor’s son and nephew, referring questions to them and the other investors in Municipal Sewer Services.

Patrick Daley could not be reached.

His cousin, Vanecko, issued a written statement that said, in part: “My cousin and I were small, passive investors in Municipal Sewer Services from approximately mid-2003 to late 2004. . . . We were not involved in running the company and had no dealings with any of its clients.”

The other investors — Robert Bobb, a former federal prosecutor who is now chairman of the investment firm Cardinal Growth, and his partner, Joseph McInerney — also declined to be interviewed for this story, though, in written responses to questions, Bobb said the company did nothing wrong.

The company’s former president, Anthony Duffy, would not comment.

Roots of the deal

In fall 2000, City Hall hired two private companies — Kenny Industrial Services and Brunt Brothers Transfer Inc. — to do videotaped inspections of sewers to spot cracks or other signs of deterioration. The work was split into three contracts. Two of them went to Kenny, which did all of the inspections north of 63rd Street. Brunt Brothers got the other contract, doing all inspections south of 63rd.

Kenny worked closely with Brunt, which was one of the largest black-owned companies in the Hired Truck Program. Brunt didn’t have its own video equipment, so Kenny ended up doing all of the sewer inspections, while Brunt hauled debris from the sewers.

In February 2003, Kenny Industrial filed for bankruptcy, listing creditors across the United States — among them Disney World and the City of Chicago.

Duffy, who was then Kenny’s sewer division manager, proposed taking over the sewer inspection business, including the City of Chicago contracts.

But Duffy needed money. So he turned to Cardinal Growth, a Loop investment firm headed by Bobb and McInerney. At the time, Patrick Daley was an unpaid intern at Cardinal.

In April 2003, Duffy, Bobb and McInerney formed Municipal Sewer Services, state records show, and negotiated to buy Kenny’s equipment. The deal closed June 2, 2003, with Municipal Sewer Services paying Kenny $850,000, according to court records.

The next day, MSS Investors LLC — a company co-owned by the mayor’s son and nephew — was formed in Delaware, according to records filed with the secretary of state’s office there. The Daley-Vanecko company invested $65,000 in Municipal Sewer Services, getting a 5 percent stake in the company, according to records obtained by the Sun-Times.

While still awaiting City Hall’s OK to take over Kenny’s city contracts, which were set to expire in just five months, Municipal Sewer Services began doing city sewer inspections. Just one day before the contracts expired, the mayor’s chief procurement officer, David Malone, gave Municipal Sewer Services permission to take over the two contracts, each of which was extended by one year. It was the first of two contract extensions Municipal Sewer Services would get from City Hall.

The mayor’s son and nephew were shareholders in Municipal Sewer Services for about a year, a period in which the company’s city work increased significantly, according to several sources, to $3.7 million.

That amount, paid in just one year, amounted to nearly a third of what the city spent on sewer inspections and cleanings during the five years that Municipal Sewer Services and Kenny had the contracts.

The sewer inspections proved to be much costlier than the city projected. City Hall planned to spend $2.3 million over three years when it hired Kenny. The city ended up spending more than $12.6 million over five years.

Under Municipal Sewer Services, 95 percent of the money the city spent went toward cleaning sewers, rather than sewer inspections. The city contracts had estimated that two-thirds of the money would be spent on sewer cleaning.

Fallout from Hired Truck

In late January 2004, with Municipal Sewer Services and Brunt Brothers still handling the sewer inspections, the Sun-Times published “Clout on Wheels,” a series that exposed waste and fraud in the city’s Hired Truck Program and sparked a still-ongoing federal investigation. In an interview for that series, Brunt Brothers owner Jesse Brunt told the Sun-Times that many Hired Truck companies were paid to do nothing.

“You put in your eight hours a day, but you just sit on the job,’’ Brunt said then. “There’s no fuel cost, no wear and tear on the trucks.’’

The Hired Truck scandal rocked City Hall. Among the fallout: The mayor fired his cousin Mark Gyrion, a high-ranking Water Management Department official whose mother-in-law ran a Hired Truck company using a formerly city-owned truck that Gyrion had sold for scrap.

Amid the Hired Truck scandal, the city received an economic-disclosure statement from Municipal Sewer Services listing the company’s owners. Duffy, the company president and chief operating officer, filed the form Feb. 24, 2004, saying he owned 20 percent of Municipal Sewer Services, and Bobb and McInerney each owned 40 percent. Neither Patrick Daley nor Vanecko was included, though together they owned about 5 percent of the company’s stock when that form was filed, according to records and sources.

A city ordinance requires that all privately held companies getting city business “list . . . the name, business address and percentage of ownership interest of each shareholder.’’

Asked about this, Bobb said in an e-mail: “The statements filled out and submitted by the former COO of Municipal Sewer Services contain errors. . . . We will correct the filings (which are for an expired contract) if the city requests.”

Sometime after Duffy filed that disclosure form, Daley and Vanecko cashed out, recouping their $65,000 investment, according to sources. They also got interest — $4,246.67 — in April 2004, company records show. And they got a $13,114 “tax distribution” in December 2004, by which time Patrick Daley had enlisted in the Army.

Daley and Vanecko no longer have any financial stake with Municipal Sewer Services, according to a spokesman for Cardinal Growth. Municipal Sewer Services got a new deal with the city two years ago — a five-year contract that could pay Municipal Sewer Services more than $4.6 million by the time it expires in July 2010.

Patrick Daley still has connections to Cardinal Growth. One of his companies — called PRD-EVAM — operates from Cardinal’s 55th-floor offices at 311 S. Wacker, according to records filed two months ago with the state.

Cardinal Growth is among the investors in Chicago Concourse Development, a company that landed a 10-year city contract to provide wireless Internet service at O’Hare and Midway airports. Patrick Daley has nothing to do with the wi-fi contract, according to the mayor’s press secretary.


"'I think I'm going to avoid peeing on his family,' said Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th).

'If this was one of his minions, I'd probably have some comment. But it's his kid, so I'll pass.'"


Pee away, Toni, that's what we elected you to do.

The fact that it's his 'kid' makes it all the more deserving of being 'pissed' on.


As for "'This is not some new practice. It's been that way since he's been mayor,' Heard said."

No shit, Jackie, we've known this for decades.

Insider trading is a Federal Felony, so how come Insider Wheeling and Dealing is so meekly accepted by our City, County and State Law Enforcement Officers?

Because it's ILLEGAL.

Isn't it?

Daley quiet on son's tie to deal
Owned stake in firm with city contracts
By Mickey Ciokajlo and Ray Gibson, Tribune staff reporters Tribune staff reporter Ryan Haggerty contributed to this report
December 15, 2007
Article tools
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Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints Post Comment Text size: Mayor Richard Daley found himself in the same position Friday his father did decades earlier: facing questions about how his son's firm got city business.

The mayor heads to Ft. Bragg, N.C., Saturday to see his paratrooper son Patrick Daley off before military deployment, a day after the disclosure that a sewer inspection company in which Patrick once invested held a city contract.

Although Mayor Daley's father once dismissed questions of his sons' city deals with a short expletive, on Friday the current mayor sidestepped reporters seeking comment as he attended a meeting in Racine, Wis.

Local politics

Tribune blog
Before he enlisted in the Army, Patrick Daley joined his cousin Robert Vanecko in acquiring a 4 percent stake in Municipal Sewer Services from April 2003 until late 2004, company officials acknowledged. During that time, the company took over two city contracts from a bankrupt vendor and then obtained one-year extensions on each contract.

But when the company filed its economic disclosure statements with the city in February 2004 and listed three officers as owning 100 percent of the company, it failed to disclose the ownership interest of Patrick Daley and Vanecko. The disclosure was required at the time.

Jacquelyn Heard, Daley's press secretary, said that Daley had not been scheduled to take media questions on Friday, when the Chicago Sun-Times first reported the contracts involving Patrick Daley.

Heard said Daley learned of the contract issue this week, but she declined to characterize how he reacted to the news, noting that his son soon could be serving in harm's way.

"The mayor loves his son, and as he prepares to spend time with him before he is deployed that love for him supersedes all else," Heard said.

This is the first time it has been disclosed that one of Daley's children has had a contract with the city. Heard said she was "not aware" of any other contracts that the mayor's children might be involved in.

Daley's father, Richard J. Daley, in the 1970s had to deal with questions about his sons winning business with both the city and the Cook County Democratic Party, which he led.

When word got out that an Evanston insurance firm that employed his son John had won millions of dollars of city business, the late mayor reportedly uttered an expletive and said: "If a man can't put his arms around his sons, then what kind of world are we living in?"

Before joining the military in 2004, Patrick Daley earned a graduate business degree from the University of Chicago in and worked as an intern for Cardinal Growth, a private equity firm.

In 2003, Patrick Daley and Vanecko became minority investors in Municipal Sewer Services. The company was formed by investors who sought to take over city contracts held by Kenny Industrial Services, which had gone bankrupt.

On an economic disclosure statement filed with the city on Feb. 24, 2004, the new company listed its ownership as: Anthony Duffy, 20 percent; Robert Bobb, 40 percent; and Joseph McInerney, 40 percent.

Bobb and McInerney founded Cardinal Growth, the company for which Daley was an intern.

In a letter to employees Thursday, Bobb cited "mistakes" in filing forms with the city and placed the blame on Duffy, who no longer is with the company, and Duffy's administrative assistant.

"There were a number of mistakes or oversights with regard to filings when MSS was obtaining its predecessor's contracts with the City and renewals of these contracts," Bobb wrote. "The former COO and his administrative assistant are the sole persons responsible for those errors."

Duffy could not be reached for comment Friday. Bobb was traveling and unavailable for further comment, a spokesman said.

In the letter, Bobb disclosed that Patrick Daley and Vanecko made investments in 2003 "resulting in their owning 4% of the company.

"Their investments were passive in nature and were made long after the company had been awarded City contracts. While they no longer have a stake in MSS, we were proud to have Patrick and Bob as investors."

City records show that the company was paid a little more than $2 million in 2004. However, it is unknown how much money Patrick Daley and Vanecko made from the deal.

The company was awarded a new contract in 2005, but by that time Patrick Daley and Vanecko were no longer investors, a company spokesman said.

Since 2005, the city has paid the company $5.7 million, city records show.

Heard said the mayor had nothing to do with the company landing city business.

"It's incredible to me that anyone would believe the mayor would stake his reputation and all that he has worked for in an effort to help anyone, even a family member, get business," Heard said. "It's his reputation and he wouldn't risk it."

"It's incredible to me that anyone would believe the mayor would stake his reputation and all that he has worked for in an effort to help anyone, even a family member, get business," Heard said. "It's his reputation and he wouldn't risk it."

What reputation is Jackie referring to?

The reputation of being the head ringleader of the most corrupt city government in recent history?

The reputation for being the head ringleader of the most corrupt county government?

The reputation for being the major facilitator of more fraudulent scams than even his father could have dreamed of?

The reputation for being the liar, thief, scam artist and mastermind behind practically every scheme robbing the taxpayers 'daley', including, but not limited to, the gross abuse of the TIF program, insider deals to rival the worst scumbags on Wall Street, blatant bribery of many so-called 'leaders' of every ethnic and racial community in this city, etc.?

The reputation for being this city's mayor, and this county's manipulator, who has the distinction of putting every citizen in debt for the next 2 or more generations?

Which reputation is Jackie referring to?

(Response) Well written.

Sun-Times Reports Mayor's Son Got City Deal
Mayor's Office Says Daley Knew Nothing About Contract

CHICAGO -- An exclusive story from the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday reveals details of a city contract involving the Mayor Richard M. Daley's son, Patrick.

The front page of the paper reads, "Daley's Son's Secret Deal With City."

The article reports that Patrick Daley and a cousin had a hidden ownership stake in a sewer-inspection company whose city business rose sharply while the younger Daley was an owner.

The paper said it's unclear how much money Patrick Daley made from the contracts, but just months after he became an owner, the company got a $3 million extension on one city contract.

A spokeswoman for the mayor's office said that Mayor Daley never knew that his son and nephew had stakes in Municipal Sewer Services as the company sought City Hall’s permission to take over two contracts from Kenny Industrial Services.

"Yes, it is the mayor’s son, and, yes, it is also his nephew," Daley press secretary Jacquelyn Heard is quoted in the paper as saying. "But, as you know, the mayor is a very busy man, and he does not make a practice of knowing the details of other people’s investments, including those of his son and/or his nephew."

The Sun-Times noted that Patrick Daley cashed out of his investment as federal agents began investigating the Hired Truck Program, a far-reaching city scandal that ultimately cost careers and brought prison time for many.

Soon after, Daley enlisted in the U.S. Army and recently been ordered to active duty in Afghanistan.

For more information, read The Chicago Sun-Times exclusive report.

Mayor Daley’s son Patrick had a hidden interest in a sewer-inspection company whose business with the City of Chicago rose sharply while he was an owner, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.

Patrick Daley invested in Municipal Sewer Services in June 2003, along with Robert Vanecko, a nephew of the mayor. The pair cashed out their small investment about a year later, as federal investigators were swarming City Hall in the early days of the Hired Truck scandal

Here’s the hilarious part…

The mayor’s press secretary said Daley never knew that his son and nephew had stakes in Municipal Sewer Services as the company sought City Hall’s permission to take over two contracts from Kenny Industrial Services.

“Yes, it is the mayor’s son, and, yes, it is also his nephew,” Daley press secretary Jacquelyn Heard said. “But, as you know, the mayor is a very busy man, and he does not make a practice of knowing the details of other people’s investments, including those of his son and/or his nephew.

“The answer to your question, did he know about this, the answer is a resounding no.’’

This is the same mayor who harangues his staff about minor instances of graffiti he sees on his way to work. He’s a micromanager almost to the extreme.

Go read the whole thing. The mayor’s explanation just doesn’t hold up, especially considering who else was involved.

Daley press secretary Jacquelyn Heard said “But, as you know, the mayor is a very busy man, and he does not make a practice of knowing the details of other people’s investments..."

You mean, Jackie, like the taxpayers' investments when they pay their tax bills and cross their fingers that, this year, maybe they'll get 50 cents worth of actual benefits from each of their 100 cents paid in taxes?

Is that what you mean?