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Mayor Daley's Answer to the Budget Woes, Rest and More Rest!

christywebberlandscapes.jpg The Chicago Alderman and Mayor Daley lied to the Chicago public for months. Mayor Daley went to China despite the massive budget deficit. To reduce the hemorrhaging, union leaders are going to cozy up to Daley, and sell jobs. Before anyone I know loses their job, we are going to fight to remove these clout contractors with no-bid, do nothing contracts. Enjoy this picture of Christy Webber landscapers enjoying the workday. Christy Webber is a scab non-union company that is well connected. They are on the "in" in Chicago politics. When Mayor Daley wants some flowers or sprucing up for VIPs visiting our broke city, he know who to call. Christy Webber made a fortune by cashing in on her "Disability", being a woman. I do not think after a certain amount of time or success, contractor should get a leg up because of their choice of sex partners, their sex, or race. The set asides in Chicago are corrupt and loaded with crime and clout. Mayor Daley should make every contractor bid on every job, large or small. Christy Webber does not deserve anymore no-bid work. Many of these companies pay their workers poorly with no benefits, just like the Hired Truck Program. I think it is time for Christy Webber to put on her overalls and start to act like a man and compete with the big guys. I think she could do it! Remember Chicago "Let's take a siesta" and rest. Now if city workers got caught doing this, what would happen? Fight for your jobs city workers! Photo by Patrick McDonough

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A high-ranking city official at O'Hare International Airport oversaw the
work of a landscaping contractor that employs his parents, raising new
questions about favoritism in City Hall contracts.

Chicago's ethics law forbids officials from having authority over the work
of companies that employ their relatives.

John Teele, the deputy commissioner of facilities at O'Hare, had authority
over a contract with Christy Webber Landscapes in 2001 and 2002, Aviation
Department Commissioner John Roberson said Friday.

Teele's mother and father worked at the landscaping firm, records show.

Christy Webber won a new, three-year deal last month to be the main
landscaping contractor at O'Hare and Midway International Airports. The city
will pay the company as much as $6.6 million.

Roberson, who has been aviation commissioner for a year, said he recently
took authority over landscaping at O'Hare away from Teele after learning
that Teele's parents worked for Christy Webber.

Teele's brother, Terry -- a former top aide to Mayor Richard Daley --
continues to do business with Christy Webber. Last year, while city
officials were considering Christy Webber's bid for the new airport
contract, the firm hired Terry Teele to lobby City Hall.

The city's ethics ordinance also prohibits officials from supervising work
done by companies that have contracts with relatives of those officials.
Terry Teele's lobbying for Christy Webber does not appear to violate the
rules because John Teele no longer supervises landscapers.

However, another lobbying client of Terry Teele is Globetrotters
Engineering, whose work at O'Hare International Terminal 5 falls under the
purview of John Teele.

After the Tribune on Friday told Aviation Department officials of Terry
Teele's contract with Globetrotters, Roberson said he immediately asked the
Chicago Ethics Board to rule on whether John Teele is in violation.

"That's not for me to determine," Roberson said.

Roberson said he had no plans to inform the Ethics Board about any potential
violation relating to John Teele's oversight of Christy Webber's contracts
before his tenure as aviation commissioner began. Roberson said he did not
have proof that the firm employed the Teele parents during those years.

"I wasn't [with the Aviation Department] at that time," Roberson said.

While he was Daley's first deputy chief of staff, Terry Teele oversaw
billions of dollars of development and public-works projects. He resigned in
2000 after admitting he had arranged $10,500 in personal loans from Oscar
D'Angelo, a lobbyist and friend of the mayor.

Most of that money, $7,500, was for John Teele, who needed to pay for
divorce lawyers.

The city's Ethics Board investigated John Teele but cleared him of
wrongdoing in that case. The board concluded that he obtained the loans
before he went on the city payroll, when he was not yet bound by city ethics
rules.

John Teele, 43, did not return calls seeking comment Friday.

He has been deputy commissioner of facilities since July 1998. His ex-wife
stated in divorce records that Terry Teele, who is 14 months older than John
Teele, got John Teele the Aviation Department job. In an interview Friday,
Terry Teele denied using his City Hall influence to help his brother get
hired.

Christy Webber began working for the Aviation Department at O'Hare under an
"emergency" contract in 2001, officials said. Aviation officials sought out
the company after the landscaping contractor then working at the airports
suffered financial problems and stopped doing city jobs.

Kristen Lobbins-Cabanban, the department's spokeswoman, said John Teele told
her Friday that he had played no role in selecting Christy Webber for that
job.

The city paid Christy Webber $158,000 for the emergency work at O'Hare in
2001 and 2002, Roberson said. Christy Webber also was a subcontractor for
the company that did landscaping at O'Hare until last year.

Officials in August asked for bids for landscaping work at O'Hare and
Midway. The contract was set aside for a minority- or woman-owned business,
and Christy Webber turned in the low bid for the three-year agreement,
officials said.

John Teele's father, William, said that Christy Webber hired him in 2001 as
a seasonal worker and that he plans to resume working for the firm this
year.

His wife, Govanna, began working for the company in 2002, according to
records from the couple's bankruptcy case filed the next year.

She still is an office worker there.

Christy Webber paid the couple more than $56,000 between 2001 and 2003,
according to the records.

Asked how they got their jobs, both husband and wife declined to comment.

"I don't know if I should answer," said Govanna Teele, reached by telephone
at Christy Webber's offices Friday. "I don't want to get myself or anybody
else in any kind of trouble.

"I'm working," she added. "I'm not a ghost payroller."

Christy Webber, the company's president, said she hired William Teele
because she thought "adding a retiree to my workforce would be good for the
entire company culture, which tends to be young." Webber said William Teele
suggested to her that she hire his wife.

Christy Webber works throughout Chicago, including Millennium Park and Navy
Pier. The firm also employs Gov. Rod Blagojevich's sister-in-law, Deborah
Mell.

Webber said Terry Teele had nothing to do with the company's new contract at
O'Hare and Midway, although she hired him as a City Hall lobbyist in
October.

"I hired Terry as a business consultant for $1,500 a month because of his
big-picture talents," Webber said in an e-mail response to questions from
the Tribune.

Terry Teele said he does not lobby the Aviation Department on behalf of
Christy Webber or Globetrotters, which pays him $2,000 a month, records
show. He said he lobbies other city departments for his clients.

Globetrotters is part of a joint-venture team that has been property manager
for O'Hare Terminal 5 since it opened 12 years ago.

"I will never do anything at Aviation as long as my brother is there," Terry
Teele said. "I do nothing at O'Hare Airport."

Tom Manion, a former Daley political operative who has worked with Terry
Teele, lobbied the Aviation Department for Christy Webber to get its new
contract and represents Globetrotters, records show.

When it comes to city layoffs . . . everybody is a target
And that could even mean cops and firefighters -- even though crime in Chicago is on the rise

August 15, 2008

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com
Chicago's chief financial officer on Thursday pointedly refused to rule out layoffs of sworn police officers and firefighters -- even as homicides and violent crime continue to rise -- to close a $420 million budget gap over this year and next.

"We're not gonna speculate on the number of layoffs or if they are even necessary. . . . We're simply framing the issue," Volpe said after releasing the city's preliminary 2009 budget.

» Click to enlarge image “This has to be worked — not for one year, but for three or four or five years out,” Mayor Daley said Thursday.
(Al Podgorski/Sun-Times)

RELATED STORIESDaley finally comes clean about budget crisis City cuts to hit all levels

If it comes to layoffs -- one alderman projected as many as 1,800 -- Volpe was asked if police officers and firefighters would be included.

"Today, everything's on the table. That I would tell you. The mayor has said that he will not increase property taxes. That's a certainty. Anything else, we've got some tough choices to make," Volpe said.

Daley added, "It's a crisis. . . . The public sector is not immune from this economy. . . . It's not gonna go away. This has to be worked -- not for one year, but for three or four or five years out."

Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue said the collective bargaining agreement includes "contractual protections" for rank-and-file officers if police cuts become necessary.

"There's a sizeable number of civilian employees in the Police Department -- several hundred of them -- who would have to be laid off prior to any police officers being laid off," Donahue said.

But, he added, "We don't think the City Council would tolerate it."

Aldermen agreed.

"I don't think it'll be introduced, nor do I think it would have any chance of passing. There's a perception in many communities that we don't have enough police protection," said Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th).

Ald. Tom Allen (38th) added, "We need more police -- not less. That would meet with strong resistance -- especially in light of the current spike in violence."

Tom Ryan, president of Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2, said: "We're gonna handle all of those issues at the bargaining table."

Two weeks ago, Daley postponed the city's preliminary 2009 budget until Sept. 30 to give his financial team more time to gauge declining revenue and negotiate cost-saving union concessions.

But pressure has been mounting for the mayor to come clean about the magnitude of the problem to build political support for the tough choices ahead.

On Thursday, Daley changed course and released a preliminary 2009 budget that includes a $420 million gap over this year and next.

The problem of deeply depressed revenues tied to the housing crunch and dramatically higher fuel and snow removal costs is so severe that Chicago ended 2007 with an unreserved balance of just $4.6 million.

That's a dangerously low level that threatens the bond rating used to determine city borrowing costs. A 2004 balance of $19.7 million balance prompted a ratings drop.

The bond rating is further threatened by Volpe's decision to at least consider raiding the $500 million long-term fund generated by the Chicago Skyway lease.

"That would definitely impact the credit quality. . . . The plan was to keep the $500 million and not touch that," said Ted Damutz, senior credit officer for Moody's.

John Kenward of Standard & Poors said the Skyway fund "provides a strong backup reserve to supplement the city's thin general general fund balance. That was key to upgrading the rating a couple of years ago."

Despite those warnings, Allen emerged from a closed-door briefing on the budget with his own four-point proposal that includes a Skyway fund raid. "Take $100 million out of there. TIF funds have close to $400 million. Take out the key, unlock the safe and tap into that. . . . Suspend the aldermanic menu program for a year, saving $60 million. And stop building for a while. I know it's a good thing for our city. But, we've got to stop, take a deep breath, count to ten and postpone some of these capital projects," he said.

ummmmmmm you guys gotta stop using the term scabs for non union workers, a scab is a person who crosses a picket line during a labor strike, a non unoin worker is a rat, however there are alot of workers out there that would like to be union, but the doors are closed to them, so are these people just supposed to sit at home and collect welfare or should they work?

(Response) Chicago is a Union town, right? Do you understand Daley sets up front companies so the "disadvantaged" get a piece of the pie? This way the Unions get bypasses in the equation. Keep it for real!

I'm reminded of the time that Catherine - a little girl in our neighborhood - told me that she wanted to be President one day.

Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there with us - and I asked Catherine "If you were President, what would be the first thing you would do?" Catherine replied, "I would give houses to all the homeless people." "Wow, what a worthy goal you have there Catherine." I told her (while both parents beamed), "but, you don't have to wait until you're President to help the homeless. You can come over to my house and clean up all the dog poop in the back yard and I will pay you $5 dollars. Then we can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $5 dollars to use for a new house."

Catherine (who was about 6) thought that over for a second, and replied, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and clean up the dog poop himself, and you can pay him the $5 dollars?"

Welcome to the Republican Party, Catherine.

The best is how the Weber gang had the nerve to bill Midway airport for water. The best part of all was that they could regularly be seen filling up their trucks by the fire house or blocking the traffic on central & 55 hooked up to the city's fire plug

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G


"...success, contractor should get a leg up because of their choice of sex partners, their sex, or race..."

Making huge fortunes because she announces that she is a homosexual and practices homosexuality.

Our society is definitely doomed unless we have a political revolution whereas conservatives must attack the political liberalism, calling out liberals and ABSOLUTELY DENYING AND REJECTING the DUMMYING-DOWN of our United States of America.

TAXPAYERS PAY a person millions of dollars because she says she's a homo.

Making huge fortunes
[ from taxpayers ]because she announces that she is a homosexual and practices homosexuality.
------------------------
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G
_________________________
A-M-A-Z-I-N-GA-M-A-Z-I-N-G
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

www.11thWard.US

(Response) I do not care if someone is gay or not. The point here is the phony contracts cost money and benefit unfairly. It is abused time and time again in Chicago. Many of these people get free land and benefits even after they make millions of dollars.

Time to DUMP DALEY

Will Daley be wise enough to stop chasing the olympics and turn his attention to establishing a fiscally-responsible and sustainable city government... when pigs fly.

No, the olympics will probably be promoted as a "gotta invest to earn" public project that will soak taxpayers even further. Skyway funds will be depleted at a rate that's probably faster than the time it took to negotiate the lease with that foreign company that now runs it.

Yes, instead of responsible government Daley will just raid funds to feed the beast and keep the derelict city running.

What's up next as America goes broke because our politicians are crooks? Probably privatization of all of the cities most valuable assets, and probably to foreign bidders with deep pockets.

Maybe the CTA will go to the Russians? Maybe Navy Pier will go to Dubai... they like ports? Maybe McCormick Place will go to the Saudis? Maybe O'Hare Airport will go to the Chinese? Let's just sell off the whole friggin' city to foreigners, and raid the funds to pay for Chicago's bloated government, or the olympics.

Yeah, let's have the Olympics demonstrate our international worldliness that the late great City of Chicago is broke and up for sale. It'll kind of be like how fairs like "Around the Coyote" introduced suburbanites and yuppies to Wicker Park? Let's bend Chicago over so it can be gentrified by the world.

It would probably not be so nice to be "owned" where city government is just a pawn of private and foreign interests, much more so than it is today.

It sounds like it's time to dump Daley, or get out while one can.

Hi,
Christy Webber here, the bad ass, clout heavy l****** landscaper!

Thanks for the photo, that crew heads out at 4am to work on a city contract that we were the low bid on so if they're sleeping on the job... we are losing money! The photo is embarrassing as I don't even like them sleeping during their paid 15 minute breaks or 30 minute lunch break. I am constantly asking my neighbors and friends that are out and about in Chicago to call me if they see something like this, I only wish you would have sent it to me rather than the entire Internet world, if it's wrong they will be fired!

And as a resident of the City of Chicago (as is 98% of my staff) we take our taxes and work very, very seriously. We are very grateful, blessed and understand the importance of doing our job well. We know we are directly in the line of fire in a time of fear due to the downturn in the economy, high gas prices (which affect our fixed contracts adversely)and layoffs all over. There is not a day I don't thank God for our work, my staff, and his goodness.

But seriously do your homework before you make statements that are not true.

We are a union contractor! Unlike all the other landscapers in the city we are members of the laborers local 4, Operating Engineers local 150 and even our grass cutters have been organized. It's such a hassle just doing all the paper work that I can't believe you would even say that without doing some research. Believe me I deserve credit not criticism for being Union as a landscaper.

Our contracts are publicly bid and won not by clout but by how low we can go to get the work. All contracts can be viewed on the city of Chicago's website, www.cityofchicago.org. for verification.

For example the aviation contract we hold was lower than the next qualified bidder by over 1 million dollars. Why? Partly because we took the time to really study the contract specifications and do simple things like really measure the site, count the flowers, calculate the needed mulch and stupidly leave a lot on the table because we really wanted to be the winner. That is one of those fixed contracts that the rise in gas is killing us. Our bad.

And... if you review the payouts on the website we have never in any one given year collected 6.6 million dollars, that is the contract total if we were to do every single line item on the menu in a given year. The best analogy I can use to help you understand is this. If you go out to eat and order everything off the menu your bill would be 6.6 million, but if you order what you want to eat or what the menu/ contract is intended to do,(eat a steak) pick the weeds, plant the flowers, cut the grass, you do about 1 million. It's very misleading when you don't tell the whole story.

And I have 5 full time salaried employees that do nothing but bid projects or menu contracts and we only win 10% of the ones we bid due to our union agreements that put our labor cost above our competition and just not being the lowest! Nothing is handed to us, we work our tails off to try and win them. We have yet to win a full fledged Chicago Park district bid in years!

And I feel for you, I don't want you to lose your job but do you really want to cut the grass at the water department, O'Hare, Midway or any other place we work? If the answer is yes please come and help as finding good employees is a challenge.

Lastly Patrick, one of my neighbors that works for the water department told me you were pissed at my company and that you may try to hurt me. Why? What good does it do for anyone in Chicago? I am sure you are trying to help your fellow co-workers but in the meantime your fear of the unknown that drives your comments could possibly destroy (by perception)a local company that employs over 260 people, how could that help your situation or the City of Chicago?

There's a lot of bullshit out there, and I chose not to participate in spreading it but I would also like someone like you to know I am trying to run a good company, one that you would be proud of and confident in the processes that we have to follow to get to were we are. Let's work together to make it a better system if more and more work is going to be privatized.

Forgive me for any misspellings or grammatical errors, a writer I am not! I am truly a laborer and love what I do, landscaping and cutting the grass.

Christy

(Response) Christy, I made several minor corrections to your response. I did not change content. I wish you and your company the best. I hope you understand the point I was trying to make.

I am thinking more and more that Daley does not want to go out like his dad or the way that John Stroger did. One of these days a chunk of gunk is gonna break off his arteries and give him a stroke if he continues to get all worked up and beet red. I think he is going to push his brother Bill. Thats a no no. Don't think he has no back up plan. He wants control long after he meets his makers advocate. Something's in the works.

Hey, patrick, how about posting your apology and a clarification of the facts as an article, not merely as a feeble, half assed response to being called the sloppy, misleading, journalist-wannabe that you've proven yourself to be.


"...point I was trying to make."?


Please.


At least try to have the decency to admit you were 100% wrong, and to do so where your few readers can't miss your admission.


Or are you not up to the task of being honest?

(Response) Please clarify your demands.

Wait wait wait, have you ever seen these people that work for her, I drive past these people and they are rude, they step in front of you while they are on the bust street. They are a disgrace if you ask me. they slack off worse than a city worker. They swear at people for doing nothing, but they jump in front of you, the last guy that jump in front of me said "hit me I will sue the fucking pants off of you" I said wow. I did call the company, but just like city hall, no one called me back from Chrissy. So these (my opinion) lazy do nothing but waste Chrissy's money. she hires 260 people where did she find them at? and they do terrible work in my opinion.


Well, if you accept Webber's response as factual, perhaps you could verify that what she's said is, in fact, true, and, then, compose and post an article detailing those truths.


And if you are, as you present yourself to be, interested in exposing the, presumably, many city and county contractors employing non-union and, presumably, low paid employees, thus depriving union workers of much needed employment, an article, or series of articles, detailing this fact would also be something your readership will have much interest in reading.

Along with the means by which these contractors gained their overly lucrative contracts.

Since the 'media' sees fit to ignore corruption in city and county governing, are you up to the task of doing their job, for the good of all?

The owner of this blog is no journalist. He may claim to ne nut if he worked as a reporter for any real media outlet, he would have been fired with in a week.

He claims to be a journalist to cover up his violation of City Work Rules, the fact he lived or lives outside the city and his continual harassment of people who stand up to his lies or try to get him to do his job.

How many FOI have you files this year? How many were aimed at people who question what you were doing or getting you to do your job? No one wants to question him as they will get harassed by him.

Has any one wondered how he work as a reported on this blog? He takes pictures of him all over the place and claims he was there doing something or have you ever wondered why he has all of the confrontations with all the public officials or people?

(Yawn) (Response) We publish rubbish responses, please put your name down next time.

I can't believe that you have not corrected any of this article. First off, the City of Chicago minority/women owned business has nothing to do with an owners sexual orientation. There are over 1,000 business registered under the M/WBE program with the city. If you think that only these
"disadvataged" companies get contracts/emergency contracts you are sadly mistaken. To reiterate what Christy posted you can check this city's website for all contracts/bid tabulations and what has been paid. There is no big secret here. Also if you have any questions regarding Christy's affiliation with unions, please contact Local#4 and #150- operating engineers. I'm sure that you are not going to retract any of this because you are trying "to make a point". Point is your story only has one thing that is true.. the guys ARE sleeping in the truck. I know that they are the only two people in Chicago that sleep on their break. Glad you caught them!

(Response) Thomas, I have written back and forth to Christy. She is a positive person that brought up several issues and corrections. I am not hating on Christy, if that was a city worker with no Clout he would have been fired. I never suggested the worker to be fired. Christy has Clout, no doubt! Her company made Chicago Clout for that reason. Not all Clout is bad. Remember, many times taxpayers pay for waste in government, Chicago is broke, we need to look at everything. Thanks.

According to the first admendment I dont have to reveal my name and as a real jopurnalist unlike you I dont reveal my sources but unlike you I dont use the press to harass people.

Say our you on vacation this week or our you using city time to respond to these questions and taking photos instead of doing you job?

What time can you meet with Dr. Phil?

(Response) How are things in Central District. P.S. The back of your head is flat. It is a shame your momma never picked you up from the crib!

What is the central district and now you have to insult mothers? You reaaly need a session with Dr Phil right after you enroll in a journalism course.

Anyways Pat you really need to stop blamingothers for your own issues and admit you are or were a resident of Lake Forest Il and stop making up so called news stories by taking pictures of yourself and then making up a story to go with it.

I can't believe how bad Christy Webber stuck it to you and how horribly wrong your entire slam on her company was. It just goes to show you that your bullshit left unchecked is worse than any wrongdoing you claim to uncover--which is why no real credence has or ever will be paid to your stupid site. Keep up the good bullshit --The People of Chicago

(Response) Enjoy my next posting on Ms. Webber

As with this post it just goes to show some or most of this blog's owner is where he takes a picture of has a picture of him taken and then make up part or all of a story to make himself the victim or hero.

Makes you wonder about his credibility?

(Response) How is the City of Chicago Law Department doing today?