ChicagoClout

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Many of the candidates are tired by the long draw out fight to become Cook County Board President. Chicago Clout has had all candidates discuss their positions including our friend President Terrence J. O'Brien of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Terrence has run a great campaign with John Davis a warm and wonderful Chicago Icon. I am in the process of getting the videos online so all the voters can make well informed decisions. Mr. O'Brien and his family are wonderful people. Photo by Patrick McDonough

Posted by at 10:44 PM | Permalink

Chicago Clout welcomed Cook County Board President Todd Stroger to a half hour show hosted by Judge Anthony Lynn Burrell to get the facts out as the campaign winds down. President Stroger has been a welcome guest on Chicago Clout before. Thank you to CAN-TV for the wonderful help at getting this show on the air before election time.

Posted by at 9:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Make sure you get out and vote in Illinois. Angelo Fata has been a very loyal supporter for better government in Chicago. He is pictured with the former Inspector General of the City of Chicago, David Hoffman. David Hoffman will make a great Senator to help all workers in Illinois and throughout the United States. Many of the Chicago City Workers that stood up against corruption and waste will stand with David Hoffman on Election Day. I am an unabashed supporter of David Hoffman; I admire his accomplishments and courage to make America even better. We need to reward those that have fought for us, vote in support of David Hoffman. Photo by Patrick McDonough.

Posted by at 9:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The North Side of Chicago has very powerful voting bloc which includes the Jewish Community. After work today Chicago Resident Saul Charak invited me to visit Or Menorah. Temple Menorah, is the only Reform congregation in West Rogers Park. I really felt welcome as a guest and the members were friendly. Today was the Cook County Board Presidents Candidates forum. I was a little late because I am an employee of the City of Chicago that works the entire day despite this being a must show political event. Todd Stroger was very arm to me and we discussed a couple of matters, I missed Dorothy Brown and Toni Preckwinkle, and Terry O'Brien. I was very glad all these candidates showed up on behalf of Alderman Stone (50Th Chicago) and Ira Silverstein an Illinois State Senator featured on Chicago Clout not long ago. I also saw the Channel 5 News Team because Carol Marin was the Moderator. I hope all my friends take a close look at Judge Yehuda Lebovis, a recipient of the United States Inspector General Award. Any judge that gets a nod from the Inspector General is a friend of mine. Punch #192 to keep a good judge. Saul an Operating Engineer and 50Th ward political heavy weight has been friends with Judge Lebovits for almost two decades. Photo by Patrick McDonough

Posted by at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Dirty tricks and last minute bombs are dropped in the democratic primary for Cook County Board President. Dorothy Brown got socked in the face with allegations of pocketing "Jean Day money". This story has roots from disgruntled ex-campaign political operatives that jumped ship from the Brown Campaign to the Preckwinkle Campaign. I do not think any government office should have any cash floating around. I do not like the fact anyone collects cash with-out a proper receipt. But if the Preckwinkle political operatives are making hay because Dorothy Brown will not carry them on the payroll, we got problems all the way around. I called the Preckwinkle camp to get a straight answer today, they are not sure who is who in the string pulling department. One would expect the men to get as dirty as these two ladies. Terrence O'Brien seems to stay on track, rock solid and Todd is not getting much traction at all. I wish all the candidates the best; I hope they know they are walking into a very difficult office. I will give you more info if you are interested. Photo by Patrick McDonough

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Posted by at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

The Celtic Knot is a wonderful Irish Restaurant in Evanston, Illinois. It has wonderful food and tonight January 21, 2010 was visited by a wonderful and enthusiastic group of Democrats supporting David Hoffman for U.S. Senate. Davis Hoffman was joined by two young Irishman that are some of his most excited supporters. Michael and David McDonough told me they are telling all their friends to have their parents vote for Mr. Hoffman in the election just a few short days away. I hope all of you well educated voters make sure you tell everyone to vote this primary election. I also agree with my children and will vote for David Hoffman. As a parent I reward my children for wise choices, I recommend all voters reward David Hoffman for making wise decisions while in public service. I must admit, candidates like David Hoffman give all of us a reason to go to the polls and vote. David Hoffman was also joined by Chicago City Workers tonight including teamster local 700 leader Angelo Fata and Operating Engineer Saul Charak. Most of the people in attendance were very passionate in their support for David Hoffman. Photo by Patrick McDonough.

Posted by at 8:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Posted by at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I called David Hoffman's office today and became a phone bank volunteer for the 48th Ward in Chicago. I also put together a volunteer task force in several surrounding areas of Cook County. I am letting everyone know because I have been an unabashed supporter of David Hoffman and made contributions to allow him to get his message out. I also called Karen Nystrom, Director of volunteering today at make her aware of the terrible situation with the Chicago Teamsters working at the Chicago O'Hare and Chicago Midway Airports. Workers are asked to show up and are sent home after two hours despite the fact nonunion workers are rock kicking and doing nothing at the airport. Chicago Teamsters also have lawsuits that might just return all this money back, so why not keep them working until a settlement is decided? Many of these teamsters are going to lose their homes and cars despite their heroic round the clock work when the snow emergencies hit Chicago. Several leading Teamsters from Local 700 (former 726) will attend a Hoffman Party in Evanston January 21, 2010 at The Celtic Knot 626 Church Street Evanston, including Angelo Fata. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. I strongly ask those with Union concerns to show up and tell David Hoffman our side of the story. If you are a reporter for Chicago Newspapers and the suburbs, make sure you show up we will have some interesting information. Photo re-edited by Patrick McDonough

Posted by at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Would someone please tell Mayor Daley to remove his signs still on the Chicagoland Expressways! Tell Daley his private companies left town without picking up their trash! Enough is Enough.

Posted by at 8:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

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Today about 61 employees from the McPier authority had a going away party; another twenty five should have their own going away party next week. A total of one hundred are slated for the chopping block due to greed and mismanagement. No more public pensions and now it is 401 K for the new hires. When I read the newspapers, they report how Daley and Quinn are going to fix the problem. These are the fools that have destroyed our convention business with incompetent personal incapable of realizing there is a problem and are too scared to fix the problem. This is how management in Chicago works, you have people in charge that come to work to play on the computer, if you make a decision, jealous supervisors undo any improvements. The only qualifications you need in Chicago for management positions is an ability to tell the next lackey above you what a great job they are doing. Get a picture of a young Daley on your desk if you really want to impress. I hope you enjoy the fruits of this work ethic, this is a picture I took at McCormick Place today. The Chicago Boat and RV show was a yawner if I ever saw one. The boat show yesterday was really bad, Wednesday was worse, and today was a disgrace. I talked with many vendors and they told me they are going to the smaller surrounding shows to sell next time. This Chicago Boat show is less than one third of prior shows. There was a lack of carpeting, just some red carpet in the aisles. The vendors looked shell shocked at the lack of business. Many people are sick of the nineteen dollar parking fee as soon as they arrive. You are out of twenty dollars before you turn you car off! When I went inside you can feel the unhappiness of the employees. Most of the employees work for private companies and really do not care what goes on. Most of the workers are black folks that look unhappy, just rock kicking to collect a check. Each bathroom had two persons cleaning and I watched one guy with rubber gloves wiping the urinal lip with toilet paper, his mind on other things. The bathrooms were the same old tile from decades ago and the expansion joints were very dirty, even the McDonalds had dirty wallpaper. The pizza from Connie's was dry due to the lack of customers, but the service was excellent. The McDonald's express did not have the fine line of coffee I really like. Much of the boat show was sales of things that had nothing to do with boating, cheap knife sets, pots and pans for cooking healthy. The pots and pan guy reminded me of a sham wow commercial! If the attendance of the boat show is any indicator of the health of Chicago, we are all in trouble. I took many pictures and they were all very depressing. I think the thing that bothered me the most was the lack of elegance or class McCormick Place has. I guess when you have idiots making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year doing nothing and a bunch of no-cares making minimum wage, you have a receipe for disaster. I would really look at the contractors and investigate the markup they get on these workers making minimum wage. I would also reduce the pay of the trades' people to twenty dollars an hour and fire their union representation. Privatization may be good for Mayor Daley and his family finances, but it is hell for everyone else in Chicago. I was told changes are on the way for McCormick Place, but Daley threw the baby out with the bath water. There are many ways to improve McCormick Place, but change starts at the top, I think this gig is up for quite some time to come. Make sure you book all of your conventions outside Chicago until Daley is gone, you cannot make a silk purse out of a cows ear! Photo by Patrick McDonough taken January 15, 2010

Posted by at 7:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Working for the City of Chicago requires some heavy lifting while onlookers watch you work. In fact today was no different, the City of Chicago and various agencies could have pitched in to help the taxpayers win a fight against a never ending battle against corruption. I admit I am a little upset because I spend much of my own time preparing cases, hours of computer work, preparing pictures, cds, and hours or research that is never paid for by the city. In fact if you want to improve Chicago, Daley and his Administration fight you the entire way. The payoff was great today again today because the two investigators, the only employees for the Department of Water Management actively enforcing the taxpayer's safety won another court victory. Every single case has resulted in additional income for the City of Chicago and less for the Plumbing Inspectors with their bribe taking agendas. Every single case has been a victory for the City of Chicago and the taxpayers. The Water Department shows gratitude by shortening my pay and hours served. On another matter, Mayor Daley and the City of Chicago quietly approved another three million dollar contract to locate utilities in Chicago. The last company Adesta, located in the suburbs, had the same three million dollar contract that ballooned to over eleven million dollars! I do not know how many times I went to a Peoples Gas Company job when Adesta mismarked the water service and the gas company pulled the water line causing flooding and additional damage. I always demanded 803 requests to recover the taxpayer's money, but the guy in charge was downstate on other business. This month the new underground utility company is feasting on millions of dollars of taxpayers' money. The company is named Utility Resource Group located in Michigan, yes the state of Michigan. Mayor Daley should explain why Mr. Bigshot is sending Chicago Taxpayers money to another state while we starve and remain un-employed. Maybe Mr. Bigshot was his Michigan house and wanted to impress everyone on his ability to get a multimillion dollar contract to his friends. On the first day I found these people from Utility Resource Group, an employee showed up in a leased mini-van and had the entire Department of Water Management plat book on his computer. He makes sixteen dollars an hour with full health benefits, has access to the lives of every Chicago citizen. He does not need to live in Chicago and his company is not located in the flippin state. He does not need to pay Union dues despite doing the same work. This company does not have an office in Chicago, nothing. Daley must be insane; Chicago citizens are out of work. This company gets no furlough days, nothing! Mayor Daley, who set up this deal? Who got a cut? Any ideas? Why was the last company removed? When did the bidding process start? The job I was on did not need this company called or hired. If a Water Department foreman for the City of Chicago needs a private company called out to locate the water main, then Mayor Daley and his goon's pick for foreman make Chicago the laughing stock of the world. How in the world can anyone justify calling a private company to tell a municipal employee whose job it is to know where the water mains are, where the water mains are? To really make matters more ridiculous, the low level dispatch employees have the authority to call these companies at anytime. Folks, this is a scam contract, a fraud, and a bad deal for Chicago Taxpayers. These people are going to go way over the contract and double the work the City Workers already get paid to do. Nobody from the department is verifying their work, WTF? I demand an investigation NOW. Patrick McDonough, Chicago's most prolific Whistleblower.

Posted by at 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Laz Parking and the City of Chicago parking meter problems compounded themselves today when Chicago Clout busted Mayor Daley's idea of a quick bailout for the next 75 years. This dude was parked illegally at a bus stop while he was playing with his cell phone. He blocked the oncoming bus at the corner of Kenton and Lawrence making people walk further away from their bus stop. Thanks to Mayor Daley these companies will continue to drive on Chicago Streets acting like they are police and continuing to break the laws. Another one of these trucks made u-turns in the middle of the street today. I wish someone would ask Mayor Daley why these drivers for Laz act like they are the police! The real joke was when I took several pictures of this guy on his phone and he did not even notice me. He did not even budge. This was the same crap the Hired Trucks did also. I guess the word is out to protect the Daley family "deal". Later in the day, I noticed a bunch more of Daley's idiots around Jefferson Park on Lawrence. I hate to swear, but 75 more years of these jack-donkeys is more than I can stand. If you are an advocate to remove this company from Chicago, please contact me. Photo by Patrick McDonough.

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Posted by at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In 1983, Richard Daley ran for office attempting to become mayor of Chicago. Mayor Daley lost to a black man and the greatest and most respected mayor the City of Chicago ever had, Representative Harold Washington. To watch the Chicago media fawn over Mayor Daley, you think he never would have lost a race, but Daley did. When you watch Chicago media, you also read journalists write what Daley meant and not what he said. I was also the first person to call out Chicago media on the use of camera angles to make Daley seem as big as the person he was pictured with. This is a real belt buckle given only to Mayor Daley's closest henchman in his major defeat as mayor in 1983. There was one for each of his 50 goons sent to handle his failed bid to be mayor. This belt buckle is in mint condition. Are you interested? Photo by Patrick McDonough.

Posted by at 8:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

A few days ago, Ronald Bober, a famous Investigator for the City of Chicago Department of Water Management just got done with lunch and was greeted with a great big "Hello" from John G. Mulroe a candidate for Senate in Illinois. He is a fine upstanding breath of fresh air in the Democratic primary to take over for James "FEDS at the Door" DeLeo. I have not made up my mind in this race, but John would be a strong choice and any friend of Mary O'Connor 41St Ward Committeeman, is a friend of mine. John was very interested in hearing what the Chicago Water Department crew had to say. We need more politicians that are able to do so. Please contact John and see if he would be a good candidate to represent you and you community. Go to his website here: http://www.mulroeforsenate.com/ Photo by Patrick McDonough

Posted by at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The week got off to a great start when many City of Chicago Department of Water Management employees reported back into the yards to swipe in and swipe out with hand imaging. Many well connected employees were calling the finance department and requesting a bypass of the hand swiping machines and use the kronos system that only requires a swipe with an I.D. This swipe system has cost the Chicago Taxpayers billions of dollars over the years. One of the employees said "things will go back pretty soon". I know this pattern has happened many times; millions in consulting fees and management contract scams have done nothing to stop this craziness. In the past many non-connected employees were punished and some terminated for this exact infraction. A second gold star for the Department, I have noticed a typed and permanent looking overtime list for the Plumbers and Caulkers for the Department of Water Management. It is a great start to protecting the fraud that continues in the department. If the Chicago Plumber's Union got off their fat ass and did what they were paid to do, the Plumbers and Caulkers would get a proper list like the Laborers Union. Making progress is like pulling teeth in the Water Department. Some employees continue to report overtime discrepancies despite the Shakman Decree. Just yesterday, I was involved in a propane explosion that put me into a Chicago Fire Department Ambulance and then Resurrection Hospital emergency room. I am grateful to everyone for their professionalism, accidents are no fun. My face and hands are burned and I lost all much facial hair. I lost one half an inch of hair off my forehead, but it should all grow back. Ouch. I am glad steps are being taken to get face shields and proper safety items for this dangerous work. Thank to all my fellow Plumbers and Caulkers for your kind words and safety suggestions. I have pictures I am posting so remember to request safety items and live!

Posted by at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)

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Posted by at 11:37 PM | Permalink

President Terrence J. O'Brien is giving Chicago and Cook County Voters a reason to smile in 2010. Terrence is stepping up to the plate to take over troubled Cook County Government and get our county headed in the right direction. Mr. O'Brien has quietly and efficiently steered the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District in the right direction. In fact, I can say his leadership has kept his employees on task and out of the limelight. That is the kind of leadership I was referring to when I wrote, "Now is time for great leaders to step up and get the United States of America turned around". On a personal note, I am glad President O'Brien agreed to the hot seat on "Chicago Clout" our Can-Tv, youtube, motionbox, and internet show. The show taped this afternoon. Terrence J. O'Brien's staff was courteous and professional throughout the entire set-up through execution of the show. The level of follow up and preparation to detail sold me on the competence and leadership he will provide us as Cook County Board President. There was no asking twice to take a picture with President Terrence J. O'Brien. Photo by Patrick McDonough If you wish to join the O'Brien for Cook County Board President campaign, please click here..http://www.obrienforcookcounty.com/index.html

Posted by at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

2009 was not a good vintage for the City of Chicago. The City of Chicago is in turmoil and things might get much worse. On this website, I blame Mayor Daley for many of Chicago's troubles. I will ask many of you to take a good long look at yourself and then decide who the real culprit is. Chicago could be considered a small country by many standards. Too much control has been given to too few, and the results have been disastrous. We need new leadership in Chicagoland. Chicago Clout will continue to help as many as possible, we will work much smarter in 2010. Please run for office if you have solutions, we will give a voice to anyone willing to step forward. The candidate's opinions are different than mine; the city workers voices are different than mine. We have had many high profile candidates and elected officials over the years on our public access show and internet. Please make sure you call Chicago Media outlets his year and tell them your story. Be organized and brief. Remember, if your story is not heard right away, it might be heard later. Everyone is needed to fix our City and our country, but you need to challenge those that use elected positions to reap a financial harvest and pilfer for personal gain. Time to work anew, Patrick McDonough.

Posted by at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)