By Steve Rhodes
“A top aide to Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown could be in hot water for failing to disclose in her personal bankruptcy case that she had a six-figure taxpayer-funded job,” Dane Placko, Patrick McCraney and Robert Herguth report in the Sun-Times.
“The aide, Yvonne Davila, was hired in May to serve as Brown’s press adviser at $104,000 annually, according to county records and interviews.
“However, when she filed a federal court petition the next month to try to secure a Chapter 7 bankruptcy designation, citing serious financial problems, Davila didn’t mention her county job even though she was required by law to provide a full financial picture, FOX 32 and the Better Government Association found.”
For those not in-the-know:
“Davila [is] a relatively well-known publicist in Chicago who is close friends with first lady Michelle Obama.”
Davila says the omission was an honest mistake and I’m sure it was. I intend to honestly make a mistake later today on my tax forms.
Billboard Battle
Jay Levine vs. Mick Dumke.
Bird Man Of Uptown
Ald. James Cappleman wants to put mentally ill people who feed pigeons in jail.
She Was Rutan
“Mary Lee Leahy, the Springfield attorney who triggered a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Illinois political patronage more than two decades ago, has died,” AP reports. “She was 72.”
Mary Lee Leahy took the case Rutan v. Illinois Republican Party to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990. The court’s 5-4 ruling dealt a blow to Illinois’ tradition of political patronage. The court ruled governments generally can’t make hiring decisions based on politics.
Illinois government was forced to revise its hiring policies and ignore political connections.
“What I’m trying to figure is what state interest does patronage serve?” Leahy said in 1996. “There is no state interest in requiring that the guy who fills the potholes in the highways contributes to the Republican Party.”
Joe Berrios said in a statement that the ruling doesn’t apply to him. Or at least he thought it.
Swindle Spindle
“A swindler involved in one of the most expensive schemes in the history of Chicago’s federal court pleaded guilty Wednesday to securities fraud as part of an unusual deal with prosecutors in which he would live with relatives while he is treated for colon cancer,” the Tribune reports.
“Prosecutors agreed to free Michael E. Kelly for up to 120 days in return for his admission of wrongdoing, which will clear the way for some $50 million in restitution to be paid to thousands of victims. He would stay with relatives in Indiana during treatment.”
Well, I suppose being forced to live in Indiana is punishment enough.
Gold Star
When I first started hanging around Wicker Park after moving here in 1992, I had what I called the Holy Trinity of hangouts: Inner Town Pub, Rainbo and Gold Star. It was only later that I made the Beachwood Inn my home.
Still, I don’t recall ever knowing Susan Stursberg, which is weird, because apparently she knew everyone in the ‘hood – including many of my friends. It’s clear from the many posts and comments about her death that have flooded my little corner of the Internet that this was my loss.
Here’s Huffington Post Chicago’s obituary for the “beloved neighborhood fixture.”
The Gibson Goldtop Collection
In a Chicago music store now.
The Blue & Orange Kool-Aid Report
Introducing OAF.
Sandy Candy
Check out the Beachwood Twitter feed for real-time commentary on last night’s Sandy benefit show.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Commentable.
Posted on December 13, 2012