THOMAS: In charge of a TIF |
Her
behavior during the few months she was former county board President Todd
Stroger’s
deputy chief of staff was so brazen that prosecutors called it the “rape of
Cook County.”
YET
IN THE ongoing saga that is government corruption in Cook County, she might not
even be the most outrageous official this week.
A
part of me thinks that honor goes to John Thomas, a real estate developer who
now faces charges in U.S. District Court for allegedly using funds from a tax
increment finance district connected to the marina in suburban Riverdale –
which is just across the Cal-Sag canal from Chicago.
He
had a court appearance Wednesday, and used his time following the hearing to
complain that he’s the one who is being prosecuted.
Thomas
also says he wants nothing more to do with the marina in Riverdale – as though
if he can’t use its money to cover his own living expenses (the Chicago
Sun-Times reported that he was covering the payments on his downtown
condominium), then he no longer wants to be bothered with the facility.
THAT’S
SOME ATTITUDE for a real estate developer to take. The real hard-core
developers are the ones who think they can make money out of any property, in
legitimate ways.
Of
course, the degree to which Thomas was trying to skirt the rules of our society
seem to extend beyond this one scam. He previously faced criminal charges, but
managed to avoid prison that time because of the information he was able to
provide about politically-connected developer Antonin Rezko (remember him?).
There’s
also the fact that U.S. District Judge James Zagel had put restrictions on
Thomas’ being able to use a telephone or the Internet (so as to reduce his
contact with the outside world).
OGLESBY: In charge of Cook? |
But
the judge learned that Thomas is using his wife’s cell phone, and the Internet
connection through Google TV to send out e-mail messages.
THIS
IS A defendant who is going to have to be watched like a hawk while the
criminal charges are pending. This is NOT a routine case, by any means.
Some
$370,000 that he is alleged to have gained from the Riverdale Marina TIF was
likely just the starting point. And while I’ll be the first to admit that
Riverdale Marina has become decrepit, consider its potential if the money had
wound up going to fix the place up.
Although
the fact that Thomas was crass this week shouldn’t excuse Oglesby – who got the
6 1/2-year prison sentence for allegedly using her government office to divert
$325,000 worth of county contracts to the public relations firm she previously
operated, and also to some close friends.
What
makes her case interesting is that all the activity occurred in a two-month
time period.
OGLESBY
HAD BEEN a spokeswoman for Stroger’s unsuccessful re-election bid in 2010, but
she got the political consolation prize, of sorts, of being put on the county
payroll during that time period between the primary election and the time late
in the year when Toni Preckwinkle took over the post.
She
wasn’t in government for long. But she appears to have not wasted any time in
getting a benefit for herself.
Now
I realize as much as anyone that the reason people work is for some personal
gain. Very few people work for purely altruistic reasons.
But
this is taking personal gain to an extreme. Even the idea that corruption is
vague and hard to define doesn’t come close to justifying the attitudes
expressed this week by either Oglesby or Thomas.
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