Daley son’s business partner indicted

[harvey007]

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

City Hall hired a minority-owned trucking company to clean and inspect sewers south of 63rd Street, but the owner secretly farmed out the multimillion-dollar job to a company owned in part by Mayor Daley’s son and nephew, according to a federal indictment Thursday.

Read more: http://www.suntimes.com/3193061-417/company-brunt-sewer-mayor-son.html

[Thrill]

1. Just curious why is being minority-owned relevant?

Why did the writer feel the need to say that? Just seemed weird.

[Tansy_Gold]

2. Probably because there are laws (state? federal?)

requiring some portion of government contracts go to minority- and/or women-owned businesses.

I think the point here probably -- and I say this without having read the article -- is that someone fraudulently posed as a minority-owned business in order to funnel the contract to Daley's son's partner or whatever the hell the relationship is.


TG, TT

[elehhhhna]

4. Bigtime, this is very common in Chicago.

[No Elephants]

15. Really? how about some specifics and sources? Please see Reply 13.

What % of businesses are operating fraudulently?


A few frauds making headlines in ANY sphere does not negate all the honest people in the same sphere.

[Mark Maker]

5. FTA: And a very common practice

the city sets aside contracts for companies owned and operated by women and minorities that are nothing more than pass-throughs for white-owned businesses that actually do the work — and end up getting the bulk of the city money.

What's really egregious is that the party in power in Chicago touts the minority set asides and the "city bosses" end up participating in the scams.

[No Elephants]

13. Sun Times saying something does not make it so. However, it is an illegal

practice, common or not.

As an honorary (but proud) member of the National Association of Women in Construction, I assure you, plenty of minority and women owned businesses exist and perform their own work.


"What's really egregious is that the party in power in Chicago touts the minority set asides and the "city bosses" end up participating in the scams."


Party in power = Dems. You are generalizing from one incident to condemn the Dem Party AND set asides?

Btw, before minority and female set asides, minorities and women owned businesses got few to NONE of government contracts. That was pretty fucking "egregious," too, not to mention downright unconstitutional. Maybe that is why the "party in power in Chicago" "touts" set asides.

[madrchsod]

8. they hire a minority to be the front person for their company

sort of a common practice in chicago bids. this scam is also used in women owned business

[No Elephants]

14. Please see Replies 13 and 15.

[zbdent]

3. wow ... they didn't wait long to impugn the Obama pick ...

[Mark Maker]

6. The mayor’s son, Patrick R. Daley, and nephew, Robert G. Vanecko,

were not charged with any wrongdoing.

They knew nothing! Nothing!

[Better Believe It]

10. Patrick Daley. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.

[Tx4obama]

7. And this has nothing to do with BILL DALEY, Obama's pick. n/t

[MadBadger]

9. Sounds like you dont know your Daley's

[Still a Democrat]

11. No doubt the right will use this to somehow disparage the President's pick

Thanks for the heads up.

[harvey007]

12. Actually the GOP applauds the choice of William Daley

Why? Because corporatists on the right and left are joining forces to fight populists on the right and left.

[No Elephants]

16. Why the son's partner indicted, but not the son and nephew, I wonder.

During the time the mayor’s son and nephew had a stake in MSS, it was given more than $4 million in no-bid contract extensions from City Hall. The mayor later said he never knew his son and nephew had a stake in the company until the Sun-Times uncovered it.

<snip>

Between 2000 and 2006, Brunt subcontracted all of the city sewer-inspection work south of 63rd Street to Kenny or MSS.

<snip>

“Patrick Daley, who owned about 2 percent of this company, walked away from it seven years ago with no knowledge of any wrongdoing,’’ said the mayor’s press secretary, Jacquelyn Heard. “I think it’s a stretch to call him a business partner’’ of Duffy.



Oh, well, if he says so.