Better Government Association

Clout-rich Blagojevich friend now lobbying in Springfield

BY ERIC KROL
Daily Herald Political Writer
Posted Sunday, March 25, 2007

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's longtime friend and one-time chief of staff is now a lobbyist whose top clients have ties to a Springfield powerbroker implicated in last fall's indictment of the governor's top fund-raiser.

Lon Monk was able to sidestep a 2003 ethics reform law prohibiting key state government decision-makers from a "revolving door" cash-in on their connections for one year because he left state government in January 2006 but still continued to work for Blagojevich - this time running his re-election campaign.

Monk launched his lobbying career two months ago, and state records show he's already signed up four clients. Three of them have ties to William F. Cellini, the longtime bipartisan Springfield powerbroker whose name surfaced last October in the indictment of Antoin "Tony" Rezko. He's a Wilmette businessman who raised millions for Blagojevich's campaign fund and paid real estate commissions to Illinois' first lady, Patti Blagojevich, a licensed agent.

Rezko faces charges he used his influence with Blagojevich to try to shake down companies that wanted state pension investment business for kickbacks and campaign contributions. In the Rezko indictment, prosecutors listed Cellini as "Individual A," alleging that he was an intermediary as Rezko and convicted political insider Stuart Levine attempted a $2æmillion shakedown of a businessman seeking state pension business. Cellini has not been charged in the case.

Now Cellini is helping Monk, Blagojevich's former chief of staff, find lobbying clients.

Marvin Traylor, director of engineering and research at the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association, which employs Cellini as its executive director, said the group hired Monk because "we needed someone to help carry our messages to the constitutional offices."

"I live in Springfield. It's a small town and politics is a way of life here. It was no secret that several people from the administration were not returning to state government after the election and would be lobbying. Mr. Monk was one of those we heard would be available," Traylor said.

Monk did not respond to requests for comment.

The leader of one watchdog group said that while there's nothing illegal about Monk becoming a lobbyist, it certainly doesn't square with Blagojevich's vow that he would change "business as usual" in Springfield.

"What's interesting here is rhetoric versus reality. The Blagojevich administration has always been 'no more business as usual,'æ" said Jay Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association. "He's the living embodiment of 'business as usual,' when your former campaign chief is lobbying for one of the state's biggest insiders."

The Daily Herald asked the administration if the governor is taking any special precautions to ensure his longtime friend doesn't wield undue influence for his clients. Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff offered the following response: "Lon Monk has to comply with the same rules and restrictions as every other lobbyist in Illinois."

Countered Stewart: "Is anyone really hiring Lon Monk just on his lobbying skills alone?"

Park Ridge's Monk is a former sports agent whose clients included figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. He befriended Blagojevich when the two were law school roommates at Pepperdine University in southern California, then served as his top aide in Congress. After a run as Blagojevich's 2002 campaign manager, Monk was named chief of staff. He left in January 2006 making about $135,000 a year, to reprise his campaign manager role. Monk collected $220,000 from Blagojevich's campaign fund last year.

Monk's client list is made up of groups that benefited from decisions the Blagojevich administration made while Monk was chief of staff. The clients are:

• The Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association, where Cellini is executive director. An investment firm owned by Cellini's two children got a contract under Blagojevich with the Illinois State Board of Investment to invest $60 million in state worker pension funds.

• The Stough Group, a Hinsdale firm that builds affordable housing for seniors and relies on state-backed loans and rent subsidies through Blagojevich's Illinois Housing Development Authority. Stough executive Michael Pizzuto used to work for another Cellini company. Blagojevich also appointed Pizzuto to the State University Retirement System board.

• Public Issues Management, the lobbying firm of Fernando Grillo, whom Blagojevich appointed director of the agency now known as the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Grillo used to regulate doctors but now lobbies for them on behalf of the Illinois State Medical Society. The medical society uses Cellini to manage its real estate holdings. And Grillo hired Monk to lobby with him on the doctors' behalf.

• The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, which received $12.3 million in state grants since 2003 - Blagojevich's first year as governor.

Cellini has wielded significant clout in Springfield for decades, first under a series of Republican governors and now under Democrat Blagojevich. Cellini was part of a venture that got one of the first Illinois casino licenses. He also was part of the ownership group that defaulted on a $15.5 million state loan for a Springfield hotel that recently went into receivership.

While Cellini isn't a direct contributor to Blagojevich's campaign fund, his asphalt association gave $12,500 last year, a bank he's associated with has given $3,600 and his children's firm, Commonwealth, gave $1,000.

Monk's name has not surfaced publicly in any of the Blagojevich administration corruption investigations. Monk's duties as Blagojevich chief of staff included hiring. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald wrote in a letter last summer that his office his investigating "very serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud" under Blagojevich.