FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 11, 2005

Contact:
Jay Stewart – Executive Director - (312) 427-8330
Dan Sprehe - Chief Investigator - (312) 427-8330

Joint Investigation Finds Massive Increase In Campaign Contributions from CHA Contractors to Housing Authority Chief’s Home Ward Political Interests

An 8-month joint investigation by the Better Government Association (“BGA”) and reporters from the Residents Journal has found that dozens of Chicago Housing Authority (“CHA”) contractors have been contributed more than $250,000 to the 17th Ward Democratic Organization, a political committee in the ward where CHA Chief Executive Officer Terry Peterson formerly served as Alderman and Committeeman.

CHA Chief Executive Officer Terry Peterson was Alderman and Committeeman for the 17th Ward until he was appointed head of the CHA in May 2000. Not long after, Peterson’s successors and related campaign committees began receiving contributions from businesses with CHA contracts. The amount and number of contributions by CHA contractors to 17th Ward political committees and candidates jumped significantly after Peterson assumed leadership at the CHA. The 17th Ward itself has no CHA developments.

In September 2001, the 17th Ward Democratic Organization, which had been dissolved more than four years earlier, was reestablished. Since that time, the organization has taken in $673,333.05, of which $250,368.32 – 37.18 percent – came from contractors at the CHA. From 1996 through 1999 CHA contractors had donated only $23,600 to Peterson’s aldermanic campaign committee, Citizens for Peterson.

“We’re very concerned about the stunning explosion of campaign contributions by CHA contractors to the 17th Ward and political figures from there that seemingly coincides with Terry Peterson’s elevation as head of the CHA, the very body that hands out the contracts,” said BGA Executive Director Jay Stewart.

Circumstances such as these point to a need for better campaign finance laws in Illinois. “Both Mayor Daley and State Comptroller Dan Hynes have signed executive orders banning contributions from government contractors in their respective levels of government, simply to avoid the appearance of the ‘pay-to-play’ arrangements prevalent in the Hired Truck scandal,” Jay Stewart said. “Until real campaign finance reforms are enacted at all levels of Illinois government, massive contributions on the level seen in the 17th Ward will continue to raise questions and contribute to the perception of ‘pay-to-play’.”

In Illinois it is not illegal for government contractors to give donations to political organizations or candidates. However, it is illegal for government officials to condition government action, such as the awarding or renewing of contracts, on the basis of political contributions.

To read the full story, go to the Residents' Journal website.