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Chicago Elections Chief Got Lobbying Contracts from Rahm Emanuel's Administration
Source: International Business Times
If Chicago’s first mayoral runoff in history ends up razor close on April 7, the city will be relying on a purportedly independent arbiter to oversee any recount. But that arbiter, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, is chaired by a politically-connected lawyer whose firm has received secret city lobbying contracts from incumbent Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration. After receiving those contracts, the chairman has already used his power to boost the mayor’s allies against anti-Emanuel challengers in other municipal elections.
Board chairman Langdon Neal was appointed to his position by the Cook County Circuit Court, not by any city official -- a structure that is supposed to preserve the board’s independence from candidates for municipal office. However, the laws establishing the election commission do not prohibit Neal from getting contracts from the mayor, whose election he will oversee. How much he has made from those contracts remains a closely guarded secret: the Emanuel administration has denied an open records request for the terms of the deals, refusing to respond to International Business Times within the timeframe mandated by Illinois law.
The only details that have been disclosed are in city lobbying records, which show that Neal’s law firm, Neal & Leroy, was awarded three lobbying contracts from Chicago Public Schools, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, and the Public Buildings Commission of Chicago at the beginning of 2012. Neal himself was listed as a lobbyist for the agencies in the city’s disclosure database in 2012, and the most recent city records show Neal is registered as a lobbyist for the agencies in 2015. All three agencies that gave Neal & Leroy lobbying contracts are controlled by Emanuel’s appointees.
A 2013 advisory opinion from Cook County officials said Neal's dual roles as an election overseer and a registered lobbyist contracted by Chicago does not violate county ethics rules. Ethics experts, though, say that the financial links between Neal and Emanuel's administration present an inherent problem for an election official who is supposed to be independent from the candidates running for office.
“The type of relationship that Neal & Leroy has with Chicago governmental authorities presents a conflict of interest and should be illegal,” said Dick Simpson, a professor of political science at the University of Illinois Chicago.
Board chairman Langdon Neal was appointed to his position by the Cook County Circuit Court, not by any city official -- a structure that is supposed to preserve the board’s independence from candidates for municipal office. However, the laws establishing the election commission do not prohibit Neal from getting contracts from the mayor, whose election he will oversee. How much he has made from those contracts remains a closely guarded secret: the Emanuel administration has denied an open records request for the terms of the deals, refusing to respond to International Business Times within the timeframe mandated by Illinois law.
The only details that have been disclosed are in city lobbying records, which show that Neal’s law firm, Neal & Leroy, was awarded three lobbying contracts from Chicago Public Schools, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, and the Public Buildings Commission of Chicago at the beginning of 2012. Neal himself was listed as a lobbyist for the agencies in the city’s disclosure database in 2012, and the most recent city records show Neal is registered as a lobbyist for the agencies in 2015. All three agencies that gave Neal & Leroy lobbying contracts are controlled by Emanuel’s appointees.
A 2013 advisory opinion from Cook County officials said Neal's dual roles as an election overseer and a registered lobbyist contracted by Chicago does not violate county ethics rules. Ethics experts, though, say that the financial links between Neal and Emanuel's administration present an inherent problem for an election official who is supposed to be independent from the candidates running for office.
“The type of relationship that Neal & Leroy has with Chicago governmental authorities presents a conflict of interest and should be illegal,” said Dick Simpson, a professor of political science at the University of Illinois Chicago.
Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/chicago-elections-chief-got-lobbying-contracts-rahm-emanuels-administration-1869898?utm_content=bufferaa011&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
