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22 | CHICAGO SUN-TIMES | MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

The year was 2004. The newsin Chicago was filled with re-ports about the Hired Truck

Scandal at City Hall and the citysbudget crisis.

Anyone picking up a newspaperor watching the TV news could seeMayor Richard M. Daley had plentyto deal with.

It turned out he was facing evenmore turmoil behind the scenesthat year, including these devel-opments that would prove to beheadaches for Daley after coming topublic prominence years later:

The police investigated

and quickly, and without charginganyone, ended their investigationof a homicide case involving themayors nephew, Richard J. R. J.

Vanecko, and Bridget HigginsMcCarthy, the daughter of a closeDaley friend;

City Hall awarded no-bid con-tract extensions worth millions ofdollars to a company whose inves-tors secretly included Patrick Daley the mayors son and anotherDaley nephew, Robert G. Vanecko;

The city reached agreement on

a multimillion-dollar deal involvinga company with financial ties toPatrick Daley to bring wireless In-ternet service Wi-Fi to OHareand Midway airports.

All of this took place against thebackdrop of the mayors wife Mag-gie Daleys fight with breast cancerand the pending federal indict-ment of James Duff, a key politicalsupporter of the mayor who wouldplead guilty the following year tocharges that he fraudulently ob-tained $100 million in city contracts

that were supposed to have gone tocompanies owned by women andminorities.

Few knew then all that was go-ing on in Daleys world. Some ofit has come to light only recently.Together, the pieces now knownoffer a more complete look at whatDaley was facing in his political andpersonal lives in what turned out to

be his unusually turbulent 16th yearas mayor:Jan.23-25,2004 In a three-

day, front-page series, the ChicagoSun-Times exposes what came to beknown as the Hired Truck Scandal.The newspaper documents thattrucking companies hired by thecity in a $40 million-a-year program

were PAID TO DO NOTHING,exposing City Halls Hired TruckProgram as a hotbed of payoffs,sweetheart deals and questionable

ties to city workers and the mob.Jan.26, 2004 Federal

authorities arrest Angelo Torres, aformer gang member who ran theHired Truck Program for five years.Torres who has close ties to theHispanic Democratic Organizationrun by former top mayoral aide

Victor Reyes is charged withextorting money from the owner of

a trucking company. Torres laterpleads guilty and goes to prison. He

is the first of 49 people charged inthe case, 33 of them city employees,including Daleys patronage direc-tor, Robert Sorich. All but one endup getting convicted.Jan.30, 2004 The Sun-

Times reveals that three of the larg-est companies in the Hired TruckProgram bought insurance fromthe mayors younger brother, CookCounty Commissioner John Daley,

who also runs the familys insurancecompany in Bridgeport. AmongJohn Daleys trucking clients:

Michael Tadin, a longtime friend ofthe mayor.Jan. 31,2004 In his first

public comments on the HiredTruck Scandal, Daley says: I amembarrassed. Im angry, and Imdisappointed because I feel I havelet the people down. I am respon-sible for everything that happens incity government. . . . When prob-lems occur and change is needed, itis my responsibility to ensure thatit is complete. In the case of theHired Truck Program, that did not

happen, and, for that, I apologize.The mayor would keep trying toreform the program until he shutit down in October 2006.Feb. 4,2004 Daleys budget

director, William Abolt, whose officehad oversight of the Hired TruckProgram, is forced to resign.Feb. 6,2004 The Sun-Times

discloses that the city water depart-ment spent about $1 million overfive years hiring trucks from a com-pany owned by the mother-in-law

of Daley cousin Mark Gyrion, thewater departments superintendent

of garages.Feb. 9, 2004 Daley fires

Gyrion, whod been set to get apromotion that would have put himin charge of the water departments

warehouses, equipment and trucks.Theres no sacred cows or sacredanything in my administration,Daley says.April 8,2004 City Hall

gives one-year contract extensionsworth a total of more than $4 mil-lion to Municipal Sewer Services,a sewer-inspection and cleaning

company secretly owned in part byPatrick Daley and Robert Vanecko.They invested in the company inJune 2003. But their ownershipinterest wasnt disclosed on docu-ments the company filed with thecity a violation of city regulations and remained unknown until it

was revealed by the Sun-Times inDecember 2007. Six months ago, afederal grand jury returned a mail-fraud indictment against MunicipalSewer Services president, AnthonyDuffy, and Jesse Brunt, owner of the

sewer companys key subcontrac-tor, Brunt Brothers Transfer Inc., atrucking company, accusing them ofengaging in a minority-contractingfraud scheme.April25,2004 A man

whom the police will positivelyidentify only early this year as R.J.

Vanecko punches David Kos-chman in the face during a drunkenconfrontation on Division Streetnear Dearborn. Koschman, 21, ofMount Prospect, falls, cracking his

FROMHIREDTRUCKSTOHOMICIDE

In2004, Mayor Richard Daley wasa manbesieged withthe Hired Truck

Program andcitybudget problems,butalsobehind-the-scenes turmoilthatwouldnt surface for years. | JEANLACHAT~SUN-TIMES

Much thatDaley faced in2004tookyears tosurface

THEWATCHDOGSTHISWEEKBYTIMNOVAK AND CHRISFUSCO

PatrickDaley RobertG. Vanecko R.J.Vanecko

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head on the street. Vanecko and afriend, Craig Denham, run away.Two other Vanecko friends Kevin

McCarthy and his wife BridgetHiggins McCarthy tell the policethey dont know the two men whoran off.May 4,2004 Federal

prosecutors interview Al Sanchez,Daleys commissioner o f streetsand sanitation, whose departmentspent millions of dollars throughthe Hired Truck Program. Sanchez who was also a leader of Daleyslargest patronage army, the His-panic Democratic Organization

will be indicted three years later oncharges that he helped rig the cityshiring system to reward campaign

workers with jobs, promotions andraises. Sanchez is now in prison.May 6,2004 Koschman dies

at Northwestern Memorial Hospi-tal. His death, from brain trauma,is ruled a homicide by the CookCounty medical examiners officefour days later.May 10, 2004 Daley renews

his call for a land-based casinoin Chicago. Gov. Rod Blagojevich

balks, and the proposal eventuallydies.

May 13, 2004 R.J. Vaneckois linked to Koschmans death

by Bridget Higgins McCarthy daughter of Jack Higgins, amayoral friend who built the citysnew police headquarters and whoowns a North Side condo where themayors son was registered to voteat the time. She tells the police that

Vanecko and Denham were the menwho ran away after Koschman waspunched.May 14, 2004 William

Daley, the current chief of staff to

President Barack Obama, stepsdown as president of SBC Com-munications to becomeMidwest chairman of J.P.Morgan Chase. SBC is oneof nine companies seekinga city contract to provideWi-Fi service at OHareand Midway.May 20, 2004 R.J.

Vanecko and his friendsDenham and McCarthyappear in a police lineup,

but no witnesses identify Vanecko

as the man who punched Kos-chman. Vanecko refuses to talk withdetectives. The police and the CookCounty States Attorneys Officedecide there isnt enough evidenceto charge anyone in Koschmansdeath, and the case remains openand unsolved until the police reopenit six months ago, following a Sun-Times request for records from theinvestigation. On March 1, 2011, thepolice announce theyve determinedthat Vanecko punched Koschman

but close the case without filingcharges or consulting with prosecu-

tors. They say Vanecko acted inself-defense though they also sayKoschman didnt strike anyone andhad been arguing with Denham, not

Vanecko.May 20, 2004 Marco Mo-

rales a crooked city contractorwho fled the country rather thantestify about having bribed city of-ficials is found in Mexico. Federalauthorities later bring him backto the United States to serve hisprison sentence on cocaine charges.June2, 2004 Despite his

long-standing support for Wal-Mart, Daley refuses to cast the de-

ciding vote that would haveallowed Wal-Mart to opena store on the South Side.Daley & George, the lawfirm headed by his brotherMichael Daley, previouslyrepresented Wal-Mart on aseparate zoning issue.Juy 16, 2004 Mil-

lennium Park opens, thecrown jewel of Daleys ten-

ure in office but, at $475 million,

it ends up having cost three timesmore than expected and opens fouryears behind schedule.August 2004 Concourse

Communications owned by aventure-capital firm with financialties to Patrick Daley is chosen

by Daleys aviation commissioner,John Roberson, and a panel ofcity employees to install the Wi-Fisystem at OHare and Midway.The contract is signed more than a

year later, in September 2005. City

officials say the mayors son had noinvolvement in the deal. But nine

months later, Concourse will be soldfor $45 million, and Patrick Daleygot $708,999 from the sale, the Sun-Times reported last week.September2004 A year

after 13 young people died when anapartment-building porchcollapsed in Lincoln Park,City Hall hires Andy Ryan,the 19-year-old son of acarpenters union officialas a building inspector.Sun-Times columnist CarolMarin reveals that Ryan

apparently falsified hisapplication, claiming hehad completed a four-yearapprenticeship. After less than a

week on the job, Ryan quits, andDaley blasts city Building Commis-sioner Stan Kaderbek for not hav-ing checked Ryans qualifications.The union that Ryans father helpsoversee was a major campaigncontributor to Daley.Oct.6, 2004 A federal

grand jury indicts two city em-ployees Gerald Wesolowski Jr.

and John Quarters Boyle oncharges they shook down truck-ing companies seeking city workthrough the Hired Truck Program.Wesolowski, a key aide to top city

water official Donald Tomczak, andBoyle, a hoisting engineer, laterplead guilty and go to prison. Boylelanded his job with the city after a1992 conviction for stealing $4 mil-lion from the state tollway system

while working for an armored-carcompany.

Oct.9,2004 Nick LoCoco,a retired city employee and mob

bookie, is arrested by federalagents and accused of secretlyowning one of the trucks he hired

while overseeing the Hired TruckProgram for the city Departmentof Transportation. Of the 49 people

charged in the HiredTruck Scandal, LoCocoends up being the only one

who escapes conviction dying that December fromhead injuries after beingthrown from a horse.Oct.22,2004

Tomczak by now retiredafter years as the second-highest-ranking official in

the water department is chargedwith shaking down trucking compa-nies for more than $500,000 over aspan of at least a decade. Tomczaklater pleads guilty and testifiesabout the Daley administrationsillegal hiring schemes. He recentlygot out of prison.Oct.27, 2004 The Chicago

City Council approves a 99-yearlease of the Chicago Skyway to

private operators for $1.82 billion.One of the law firms that worked onthe deal Katten Muchin Rosen-man announced after Daley leftoffice last month that its hiredDaley as a rainmaker, to bringin new business. The law firm waspaid $822,760 for its work on theSkyway deal.Nov. 19, 2004Another city

transportation employee Pat-rick Stillo is arrested and laterconvicted for taking bribes from a

trucking company that authoritiessay used its trucks to steal asphalt

from city job sites while federalagents were watching.Nov. 29, 2004DV Urban

RealtyPartners, a real estateinvest-ment company, is created by Robert

Vanecko and longtime mayoral allyAllisonS. Davis. They get hiredtoinvest$68 millionfromfive citypension funds andput themoneyinto several risky real estateventuresthat, so far, have lost money. Amongthem: theold headquartersof theChicago Defender newspaper, whichremains vacantand boarded up.

Nov. 30, 2004 Sun-Timescolumnist Michael Sneed breaksthe news that Patrick Daley has

joined the Army, months after the29-year-old was awarded a mastersdegree in business administration,

with honors, from the Universityof Chicago. There are many pathsof service policeman, fireman,political and the military but itsan all-volunteer era, Patrick Daleysays. Ive always wanted to find a

way to serve . . . just like my grand-father and my father.

December2004 PatrickDaley and Robert Vanecko get a$13,114 tax distribution as they selltheir interest in Municipal SewerServices, and recouping their origi-nal $65,000 investment.Dec.15,2004 The Chicago

City Council approves an $85.7 mil-lion tax-and-fee increase, the largestin Daleys tenure, to balance thecitys $5.1 billion budget.Dec.29, 2004 Patrick Daley

leaves for basic training.

AngeloTorres, whoran thecitys Hired Truck Programfor five years,was charged with extortingmoneyfrom theownerof a truckingcompany.He wasthe first of 49 people 33 of them city employees charged in thescandal. | SUN-TIMES FILEPHOTOS

William Daley

John Daley

WHEN PROBLEMS OCCUR AND CHANGE IS NEEDED, IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT IT IS COMPLETE.

IN THE CASE OF THE HIRED TRUCK PROGRAM, THAT DID NOT HAPPEN, AND, FOR THAT, I APOLOGIZE. MAYOR RICHARD M. DALEY