04/18/10
Cook County's 'Coffee Czar'?
by TPS Newsdesk
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn may have taken some heat for hiring a longtime aide to be the state's $85,000-per-year "canoe czar" (before quickly backing off the plan) — but Cook County residents may be interested to know that their government has a "czar" of it's own.
A "Coffee Czar", that is.
Thanks to the county's new "Open County Initiative", which allows the public to search and view the county check register online, we identified $76,291 in checks that were paid to Elgin-based ACE Coffee Holdings, Inc. since December 2009. According to the company's Web site, in addition to coffee, ACE sells additional products, such as cups, lids, sports drinks, water, tea and snacks. Additional government entities with which the company has had contracts include the Illinois Tollway Authority, Community Consolidated School District 54 (Schaumburg), the Oak Park Township Senior Services Nutrition Program, the University of Illinois and the Illinois State Board of Education.
According to Illinois State Board of Elections Web site, ACE also has been an active political contributor over the past decade, contributing almost $30,000 to local politicians and political committees since 2000. The great majority of those contributions ($20,250, to be exact) have gone to political committees affiliated with longtime 14th Ward Alderman and Democratic Committeeman Edward M. Burke, including:
-- $11,250 to Friends of Edward M. Burke
-- $3,000 to The Burnham Committee (of which Burke is listed as chairman)
-- $3,000 to the Democratic Party of the 14th Ward (of which Burke is committeeman)
The company's CEO, Bernard E. Cavitt, also made $10,500 in contributions to Burke-related committees since 2000.
The county's online check register was the result of a resolution introduced last year by Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-16) and passed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The new database allows searches of all county expenditures from FY 2010 (beginning in December 2009) onward.
"I've long said we have pay-to-play on 'steroids' here in Cook County, but it appears it might actually be fueled by coffee," said Peraica. "I'm not certain of the connection between this company and Alderman Burke, but he has had a long history of raking in big campaign cash from those who do business with local government."
Added Peraica, "Our check registry on-line shows that taxpayers can blow the whistle on corrupt practices of their government. Go ahead, take a look, and find your most offensive expenditure."
