The Blagfather

9:57 am, 1/21/05

The Blagfather
Dominic Longo, a former Blago henchman, has joined Mell in attacking Blagojevich.

While the Coalition for Better Government (CBG) undisputably has worked very hard for countless candidates, we also have become a victim of our own successes.

In Chicago, strong and victorious political organizations often are labeled by the media as corrupt and unsavory. And in the era of "The Sopranos," those of us with vowels at the end of our name make for juicy stories in the press.

However, like thousands of other registered political organizations across the state, the Coalition for Better Government has and will continue to work hard and honorably for qualified candidates for office.

Longo feels he is a victim of unfair media stereotypes of Chicago politicians and Italian-Americans? Presumably, he also feels he was a victim of the unfair criminal justice system that convicted him of felony vote fraud in the 1982 election.

We were there for Blagojevich when he ran for state representative. We were there for him when he ran for Congress. And yes, we were there when he ran for governor.

Undoubtedly, if it were not for the support of Ald. Dick Mell and the Coalition for Better Government, Blagojevich would have simply remained a rinky-dink attorney to this day. Rod depended on us, and we were a very significant source of help in his elections.

We knocked on doors, passed out literature and put up signs. Rod combed his hair and shook hands. Rod was close to us and has publicly thanked CBG on a number of occasions.

Unfortunately, Jim Ryan chose to distort our image for political gain. For the sake of his poll numbers and from the advice of out-of-town advisers, Rod Blagojevich reacted by swiftly disassociating himself from those that were there since the beginning.

In the future, I suggest Ms. McQueary check her facts before making untrue assertions. If she simply asked around, she quickly would have known John Boyle has had no involvement with our organization for at least two years and has never run our organization, let alone maintained any leadership position.

Here's an example of the "distorted" membership of the hilariously named "Coalition for Better Government".

Another CBG member is Ronnie "Little Pistol" Calicchio, the chief investigator for City Hall's Department of Revenue. Ronnie insisted he could carry a concealed handgun, even though he's not a cop, even though the mayor denies handguns to folks without clout. Dominic Longo runs the CBG. He was convicted on vote fraud charges.

Back on Oct. 7, 1998, I asked the mayor why he provided them with cushy city jobs. He ridiculed the question.

"They're serious [accusations]," Daley said, his voice rising in mock outrage, jaw dropping in pretend astonishment, hoping to coax a giggle out of other reporters. "Oh, we're looking at them."

Later, he didn't know anything. He didn't know who could carry guns in his anti-handgun city. He didn't know about others of similar arrogance, like then-Department of Transportation boss Tony Pucillo of Blazergate fame, whose ears are burning now that fugitive Marco Morales is closer to a homecoming with the feds.

He didn't know about Dave "Pool Boy" Ochal, the political airport operations boss, who had an expensive built-in pool put in in his backyard. It flooded his neighbors' basements. Ochal didn't have permits. He couldn't produce canceled checks to show how he paid for it.

Daley would shrug, make a face and defend them. In the case of Pool Boy, the Sun-Times editorial board went out of its way to curry mayoral favor by defending Ochal. The editorial said Pool Boy would remove his pool as a sign of good faith. The pool is still there.

Surely they're being unfairly persecuted for having vowels at the end of their names.

These are the sort of people who are "there" for Governor Blagojevich. Now, who wants to start my car for me?