Taking a time-honored page from the handbook of
shrewd political image-makers, Mayor Richard Daley has chosen the last day of
the millennium, when virtually the entire world will be riveted on New Year's
celebrations or fears of impending computer chaos, to release what promises to
be embarrassing news for his administration.
After an investigation that dragged on for five months, City Hall has
announced that it will release the results of an internal review into how a
politically connected family with mob ties, the Duffs, won about $100 million in
city-related contracts.
The City Hall inquiry was prompted by a Tribune story, published in July,
that detailed the Duffs' political and mob ties and showed how they had cashed
in on city policies that set aside a portion of contracts for women and
minorities.
Daley promised to "look into" the allegations, and aides initially
promised quick results, certainly within weeks. By Thursday, however, city
officials made little effort to hide their efforts to bury the investigation's
findings.
After all, City Hall is closed Friday for New Year's Eve, and the mayor's
appointees said they had to scramble to locate city office space in another Loop
building that will be open Friday so they could release the Duff findings to the
press.
Jacquelyn Heard, the mayor's spokeswoman, explained that the Duff briefing is
scheduled for New Year's Eve because "the investigation is concluded, and
the Law Department decided to publicize the findings before the end of the year.
"All aspects of the report have finally been completed and the goal
initially was to get it out before the end of the year. The Law Department has
everything prepared to make it public."
Then why not release the report Thursday?
"Because everything is prepared for tomorrow," Heard said Thursday.
"There were still some pieces that needed to be put into place."
She would not elaborate.
Daley is relying on a political trick that crafty politicians have used for
decades: If you have some bad news to release to the public, make sure you do it
on a Friday.
The reasoning is that most people are so absorbed by the weekend, they pay
little attention to the evening newscasts or the Saturday papers. Consequently,
the political fallout from the bad news is blunted.
From his first days in office, Daley has proven himself a master of this
political tactic. Like his ally, President Clinton, who saved many embarrassing
disclosures about campaign finance miscues for Fridays, Daley has released all
sorts of grim news on the last day of the workweek.
It usually comes in the form of a brief press release, dropped on reporters'
desks late in the afternoon. That gives reporters as little time as possible to
contact sources and prepare their stories for the next day.
In 1989, for instance, reporters were handed a press release one Friday
announcing that Daley's cultural affairs commissioner was resigning. In fact,
she was forced out of the job after publicly criticizing Daley for cutting arts
funding.
Three years later, the city announced on a Friday it was to blame for losing
133 exams that were taken by firefighters seeking to make the rank of
lieutenant. A year later, City Hall announced the closing of a Loop-based
Streets and Sanitation office on a Friday after an internal investigation found
that one of its employees was spending his workday driving a mob gambling boss
around town.
The trend has continued in recent years. Police Supt. Matt Rodriguez resigned
on a Friday in 1997 after the Tribune disclosed his friendship with a felon.
Earlier this year, Fire Commissioner Edward Altman announced his retirement on a
Friday after an embarrassing family feud spilled into the public domain.
The mayor picked a Friday this summer to announce the city would have a $120
million budget shortfall that likely would result in a property tax increase.
The finding of the Duff report is especially sensitive for the mayor because
of the family's mob ties and because the apparent impropriety disclosed by the
Tribune involving contracts could have political implications in a city with a
majority of minorities.
Much of the work performed by the Duffs, who are white, was for janitorial
services and sorting for the city's recycling program.
The Duffs, who have run political fundraisers for the mayor, stated in city
documents that one of their companies, Windy City Maintenance, is owned and
operated by a woman, though the Tribune's investigation found little evidence
the woman has done any work.
Another company tied to the Duffs, Remedial Environmental Manpower, is listed
as being owned and operated by an African-American, but Daley's own staff
initially balked at awarding the company minority-owned status because the
purported owner "appears to be substantially reliant on James Duff."
Friday's press conference promises to be embarrassing for Daley no matter
what the investigation concludes.
If the city corroborates the Tribune's investigation, it would admit to
giving millions of dollars in contracts to white men that was supposed to go to
women and minorities. But if the city finds no wrongdoing by the Duffs, Daley
could face criticism that he gave his political friends a pass.
On Thursday, city officials were tight-lipped about their findings.
Daley will not attend Friday's briefing on the Duff report. In his place, the
city will offer for questions Mara Georges, the city's corporation counsel, and
Jennifer Hoyle, spokeswoman for the Law Department that Georges heads.
The city is not planning to release the full report, just a summary of its
contents, Hoyle said, though she would not say why.
Asked to explain why they waited until a holiday to hold a press conference
on the Duffs, Hoyle said, without elaboration, "This is just the best day
for us."
Tribune staff writer Gary Washburn contributed to this report.