OT>> If anyone is interested in the recent tragedy in which 21 people were killed in Chicago, here is the inside line>
By John Kass
City Hall finds itself powerless when convenient
Published February 19, 2003
Mayor Richard Daley's administration astounded me Tuesday.
They whined about how weak and ineffectual City Hall is in closing down businesses that operate illegally in Chicago.
City officials said they were powerless in dealing with the owners of the E2 nightclub--where 21 young people needlessly died early Monday.
There was nothing they could have done to avert the disaster, they said. They were helpless, they said.
They said they couldn't force the owners to follow a long-standing court order prohibiting the use of the dance club on the second floor of the building on South Michigan Avenue, a few blocks from the mayor's home.
They couldn't shut it down, though police were called to the club on 80 separate occasions, they said.
"The second floor of the building was not to be occupied, yet the club continued to operate on the second floor," Daley said.
Standing a few feet from the powerless at City Hall, I couldn't help thinking about the Moonshine restaurant.
And I thought you should know about it.
The Moonshine is a new restaurant on the Northwest Side, in the 35th Ward. The owners, who thought they lived freely in America, decided it would be nice to host a fundraiser for 35th Ward aldermanic candidate Rey Colon.
Colon, a bright community organizer who has championed the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club in the ward, was excited.
"We were all set to go and people were going to show up, it would have been a good event," Colon told me.
Unfortunately, the owners of the Moonshine made a terrible mistake. They weren't in a free country.
They were in Chicago, in the 35th Ward, where the strangely named Coalition for Better Government provides political muscle for incumbent Ald. Vilma Colom (35th).
Colom is the puppet of Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), the father-in-law of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
And the Coalition for Better Government, a group of city payrollers and ex-cons, are backed by powerful people, including Daley, and someone even Daley wouldn't dare mess with--36th Ward boss Sam "Pastries" Banks.
"The day of the fundraiser, the Moonshine gets a visit," Colon told me. "Inspectors from the Department of Revenue. We had to cancel."
Even though Colon is bright and energetic, whereas Colom is dull and timid--her political obedience training must have been severe--I couldn't just take his word.
So I called the Moonshine and spoke to one of the partners, Chris Storey, a recent transplant from New Mexico.
As a stranger, Storey didn't understand quaint Chicago customs, like the one in which business owners touch their foreheads to the floor of their establishments and shriek for mercy when city inspectors visit.
"We're a new business. We don't want any trouble," Storey told me. "And on the day we were going to have the party for Colon--we weren't even selling liquor or food, just providing the space--the inspector came to see me.
"She was from the Department of Revenue. She said that if there was any type of meeting at the place, they'd arrest me."
"She made it clear that she knew we were going to open up in a month or so, and that she knew I didn't want any problems. You need licenses to operate.
"And so, I told her that we didn't want any problems, so we weren't going to get involved in politics. I don't need that kind of problem from City Hall. I'm not ever getting involved in politics. Never."
Welcome to Chicago, my friend. Another citizen, tamed.
Faithful readers of this column know about the Coalition for Better Government.
Leaders of the group include ex-cons such as city worker John "Quarters" Boyle, who stole millions in quarters from the state tollway authority, and vote fraud expert Dominic Longo.
My favorite, though, is Ronnie "Little Pistol" Calicchio.
The last time I saw "Little Pistol," he insisted he had the right to carry a loaded handgun, even though he is not a police officer and handguns are illegal in Chicago, and Calicchio serves the anti-handgun mayor.
Calicchio is also deputy director of investigations for the city's Department of Revenue.
The Revenue Department is just one mayoral hammer. Daley can call out armies of inspectors, revoke or suspend licenses, crush almost any business.
The Department of Revenue didn't return my repeated telephone calls. "Little Pistol" was in a meeting. The commissioner was on vacation. The first deputy wasn't available. Even the spokesperson didn't speak.
But then, representatives from the Department of Revenue also skipped the City Hall news conference, where Daley administration officials insisted, so pitifully, that they are so powerless against business.
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