When I was a kid, William Singer was the face of reform in Chicago. After his election as alderman, representing the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Singer was the most vocal of the "Lakefront Liberals."
Singer ran for mayor in 1975, but was annihilated by the legendary boss of Chicago, Richard J. Daley.
In the early days of Richard M. Daley's reign, Singer, not so much the reformer by that time, was chosen by the younger Daley to be the vice president of Chicago's school board.
Singer then moved on to the real estate business, and was involved in a deal with two men who have pleaded guilty to corruption charges, Stuart Levine and another former Chicago alderman, Edward R. "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak.
However, Singer has not been accused of wrongdoing.
But the Chicago Sun-Times explains this morning that Singer didn't completely abandon politics.
Singer got involved in the deal to build luxury condos on Chicago's Gold Coast while he was serving as campaign treasurer for U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the Northwest Side congressman who's stepping down to become White House chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama.
Singer resigned as Emanuel's campaign treasurer in January 2006, a few months after a federal grand jury indicted Levine in two separate cases. A spokesman for Emanuel said the congressman knew nothing about Singer's deal with Vrdolyak and Levine.
Singer's lawyer wouldn't talk about the deal or the $1.5 million "finder's fee" that Vrdolyak was supposed to collect from Singer and Singer's partners at Smithfield Development. Federal authorities say Vrdolyak planned to split the fee with Levine, then a board member for the Chicago Medical School, which was selling the land to Singer's group.
But federal agents interrupted the scheme before Vrdolyak, 70, and Levine, 62, got any money from Smithfield.
The Chicago Tribune's John Kass regularly refers to Obama's incoming chief-of-staff as Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Tomczak). As I've written before, a big push by City of Chicago Water Commissioner Don Tomczak probably put Emanuel over the top in the very competitive 2002 Democratic Primary to fill the seat being vacated by Rod Blagojevich, now Illinois' governor.
Tomczak's patronage army, estimated at 250 strong, knocked on a lot of doors on behalf of Emanuel in 2002. Not that it helped Tomczak. He's chilling in Duluth, Minnesota's federal prison after pleading guilty to racketeering and tax fraud charges.
Chicago is taking over Washington.
Related posts:
Illinois corruption update: "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak to plead guilty
Rezko trial: Levine tells of "finder's fee" pressure
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