When Rahm Emanuel departed Chicago for the Vatican on Thursday for the elevation of Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich to cardinal, he brought along some of his most loyal campaign contributors.
Among those granted access to the ceremony hosted by Pope Francis are 24 of Emanuel’s top political backers with ties to $5.5 million in contributions to campaign funds that supported his two runs for mayor.
The economic development agency World Business Chicago is picking up the travel tab for the mayor, first lady Amy Rule, eight city officials and two Catholic students with two adult chaperones. The organization has said money for the trip was privately raised and no taxpayer dollars will be used, but that’s difficult to verify. Unlike city agencies, the public-private partnership, which receives its funding from private donations and tax dollars, does not make a detailed accounting of its finances publicly available because it maintains that it is not subject to Illinois open records laws.
World Business Chicago declined to provide an estimated price tag for the four-day trip. “We don’t have the final cost of the trip, but will share with you at a later time,” spokeswoman Jessica Wiltse said. Travel and accommodations for the remaining 66 members of the contingent who weren’t paid for by World Business Chicago is being covered privately, the mayor’s office said.
On the same day Emanuel and City Hall staffers boarded a plane at O’Hare International Airport for the 12-hour flight, World Business Chicago laid off three of its executives, a move agency CEO Jeff Malehorn characterized as “operational restructuring” and not related to any financial pressures.
Included in the 80-member Rome delegation are 24 elected officials and spouses, 13 government officials, staffers and guests and nine associated with Catholic churches, universities or schools.
Of the remaining 34 private citizens on the trip, 24 of them — or 70 percent — either have made political contributions to Emanuel’s campaign, were married to someone who did or work for a company or lead a union that has cut checks to the mayor’s political fund.
As the mayor left town, his press office sent out an announcement listing 30 of the “more than 80 leaders” going, most of them elected officials or recognizable names like former NBA star Isiah Thomas.
None were campaign donors, and the Emanuel administration did not initially provide a full list of those traveling with the mayor. An Emanuel spokesperson said some on the list did not wish to be known publicly, but later acknowledged the information was public record after the Chicago Tribune requested it.
That’s when the administration released a list of people scheduled to take the trip, and it became clear that some of Emanuel’s closest campaign supporters had received an invitation and access to the pope’s Saturday consistory ceremony at which Cupich would be elevated to the position of cardinal.
Topping the group is Emanuel’s close friend, confidant and No. 1 campaign contributor, Grosvenor Capital Management CEO Michael Sacks, who personally has contributed $1.6 million to funds supporting the mayor’s campaign, state records show. Sacks was accompanied on the trip by his wife, Cari Sacks, who personally has given $1.287 million to Emanuel-aligned campaign funds.
One of Sacks’ employees also made the trip — former top City Hall lobbyist Matt Hynes, who took a job as a managing director at Grosvenor after leaving the Emanuel administration. Hynes, who has hosted a political fundraiser for Emanuel, has contributed $19,173 to the mayor’s campaign, records show.
All told, Sacks, his family and his employees have contributed more than $3.6 million to funds that helped get Emanuel elected.
Private equity CEO Don Edwards traveled with his wife, Anne Edwards. Don Edwards, who is CEO of Flexpoint Ford, has contributed $205,400 to Emanuel campaign funds while Anne Edwards has given $10,700.
Also on the trip to Rome: The leaders of four unions that have given Emanuel’s campaign funds more than $1.3 million.
James Connolly, the head of the Chicago Laborers District Council, took his wife, Victoria Connolly. The laborers council contributed more than $480,000 to Emanuel campaign funds, records show. Donald Finn, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 134, made the trip with his wife, Joan Finn. IBEW contributed more than $438,000 to Emanuel-aligned campaign funds.
Terry Healy, executive board member of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, also joined Emanuel’s delegation. His national union gave $224,552 to the mayor’s campaign funds. And Jim Sweeney, a top Emanuel union campaign surrogate and president of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, traveled to Italy with his wife, Marilyn Sweeney. The operating engineers union has contributed nearly $300,000 to campaign funds supporting Emanuel.
Another mayoral ally, ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, traveled to Rome for the ceremony, bringing her husband, Michael Harrington, and a son. Pramaggiore has appeared at media events with Emanuel and has contributed $10,000 to his campaign fund. Employees of ComEd and its parent company Exelon have made more than $183,000 in contributions supporting the mayor.
Also invited by Emanuel: Desiree Rogers, the CEO of Johnson Publishing Co., who served as President Barack Obama’s first White House social secretary. Johnson has contributed $10,000 to Emanuel.
Real estate developer Daniel McCaffrey and his wife, Iris McCaffrey, also were included in the delegation. The couple has contributed $71,600.
Businesswoman Trisha Rooney Alden also traveled as part of Emanuel’s delegation. Rooney has said she held one of Emanuel’s first mayoral fundraisers, hosting about 40 people at her home in October 2010. Rooney has given $10,400 to Emanuel’s campaign while her family has made more than $40,000 in contributions, state records show.
The Tribune reported last year that Emanuel accepted contributions from Rooney even though she had a city contract, thanks to a loophole in his self-imposed contribution bans. The mayor’s ban on contractors giving money doesn’t apply if the company ownership is diffuse, which has allowed Emanuel to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors like Rooney.
She heads a company called R4 Services, a firm based in Bridgeport that provides off-site records storage for law firms, health-care companies and governments. The City Colleges of Chicago approved a five-year, $400,000 contract with R4 for records storage in June 2012. A year later, the city of Chicago agreed to a $3 million contract with R4 for records storage.
Emanuel flew to Rome on United Airlines. The company has given more than $128,000 to Emanuel’s campaign, records show, and top United lobbyist Margaret Houlihan Smith traveled with the mayor to Rome along with her husband, Jim Smith.
Stefano Pessina, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, made the trip with his wife, Ornella Barra. The company’s employees have contributed $32,800 to Emanuel campaign funds. The smallest campaign contribution from those traveling came from Cherryl Thomas, the CEO of engineering firm Ardmore Associates. Thomas has contributed $500 to Emanuel’s campaign.
Other private citizens who made the trip include: Jenny Cizner, chief operating officer of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Jorge Ramirez, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor; former NBA star Thomas and his wife, Lynn Kendall; Wynona Redmond, president of Wyn-Win Communications; Renato Turano, owner of Turano Bakery, with his wife, Patricia Turano, and guests Leo Lopez, Cindy Lopez and Cristina Lopez.
Individuals paid for by World Business Chicago: Emanuel and Rule; Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson; Chicago Fire Department Superintendent Jose Santiago; Mike Rendina, the mayor’s senior adviser; Adam Collins, Emanuel’s communications director; Zach Kelly, an assistant to the mayor; Lisa Kohnke, the mayor’s director of strategic partners and global affairs; Ashli Nelson, Emanuel’s director of scheduling; Christ the King School student Nakia Bell; Cristo Rey Jesuit High School student Gladis Valdivia-Hernandez; and student chaperones Morgan Duhe and Jose Rodriguez.
Government officials and staffers not paid for by World Business Chicago: Nakia Fenner, a Chicago police lieutenant and fiancee of Superintendent Johnson; Emanuel chief of staff Eileen Mitchell and her husband, Jim Mitchell; Rocco Claps, director of Illinois Department of Human Rights; Catherine Kelly, press secretary for Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Religious leaders and Catholic university officials: the Rev. Stanley Davis Jr, co-executive director of Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago; the Rev. Tom Hurley, Old St. Patrick’s Church; Bishop Wayne Miller, president of Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago; Dennis Holtschneider, president of DePaul University; Jo Ann Rooney, president of Loyola University Chicago.
Elected officials paying for travel privately: Gov. Rauner, first lady Diana Rauner and daughter Katherine Rauner; Illinois Supreme Court Justice Ann Burke; 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke; Illinois Senate President John Cullerton and his wife, Pam Cullerton; U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and his wife, Loretta Durbin; Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer and her husband, Dennis Kibby; 8th Ward Ald. Michelle Harris and her husband, John Clark; 39th Ward Ald. Margaret Laurino; Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza and her husband, David Szostak; 40th Ward Ald. Pat O’Connor and his wife, Barbara O’Connor; U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley; 25th Ward Ald. Danny Solis and his wife, Mary Jane Solis.
Twitter @BillRuthhart
