Federal investigators are looking into ex-Ald. Michael Zalewski’s contract with the village of Schiller Park. The subpoena followed reporting by the BGA and WBEZ detailing a previous search on Zalewski’s home.
Chuck Neubauer
Chuck Neubauer is an award-winning investigative reporter who has a five-decade track record of breaking high-impact stories about public officials, from Chicago City Council members to powerful members of Congress.
He is currently based in Washington, D.C. after years of working in Chicago as an investigative reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times and earlier for the Chicago Tribune where he shared in a Pulitzer Prize with the late George Bliss for a series on abuses in federal housing programs.
He and his wife, Sandy Bergo, have spent the last 10 years doing freelance investigative stories as special contributors for the Illinois Answers Project and the Better Government Association. Their reporting has looked into the actions of politicians ranging from Ald. Edward M. Burke to former House Speaker Michael J. Madigan to former Rep. Bobby Rush to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. They have also reported on how leaders of the Illinois legislature skirted campaign finance limits and also on the generous pensions some Illinois lawmakers receive.
At the Sun-Times, Neubauer, along with Mark Brown and Michael Briggs, reported in the 1990s that powerful House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal taxpayer funds to purchase three personal cars, buy expensive gifts for friends and hire staffers who did personal work for him. Those disclosures were the basis for several counts in the federal indictment against Rostenkowski who pleaded guilty and served 17 months in prison.
Neubauer’s reporting also helped lead to federal criminal charges and convictions of former Illinois Governor Dan Walker, Illinois Attorney General William J. Scott and former Illinois State Treasurer Jerry Cosentino.
In 2001, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for the Los Angeles Times and later the Washington Times, exposing conflicts of interests involving Senate and House leaders.
Neubauer began his career as the BGA’s first intern in 1971 before becoming a reporter.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Millions in Tax Breaks for Ed Burke’s Law Clients Fronted by Fellow Aldermen
Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson and former Ald. Michael R. Zalewski sponsored six resolutions that benefited clients of Burke’s law firm. The moves allowed the now-indicted alderman to skirt city conflict-of-interest rules.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Ald. Ed Burke’s Wave of Ward Projects Boosted His Legal Practice, Powered His Re-election
Burke touted development deals for his 14th Ward in winning a February re-election despite the cloud of federal corruption charges. A BGA investigation found Burke’s law firm had financial ties to most of those deals.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Taxpayers Covered Millions in Gym Costs Jesse White Promised to Pay
Illinois’ Secretary of State said he would raise most of the funds needed to build a new Chicago home for his Tumblers gymnastics team. He didn’t, but taxpayers did.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
A Manafort Lender’s Emanuel Ties
Chicago’s mayor spent millions in city taxpayer funds to aid expansion of the same West Loop bank prosecutors now say made $16 million in questionable loans to a former Trump campaign chairman now on trial for alleged tax and bank fraud.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Berrios Firm’s Lobbying Client Gets Big Tax Break From His Assessor’s Office
BGA investigation reveals how tobacco giant Altria saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in property taxes courtesy of the Cook County Assessor’s office run by Joseph Berrios, who co-owns a lobbying business hired by the firm to represent its interests.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Pritzker’s Storied Charity Costs Him Little But Taxpayers A Lot
The wealthy governor candidate campaigns on his philanthropy, but records show most of his donated proceeds have first been filtered through offshore tax havens and a tax-exempt foundation.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Bobby Rush’s Englewood Church A Million-Dollar Problem
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush has been ordered to pay $1.1 million on a delinquent bank loan made to his now-shuttered church, the latest setback for the longtime congressman-turned-pastor who once promised his house of worship would help rebuild Englewood.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Chris Kennedy Slams Same Property Tax System He Used To Get Big Break
Chris Kennedy, a top Democratic contender for governor, relied on a politically connected tax lawyer to dramatically reduce property tax bills on land he was prepping for development. It appears to mirror the sort of activity Kennedy has been condemning on the campaign trail.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Legislators Collect Paycheck From Washington, Pension From Illinois
Three members of Congress – Peter Roskam, Mike Bost and Jan Schakowsky – collect pensions from their time in Springfield; Cheri Bustos’ husband earns a public salary greater than $100,000 while cashing a $67,000 pension. It’s perfectly legal, but is it good government?
