The call from the new alderman touched Philip Greco, a Northwest Side police officer who had worked hard to help Joseph Kotlarz win a seat on the Chicago City Council. Six months after the election, when Kotlarz phoned to invite him to the White Sox playoffs, Greco accepted the largesse as a measure of the freshman`s gratitude.
Greco liked Kotlarz, in part for what he was not. For starters, he was not John Marcin, Kotlarz`s 35th Ward predecessor who dismissed charges of living outside Cook County by saying: ”It isn`t where I sleep at night that`s important. What is important is staying awake during the day, especially during city council sessions.”
Kotlarz also was not Casimir Laskowski, a machine alderman who ruled the ward before Marcin. An undertaker, Laskowski was remembered for his trademark greeting: ”I`ll be the last one to let you down.”
In Kotlarz-the 26-year-old son of a machinist, a student working his way through the John Marshall School of Law by pumping gas for the police department motor pool-Greco saw the future of the 35th Ward.
”This is a working class ward, a lot of Polish immigrants, a place where you build up the organization on $25 donations,” Greco said, ”and Joe promised to stay close to the people.”
So in October, 1983, when Greco met Kotlarz at a restaurant before the ballgame, he was surprised to find a gathering of about 15 men, many of whom-a millionaire developer among them-Greco had never seen during the campaign. After the meal, Kotlarz ushered the group outside to three waiting limousines. As the small caravan sped south toward Comiskey Park, the police officer recalled his campaign visits to the ward`s Polish shopkeepers along Milwaukee Avenue and thought: ”The people should see us now.”
The story of the quick rise of Joseph Kotlarz from a city gas station attendant to a wealthy and well-connected alderman provides a case study of the opportunities available to members of the city council simply by virtue of their election, of the legal possibilities for making money and building influence that are part of the aldermanic endowment.
The story of his brief tenure also illustrates a young alderman`s deft use of his council powers to reward friends and provide for his private business.
In 4 1/2 years in office, Kotlarz has used his council committee payroll to hire campaign supporters and attorneys employed by his law firm. He also gave a city consulting contract to a close friend, State Rep. Alfred Ronan
(D., Chicago).
He has spent his taxpayer-financed expense allowance to support a ward office building he owns. In turn, he has used his ward office to generate business for his law firm. Attached to his ward office is a real estate firm where Kotlarz`s chief City Hall payroller works as a broker.
Since his election, Kotlarz has purchased condominiums at cut-rate prices from politically connected developer Philip Farley, records show. And he has voted to approve city-backed bonds for businessmen with whom he had invested in a downtown office development.
Kotlarz, who in 1980 divorce papers listed his holdings as a car and a house, maintains that his fortunes are a byproduct not of his office but of his investment luck and the good will of friends.
”I would say that my friendship with a couple of people had more to do with it” than his status as alderman, he said of his investment
opportunities.
He also says he is one of the council`s hardest working members, a full-time alderman available to his constituents for nearly round-the-clock service and advice, a council member who knows his ward ”better than any other aldermen” know theirs.
”I have been to every community group meeting in the 35th Ward since I was elected,” he said, ”whether I`ve been invited or not.”
But he acknowledges the role his election has played in the growth of his law firm, readily conceding that his partner teases that Kotlarz ”couldn`t do a real estate closing if I tried.”
On a summer evening outside his Pulaski Road ward office, Kotlarz was asked to imagine what his life would be like had he not been elected.
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”Are you kidding?” he said. ”My God. You`re asking me what I would do if I wasn`t an alderman? Why would you ask me that? Don`t even say that.”
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The accounts of Kotlarz`s decision to run for the council in 1983 vary slightly with the tellers. One campaign organizer says Kotlarz first determined to run for office, then studied several Northwest Side aldermen to choose the most vulnerable.
There seemed little question but to go after Marcin, a 72-year-old Democratic Party fixture who was under fire for allegedly living in Lake County.
Kotlarz moved out of the 33d Ward, where he had lived and served as an assistant precinct captain, and into the 35th Ward where he campaigned as an independent Democrat-a term that had considerable impact in 1983 as Harold Washington and Bernard Epton raced each other for the mayor`s office.
”He admitted he was inexperienced, that he hadn`t even passed the bar yet, but that endeared him to the ward,” said Carolyn Ediger, an early supporter. ”We liked that he wasn`t a slick, experienced lawyer with all kinds of connections.”
Kotlarz trounced Marcin and took his seat in a city council whose first order of business was the drawing of battle lines in what would come to be known as ”Council Wars.”
”Before the vote over the council reorganization, I met with Joe and said, `Remember your campaign promises. If you can`t vote with the mayor, at least abstain,` ” recalled Judy Gregory, a community organizer who worked on Kotlarz`s campaign. ”He said, `Don`t worry, Jude.` ”
Several days later, Kotlarz cast his vote to join with the mayor`s rival, Ald. Edward Vrdolayk, and the new council majority.
Though Kotlarz describes the intense lobbying that preceded his vote as
”the most awful time in my life,” the value to an alderman of siding with the majority is considerable.
For starters, Kotlarz said, his election for Democratic ward committeeman was ”right around the corner,” and he wanted the support of party regulars. But beyond that, council committee chairmanships are controlled by the majority and are among the most coveted perquisites of an alderman. They empower an alderman to hire additional staff and control unaudited budgets for consultants, equipment and supplies.
Kotlarz said he did not side with the majority in order to win a chairmanship, but the June, 1983, extortion conviction of Ald. Tyrone Kenner
(3d) created a vacancy at the helm of the Committee on Claims and Liabilities, which Kotlarz filled that December. He held the post until the council`s next reorganization in the spring of 1986, then regained the chairmanship after last April`s elections when he changed sides and voted with the new Washington-controlled council majority.
Kotlarz`s committee chairmanship has proved a boon to a small circle of associates.
He has used the committee budget, currently $119,000, to hire attorneys from his law firm and campaign workers.
The committee`s entire 1986 allowance for consulting was paid out in a $2,000 check to Ronan, a confidant, campaign contributor and golfing partner of Kotlarz`s. Ronan billed the city $100 an hour for 20 hours of ”discussions and research” on lifting the committee`s $1,500 ceiling on claims against the city, he said, but produced no written recommendations or report.
Ronan said he held back on submitting findings when the committee was taken over for a year by then-Ald. Wallace Davis (27th), but although Kotlarz has reclaimed the committee, there is still no report.
Frank Howard, Kotlarz`s law partner, was hired by the committee at a monthly salary of $600 in 1984 and $740 in 1985, records show. Howard said he was paid to ”start implementing procedures for keeping track of claims.”
Howard`s wife, Mary, is paid $300 a month as a committee clerical worker. Alan Kurash, an associate in Kotlarz`s firm, was paid a monthly salary of $1,033 as an investigator in 1984. James McGrath, an attorney who Howard says provides ”free legal advice” to constituents in Kotlarz`s ward office, was paid $1,451 a month in 1986 and now is on the committee payroll as an investigator at $1,173 a month.
Kotlarz also hired two top campaign workers as committee investigators. William Darr, who county records show served as treasurer of Citizens for Joseph Kotlarz, the alderman`s fundraising committee, was paid $1,033 a month by Kotlarz`s council committee in 1986. Wayne Hnatko, vice chairman of Citizens for Kotlarz, was paid between $570 and $1,384 a month by the claims committee during 1985-86.
Several of Kotlarz`s precinct captains and the mother of his fundraising committee`s current treasurer were added to the payroll at monthly salaries ranging from $1,085 to $1,319.
Though Kotlarz says he would not hire family members for council work, he said he sees nothing wrong with employing business and political associates or their relatives. ”Any time there`s a blood relation on your direct aldermanic payroll-that`s what raises questions that cannot be answered directly,” he said.
Kotlarz said it is unrealistic to expect aldermen to change committee operations to regulate spending or hiring. ”I could curl your hair with stories about the animosity” aldermen display toward colleagues who press for committee reform, he said.
Any efforts to change committee operations, said Kotlarz, are the responsibility of the news media.
”I really think you`re going to have to embarrass us into it,” he said. – – –
On Nov. 9, 1983, seven months after Kotlarz`s election, Ald. Edward Burke (14th) rose before a meeting of the city council to congratulate the new alderman for having passed the Illinois bar exam. Kotlarz hung a shingle at 3396 N. Milwaukee Ave., in the heart of his ward.
The law firm has grown into a six-lawyer practice handling cases that range from building and Traffic Court suits to real estate closings and accident claims.
Howard, the alderman`s law partner, was appointed a special assistant by fellow Democrat and Atty. Gen. Neil Hartigan the year after Kotlarz`s election, making the firm eligible to represent the state in condemnation cases. Other clients are recruited from the constituents who pass through the city-financed 35th Ward office seeking the alderman`s advice.
”Nine out of 10 cases that come to my practice are because I`m Joe Kotlarz, alderman,” he said. ”I`m not gonna bull—- you.”
Kotlarz jokes about his limited legal experience, and brags that he enjoys the benefits of his firm`s success while handling almost none of its cases.
”Joe doesn`t really practice,” Howard said. ”Joe brings in the practice.”
According to Howard, one of the promises made during Kotlarz`s campaign was to provide free legal advice to constituents at the alderman`s ward office. Indeed, one recent evening, a precinct worker brought in a man having problems with a suit against his auto insurer. The man had been unsuccessful in handling the case himself and asked the alderman for advice.
”I would like to offer you this service free of charge,” said the alderman, whose ward office desk displays a plaque reading, ”Joseph S. Kotlarz, Attorney at Law.”
”There is an attorney here who will talk to you at length,” he told the man. ”He`s here every Monday night if you want to avail yourself of his free service.”
”You`ve got more important things to do than this,” the man protested.
”Andrew,” said Kotlarz, leaning forward in his chair, ”we`re friends,” and the constituent was directed to speak to an associate from Kotlarz`s law firm waiting in the next room.
Kotlarz said later that handling minor pro bono work out of the ward office is a way of courting good will and future paying customers for his practice. ”There are a lot of big cases out there,” he said.
According to Howard, the law firm provides an average of 10 hours of pro bono work each week through Kotlarz`s ward office. Approximately 25 percent of the firm`s clients began by visiting the ward office, he said.
”I guess the right line is,” Howard said, ”if we do things for people in the proper way, there will be seeds planted that will bear fruit down the road, and we can provide a living for our families.”
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In April, 1980, Kotlarz`s assets included a 1971 Datsun and a house on North Oketo Avenue, according to his divorce papers. Since then, the alderman`s assets have ballooned.
On Sept. 12, 1983, five months after his election, Kotlarz placed $2,000 down on an $82,000 brick storefront at 3455 N. Pulaski Rd. and put up a sign announcing, ”Alderman Joseph S. Kotlarz 35th Ward Service Office.”
Like each of the 50 aldermen, Kotlarz receives $1,500 a month in city money to operate a field office. For aldermen who own their office buildings, the city effectively subsidizes the mortgage payments.
Kotlarz defends the practice, saying ”it would be extremely embarrassing to get in a spat with your landlord and get kicked out.” Moreover, he said, the money not spent to pay someone else an inflated rent is available for other office expenses.
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But Kotlarz also draws from his political fund to pay for office expenses. Records show that Citizens for Joseph Kotlarz paid more than $30,000 in rent to Howard, his law partner who also acts as Kotlarz`s building agent, between July, 1984, and last June.
Citizens for Joseph Kotlarz also pays for other expenses such as utilities, postage and copying, reports show.
The distance between private, political and public is also bridged by a real estate company that adjoins Kotlarz`s ward office. That company, according to state records, is run by one of the alderman`s law firm associates and by Richard Bradley, who is treasurer of Kotlarz`s political fundraising committee and Kotlarz`s $25,272 city-paid aldermanic secretary.
Bradley, a salesman for Future Realty, reports to work each morning at a building that is both the city ward office and the private real estate firm. He sees no conflict, saying that most of the realty business is conducted at night and on weekends.
Kotlarz, who draws an undisclosed rent and periodic campaign contributions from Future Realty and its brokers, said, ”There could be no potential abuse, I would say.”
Kotlarz`s post-election portfolio further expanded with his purchase of two vintage Corvettes-a 1953 white convertible and a black 1963 model-as well as a $76,500 house in 1984 in the Villa historic district of his ward, records show.
Kotlarz describes himself as an unsophisticated investor. Immediately upon his taking office in 1983, however, politically connected developers who depend on city approval or inspections included Kotlarz in two ventures that have been profitable.
One investor-political consultant and former State Rep. James Houlihan-served as Mayor Washington`s council liaison. The Vrdolyak bloc had criticized Houlihan for lobbying freshman aldermen such as Kotlarz during the council reorganization battle.
The other businessman, Philip Farley, is a developer who was associated with the majority bloc and has amassed a net worth of $20 million, according to recent court testimony.
The developers say it was coincidence that they offered Kotlarz, a new alderman, a piece of the projects. But the Houlihan venture placed Kotlarz in an apparent conflict of interest.
Within a month of taking his council seat, Kotlarz invested $17,000 in Houlihan`s project to develop an office building at 429 W. Ohio St. Kotlarz said he was invited to invest before his April election, but county records show he became a partner on May 4, 1983.
On Sept. 11, 1985, Kotlarz was one of 41 aldermen who voted to approve $50 million of city-backed bonds to finance construction of a housing complex at Ontario Street and McClurg Court, city records show. The general partners in that development were Marvin B. Myers, Paul A. Levy and Anthony Augustine of M. Myers Properties Inc.-the same general partners in the Ohio Street project.
At the time of the vote, Kotlarz was still their partner in that venture. The following year, according to his city ethics statement, Kotlarz made at least $5,000 selling his three-year $17,000 investment. (Ethics laws require aldermen to list investment gains exceeding $5,000 but do not require disclosure of the full profit.)
Kotlarz said he is a friend of Houlihan`s but did not know who was running the partnership in which he invested. Houlihan, who represented Levy, said he approached Kotlarz out of friendship.
”His being elected alderman was incidental,” Houlihan said. ”You can`t say that an alderman shouldn`t own property.”
Two months after Kotlarz`s election, the alderman bought two North Side condominiums at half the price paid by buyers of similar apartments in the same development.
The units were at 835-864 W. Barry St., in a 116-unit building that Farley helped develop. They were among 12 apartments in the building that Farley had asked his attorneys to sell for him.
The attorneys, Martin Healy and Donald Nolan, have since received referrals through Kotlarz`s law firm. Kotlarz said he refers to Nolan all personal injury cases that come through his ward or law office.
Units in the Barry Quadrangle development had sold for as much as $63,000 in 1980. Kotlarz bought his in June and July of 1983 for $30,500 and $25,500. Nolan, Healy and other friends bought 10 units at similar prices, real estate records show.
The same day Kotlarz bought the $30,500 unit, a purchaser with no ties to the sellers paid $50,500 for a unit equivalent to Kotlarz`s, according to condominium conversion records. The units have the same assessed tax valuation, according to county records.
Healy attributes the price discrepancy to the fact that the other purchaser had contracted to buy his unit in 1981. But a year later, one unit that Farley had sold through Healy and Nolan for $28,000 was resold for $46,500.
Repeated attempts to obtain Farley`s comment for this story were unsuccessful.
Kotlarz said he sold his units in 1986 for a total profit of $18,900.
”It was a bargain, clearly,” Kotlarz said of his purchases. But he said he was unaware of Farley`s involvement until the real estate closing and that referring cases to Nolan presented no conflict of interest.
He would not say if he derives a fee from his referrals to other lawyers. ”My private practice of law has no relationship with my public duties,” he said. ”I`ve got to, I`m entitled to, I should refer people to adequate representation.”
By Kotlarz`s account, Farley sought his friendship because he believed the politician had a bright future.
”I think you can put contributors in several categories,” Kotlarz said. ”Some are hoping that you`ll be something more than you are now.”
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None of the transactions that propelled Kotlarz from the city`s motor pool to a prosperous law practice are prohibited by city regulation. There is no rule barring aldermen from using the city payroll to employ associates and campaign workers; no rule against the use of city funds to subsidize privately owned ward offices; and few rules that restrict an alderman`s use of his office.
Kotlarz acknowledges that he has been fortunate. His business has prospered and, though he complains of brutally long hours, he says ”I love the city council.”
And if along the way people have been generous contributors and kind enough to include him in their business ventures, he says it should not be seen as a reflection on his office.
”I`m going to say it`s because I`m a nice, likable guy?” he said. ”It would sound crazy, but you know what? It`s true. It`s as simple as that.
”I mean, even if I wasn`t an alderman, wouldn`t you be googy about me?” THURSDAY: One alderman`s public office and private interest.