Maggie Daley charity got $6.5-mil. city contract 4 days before Mayor Daley left office

Maggie Daley charity got $6.5-mil. city contract 4 days before Mayor Daley left office Posted by Greg H.

There's nothing like a good ol' Chicago coincidence.

I mean, those marvelous situations in which connected people and groups always seem to have a lucky shamrock in their pocket at just the right time are a distinctive part of what makes Chicago, well, Chicago.

Which leads to a tale of one particularly wonderful coincidence. It involves After School Matters, a charity that provides programs for teenagers; Chicago mayors current and past, and a $6.5-million city grant

As I reported last week, ex-mayoral Chief of Staff Ray Orozco and former Department of Cultural Affairs Acting Commissioner Katherine LaMantia began new jobs on July 25 as the CEO and chief financial officer, respectively, of After School Matters.

The agency — chaired by Maggie Daley, wife of former Mayor Richard M. Daley — for years has been known informally as the unofficial City Hall charity.

In further researching the Orozco matter, I was pointed to records listed on a city's website. (Type in "after" and hit "search" to reach the records.)

The city's vendor, contract and payment information site indicates the group was awarded a new, $6.5-million city grant on May 12 -- four days before Mr. Orozco's former boss Mr. Daley left office.

The contract actually was signed on May 2 by then-Budget Director Eugene Munin in what must have been among his last official acts.

A wonderful coincidence, no? After School Matters gets a grant agreement worth up to $6,480,000 "to support ongoing summer jobs and after-school programs for youth" just four days before Rahm Emanuel is sworn into office, vowing to search high and low for potential cuts to balance a budget that's $635 million in the red.

After School Matters and two different spokesmen for Mr. Emanuel say the timing of the grant was, um, a coincidence.

The charity since 2007 regularly has received $6.5 million about a year from the city, they say. The money was included in the budget, they add, and it just so happens that the contract guaranteeing this year's funding went into effect in the final days of Mr. Daley's tenure.

A perusal of city records indicates that, indeed, After School Matters has received lots of city cash in recent years.

It looks to me like the amount has increased some lately. In 2006 through 2009, it received contracts with an average annual value of up to $4 million. The last two years, the average annual value has been closer to $7 million.

A city spokesman responds that he believes the contract usually is signed around the same time of the year.

Records indicate the $6.5-million contract for 2010 went into effect on July 8 of that year.

But it almost doesn't matter. What matters is that this year's contract now has been signed, preventing the new mayor from reviewing and perhaps cutting it in the same way that Mr. Emanuel has been reviewing and cutting and laying off all over City Hall.

Now, I've got nothing against Mr. Orozco, whose past work wins big praise from some. As far as I know, he's worth the $185,000 a year he's reportedly being paid in his new job. (After School Matters says that figure is too high, but declines to say what he is making.)

Nor do I have anything against After School Matters, which under Ms. Daley's leadership built a reputation as a solid group doing good work.

But why would those involved risk all of that by pulling these kinds of stunts?

The world had changed. If After School Matters is going to survive and thrive, it's going to have to make its way without any more marvelous coincidences.