Emanuel rakes in cash from developers
As Mayor Rahm Emanuel piles up campaign cash ahead of his run for re-election next year, he continues to collect contributions from real estate developers who need his administration's approval to build their multimillion-dollar projects.
Since June, at least 26 donors with ties to four such developers have contributed a total of more than $142,000 to the mayor's campaign fund, money that flows around the mayor's self-imposed bans, which he says aim to curb pay-to-play politics at City Hall.
Emanuel won't take political donations from lobbyists, city employees or owners of companies with city contracts as part of his pledge aimed at "building trust in the public and public office." But the bans don't prohibit the mayor from accepting money from real estate development firms seeking City Hall approval for zoning changes, tax breaks, building permits and liquor licenses to turn their renderings of soaring office towers and high-end hotels into reality.
The developer contributions are one of the ways that Emanuel, long known nationally as a prolific fundraiser, has amassed a $6.2 million campaign fund more than a year before a February 2015 election in which there is no announced opponent. John Kupper, the mayor's political adviser, explained why Emanuel takes campaign checks from developers.
"First, these are legal contributions," Kupper wrote in an email. "Second, the mayor does not take anything for granted relative to his election campaigns.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-02-09/news/ct-rahm-emanuel-campaign-money-met-20140209_1_kathleen-buck-office-tower-developers
Corporate Rahm is not corrupted no way no how.