//
you're reading...
Elections 2010

Illinois 2010 Elections: Candidate Todd Connnor, Former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt Bash Water District Bond Deal that Flushed $68 Million in Taxpayer Money Down the Sewer

Todd_Connor_Headshot

MWRD Democratic candidate Todd Connor

(Chicago, IL) — November 9, 2009. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago Board of Commissioners last Thursday got a pasting from financial analyst Daniel Kaplan and candidate Todd Connor–who is aiming to join the board’s ranks–over a botched bond deal that cost Cook County area taxpayers $68 million.

The MWRD cleans sludge. Figures.

The AAA-rated MWRD via its elected commisioners unanimously approved and sold $600 million worth of bonds in August at a 5.72% interest rate. Nearly simultaneously, AAA-rated Johnson & Johnson had comparable bonds out there at an implied 5.33% interest rate.

“Had Chicago’s authorities borrowed at the same rate as J&J, they would have saved taxpayers $68.6 million over the lifespan of the bonds,” wrote Arthur Levitt, former Securities Exchange Commission Chairman, on Bloomberg.com on October 22.

Oops.

Levitt noted that District treasurer was “really happy” with the results of the bond sale.

“That’s like a retailer bragging about how it sold out of merchandise priced at a loss,” Levitt added.

In Chicago–that’s politics and bond deals. Taxpayers rarely win.

At Thursday’s meeting, financial consultant, Daniel Kaplan, who offered expert testimony and detailed financial analysis, said: “This was a very lucrative deal for underwriters and investors, and a very poor deal for the taxpayers of the District.”

In Chicago–that’s politics and bond deals. Taxpayers rarely win.

The water district commissioners tapped Mesirow Financial of Chicago to handle the bond deal. Mesirow was, however, apparently out of its league. Mesirow is not ranked among the top 25 firms in the Securities Data Index, and does not usually handle bond deals of this size.

Hmm.

Well, why was Mesirow selected by MRWD commissioners Barbara McGowan, Cynthia Santos  Debra Shore, Frank Avila, Gloria Alitto Majewski, Kathleen Meany, Mariyana Spyropoulos (assumed office after the bond deal vote), Patricia Horton, and Board President Terry O’Brien?

Todd Connor, a former Illinois Inspector General and a Democratic candidate for a MRWD board seat, has also been asking that question and banging away on his drum over the $68 million lost by Cook County taxpayers in the Mesirow deal.

“The problem is that these questions needed to asked before the deal was approved, not after the taxpayers money has been lost,” said Connor, frustrated at the Board’s post-game review of the bond deal on November 5.

Horse long gone. Now firmly close barn-door. Typical government response.

“We cannot afford to have elected officials who are interested in backroom business or pinstripe patronage, but rather, we need Commissioners who are able to speak up, ask the right questions and make decisions solely based on the taxpayer’s interest,” added Connor, 31, a former Navy officer.

Connor, who earned his MBA at the University of Chicago and served overseas in the Persian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom as a navigator on the U.S.S. Bunker Hill, has to be one of the most impressive candidates on the 2010 Illinois campaign trail. He combines brains and campaign savvy.

If this former Illinois Inspector General–who filed nominating petitions with 22,000 signatures–snags a seat on the water district board–which manages a $1.6 billion–that’s “billion” with a “b”–budget that is larger than the CTA’s–he can follow paper trails. He can find where other bond deals are buried.

Backing Connor is an impressive list of progressive politicians: Alderman Toni Preckwinkle (D-4th), U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, State Senator Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston), State Senator Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest), State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago), Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer (D-Chicago) State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago), Alderman Tom Tunney (D-44th), former State Senator Carol Ronen (D-Chicago), State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin (D-Evanston), Northfield Township Committeeman Mike Kreloff, and Cook County Commissioner Roberto Moldonado (D-Chicago).

Connor can clean the water agency’s poop deck and clean up its officers’ mess. He’s got the professional qualifications and the grit. Heck, he has even his own white hat, too. But he needs the help of voters.

Otherwise, we Cook County area taxpayers risk another $68 million loss–or more–on some future bond deal sluicing down the MWRD’s own sewer.

Can we afford that?

About David Ormsby

David, a public relations consultant and blogger at The Huffington Post, is an ex-Press Secretary of the Illinois Democratic Party.

Discussion

One Response to “Illinois 2010 Elections: Candidate Todd Connnor, Former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt Bash Water District Bond Deal that Flushed $68 Million in Taxpayer Money Down the Sewer”

  1. Bridget Gainer has also endorsed Maureen Kelly for Water Reclamation District.

    Posted by chris o'brien | December 22, 2009, 5:22 AM

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Submit your email address and be among the first to receive our posts by e-mail as soon as they are published. It's free.

David Ormsby, Editor

RSS Gov. Pat Quinn

  • McHenry County Blog | Pat Quinn Tells Truth about Pension ... Cal Skinner
  • Illinois General Assembly, Gov. Pat Quinn Must Reconcile ... Marge Berglind
  • Pat Quinn Criticizes Scott Walker On Jobs The Huffington Post News Editors
  • Will Governor Pat Quinn Sign Illinois Budget on Thursday? « Child ... Marge Berglind
  • Quinn: Lawmakers Must 'Show Some Fortitude' On Pension ... Todd Feurer
  • Governor Pat Quinn Puts His Foot Down On Gambling Expansion ... Mark
  • Senate narrowly backs Quinn on facility closures - Capitol Fax.com Rich Miller
  • Democurmudgeon: Gov. Pat Quinn exposes Scott Walker as a fake ... Democurmudgeon
  • Advocates Seek Illinois Child Welfare Vision from Governor Pat Quinn Marge Berglind
  • Chicago News Bench: No, Really, Pat Quinn Still Sucks More Than ... TM-1000

RSS IL General Assembly

  • General Assembly puts health exchange bill on back burner - Crain's Chicago Business May 10, 2012
  • IL educators react to proposed state budget cuts - WREX-TV May 11, 2012
  • Violence Against Women Act Survives Partisan Fight, Quinn Told Not To Close ... - Patch.com May 9, 2012
  • American Progressive Bag Alliance Urges Illinois General Assembly To Pass ... - MarketWatch (press release) May 1, 2012
  • You Paid For It: IL General Assembly Scholarship Program - FOX2now.com May 7, 2012
  • Our Opinion: Anti-bully bill should get OK - The State Journal-Register May 10, 2012
  • American Progressive Bag Alliance Urges Illinois General Assembly To Pass ... - PR Newswire (press release) May 1, 2012
  • Illinois State University considers 4.4 percent tuition increase - Herald & Review May 10, 2012
  • Asian-Americans to have state caucus - WBEZ May 8, 2012
  • Suburban mayors also urge state to pass pension reform - Chicago Sun-Times May 10, 2012

RSS The Capitol Fax Blog

  • Question of the day May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Political cover or political payback? May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Illinois Needs Private Sector Jobs Now! Why Labor Leaders Support Senate Bill 1849 May 10, 2012 Advertising Department
  • Senate narrowly backs Quinn on facility closures - Chamber backs Quinn pension reforms May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • House approves bill to effectively end free employee health insurance premiums May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • *** UPDATED x2 - VIDEO *** Smith hearing resumes today (LIVE Coverage and Video) May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • *** UPDATED x2 *** Not a big deal at all, but it’s probably time to delegate a bit more May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Morning Shorts May 10, 2012 Owen Irwin
  • *** LIVE SESSION COVERAGE *** May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - COWL review, supplement to today’s edition and a Statehouse roundup May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 135 other followers

Powered by WordPress.com