The Chicago Tribune reports:
Voters in the 5th Congressional District probably can thank federal prosecutors for the unusually large field of candidates in the March 3 special primary for a vacant seat in Congress.
The last time the district had to pick a new lawmaker seven years ago, political workers came from across Chicago to help Rahm Emanuel win the Democratic nomination.
Motivated by promises of city jobs, the workers aggressively campaigned door-to-door and manned phone banks for Emanuel, a former campaign aide to Mayor Richard Daley and Clinton White House staffer.
Since then, U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald's City Hall hiring fraud probe effectively neutered the patronage armies directed by Daley's top aides.
Here's
more on the shock troopers that elected Rahm Emanuel:
Katalinic's political army had 300 city workers, including four Roti relatives, who volunteered to help elect various political candidates, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel. Katalinic asked the mayor's office to reward some of the workers with jobs and promotions.
Besides Sabbia, the other Roti relatives in Katalinic's political army were three cousins -- Bruno A. Bertucci, Bruno Thome and Ralph Vari, the Sun-Times found by examining court records in the Sorich trial. The Roti relatives could not be reached for comment.
The Roti family has had ties to City Hall, organized labor and the mob for three generations, dating back to the late Bruno Roti Sr., an Italian immigrant identified by the FBI as a mob boss and an associate of Al Capone. Roti's late son, Fred, was a powerful Chicago alderman who went to prison for taking bribes.
Filled ranks of Streets and San Roti family members have been on the City Hall payroll for years, often working in the Streets and Sanitation Department.
Sabbia, the son of a retired Chicago police officer, got hired by the city as a truck driver in 1980. His annual salary was $53,872.
We have a feeling Rahm Emanuel knows who
Alderman Roti is.
