Emanuel friend, alderman's husband both illegally lobbied mayor via his personal email, ethics board finds

The Chicago Tribune reports:

A top Chicago business executive and the husband of a South Side alderman both illegally lobbied Mayor Rahm Emanuel through his personal email account, the Chicago Board of Ethics announced Friday.

Jim Abrams, the chief operating officer of medical supply giant Medline Industries, and Alan King, the husband of 4th Ward Ald. Sophia King, each were found to have broken ethics rules for seeking to influence the mayor and City Hall action without registering as lobbyists, as the law requires.

Abrams emailed Emanuel to ask him to consider a friend's pitch to receive an exemption in an ordinance the mayor was pursuing to increase the city's minimum wage. King, a DJ and law firm partner, emailed Emanuel to have a fence removed from a Chicago park to accommodate a house music picnic.

The ethics board made the two violations public Friday but will not determine how much to fine Abrams and King until after its meeting next month.

The great moments of one party rule!