Del Valle: Emanuel Benefited From Patronage System
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayoral candidate Miguel Del Valle says the prison sentence given for former Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez brings to mind rival Rahm Emanuel's connections to Chicago's old patronage system.
As WBBM Newsradio 780 Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, Del Valle is not saying Emanuel has done anything wrong. But he does say the frontrunner benefited some the same kind of patronage army of city workers that Sanchez was accused of running.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780 Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports
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Del Valle says such people helped elect Emanuel to Congress when he ran in 2002.
"I want, today, for people to be reminded that there is a tie, and these are ties that bind, and these are ties that bind Emanuel to the old way of doing things," Del Valle said. "That's how he got elected to Congress.
Sanchez was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison Thursday. He was convicted in July of last year of being part of a city hall hiring fraud scheme that prosecutors say cost Chicago taxpayers more than $1 million.
Prosecutors said Sanchez had used his role overseeing 4,000 city jobs to build up the pro- Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization, "pulling the strings" to make the "sham" scheme work, and leaving qualified applicants without political connections no chance of being hired.
