Dolton Mayor's Daughter Gets Contract, With The Mayor's Help
DOLTON (CBS) – Dolton Mayor Ronnie Lewis is in hot water over a contract his south suburban village granted Monday to a company run by his daughter.
The controversy erupted when the Chicago Tribune reported the deal was worth more than $1 million. The village administration disagreed Monday, saying the deal was never for $1 million. It was for $1, and a typo was to blame.
"That's all it is," administrator Bert Herzog told CBS 2's Mai Martinez.
Under the contract, LL Care -- a management company run by Lewis's daughter, Angelique Lewis -- will run The Dorchester, a senior assisted-living facility owned by the village.
The board voted 4-0, with two trustees absent, to award a three-year contract to the her company. Ronnie Lewis was among the "yes" votes, and he lashed out at critics.
"People are out here spreading malicious rumors," the mayor said during the meeting. "They talked about giving a $1 million contract to my daughter. That is untrue."
But it wasn't $1, either. The village treasurer said the salaries paid through the contract would actually total $420,000.
Regardless of the amount of money at stake, some village trustees say the deal reeks of old-school, keep-it-in-the-family politics. Trustee Deborah Green is one of them. She was one of the trustees who did not attend Monday's meeting; Willie Lowe was the other.
"I was pretty stunned with this contract," Green said earlier Monday.
"It's infringing on the taxpayers," Lowe told CBS 2's Mike Parker.
One resident said the contract for the Dorchester didn't appear proper.
"They should be going out to bid on all this stuff. This should not be coming somebody that's related," resident Catherine Bendell said.
Both the mayor and the village administrator say hiring the management company would save Dolton money.
