Feds probe Laski in Hired Truck
Want to know about city clerk's links to firm, hiring practices
City Clerk James Laski is under federal scrutiny as part of the Hired Truck probe, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
Federal agents showed up late one night at Laski's home on Chicago's Southwest Side in recent weeks, seeking to question him, but he declined, saying he needed an attorney, according to several sources close to Laski.
Federal investigators are interested in Laski's links to a Hired Truck company called Get Plowed Inc. that the Sun-Times tied to a top Laski employee, Michael ""Mick"" Jones, in a story last year.
The feds also want to know about Laski's hiring practices, sources said.
Laski is gearing up to run for state treasurer and has frequently promoted himself as a potential mayoral candidate.
Laski, a former alderman who became city clerk in 1995, was unavailable for comment Thursday, but his staff issued a statement:
""The City Clerk's office received a request for information by the U.S. Attorney's office. We are cooperating fully. And we will continue to cooperate. The clerk is not the subject of an investigation, nor is the office of the city clerk.""
The U.S. attorney's office had no comment.
Campaign donations
The feds' interest in Laski was sparked, in part, by former First Deputy Water Commissioner Donald Tomczak, who has pleaded guilty to taking bribes to hand out Hired Truck business.
Tomczak told investigators he met with Laski on several occasions when Laski wanted city business for Get Plowed, according to a source familiar with Tomczak's account.
Whenever the city was reducing the number of private trucks it was using, ""Laski would go to bat for Get Plowed and try to get Tomczak or his people to keep the trucks on,"" the source said.
Federal investigators have discovered Laski's name on sign-in logs at the Jardine Water Filtration Plant near Navy Pier, where Tomczak worked, sources said.
Jones, a city employee since 1978, started working for Laski's office in 2003, and Jones' wife has worked for Laski, too.
Jones started Get Plowed in 1986 with his friend, John J. Novak of Lemont. Jones transferred his share of the business to his wife in 1992, who in turn sold her interest to Novak in 1999, Laski's chief of staff, Joe Panarese, told the Sun-Times last year.
Even after Novak took sole ownership of the company, Get Plowed kept using Jones' home address in some instances, such as when Get Plowed donated money to Laski's campaign.
After the Sun-Times story on Get Plowed in February 2004, the company dropped out of the Hired Truck Program. Get Plowed got nearly $300,000 from the city in 2003, its last full year in the program. Most of the money came from Tomczak's Water Department.