Mayoral Candidate Susana Mendoza Can't Be Taken Seriously Anymore

CHICAGO — As much as it pains me to admit, Toni Preckwinkle is right. Voters can’t take Susana Mendoza seriously anymore.

An ongoing federal corruption probe has exposed the Illinois Comptroller who wants to be mayor as a phony reformer. And maybe worse, a Latina front for powerful white men who made her a Democratic Machine darling.

Chicago voters owe a debt of gratitude to Ald. Danny Solis, the ward boss who got caught with his pants down at a massage parlor trading City Hall favors for Viagra and happy endings.

Solis’s affinity for Asian prostitutes inspired him to wear a wire for the feds, according to the Sun-Times. Solis secretly taped conversations with Ald. Ed Burke, who has been charged with attempted extortion, and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who hasn’t been charged with anything. At least not yet.

Burke and Madigan made Mendoza their hand-picked Latina front woman for the Democratic powers that be. Mendoza has said it herself — she considers Madigan her political mentor. Without backing from Madigan and members of the Daley Machine, Mendoza probably would have never graduated from a foot soldier in the corrupt Hispanic Democratic Organization to Illinois’ youngest state representative.

And if it wasn’t for Burke — who Mendoza called her “true champion” and the “primary reason” she ran for City Clerk — you might not even know her name.

How does Mendoza explain why she banked more than $141,000 in campaign cash from Solis and a company owned by his sister?

She needed the money. It was business as usual.

“They gave it to me during my re-election cycle when I was potentially going to be up against a well-funded opponent. You’ll recall that the others spent $9 million against me in the last election cycle. So, there’s nothing unusual about their contribution,” Mendoza told NBC 5 political reporter Mary Ann Ahern this week.

Nothing unusual? Who is Mendoza kidding? She took $74,000 from Solis, a federal informant who was wearing a wire in hopes of catching her political mentors conducting shady business deals. A company co-owned by Solis’ sister — a company that made millions loaning money to state contractors left unpaid due to the state’s budget stalemate — gave $67,000 to Mendoza’s campaign fund.

And on Monday, Mendoza, lacking all self-awareness, tried to con Chicago voters into believing that, if elected, she would be a corruption-busting mayor.

She unveiled an “ethics plan” that promised to rid City Hall of the insider deals and wink-and-a-nudge corruption practiced by her political benefactors — who've blessed her with campaign cash and clout her entire elected career.

Mendoza apparently hoped voters would believe her because she promised to tap former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb as her anti-corruption guru.

It’s a scam. Don’t believe it.

Sun-Times City Hall Reporter Fran Spielman pointed out that Webb has his own ties to Mendoza’s “true champion,” Ed Burke.

“Webb, who played a pivotal role in uncovering and prosecuting the Operation Greylord judicial corruption scandal, made 24 campaign contributions to Burke between 2004 and 2018 for a grand total of $41,000,” Spielman reported.

Besides, Webb had nothing to do with the ethics plan Mendoza is pitching as reform.

“She just called me to run some ideas by me,” including creating a commission patterned after the one that recommended sweeping systemic reforms after Operation Greylord, Webb said.

Mendoza’s “plan” for rooting out corruption cribs from other people’s bad ideas — the kind that probably pop on a Google search for “government reform ideas.” Her corruption commission is straight out of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s cover-up-the-cover-up playbook.

Maybe she thinks Chicagoans forgot about the $1.6 million Emanuel authorized for Webb’s “third-party” review of the city law department after the Laquan McDonald murder cover-up scandal raised questions about City Hall’s role in the police code of silence.

Webb’s “third-party” review —not to be mistaken for an independent probe — found no “intentional” misconduct, and called for about 50 different reforms that, as far as anyone can tell, changed absolutely nothing.

Mendoza’s ethics plan mirrors most of the vague and hastily thrown together proposals found in the “Future Now” campaign pledges posted on her campaign website.

Some of her “proposals” include things Chicago’s mayor doesn’t control (merging CTA and Metra pay systems), revive failed ideas (bringing back violence interrupters) and generally lack specificity about how she’d implement or pay for them (bringing “more investment” to neighborhoods.”)

She even fesses up to a lack of originality in her campaign platform.

“I did not invent all of these ideas from scratch on my own. I’ve listened to neighbors and experts from across the city to frame a future that makes Chicago work for everyone. Many ideas build on existing programs here in Chicago or borrow from plans that are working in other cities,” Mendoza wrote.

Local news outlets would have you believe Mendoza is frontrunner in the mayor’s race. And now, she wants voters to believe she’s a “tough as nails” reformer.

What’s closer to the truth is that powerful white men who run the Democratic Party helped get Mendoza elected to two posts— City Clerk and Illinois Comptroller — that some people consider unnecessary bureaucracy that wastes taxpayer money. And the closest thing to reform that Mendoza can take credit for is banning the sale of puppy mill pets at Chicago pet stores.

Like I said, what Preckwinkle says about her ballot rival in the mayor's race is true.

Mendoza is too closely tied to her political godfathers — Burke and Madigan — and the cash that connects her to Solis, the City Hall snitch who caught them on tape for the feds ­– to be taken seriously anymore.

Indeed, Preckwinkle — the Cook County Democratic Party boss who accepted a $10,000 donation the feds says resulted from the alleged shakedown that led to charges against Burke, and another six figures in cash from a fundraiser at the powerful alderman’s house — is right on the money.

When it comes to status quo candidates who can't be taken seriously, it takes one to know one.

See Also:

• Facts About Pay-To-Play Preckwinkle Help To Voters To Form Opinion
• Chicago Needs To Elect Bunch Of Snitches To Kill Code Of Silence
• Rahm's Podcast Isn't Practice For TV Gig; He Stinks On TV (VIDEO)
• Are You For 'Cockroaches' Or Reformers In Chicago Mayoral Race?
• Cash Connects 'Independent' Preckwinkle To 'Good Ol' Boys Club'
• Hmm, Mayor Candidate Bill Daley Doesn't Want To Dis Rahm Anymore

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting and Emmy-nominated producer, was a producer, writer and narrator for the Chicagoland series on CNN.

Photo credit: Associated Press file photo