Andy Economy is somewhere between a shrewd businessman and a corrupt politician, and we all await a special prosecutor’s investigation to figure out which.
The roster of government bodies on which he sits seems to have a strong resemblance to his customer list at Andy’s Auto Body in Madison: Chairman of the Metro East Sanitary District and $33,150 in work for his shop from the district; Commissioner for America’s Central Port and $4,004 in work for his shop from the port; Venice Township supervisor and $1,000 for his shop from the township. While he doesn’t hold office in either city, Madison was good for $40,000 and Granite City spent $162,686 with Andy’s Auto Body.
Grand total: $240,840 during the past three to five years.
Now we fully understand sanitary district attorney George Filcoff’s comment when Economy’s $33,150 in work for the district first came to light: “He doesn’t need this business.”
Nope, because he has plenty of other business, plus $15,000 for serving on the sanitary district, plus $40,000 as township supervisor — and his wife makes $61,000 working for the township — but he does “donate” his time for the port district.
Economy may be taking care of No. 1, but he had plenty of help from his head-nodding brethren who failed to question doing business with their own.
As ethically challenged as all this may be, none of it is a surprise. The good-old-boy network takes care of its own, until they become an embarrassment and everyone suddenly recognizes the right thing to do after it hits the news.
on November 12, 2015, 1:59 pm, in reply to "