From Chicago Sun-Times

Gambling adviser a high-roller
October 23, 2003

BY ROBERT C. HERGUTH AND CHRIS FUSCO Staff Reporters

Gov. Blagojevich's top adviser on gambling policy wagered hundreds of
thousands of dollars at Illinois casinos run by people he later dealt with
on the governor's behalf, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Christopher G. Kelly's other interests include raising and donating money
for Blagojevich's campaign efforts, and doing the same for a Chicago
alderman whose brother, a city employee, helps determine how much Kelly's
roofing company and affiliated firms earn at O'Hare Airport.
Critics now say Kelly is an example of how Blagojevich is breaking his
pledge to end "business as usual" in Illinois government. State Senate
Republicans want Kelly and other unpaid Blagojevich advisers to make their
financial dealings public to cast light on his "shadow government."
O'Hare proves lucrative for Blagojevich, familyThis push comes as a deal Kelly helped craft to get the state's 10th casino
license running is being weighed. The U.S. attorney's office continues to
look at the license, controlled by Emerald Casino, having ordered state
gambling regulators Sept. 25 to turn over documents "in any form relating in
any way to Emerald Casino that have not been previously provided" to a grand
jury, according to an Aug. 22 subpoena.
There's no evidence Kelly is wrapped up in the Emerald investigation --
though language in the subpoena indicates his actions could be scrutinized.
As for Kelly's relationship with gaming companies and O'Hare players,
Blagojevich points out that, as governor, he has led the charge to hike
casino taxes, and that Kelly isn't his lone gambling adviser. And while his
ward-boss father-in-law, Ald. Dick Mell (33rd), has influence at O'Hare,
Blagojevich said Mayor Daley ultimately makes decisions there.
Kelly, who raised millions for Blagojevich in relative anonymity, describes
himself as "just a roofer." But friends and acquaintances say he's a
politically savvy man who long had a goal of building a powerful company.
Gambler, and gambling adviserBlagojevich calls Kelly, 45, "a friend who I trust . . . a very smart, very
effective person."
He saw no problem in naming his top fund-raiser to an unofficial post as
gambling liaison in January because he didn't accept contributions directly
from the casino industry -- though records show $2,500 in contributions from
a group tied to GOP power broker William Cellini, whose Argosy Gaming
operates in Joliet and Alton.
Kelly, a Frankfort resident, was a key player in several behind-the-scenes
meetings aimed at bringing Emerald and state Gaming Board negotiators
together on a deal to auction the lucrative 10th license. Kelly also spoke
with casino companies about the effect increased casino taxes here might
have.
"He understands that industry," Blagojevich said of Kelly. "He goes to
Vegas. He likes all of that."
It was precisely for that reason that some in the industry were perplexed by
Blagojevich's decision to get Kelly involved. Kelly said he stopped gambling
in Illinois more than a year ago. Before then, he often was wagering
thousands of dollars at a time, sources said.
"The bottom line is Chris Kelly's gambling over the years has nothing to do
with decisions the governor makes," said Cheryle Jackson, a Blagojevich
spokeswoman.
Well-connectedKelly's trip into the governor's inner circle began in the early to
mid-1990s when he and the man he calls his best friend, Ronald Rossi, met
Blagojevich outside a political fund-raiser.
"Rossi was smoking a cigar. I introduced myself to them," recalled
Blagojevich, then a state representative eyeing a run for the U.S. House.
"It was very typical of a guy who was looking to make friends to run for
Congress."
One of seven children, Kelly grew up in Champaign, where his dad ran a
contracting business.
He tried several jobs, moved out of state, and returned to the area in his
late 20s to work for the South Side roofing firm owned by the family of a
college frat buddy, William Cleary. In more than a decade with Jones &
Cleary, Kelly learned all about roofing, including navigating the highly
political behind-the-scenes world of O'Hare.
By the late '90s, Kelly and his friend had a falling out. Kelly began a
competing business. "It was a bad departure in that we were friends and
we're not friends now," Kelly said of Cleary, who didn't return a reporter's
calls.
By this time, Kelly had accumulated powerful friends, some of whom helped
him start his business. Rossi, whose family owns Northlake's Rossi
Contractors, acted as a sounding board, Kelly said. Golfing pal Robert Blum,
who runs two Markham construction companies, Castle and MBB, leased him
space and equipment. Former Daley aide Christopher Hill helped link him with
an out-of-state roofing executive, Chuck Burks.
"He had political aspirations and had a lot of political connections, and I
guess his plan was to work in the public sector," Burks said of Kelly.
Later, Kelly bought out Burks, renaming the company BCI Commercial Roofing.
In 1998, it teamed up with Castle and, the first time it ever bid at O'Hare,
won a roofing contract worth at least $7 million. Rossi, with whom Kelly
once was involved in another business venture, was listed as another point
of contact.
Kelly returned to O'Hare under some of the same city bosses he befriended
while at Jones & Cleary. One was Mike Levar, whose brother is Ald. Patrick
Levar (45th).
BCI, Castle and Rossi are overseen by Mike Levar's construction management
team, which has an important say in how much those firms are paid. They all
contribute to Patrick Levar's campaign funds.
Since the late 1990s, about the time Blagojevich began seriously considering
a run for governor, Rossi has been awarded more than $30 million in O'Hare
contracts, records show. Castle has secured at least $23.4 million in work.
They and their affiliates have contributed more than $800,000 to Blagojevich
campaigns -- and their donations comprise most of the $1 million that went
from O'Hare-related businesses into Blagojevich's gubernatorial coffer, the
watchdog group Aviation Integrity Project found.
The governor said he wasn't a factor in their lucrative rise at O'Hare. But
critics wonder if Mell, who didn't return calls, was.
Business as usual?While there's no evidence of anything illegal, Kelly illustrates just how
cozy politics remain in Illinois. Kelly and Rossi have raised money for
Patrick Levar. One of Levar's friends and heaviest contributors is developer
Jim Kozonis. Kozonis helps run Parkway Bank & Trust. The bank not only holds
Levar's campaign account, it has ties to Emerald and Rosemont, which wants
to build a new casino.
Kelly recalls meeting Kozonis, but said they're not close.
State Senate Republicans believe the public has a right to know the basics
about people like Kelly who are not on the state payroll but play key roles
in state business.
"These people have no accountability," said Patty Schuh, spokeswoman for
Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson (R-Greenville). "The public has a right
to know if there's any potential conflicts when unpaid advisers are
providing information or negotiating on behalf of the state."

O'Hare Airport often is called the region's "economic engine."
In some ways, it's an economic engine for Gov. Blagojevich, too, serving as
a $1 million source of campaign cash, as well as fertile ground for jobs and
contracts for his family and friends even before he was elected.
His wife's brother, Rich Mell, was just promoted at O'Hare and given a
$6,000-a-year raise -- to $62,000 annually.
Christy Webber Landscapes, meanwhile, was awarded a $9,999 no-bid
"emergency" contract two years ago to handle landscaping at O'Hare until a
more permanent contract was awarded, said Chicago aviation spokeswoman
Monique Bond.
"But that didn't happen, so the maintenance continues, we had other things
that required attention . . . and we had to pay for that," she said.
So the firm -- which employs Blagojevich's sister-in-law, Deborah, has done
yard work for the governor's North Side home and donated more than $13,000
to his campaign fund -- saw that $9,999 become $157,000, officials said.
Neither Mell nor Webber, whose firm also is doing work now at Midway
Airport, returned calls.
Robert C. Herguth
and Chris Fusco