New O'Hare Contract Adds Fuel to the Fire

By Kevin Robinson in News on Mar 5, 2009 6:00PM

Adding to the ongoing headaches for the mayor around the O'Hare Expansion Project is news that the contract to build the third and final runway was awarded this week to a large contractor with deep ties to the Daley family. Walsh Construction was awarded the $79 million dollar contract late last week. According to the Sun-Times: "Matthew Walsh's father grew up with Mayor Daley's father, former Mayor Richard J. Daley. Before Richard M. Daley stopped accepting campaign contribution from city contractors in the wake of the Hired Truck scandal, the Walsh family had been among the mayor's most reliable contributors."

News of the contract award didn't sit well with the city's black aldermen. Said 28th Ward Alderman Ed Smith "I don't want to see Walsh or anyone else get these huge contracts while black contractors are left with something minuscule. The numbers we've been getting are absolutely ridiculous." Black contractors in the city have won only eight percent of the projects total contracts.

Fanning the flames of discontent around the over-budget and behind schedule project is the ongoing federal investigation into fraudulent minority contracting and the connection between O'Hare contractors and Michael Levar, Daley's former aviation chief and Alderman Patrick Levar's brother.