Joe Berrios, who is running for Cook County Assessor, filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against the Better Government Association, claiming that they have misused their nonprofit status by getting involved in politics. "The BGA has crossed the line in their biased reports on the Cook County Assessor's race," Berrios said in a statement. "I believe the federal government should investigate whether Executive Director Andy Shaw and the BGA board of directors have violated the income tax law by filing a false exemption." Among the allegations that the Berrios campaign is making against the BGA is that many of the people that have made donations to the organization have also donated to the Claypool campaign, and that BGA has been issuing "one-sided reports about the Cook County assessor's race which show that the organization is attempting to persuade voters to elect Claypool, who is the candidate backed by the organization's major contributors," Berrios said. more ›

According to an ongoing investigation by the Tribune, 12th Ward Alderman George Cardenas has been using tax dollars to rent office space for his ward office from a company his family owns. The Tribune's investigation into how city aldermen are using their city expense accounts shows that Cardenas spent $17,120 in 2008 to rent his office, which is in a building owned by himself and some relatives. He told the Tribune he didn't see any problem with that, but then backed down when pressed. "There's no reason to be [in the company] if it's going to cause me headaches," he said. "I do everything aboveboard." more ›