John Kass: 2, Pool Boy: 0

By Prescott Carlson in News on Aug 9, 2008 2:28PM

The same day John Kass shined a light on some shenanigans Chicago aviation chief and longtime Daley ally David Ochal pulled during the recent storm, Ochal decided to call it quits. The brouhaha arose because Kass discovered Ochal had used his clout to get an O'Hare ComEd crew to deliver a generator to his house on the Far Northwest Side while his neighbors sat in the dark. Obviously they were not amused by the glowing beacon of light on their pitch-black block, and tipped off the Tribune.

This is not the first time Ochal has had a run in with Kass or his neighbors. Back in 2000, Kass reported that Ochal had installed an in-ground pool in his backyard without a permit, which proceeded to leak, flood the neighbors' yards, and blow up a ComEd transformer -- hence the nickname "Pool Boy". Kass also hinted that the pool may have been built on the taxpayers' dime -- requests for canceled checks proving Ochal paid for it out of his own pocket have been denied. [Trib; photo by Gabriel Robledo]