Aldermanic News: Alcoholism, Investigation, And Retirement

By Kevin Robinson in News on Aug 3, 2010 3:00PM

22nd Ward Alderman Ricardo Munoz publicly discussed his battle with alcoholism this week in the Tribune's Spanish-language daliy Hoy, and again in an interview with the Tribune. “This last year has been rather difficult for me, in terms of my abuse of alcohol,” Munoz told the paper. “In May, I came to the conclusion that I needed help. That’s when I checked myself into an outpatient rehab clinic.” Munoz said that he'd checked himself into an outpatient rehabilitation program for five weeks in May. That program involved daily counseling, but now he goes once a week while attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. “The disease had affected every aspect of my life,” Munoz told the paper. “It affected me professional, socially and at home. That’s why I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t continue it and needed help.” He added that “there’s no real good time to deal with this,” noting that "my motivation right now is to protect my sobriety and my family. Everything after that? Hey, God’s will.”

In other aldermanic news, Ald. Rey Colon (35th) is facing an investigation by state election officials after it was learned he apparently failed to report $120,000 in fundraising between 2007 and 2009 plus $180,000 in spending that also went unreported. Colon did the political thing and blamed the issue on staff: "I had two different people who were handling my filings, and they weren't doing it correctly so we had that redone. We hadn't filed and we needed to file. … I had to have somebody come in and clean up the mess." Colon could be subject to fines if it's found the money came in during a 30-day period prior to an election. As for the spending, the Tribune reports $62,000 of the $180,000 was used to pay credit card charges so it's likely Colon will have to disclose the purchases the money was used to pay off.

Finally, in yesterday's story on Ald. Helen Shiller calling it a day, Sun-Times columnist Laura Washington made a passing mention that there were more than a few others considering the same fate. In a follow-up story today, the Sun-Times reports these as the other eight City Council members thinking of hanging up their rubber stamps: Ginger Rugai (19th), Jim Balcer (11th), Frank Olivo (13th), Ed Smith (28th), Vi Daley (43rd), Pat Levar (45th), Mary Ann Smith (48th) and Bernard Stone (50th).