Chico Firm, Wife Cashed in on Lobbbying Fees

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 22, 2010 7:23PM

The primary candidates in the race to replace Mayor Daley are running against his recent record as much as they are each other. And their own records. Case in point: longtime Daley insider Gery Chico. Chico released three years of tax returns yesterday, and they show that City Hall has been very, very good to him and his.

In 2009, Chico and his wife claimed earnings of $2.6 million. In 2008, their earnings were $2.9 million. Furthermore, Chico's law firm, Chico & Nunes, is a registered lobbyist for more than 40 companies with the city. And Chico's wife, Sunny, runs a consulting firm that contracts with school systems to provide tutoring, curriculum advice and other services. From May of last year until August, Sunny Chico's SPC Consulting LLC collected $87,000 in fees from Chicago Public Schools. Gery Chico is a former CPS Board President.

With Chico running a strong but distant second to Rahm Emanuel in the latest poll conducted by the Illinois Retail Merchant's Association and the primary candidates trying to work the message that they won't be Daley, these financial disclosures can only serve as red meat for the Emanuel campaign to chew on. If Chico doesn't win the election, there's also the possibility that the ethics plan presented by Emanuel and drafted with the help of former city Inspector General David Hoffman (which sets stricter guidelines for lobbyists) will certainly cut into the Chicos' future earnings.