Pizza man
Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
ABC-7’s “I-Team” ran a story last night on a strange food service contract at the tollway.
The I-Team uncovered a food contract between the Illinois Tollway and a company that has ties to a mega millionaire. Eddie Debartolo Jr. is also a convicted felon. Debartolo was once caught bribing Louisiana’s governor with a briefcase full of cash.
A company launched by Debartolo is opening pizzerias inside every renovated tollway oasis in Illinois. Tollway officials defend the deal.
Eddie Debartolo Jr. is one of the country’s 300 richest men. The Notre Dame graduate’s net worth is estimated at more than $900-million, made mostly through primarily from real estate and shopping centers.
Debartolo was the owner of the NFL’s San Francisco 49er’s. He was forced to permanently leave the business after pleading guilty in a gambling scandal involving a corrupt southern governor. Now Debartolo’s pizza place is open for business at the O’Hare Oasis in Schiller Park.
Famous Famiglia has a firm ten-year state contract to sell pizza pies at the refurbished Illinois Tollway Oases. Two are open now. Two more will open this week with the last three after that. The contract for the oasis pizza parlors is with a company called: FD Leasing, of White Plains, NY. The “F” is for Famiglia. The “D” is for Debartolo. […]
Despite Debartolo’s record — and a prohibition against state contracts for felons — the company got the deal. Illinois State Toll Highway Authority officials said the pizza contract is not with Debartolo. They said the contract is with FD Leasing and Debartolo’s name is nowhere on the contract.
Tollway officials said their legal staff reviewed the deal and concluded that it didn’t fall within the felon prohibition because FD was not involved in the corruption problem. […]
So why was New York selected and not a Chicago pizza maker? The company’s president laughed and said, “I think the guy was drunk when he gave it to us.”
He admits though, sales are not great so far although they are looking to bid for O’Hare and Midway airports concessions when those contracts come up.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 15, 05 @ 3:55 pm:
Wonder who in the Blagojevich administration knows DeBartolo?
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 15, 05 @ 5:31 pm:
Keep digging, guys..you’re getting warm…
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 15, 05 @ 6:20 pm:
Am I crazy… but shouldn’t the guv be giving some of these contracts to Illinois businesses to boost our economy and help cut the deficit?
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 15, 05 @ 7:18 pm:
Do not blame the Governor-he has no idea who gets the contracts and no involvement in the process. I wish he did know more, but there is only so much he can do in changing the way business is done
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 15, 05 @ 7:26 pm:
I was actually sitting right across from the new (just opened) Famous Famiglia at the rennovated Belvidere, IL Oasis (North end, East side, inside end, directly across from the Security office), and if today (11:45 to about 12:40) was any indication, they need all the publicity (resulting in business) that they can get. Tough when you’re 2? doors down from Micky D’s.
Let’s not be too hard on them - first off, the employees all appear to be locals and were doing a good job, and they collect IL sales taxes.
Btw, that looks to be a nice food court layout up at Belvidere on I-90. Now, if they could just resurface the Oasis parking lots up there….
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 15, 05 @ 7:54 pm:
DeBartolo smells like Chris Kelly to me.
Not filling gaming board seats because they can’t find just the right people to do their bidding sounds like Chris Kelly to me.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 15, 05 @ 8:58 pm:
DeBartolo sounds like a Chicago kinda of guy.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 15, 05 @ 9:52 pm:
Is this an attempt at humor?
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At 7:18 PM, Anonymous said…
Do not blame the Governor-he has no idea who gets the contracts and no involvement in the process. I wish he did know more, but there is only so much he can do in changing the way business is done
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The Gov HAS NO idea what is going on? Gimme a break. You must have received a plum job due to this admin. Naive, or a transparent attempt to exonerate the Gov for “business as usual.”
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 15, 05 @ 10:31 pm:
He’s asleep at the switch.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 15, 05 @ 11:09 pm:
“there is only so much he can do in changing the way business is done” MAYBE that is true, but if you really think that, Governor, then don’t hold a press conference taking credit for things that you really can’t do.
It’s a disgrace to have a New York pizza company in this contract. Blago’s people can hide behind the contractor, but they could have required local restaurant participation the way it was done at Midway Airport. What would the Governor say if the Cubs started serving Coors and Nathan’s hot dogs? Surely he would hold a press conference at Addison and Sheffield and call the Cubs some names while telling us a story about his lifelong heartbreak as a Cubs fan . . . .
I wonder who runs that Gyros restaurant chain that is in the rest-stops. Good gyros BTW, but I never suspected that Gyros was so universally popular as to merit a location on every rest-stop. Is it just me or is that an out of place restaurant? Mr. Goudie? hello?
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 15, 05 @ 11:37 pm:
“$900 million… made mostly through primarily (ATTN: Dept. of Redundancy Dept. or is that in CMS too now?)…real estate and shopping centers..” What other Italian big cheese got his start in real estate?
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 16, 05 @ 8:23 am:
Can’t wait for NY Yankees/Debartolo pizza at the new casino!
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 16, 05 @ 8:29 am:
I think the important point in this story is that almost no one from Chicago or the burbs would defile their tastebuds with a New York style Pizza. Why would anyone want to run our trucking companies out of state to replace them with New York Style Pizza? I am ready to get a bumper sticker for my car that says don’t blame me I voted Republican, except I am not comfortable lying.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 16, 05 @ 9:32 am:
Some of this commentary is absurd. Is it really incumbent upon the governor to personally decide what style of pizza is served at a tollway oasis?
Is it his fault if the color the walls are painted is unpleasant too?
And by the way, the Cubs serve Budweiser (St. Louis); Old Style (Milwaukee) and Hebrew National (a ConAgra product, though the original company is based in NY). To be fair, IL makes no swill beers, so those can be forgiven, but Chicago does have Vienna Beef dogs and a Sinai Kosher plant (in the shadow of Comiskey/Cell no less). So, that comment is a little off
The point is, people are CONSTANTLY trying to dissect every move out of the gov’s office. Criticism is fair when warranted, but sometimes a pepperoni is just a pepperoni -at least until hard evidence proves otherwise.
As a post script - read the commentary Rich made in the subscription version framing the whole donors/contractors thing. In sum - it’s a small world, and everything isn’t a controversy (and I think we can all agree Rich isn’t a shill for the Administration).
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 16, 05 @ 9:36 am:
If memory serves me well, I think Vrdolyak and DeBartolo were pretty close a while back. As we know, it was Fast Eddie who gave Hot Rod his start. Whether they are still close or not, I do not know.
I do know that Blagojevich better start thinking about Illinois businesses for some of these contracts. He still has to run for Governor of Illinois again before he even THINKS about his pipe dream Presidential run.
I personally know of a contract where he is screwing an Illinois company offering 1.36% better pricing than an out of state company who is getting fat off of the contract.
I just don’t know what the guy is thinking.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 22, 05 @ 12:14 pm:
Rod Blagojevich got his first job clerking as a lawyer from Fast Eddie Vrdolyak because they are both Serbians.
Rod Blagojevich was the coordinator for the Vrdolyak for Mayor campaign in 1987 (where he got over 400,000 votes and almost won)–Rod did not want people to know this especially African Americans because his father in law Mell and more importantly Vrdolyak wrere against Harold Washington.
(Vrdolyak got killed in 89 when Richie finally won)
In 1987 DeBartolo (I think Sr at this time) gave an unprecedented $750,000 to Vrdolyak before the election and the 19th Ward people (remember Hynes dropped out crying) said that Vrdolyak was going to open the city up to DeBartolo.
Chris Kelly is in roofing and also close to Vrdolyak.
Kelly and Retzko both have an investment in Panda Express. Jack Hartman and Tim Martin are both Kelly appointments as are his sister. Hartman and Martin helped Kelly with contracts at the Chicago Board of Ed and Aviation.
This DeBartolo thing did NOT fall through the cracks.
It was known and was a risk that it would come out.
DeBartolo Jr was a RAT and testified against Governor Edwards in Louisiana AND gave him a sachel of cash for about $500,000 for a casino in Louisiana.
There are a lot more deals like this. But maybe Rod can hire a donor lawyer to do an investigation.
Remember the investigation Jeremy Margolis did into SOS for George Ryan–NO WRONG DOING, FREE AND CLEAR.
Scott Fawell and Dean Bauer are good people.
Maybe Vrdolyak can do the investigation into DeBartolo
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 22, 05 @ 12:52 pm:
BUT does the Pizza taste good???
I bet Eddie Vrdolyak knows good food
and if DeBartolo can make a good pie let him stay