Plugged into power: 'What Emil lurks in the heart of ComEd?'
Former Senate President Emil Jones
Emil Jones' five-year tenure as Illinois Senate president was both history-making and tumultuous.
The longtime Chicago Democrat, a former Chicago sewer inspector, gained the chamber's gavel in 2003 as the first African-American to be the Illinois Senate's presiding officer. Jones was a reliable force for impeached ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and Jones' family seemed to have terrific success in scoring government contracts .
A technology firm owned by Jones' stepson made millions of dollars in no-bid government work and had a contract with Commonwealth Edison at the same time Jones helped block a legislative rollback in utility rates. "I don't think it's healthy for the legislative process," then-Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn said of Jones' undisclosed familial ties.
Along with colleagues at the Sun-Times and NBC5, I collaborated on a series of stories that exposed Jones' family connections. He denied having any conflict of interest and erroneously insisted the reporting -- based on a contracting paper trail that took weeks to develop -- was fabricated.
The longtime Chicago Democrat, a former Chicago sewer inspector, gained the chamber's gavel in 2003 as the first African-American to be the Illinois Senate's presiding officer. Jones was a reliable force for impeached ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and Jones' family seemed to have terrific success in scoring government contracts .
A technology firm owned by Jones' stepson made millions of dollars in no-bid government work and had a contract with Commonwealth Edison at the same time Jones helped block a legislative rollback in utility rates. "I don't think it's healthy for the legislative process," then-Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn said of Jones' undisclosed familial ties.
Along with colleagues at the Sun-Times and NBC5, I collaborated on a series of stories that exposed Jones' family connections. He denied having any conflict of interest and erroneously insisted the reporting -- based on a contracting paper trail that took weeks to develop -- was fabricated.
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Jack Higgins offered his take on some of the Jones stories written by McKinney and his colleagues.
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Stories:Joneses plugged in to power; Stepson does business with firm that gets lots of help from senator (5/3/2007)
Lawmaker's wife, son also do well on state's dime (5/3/2007) Jones tries to calm storm; Accuses reporters of fabricating stories about his family's cozy deals (5/4/2007) Secret deals enrich Jones stepson's firm; Work for gov's budget office as subcontractor valued at $700,000 (7/9/2007) Jones blocked Web list of subcontractors; Under fire over stepson, now may back bill (7/10/2007) |