Alderman Tom Tunney has a co-starring role in the just- released Office of the Legislative Inspector General’s semi-annual report.
The OLIG found that Tunney, “improperly called and attempted to tamper with a potential witness in a criminal investigation for prosecution of a third party.” His conduct has been referred to the City Council’s Board of Ethics.
According to the OLIG report, Tunney testified that he made the improper call “to protect his ward and businesses by keeping them out of the news.”
This is an important moment to remember. It’s a true waymarker on the path to understanding why he covers up Wrigleyville and Boystown’s violent crime problem, too.
If Tunney is that interested in keeping a borderline comedic drunk-assistant-state’s-attorney-in-a-sex-shop story out of the news to protect the area’s reputation, to what lengths do you think he would go to keep stories like THIS out of the news?
To protect the area’s reputation and keep it out of the news, would he insist that stabbings are isolated incidents, when the city’s own statistics show that stabbings have been on the rise here for years?
To protect the area’s reputation and keep it out of the news, would he imply that the robberies in our area are merely drunks having cell phones spirited away by thieves who flitter past on gossamer wings?
To protect the area’s reputation and keep it out of the news, would he claim for years that Wrigleyville and Boystown is not seeing an increase in robberies, when the city’s own statistics show that they’ve been on the rise for years?
To protect the area’s reputation and keep it out of the news, would he literally shed tears on the floor of the City Council for the people who have been stabbed, beaten, and robbed after trusting his false version of events? Oops. Sorry. His tears were shed over the square footage of a Jumbotron. Our bad.
Or maybe, just maybe, his motivation was something other than protecting the area’s reputation and keeping it out of the news.
