Ex-Teamster official quietly serves on Illinois labor board
A retired Teamsters official whose local union contributed $25,000 to ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign has been quietly serving on a state labor board since 2006, state records show.
Michael Coli, former president of Chicago-based Teamsters Local 727, makes nearly $94,000 a year as a member of the Illinois Labor Relations Board, according to records in the state comptroller's office. The board settles disputes between governments and the unions that represent their employees.
The appointment is "another situation inviting (Gov.) Pat Quinn to do a real review of boards and commissions to assess why the members get their appointments and whether they are doing their jobs," said Cindi Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
Coli's appointment flew under the radar, unlike that of his brother, Local 727 secretary-treasurer John T. Coli, who withdrew as a Blagojevich appointee to the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority's board amid controversy in 2003.
His pick drew public scrutiny because Teamsters groups had contributed large sums to the Blagojevich campaign, including $100,000 from a group he headed. He was later appointed to two lower-profile state boards.
Federal investigators have been looking into Blagojevich's hiring practices in a wide-ranging probe of corruption under the former governor. Blagojevich was arrested in December and later impeached and thrown out of office over allegations that he tried to benefit from official acts, including his power to appoint someone to President Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat.
There is no indication that Coli's appointment has been part of the investigation. Randall Samborn, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, declined comment.
Michael Coli did not return several messages from The Associated Press, including one at Local 727 and three at the Labor Relations Board.
A woman who answered the phone at Local 727 referred all questions to Teamsters Joint Council 25, an umbrella group for 22 Teamsters locals in the Chicago area where John Coli serves as president. A spokesman there did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press.
Contacted prior to Blagojevich's ouster, the then-governor's chief spokesman, Lucio Guererro, declined to comment on why Coli was appointed to the board. He said he was barred from commenting on anything tied to campaign money.
Quinn spokesman Bob Reed said the governor had no comment on Coli's status as a member of the Labor Relations Board. He did say Quinn plans a review of how seats on state boards and commissions are filled to determine whether the process can be improved and to "create greater transparency."
Michael Coli went on the Labor Relations Board's payroll in July 2006, state records show. His current salary is $7,827.16 a month.
Overall, Teamsters-affiliated organizations have contributed $453,500 to the Blagojevich campaign fund since 2002, state records show.
Local 727 contributed $25,000 to Blagojevich's campaign fund between 2003 and 2008, according to records at the State Board of Elections: $10,000 in August 2003, $5,000 in June 2004, $5,000 in June 2005 and $5,000 in June 2008.
John Coli was appointed to a $1,250-a-month post on the Department of Employment Security's board of review-labor in December 2003 but remained for only two months.
He was named to the State Board of Investments, which invests millions of dollars in state pension money, on March 16, 2004, but left the board on June 13, 2005. Board records show he was present at two of the 11 board meetings in that period.