Jun 5, 2009 11:08 pm US/Central
Cicero President Punishes Critics, Even Brother
CICERO, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Cicero Town President Larry Dominick has several family members on the town payroll.
CBS
When Larry Dominick was re-elected town president in Cicero, you just knew that heads would roll. And roll they have.
CBS 2 Chief correspondent Jay Levine reports on those who opposed Larry Dominick and paid the price.
Call it the Dominick family feud. Not even Larry Dominick's brother was spared the wrath of Cicero's iron-fisted ruler, who has stacked the payroll with loved ones and doesn't seem to care who knows it.
It's hard to escape Larry Dominick' s image in Cicero. Whether you're waiting for a bus, or watching the world go by, Larry's got you covered. Just like he did back in February, when his campaign flooded front yards with campaign signs and overwhelmed the Cicero police sergeant who challenged him.
Three months later, though, the people remain divided.
"He did a lot for the town," Arturo Oliveras said. "He's good."
Jennifer Rojas has another view when asked how Dominick is doing.
"Not so good, I don't think," she said. "I think that Cicero's corrupt."
For example, Dominick recently appointed another police sergeant as acting superintendent after Lori Lelis had contributed thousands to his campaigns.
Dominick's challenger, Roberto Garcia, returned to a barrage of departmental complaints, resulting in two suspensions so far.
"I believe these complaints brought against me to send a message that anyone who runs for political office here in this town will not go unpunished," he said.
He's not the only one.
Back in February, we spoke with Dominick after we obtained records indicating a payroll bloated by those related by blood, marriage or romance: Larry's mother, Larry's brother, Larry's third wife, Larry's brother-in-law, Larry's sister, his two sons, his daughter-in-law, his wife's father and her son and on and on.
"They don't belong on the Cicero payroll even if they're qualified because it's improper," says Andy Shaw, executive director of the Better Government Association. "This is a callous disregard for taxpayers, for good government and for common decency."
Cicero disputes several of the names, but only one of them has been removed from the payroll: Larry's brother, Richard Dominick, who worked for Garcia.
"I'm the only one they got rid of out of all of them," he says.
But not before attending three more board meetings under the new administration.
"My board meetings were a total of 40 minutes," he said. "Half of them never show up; they're ghost payrollers."
Officials were paid $1,000 a month plus full medical and dental benefits, he said.
Nice work if you can get it. But not if you bite the hand that feeds you, support his opponent or talk to the media.
We aren't the only ones the Larry's estranged brother is talking to.
There are rumors of the feds crawling all over the town where, given Cicero's sordid history, they might as well set up shop permanently.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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