The public comment portion of governmental meetings are known to sometimes go off the rails, with rants, complaints and unsubstantiated allegations from speakers not uncommon for Chicago area park boards, village boards, school boards and the like.
But even with that reality, a member of the public who spoke at a Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview Elementary District 89 school board meeting Oct. 16, concrete contractor Michael D’Addosio, made jaws drop when he accused school board vice president Sandra Ciancio of pressuring him for kickbacks in exchange for taxpayer-funded work and insider bid information.
“I refuse to be extorted or bribed for money,” D’Addosio said, according to a video posted online by a local resident. “I have five approved proposals on the table.”
In another video recorded outside the same board meeting, D’Addosio said Ciancio — a political ally of longtime Melrose Park Mayor Ron Serpico — offered to “give me the bids” in advance, but the contractor “turned it down.”
Since then, D’Addosio said he’s been trashed and unfairly blacklisted from local government work, spurring his decision to speak up.
Ciancio did not return calls or emails seeking comment.
While some dismissed the claims as nonsense, officials confirmed the contractor has done work for District 89 and other governmental agencies, including Serpico’s.
School boards often vote on major contract awards, but members typically are supposed to be removed from the nitty gritty of bid solicitations and vetting — with that process administered by district staff who collect and review proposals, and forward along recommendations to the board based on pricing and other measurables.
The school board called a special meeting Thursday night to discuss the accusations — and to hire an outside law firm to conduct what was described as an outside independent investigation.
But several board members — including Ciancio — didn’t show for reasons not clear, so the meeting couldn’t proceed because there weren’t enough members present to conduct official business.
Board president Shakeesta Williams apologized to the audience and adjourned, saying they will presumably revisit this subject soon.
Board member Laighton H. Scott III said earlier in the week that he supports an investigation, saying, “For someone to stand up in an open meeting and make those accusations, it’s concerning.”
“We have to do an inquiry and figure it out — what’s really going on — we really don’t know at this point, we have to investigate.”
The school district includes nine schools in the west suburbs and roughly 4,000 children in kindergarten through 8th grade, mostly Latino and Black. Around two-thirds of the students are considered low-income, and records show the district has struggling academic scores.
Some of the students draw from Broadview where ICE has a detention facility that’s been the scene of protests and arrests in recent weeks amid President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration enforcement actions.
Serpico released a statement earlier Thursday saying: “The education of our children is vital to the health of our community and I am aware of questions that were raised during a recent board meeting. I have full faith that our school board will act in the best interests of our students.”
“While I support the school board as they investigate the questions raised by a contractor, I have serious doubts about the credibility of the contractor, who has been prohibited from working for several agencies over the years because of poor work.”
Reached Friday, D’Addosio said, “I stand by my work, I stand by my words.”
He also said, “Why would Melrose Park be sticking up for District 89 that has nothing to do with them? . . . Why are they sticking up for this woman?”
The school district shares the same law firm as Serpico’s municipal government — a Berwyn firm run by lawyer Michael Del Galdo, who has political ties to Cicero Town President Larry Dominick and now-imprisoned ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.
Del Galdo couldn’t be reached for comment.
Ciancio has contributed campaign money to Serpico, records show.
She’s also donated to the campaign fund of Cook County Judge ShawnTe Raines-Welch, wife of Madigan’s successor, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, a Hillside Democrat.