Former County Commissioner Ed Moody lied to union, public and can't be trusted, colleague says

Former Cook County Commissioner Ed Moody who is the "star witness" against former House Speaker Michael J. Madigan has a history of lying not just to unions and the public but to me too

By Ray Hanania

FREE/Politics/Saturday, Aug 31, 2024

The public will only get to hear one side of the Federal case against former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, one-sided spin that will be absent of many of the facts.

Whether it is in Chicago, Springfield, or in Washington D.C., politics is built on building alliances among people who work together strengthening their organization to do what they believe is best for their constituents.

Sometimes it's not the constituents who become the priority, as was the case of Ed Moody, a former precinct captain for the 13th Ward Democratic Organization and member of Madigan's Democratic organization who held public office in Cook County.

Using his political ties with people he helped, Moody crawled up the ladder to hold two key jobs, the first was his appointment as Cook County Commissioner to succeed Joan Patricia Murphy in 2016. Murphy died that year. 

As Cook County Commissioner, Moody had told me and others about how he would be a champion of the taxpayers, fighting repressive tax hikes, like the one-cent per ounce tax on soda pop.

But that's not what happened when he got into office. Moody lied to me, lied to the taxpayers, and lied to everyone who supported him, including one of his 13th Ward colleagues and union officials, Kevin O'Gorman.

O'Gorman was president of the Carpenter's Union (formerly 141 but now 10). He told me what I had learned, that Moody was an opportunist who would lie and flip on issues for his own benefit.

O'Gorman presided over a union dinner when newly appointed Commissioner Moody pushed his way to the stage and tried to take the microphone out of O'Gorman's hands. The dinner wasn't about politics, O'Gorman said, but Moody begged him. That's the way Moody was. Pushy and inconsiderate of others," O'Gorman recalled.

"Moody came up to me and tried to tear the microphone out of my hand, like it was all about him. I am a little larger than he is and I resisted. But he kept pleading, that he needed to talk to the members," O'Gorman remembered. 

"Please, he kept begging. He said he had to say thanks for all the union members had done for him and he wanted to tell them that personally."

As soon as Moody got the microphone, Moody changed, O'Gorman said.

"He walked away from me like he was Frank Sinatra or something doing a Vegas show. This wasn't about thanking the union. It was all about him," O'Gorman recalled.

"He went on to tell everyone that he is their representative on the Cook County Board and they could count on him. He said the union supported him and that he vowed he would always support them, 100 percent."

O'Gorman said, "Moody told us that he supported and would vote for the bill that would require all contractors to use people who had Department of Labor approved apprenticeships, which the unions and the public backed."

Moody spent the entire evening "sucking up" to everyone, "And I say that with all the disdain I can muster," O'Gorman said looking back at that night.

Moody had been appointed to the Cook County Board in October 2016, filling a vacancy created by the death of Commissioner Joan Patricia Murphy.

After giving that "Thank you speech," O'Gorman said, Moody quickly betrayed the union and the taxpayers by voting against the legislation.

"He told us at the dinner, 'I'm going to be your voice and your vote supporting this.' That's what he told us at the dinner," O'Gorman said.

"He did a 180-degree turn, not even with so much as a word that he was in a bad spot and had to do it to get elected. No explanation. He voted against us and did it for himself," O'Gorman said. "He lied to us."

O'Gorman said he spoke with several people in the labor movement, and they decided "if it was the last thing we would do, we would make sure he would be defeated."

Things worsened for Moody when he voted to support County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's repressive one-cent per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages on November 10, 2016. 

Although I support Preckwinkle on most policies she pursues, the one-cent tax per ounce on sweetened drinks was so repressive it would hit the middle income and the poorest in the county the hardest.

Having angered the unions and the public, Moody decided it wasn't in his best interests anymore to run for election for the county board seat in 2018.

Instead, Moody weaseled his way into filling the vacancy created when Karen Yarbrough resigned as Cook County Recorder of Deeds on Dec. 13, 2018. Moody was appointed the next day.

Fortunately for the taxpayers, Moody was thrown out of office before he could betray them again when the Office of the Recorder of Deeds was eliminated, on Dec. 7, 2020.

O'Gorman told me that as a precinct worker, Moody had no problem lying to homeowners, too, just to keep them happy. I'll tell you about that story in a future column.

NOTES:

Click here for info on the Soda Tax vote

Voting for the tax were Luis Arroyo Jr., D-Chicago; Jerry “Iceman” Butler, D-Chicago; John Daley, D-Chicago; Garcia; Edward Moody, D-Chicago Ridge; Stanley Moore, D-Chicago; Sims; and Larry Suffredin, D-Chicago.

Click here for information on the prevailing wage / apprenticeship program by the Dept of Labor