State investigating $98 million grant for UNO charter schools
BY DAN MIHALOPOULOS Staff Reporter dmihalopoulos@suntimes.com March 29, 2013 4:28PM
Juan Rangel, CEO of the United Neighborhood Organization. | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times file photo
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Updated: March 29, 2013 4:48PM
Gov. Pat Quinn’s executive inspector general has opened an investigation into the politically influential United Neighborhood Organization’s use of a $98 million grant from Springfield for new charter schools, after a report in the Chicago Sun-Times that UNO gave millions of dollars in contracts for the schools to companies with ties to the organization’s top officials.
In a letter dated Feb. 14, Executive Inspector General Ricardo Meza’s office asked the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to turn over all records regarding the grant, state officials disclosed Friday.
Meza also sent a similar request to Juan Rangel, UNO’s chief executive officer, sources said.
Meza’s office said it has opened “an official investigation” into the UNO grant, according to a copy of the one-page letter that the Quinn administration released Friday in response to a request made under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
The inspector general asked to be given copies of UNO’s state grant contracts and “any and all corresponding documentation,” including anything involving subcontractors, by Feb. 28.
Meza could not be reached Friday. A Quinn spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment.
UNO spokesman Ray Quintanilla said, “UNO recognizes the need to update and improve its internal procurement process to match our rapid growth within the last few years. We have said we can do better, which is why former Judge Wayne Andersen is conducting an independent analysis of UNO’s current policies which will outline a comprehensive set of policies that will modernize