On a day to remember the nation’s finest statesmen, the street fight that defines politics in Cicero took no holiday.
With only a week to go before a municipal primary election in the west suburb, the politicking on Monday took an odd twist, as loyalists to Republican Town President Betty Loren-Maltese claimed they had unearthed court documents proving that one of her rivals beat his former wife and dodged child support payments.
But the target of the claim, Democratic County Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno, accused the group of shoddy research and flat-out lies, saying that another man–who happens to share his name–was the culprit. “That `Joseph Moreno’ in that ’74 divorce case is not me,” the county commissioner, visibly angry, said. “They are greatly mistaken.”
Only in Cicero, a town where politics means grubby, hand-to-hand combat, could Monday’s events top what has already occurred in this year’s race for town president.
In the past few months alone, Moreno had accused Cicero police of conspiring for political reasons to frame him on charges of driving under the influence. Then, the police officer who made the arrest complained that two men had pulled him over and disarmed him, warning the officer to leave Moreno alone.
All this, and it’s still only primary season.
In the Republican primary Feb. 27, Loren-Maltese takes on former Cicero Police Chief Emil Schullo, who faces charges of conspiring to embezzle from town coffers. In the Democratic primary, Moreno is running against Cicero attorney Victor Armendariz. The winners will square off in April.
But so far, Armendariz and Schullo have been little more than political bystanders, generally ignored by Moreno and Loren-Maltese as Monday’s battle illustrated. The day’s dueling news conferences evolved into a bizarre mix of careful, media-conscious staging and raw, sometimes flawed, claims and counterclaims.
At 10 a.m. Monday, inside Cicero’s Republican headquarters, two Republican town trustees passed out nine pages of court papers from what they said was Moreno’s 1974 divorce from a woman named Diana. Trustees Josephine Herrera and Ramiro Gonzalez, who support Loren-Maltese, dubbed Moreno “No Dough Mario” in their news release. The papers alleged Moreno beat his wife, cheated on her and failed to pay child support.”How can we as a community expect him to be a role model to our children, to say don’t drink and drive, be responsible to your children, don’t beat your wife, pay your bills?” Herrera asked. “Joseph Mario Moreno cannot be a leader. His character clearly shows it.”
Later, told that Moreno denied ever being married to anyone named Diana, the Republicans at first stood by their assertions. They said the woman’s Chicago divorce lawyer, Dale Smirl, had told them that he recalled the county commissioner as being the same “Joseph Moreno” from the case a quarter century ago.
But in a phone interview, Smirl denied ever advising the Cicero Republicans of such a fact. Smirl said he couldn’t recall the case at all, much less the woman–or her ex-husband.
Smirl said he was contacted about the issue several weeks ago by an attorney in former Chicago Ald. Edward R. Vrdolyak’s law office who wanted to know whether Smirl still had a copy of the paperwork from the case. Vrdolyak, who could not be reached Monday night, has been an ally to Loren-Maltese and has done legal work for the town. Loren-Maltese declined to comment Monday.
“I wouldn’t know Diana Moreno if she walked into my house, nor would I know Joseph Moreno, the county commissioner, or anyone else named Joseph Moreno,” said Smirl, who added that he is a Democrat from Oak Park who has little knowledge of Cicero politics. “[The lawyer] said, `We think this is the same guy, can you verify it or not?’ And I said no.”
Smirl said he even warned the lawyer to make sure she had the right “Joseph Moreno,” using Social Security numbers or other identifying information from public documents.
Although the divorce record made available by the Republicans includes few pieces of identifying information beyond the name Joseph Moreno, it does at one point state that Moreno was 28 years old at the time of the case. Moreno, the county commissioner, would have been 21 in 1974.
A few hours after the Republicans’ assault, Moreno was waging his own news conference a few blocks away.
There, he had planned to boast about his endorsement for town president from a local firefighters union. But, Moreno found himself responding to the Republican claims.
“Clearly they have libeled me, they have slandered me, they intentionally and maliciously set forth these accusations in motion with the clear intention of continuing to distract from the real issues of this town,” Moreno said.
By dusk, a Republican Party spokesman in Cicero was backtracking.
The Republicans “apologize” for the error, spokesman David Donahue said. Still, Donahue went on, their “basic point” remained true. Donahue then produced a different “Joseph Moreno” divorce case, and offered to fax it to reporters.
Moreno, who is married to his third wife, later confirmed that that 1997 divorce from Julie Ann Moreno was indeed his.
The documents from that case, supplied by the Republican camp, included scant suggestion of wrongdoing, aside from a reference in a legal motion from his former wife’s lawyer. It read: “[Moreno] has recently threatened to make no further payments to Julie for support and maintenance.”
Donahue said the court papers showed that the county commissioner had a “major problem” with child support payments. “It’s really the same thing,” Donahue said of the two divorce cases. “They make the same allegation.”
Moreno said he has never failed to pay child support. “At no time were my children not provided for,” said Moreno, attributing the day’s attacks to the Loren-Maltese administration. “This is a classic example of how they have been running their administration, shooting from the hip and lying to the public,” Moreno said.
