A report published yesterday by Chicago’s WTTW indicates that some major donors to Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin’s mayoral campaigns and related PACs have received millions of dollars in city contracts during his tenure.
The report identifies Aurora-based Scientel Solutions, a telecommunications company that bills itself as a “technology integrator,” and has contracted with municipal governments to specialize “in networking, drone defense, security and smart city solutions.”
According to the report, campaign filings indicate that Scientel, its CEO and its employees have donated a total of at least $67,000 to Irvin’s campaigns during his tenure as mayor. During that period, Scientel has been granted approximately $3.2 million in city contracts.
In addition, Scientel donated a further $68,500 to “Build R Future,” an Irvin-related political action committee, according to the report.
WTTW contacted Scientel , which responded with a statement that said, in part, “All of Scientel’s contracts went through a competitive bid process managed by a third party in which the third party made the recommendations to City Staff who then selected Scientel as the prime. These decisions are generally made on the basis of the applicant’s experience and pricing.”
The reporting mirrors allegations of “pay-to-play” practices that have dogged Irvin’s administration for years. Earlier this year, investigative reporter and longtime campaign advisor Jeff Ward’s blog, “The First Ward,” broke the news that the FBI was investigating an allegation by two former city information technology contractors that Irvin’s Chief Information Officer Michael Pegues was involved in a bribery solicitation involving the city. Ward worked as a communications and strategy consultant in Irvin’s successful first mayoral campaign in 2017. Read those articles here and here.
The mayor’s campaign declined to respond to the WTTW report, which can be read in full here.
