Mihalopoulos: Council charity’s black-tie gala nets little green

The first-ever gala fund-raiser for the Chicago City Council’s Latino Caucus not-for-profit foundation was, by all accounts, a classy event.

With Mayor Rahm Emanuel as honorary chairman, the foundation raised more than $208,000 at the black-tie evening at the Field Museum in November 2015.

But the costs to put on the event were so high it netted less than $58,000, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.

The “direct costs” for organizing the gala exceeded $150,000, eating up 72 percent of all the money that was collected, according to the Chicago City Council Latino Caucus Foundation’s draft 2015 tax return.

All 11 Hispanic aldermen are board members of the foundation, formed in 2012 “to provide scholarships to Latino students who wish to attend college but cannot afford it.”

When I asked for the tax records the group is required to file and to disclose publicly, one of the aldermen said Friday the 2015 federal tax return was “being reviewed by members and should be filed shortly.”

A copy of the draft tax return obtained by the Sun-Times breaks down the huge expenses that the foundation incurred for the 2015 gala like this:

• Nearly $22,000 to hold the event in the main hall of the Field Museum in the shadow of Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex.

• More than $17,500 for food and beverages.

• $3,000 for entertainment.

• More than $108,000 for “other direct expenses” that weren’t itemized but that the group’s chairman, Ald. George Cardenas (12th), said Tuesday included hiring a fund-raiser and a public relations firm.

“My vision was that the foundation has to do something out of the norm,” Cardenas said of the swanky inaugural gala. “Yes, the expenses were very high. It was a huge risk.”

Cardenas said people pledged nearly $300,000, but much of that was never actually contributed.

Though the group was incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation nearly five years ago, it was registered with the Illinois attorney general’s as a charitable organization, as required, only on Sept. 30 — days after I initially asked for its financial reports.

The attorney general’s office said Tuesday the group’s latest financial report also was due in September and that it’s informed the foundation it’s late but still hasn’t received it.

The foundation held its 2016 fund-raiser Sept. 30, drawing a who’s-who of people with stakes in decisions made by City Hall.

It listed ridesharing giant Uber and its rival Lyft, both of which have fought City Council efforts to enact stricter regulations of their industry, as supporters of the event, as well as the two bidders vying for the lucrative new concessions deal at Midway Airport and two of the financial firms that do underwriting in Chicago of government bonds.

Among other big-business donors to this year’s gala were Walgreens, ComEd, Southwest Airlines, the Chicago Cubs and Walmart.

“The Chicago City Council Latino Caucus Foundation raised more than $400,000 for Latino students at its second annual gala,” according to a news release it sent out. “The foundation nearly doubled what it raised last year.”

But it might be a while before the public can find out how much actually was cleared at the most recent gala, minus expenses, because the foundation’s 2016 tax returns aren’t due until next year.

This year’s event was held at a union hall instead of the pricier Field Museum. So maybe there will be more left over for the college students the fund-raiser is meant to help.

“The first year is the hardest,” Cardenas said. “We’ve done a lot of good work. I don’t want to discourage anybody from the wonderful vision we have.”

So far, the foundation hasn’t handed out any scholarships. Cardenas said the first scholarships will be awarded early next year and also said the University of Illinois-Chicago has donated four four-year scholarships to the foundation.

A panel of “education and admissions professionals” is to choose who gets the scholarships from the foundation.