Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel spent $600K on send-offs for himself

Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed out his eight-year reign in style — with $1 million in charitable donations and a roughly $600,000 spending spree on farewell parties.

Beneficiaries of Emanuel’s generosity — through donations made by the former mayor’s political fund — included five of Emanuel’s favorite causes, which was reported by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell.

The Chicago Public Library Foundation, Children First Fund, the City Colleges of Chicago Foundation and Youth Guidance each received $200,000 donations from Chicago for Rahm Emanuel, according to the second-quarter report filed with the State Board of Elections.

Libraries, youth mentoring, after-school and summer jobs programs and the colleges-to-careers makeover at the City Colleges of Chicago were all primary focuses during Emanuel’s second and final term.

But Emanuel also spent roughly $600,000 of his once-massive campaign war chest on a series of send-offs to himself.

The biggest of those expenses included payments of $166,884 and $47,198 for an event at Revel Motor Row.

There was also roughly $16,000 spent on Blue Plate Catering; $10,000 to Parlay at Joy District and $8,300 for Marshall’s Landing Chicago.

There were also a series of smaller, but still substantial “event expenses” that included: Frost ($80,374); The Dalcy ($46,000); the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel ($30,538); The Indications LLC ($20,000); Time Cuisine ($10,718); and VIP Valet ($3,268).

All of the pricey events were held during a time when Emanuel was conducting a seemingly-endless string of farewell interviews aimed at building his own legacy.

Emanuel began the second quarter with $1.7 million in cash on hand, spent $1.6 million and ended the reporting period with $94,135 left in the bank.

Contributing: Mark Brown