Americana: It’s All Relative

In Chicago politics, patronage is not exactly unknown. Even nepotism is a lively tradition: Mayor Jane Byrne’s husband and daughter both work for her. But no one takes kinship more seriously than Chicago City Alderman Fred Roti. He admitted last week that 16 members of his family are on the municipal payroll. Roti, 60, a Byrne loyalist, says it is all relative: “So, I have some relatives on the payroll. They’re doing an excellent job. What’s the beef?”

All told, Roti’s kin are paid $351,000 a year by the city. His daughter Rosemary Marasso is a mayoral press aide; her husband Ronald was just promoted from city painter to maintenance manager at O’Hare International Airport, thus becoming the highest paid city worker in the clan ($34,000). Another daughter, Mary Ann, works for the city housing department, and she is married to a police department machinist. Roti’s daughter-in-law works for the health department; her husband Bruno held a job with the police until last year, when he was convicted of extortion. Nine nieces and nephews and two cousins are city employees. Sums up Roti, whose own salary is $28,000: “They’re my family, and I wanted to help them.”