Triton College, the sprawling educational complex in west suburban River Grove, made headlines five years ago following disclosures that officials doled out contracts to friends-some with organized crime ties-and rewarded allies with jobs.
The scandal forced the school, which has nearly 20,000 students and is Illinois` third largest community college, to undergo an administrative bloodletting. It re-emerged with guarantees that the days were over when politics dictated purchases and policies.
But as Triton enters its second quarter century, new questions have surfaced that again threaten its reputation.
Irregularities appear in the college`s purchasing practices-some suppliers have ties with felons and organized-crime figures-and politics again plays a role in hiring.
Many of the questionable situations have arisen since the college hired James DeMilio in August 1988 as director of physical plant and security.
DeMilio, a former Chicago policeman, is a cousin of board member Merrill Becker of Riverside, who was chairman of the board until last November.
The board created the security position and filled it with DeMilio on the same night, without advertising the job or interviewing anyone else. Repeated attempts to reach DeMilio for comment were unsuccessful.
Among the questionable purchases made by Triton College:
– Between October 1988, and May 1989, the college bought nearly $13,500 worth of janitorial and maintenance supplies from Advance Sales Inc. of Melrose Park. According to documents, the purchases were requested by DeMilio. The company is run by James Sarno of Elmwood Park and his son, also named James. The younger Sarno was campaign chairman for three candidates for the college board last year, who were also backed by Becker and Pat Naples, the onetime board chairman who was at the center of Triton`s earlier problems.
The elder Sarno was once identified by the Chicago Crime Commission as an associate of suburban gambling boss Joseph Gagliado, who died in 1971.
In 1962, Sarno was indicted, along with his father, by a federal grand jury on charges of intimidating a witness to change his testimony in a liquor hijacking case. Neither was convicted.
The secretary for Advance Sales is John Nitti, who owns the Nitti Travel agency with his father, Nick Nitti. Prior to opening Nitti Travel, Nick Nitti operated a travel agency on the West Side with the son of reputed mob boss Anthony Accardo, and once was cited for contempt of court for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating a Chicago hoodlum.
Nitti Travel is one of five travel agencies authorized to book trips for Triton.
– Last April, the college paid Jeannie`s Construction $1,800 to repair an automotive dock wall damaged when a college vehicle backed into it. State and county records don`t show a registration for such a company. The check was endorsed by Jeannie Messina, who identifies herself in a letter to Triton as vice president of Advance Sales. The check was also endorsed by Sarno.
– In July 1988, D&P Construction of Chicago was given a $4,600 no-bid contract to grade the college`s soccer field. An affidavit from an FBI agent filed in January said the company is owned by John DiFronzo, a top-ranking Chicago organized crime figure, and his brother Peter. Both men are convicted felons.
According to college president James Cantanzaro, the soccer field was a joint project between the college and an Elmwood Park soccer club, which provided some of the work to build the field. Although the college paid for the project, spending about $20,000, Cantanzaro said the soccer club was allowed to select the contractors.
– Last year, the college bought 2,365 long-life fluorescent light bulbs from Sante Fe Lighting of Sante Fe Springs, Calif. Documents show the purchase was ordered by DeMilio, who officials in the college`s business office say circumvented normal purchasing practices by ordering the purchase without authorization from the business office.
The college`s bidding requirements, which require sealed bids on all purchases over $5,000, were apparently avoided by placing one order on May 22, 1989, for $4,100, and another three weeks later for $1,600.
The vice president of Sante Fe Lighting is Mario Rovetto, who is currently on probation after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court, Chicago, in May 1986, to embezzling $11,872 from Local 200 of the United Textile Workers of America while he was secretary-treasurer.
– Since August 1988, Triton has purchased nearly $18,000 worth of unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel from Wright Industries of Summit for college vehicles.
Because of the fluctuating price of fuel, business officials at Triton say the regular procedure is for purchasing employees to obtain quotes from a few fuel suppliers, then make the purchase from the lowest bidder.
Since August 1988, however, the college has bought fuel exclusively from Wright. Officials at Mohr Oil in Forest Park, which previously supplied Triton with fuel, said that after Wright began selling to Triton, Mohr bid a few times under wholesale in an attempt to get some of the business and officials were surprised that they never got the contract. They have offered no bids in recent months.
Louis Wright, board chairman of Wright Industries, called Triton a small account for the company, which he said would not get involved in an arrangement that might jeopardize its reputation with its larger customers.
Wright, Sante Fe, and Advance had never done business with Triton before DeMilio was hired.
College president Cantanzaro defends the school.
”Because of the blowup five years ago, this college is under more intensive review by the Illinois Community College Board and by state and federal auditors than any institution I have ever been involved with,” he said.
”Our skirts are as clean as Northwestern`s or Harvard`s and may be cleaner because we have been under such scrutiny.”
