Campaign contributions "to keep the police off their back"

There’s a reason we encourage reporters to ask campaign contributors why they give.

Sometimes the answers surprise.

Casey Toner, a reporter with The Southtown Star, wrote a Saturday story about campaign contributions by strip club owners. Toner's article included the following nugget:

Thomas Amadio, a former manager of Sharkey’s, a now-defunct club owned by his family, said there’s a reason strip clubs will pony up the cash to politicians.

“To gain political favor with them and to get help for problems that occur — with liquor licensing, underage dancers who come in with fake IDs ... fights, drugs,” said Amadio, a Chicago Heights park district commissioner. “To keep the police off their back. That’s why they’re doing that.”

That may be the naked truth!