Blagojevich finds himself in family political battle

The chained up fence at the entrance to a Joliet landfill is seen on Friday. The landfill is the center of controversy between Blagojevich and Chicago Alderman Richard Mell, his father-in-law and a political heavyweight, who claims Blagojevich closed the landfill run by a Mell relative to get even with Mell and burnish his populist image. AP photo Nam Y. Huh

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CHICAGO - Gov. Rod Blagojevich's father-in-law, a Chicago alderman, took a simmering family feud public Friday, accusing the governor of shutting down a landfill run by a distant relative in a political power play aimed at burnishing his populist image. Alderman Richard Mell, a Democratic political heavyweight credited with helping get his son-in-law elected governor, said Blagojevich was trying to show his political independence and get back at Mell for criticizing him. "He can't stand to have people thinking it was me who got him elected," Mell said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Florida. "It's purely because of me, because he wants to demonstrate to the world that he is the champion of virtue and that no relative, nobody, can use the governor's office. He is going to be the best possible governor beyond belief," Mell said. The unusually public dispute between the two powerful Democrats surfaced when Blagojevich asked the Illinois Environmental Pro-tection Agency to shut down Land Reclamation Services Inc. in Joliet on Thursday after an investigation found multiple violations, including the dumping, disposal and storage of waste without a permit. The governor ordered the IEPA to investigate the 45-acre site on Dec. 27 after owner Frank Schmidt - a distant cousin of Mell's wife - allegedly told customers he could evade permit requirements because of his family ties, Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said. But Mell said the governor, who learned about the landfill at a family Christmas Eve dinner, acted to punish him for criticizing Blagojevich in the past. "When he does something that I believe is not in the best interest of the state, I let people know that. I let him know that. He doesn't want to hear it," Mell said. "I think it's about me. Frank Schmidt is my wife's cousin. I think Blagojevich is trying to be this white knight that will shut down anything, protect the citizens of this great state," Mell said. Ottenhoff said Blagojevich would not discuss the matter with reporters on Friday. She acknowledged that the governor learned about the landfill through his wife's family, but denied the governor acted to get even with Mell. "The law is the law and everyone has to live by it," Ottenhoff said. "It wouldn't have been shut down if they had been complying with the law." She said Blagojevich took office vowing a change from the administration of Gov. George Ryan, whose mingling of political and government activities resulted in dozens of federal corruption convictions. "When you look at the problems in the past, with people with special connections or special interests having special benefits, he (Blagojevich) was very concerned to make sure that that was not the case and that that was not happening at the site," Ottenhoff said. Schmidt allegedly told customers that LRS, which opened in September, was partially owned by Mell, although Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk said there is no record that Mell is affiliated with the company. Mell and Schmidt denied that Mell is involved with the company. Schmidt, 34, of Crown Point, Indiana, denied accusations that he told customers he could evade permit requirements and said his company only accepts clean debris. "I'm scared right now. I'm scared. The governor's trying to shut me down for no reason," he said. "This is the biggest abuse of power I've ever seen. They came in and they invented a case." In court Friday, a judge denied Schmidt's request to reopen the landfill but continued the case until Monday. Schmidt vowed to appeal the state's decision and questioned why Blagojevich ordered the IEPA to investigate. The agency was at the site for six days before shutting it down, but no fines were levied. "The whole family, everybody, is saying, 'Why?' It doesn't make any sense," Schmidt said. "Because of Rod and Mr. Mell's relationship, I'm caught in the middle and I'm paying for it."