2. CHARTWELLS K12 / COMPASS GROUP
3. SODEXO SCHOOLS
4. ARBOR MANAGEMENT / WHITSONS / GenNx360 — DYNASTY ALERT
5. QUEST FOOD MANAGEMENT SERVICES — DYNASTY ALERT / CRITICAL
7. PREFERRED MEALS / ELIOR — FRENCH MULTINATIONAL, BERKELEY IL, PRODUCTION CLOSED 2022
8. OPEN KITCHENS INC. — CHICAGO LOCAL, WBE CERTIFIED
JANITORIAL / CUSTODIAL VENDORS — COMPLETE OWNERSHIP DOSSIERS
9. ARAMARK FACILITY SERVICES (ENDED CPS 2024)
11. UNITED SERVICE COMPANIES + UNITED MAINTENANCE — DYNASTY ALERT / CRITICAL MOB CONNECTION
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Legal entities | United Service Companies, Inc. (parent) + United Maintenance Company Inc. (subsidiary) — BOTH received CPS contracts separately |
| HQ | 1 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 1800, Chicago IL 60606 |
| Ownership | PRIVATE; Richard 'Rick' Simon — President & CEO; with United Service since 1965 founding; became CEO 1985 |
| Simon's mob connections — documented FBI records | (1) Former employee served prison time after indictment alongside mob boss Anthony 'Big Tuna' Accardo; (2) Former business partner William Daddano Jr. described by IL AG as 'reputed member of organized crime'; (3) Long-time friend and employee of Ben Stein — convicted felon and mob associate; Stein's business empire co-owned and run by Simon under United Service name; (4) Simon knew Teamsters boss Dominic Senese 'so long he could not remember how long' per FBI 1988 document; Senese described as Chicago syndicate member in 1978 White House organized crime report; (5) Rivers Casino FINED $1.65M (2016) for using United Service for cleaning and security; Gaming Board cited Simon's mob ties |
| O'Hare contract | Won CPS/O'Hare janitorial contract 2012 over union opposition; Emanuel allowed it despite disclosure failures; Ald. Burke's office personally called Aviation Commissioner to ensure Simon's company was paid promptly; Simon donated $2,000 in-kind to Burke's wife (IL Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke) in 2007; Simon donated $500 to Burke's brother Dan Burke (state rep) |
| CPS 2024 contract | United Service Cos. (parent) AND United Maintenance Co. Inc. (subsidiary) BOTH received shares of $330M/3-year CPS custodial split contract; Richard Simon donated $2,500 to Mayor Johnson Aug 21, 2023 — same single date as three other CPS custodial vendors; returned November 2023; contracts NOT returned |
| IASBO / IL Sunshine | Run ILSBE search for 'United Service Companies,' 'United Maintenance Company,' and 'Richard Simon' for all IL donations outside CPS geography; also search FEC.gov |
| The full mob-to-schools pipeline | Ben Stein (mob associate, convicted felon) → Richard Simon (employee, then co-owner) → United Service Companies → O'Hare Airport (Burke protected contract) → CPS Schools $330M contract (Johnson returned donation, kept contract) |
12. TOTAL FACILITY MAINTENANCE INC.
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| HQ | Wood Dale IL |
| Owner | Jimmie Daniels (President) |
| CPS contract | One of 7 prime contractors in $330M/3-year CPS custodial contract; Daniels donated $1,500 to Johnson campaign Aug 21, 2023 (same single date); returned Nov 2023; contract kept |
| Shared subcontractors | Twin Cleaning Professionals appears as subcontractor for Total Facility AND United Maintenance simultaneously — coordinated bidding signal; Vargas Group also appears in Total Facility bid AND United Maintenance bid AND GDI Services bid |
| IL Sunshine | Run 'Total Facility Maintenance' and 'Jimmie Daniels' on ILSBE |
13. GDI SERVICES INC. — CANADIAN COMPANY
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Legal entity | GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc. |
| HQ | 2001 Robert-Bourassa Blvd, Laval QC H7T 2B7 Canada; US office: 5101 W 127th St, Alsip IL 60803 |
| Public listing | Toronto Stock Exchange: GDI; CAD $2.0B+ revenue; 30,000+ employees |
| CEO | Claude Bigras |
| CPS contract | One of 7 prime contractors in $330M CPS custodial split contract 2024; foreign-owned public company cleaning Chicago public school buildings |
| Shared subcontractor | Vargas Group appears in GDI's bid AND two other prime contractor bids simultaneously |
| IL political connections | No identified IL donations; foreign-owned public company |
14. TWIN CLEANING PROFESSIONALS INC. — ARTIFICIAL COMPETITION SIGNAL
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| HQ | Oakbrook Terrace IL (DuPage County) |
| Ownership | Unknown — private company; principals not publicly identified |
| CPS contracts | Subcontractor for Total Facility Maintenance AND United Maintenance simultaneously — two ostensibly competing prime contractors |
| Political | $1,500 donated to Johnson campaign Aug 21, 2023 (same single date); returned Nov 2023 |
| The problem | A subcontractor cannot appear in two competing bids without both prime contractors knowing; this is either explicit coordination between primes or CPS failed to check for this overlap; either way it undermines competitive bidding |
15. VARGAS GROUP INC. — THREE-PRIME SUBCONTRACTOR = CLEAREST COORDINATION SIGNAL
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| HQ | Chicago IL |
| Ownership | Unknown — private company; principals not publicly identified |
| CPS contracts | Subcontractor for THREE separate prime contractors: Total Facility Maintenance, United Maintenance (United Service Cos.), AND GDI Services — all 'competing' primes in same CPS bid |
| Political | $1,500 donated to Johnson campaign Aug 21, 2023 (same single date as other four); returned Nov 2023 |
| The antitrust issue | Vargas Group appearing in THREE separate bids simultaneously is textbook evidence of bid coordination. Under Illinois law and federal antitrust law, if competing bidders coordinate their bids, including through shared subcontractors, that may constitute bid rigging. This warrants a referral to the Illinois Attorney General and/or the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division. |
| Action item | File complaint with IL AG. File complaint with DOJ Antitrust. Pull all Vargas Group IL SOS records to identify principals — then run those principals through ILSBE |
16. PIKE SYSTEMS INC. — 550 DISTRICTS, SIPC COOPERATIVE
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| HQ | Illinois (specific address not publicly confirmed) |
| Ownership | Private; principals not publicly identified |
| SIPC contract | Awarded SIPC (Schools of Illinois Public Cooperative) Complete Green Cleaning Custodial Service Program contract April 2025; gives Pike potential access to all ~550 SIPC member districts without district-level competitive bids |
| The problem | One vendor wins one cooperative procurement and gets access to 550 Illinois school districts; cooperative purchasing is legal but eliminates district-level transparency; 550 districts × multi-year contracts = potentially enormous revenue captured through single procurement action |
| Action items | Pull SIPC board member list and run each through ILSBE; pull Pike Systems IL SOS registration and identify all principals; run principals through ILSBE; has Pike donated to any SIPC board members? Who scored the SIPC procurement? |
17. OPAA! FOOD MANAGEMENT
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| HQ | 101 Westfield Dr, Washington MO 63090 |
| Ownership | Private; founded 1981 by Carl Turner; family/private ownership |
| IL presence | 21+ downstate Illinois districts: Staunton, Litchfield, Jersey CUSD, Nokomis CUSD, and surrounding central/southern IL districts |
| Political | No identified IL political donations |
| Downstate connection | Growing presence in areas not served by Big 3; alternative to national vendors for smaller districts; downstate IL districts have fewer watchdog options and less scrutiny of vendor relationships |
18. SIPC — SCHOOLS OF ILLINOIS PUBLIC COOPERATIVE
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Entity | Schools of Illinois Public Cooperative (SIPC) |
| HQ | Carbondale IL (Southern Illinois) |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Governance | Cooperative / nonprofit structure; board members are school district representatives; free membership for any IL public school district |
| Scale | ~550 member districts; $20M+/year custodial supplies; additional food and facility contracts |
| April 2025 | Pike Systems awarded SIPC statewide green cleaning contract |
| The systemic problem | SIPC's own board members are school officials from member districts; those school officials can vote to approve SIPC vendor relationships that then benefit their own districts WITHOUT going through district-level competitive bid; this is circular self-dealing enabled by cooperative purchasing law |
| Action items | File FOIA for SIPC board member names, terms, and district affiliation; Pull SIPC procurement records for Pike Systems; identify if any SIPC board member is from a district that used Pike or plans to use Pike after the cooperative contract |
MASTER POLITICAL DONATIONS TABLE — ALL VENDORS
| Every Confirmed Political Donation From These 18 Vendors — All at OnceThis table consolidates every confirmed political donation from all 18 vendors. The pattern is clear: donations cluster around contract decisions, come from principals rather than corporate accounts to obscure the connection, and are returned only after media scrutiny — but contracts are never returned. |
|---|
| Donor | Amount | Date / Recipient | Outcome |
|---|
| Richard Simon (United Service Cos.) | $2,500 | Aug 21, 2023 / Mayor Johnson campaign | Returned Nov 2023; United Service Cos. received CPS prime contract |
| Jimmie Daniels (Total Facility Maint.) | $1,500 | Aug 21, 2023 / Mayor Johnson campaign | Returned Nov 2023; Total Facility received CPS prime contract |
| Twin Cleaning Professionals | $1,500 | Aug 21, 2023 / Mayor Johnson campaign | Returned Nov 2023; Twin received CPS subcontracts under multiple primes |
| Vargas Group | $1,500 | Aug 21, 2023 / Mayor Johnson campaign | Returned Nov 2023; Vargas received CPS subcontracts under THREE primes |
| SodexoMAGIC / Magic Johnson | $250,000 | Pre-2014 / Rahm Emanuel | CPS awarded Aramark/SodexoMAGIC $340M+ janitorial contract |
| United Service Cos. (Richard Simon) | $2,000 in-kind | 2007 / Anne Burke (IL Supreme Court Justice, Ed Burke's wife) | United Maintenance held O'Hare janitorial contract; Ed Burke ensured prompt payment |
| United Service Cos. (Richard Simon) | $500 | 2010 / Dan Burke (Ed Burke's brother, state rep) | Same contract environment |
| Mike McTaggart (Quest FMS) — ILSBE search | TBD | MUST RUN — no donations identified yet | Quest serves 30+ IL districts including D135 Orland Park; if donations found, cross-reference against contract award dates |
| Nick Saccaro (Quest FMS) — ILSBE search | TBD | MUST RUN — lives in Highland Park IL | Same as above |
THE IASBO CONNECTION — QUEST FMS AND THE VENDOR ADVISORY COUNCIL
| Mike McTaggart Chaired the Vendor Advisory Body for the Organization Whose Members Award His Company's ContractsThe Illinois Association of School Business Officials (IASBO) is the professional organization for school district business administrators — the people who manage and approve school district contracts including food service. Mike McTaggart, owner and CEO of Quest Food Management Services, served as Chairman of the Service Associates Advisory Committee of IASBO in 2015-2016. This committee represents all vendors serving the Illinois public school segment. McTaggart was the vendor chair sitting at the same table as the school business officials who buy from his company. This is not illegal — but it is the precise kind of institutional access that allows a vendor to build relationships with decision-makers outside of formal procurement channels, understand upcoming contract expirations before they are publicly announced, and position for contract awards before RFPs are issued. Every Quest district should be asked: did the business administrator who approved the Quest contract have a personal or professional relationship with McTaggart through IASBO? |
|---|
IASBO / Quest Connection — Action Items
Pull IASBO membership records and board minutes for 2014-2017 (McTaggart's IASBO chairmanship period); identify which school business administrators from Quest-served districts attended IASBO events during this period
For every district served by Quest: when did the current contract begin? Was McTaggart the IASBO chair at the time the initial contract was awarded?
D135 Orland Park: the LinkedIn reviewer who worked at D135 and praised Quest said 'I first worked with Mike McTaggart and Quest while I was employed at Orland School District 135' — identify that person, their title at D135, and when they were employed there
Run ILSBE Illinois Sunshine: 'Mike McTaggart', 'Quest Food Management', 'Nick Saccaro' — all three searches; also run FEC.gov
Pull Quest's IL SOS corporate registration: list of officers, registered agent, any ownership disclosures
Illinois School System Audit | 866-312-6456 | auditor@illinoisschooldistrictaudit.com | May 2026