Columnist Jeff German: Topless nightclub circuit becomes battleground in City Council race

Tuesday, March 9, 1999 | 10:36 a.m.

Loyalty to a friend may be a virtue in real life, but it can become a vice in the world of politics.

For City Councilman Michael McDonald, a longtime friendship with topless nightclub owner Rick Rizzolo threatens to put a damper on his re-election bid.

McDonald, a Metro Police officer backed heavily by the power brokers, has to be the favorite in his race against Steve Miller, the maverick who held McDonald's Ward 1 seat a decade ago.

But since filing to run against McDonald at the last minute on Friday, Miller has come out swinging at the incumbent over his ties to Rizzolo, the owner of the Crazy Horse Too on South Industrial Road.

The only thing that could soften Miller's offensive is his own relationship with a strip tease joint. Miller is the landlord of Club Paradise, a Paradise Road adult cabaret that competes with the Crazy Horse Too. But he insists that all he does is collect a rent check each month.

Rizzolo, meanwhile, is known to have other friends in high places -- such as Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, who received a $3,000 campaign contribution from the nightclub owner in 1994.

But he also has friends in low places who have caught the attention of lawmen over the years.

At the top of that list is reputed underworld figure Joey Cusumano, once considered a lieutenant of slain Chicago mob kingpin Anthony Spilotro. You may recall that Cusumano stayed at Rizzolo's house in 1990 following a botched mob hit on the former Spilotro crony.

Miller, who has been out of city politics since he lost the 1991 mayor's race to Jones, accuses McDonald of using his council position to further Rizzolo's business interests, a charge McDonald vehemently denies.

"He seems to be so close to him that he can't even vote on issues that affect the quality of life and safety of the children living close to Rizzolo's business," Miller says.

Miller is angry that McDonald had to abstain during a council vote that paved the way for a 6,000-square-foot expansion of the Crazy Horse Too near the Meadows Village neighborhood.

He says McDonald should have been fighting against the nightclub expansion on behalf of the Meadows Village residents.

If anything, Miller says, McDonald appeared to lead the charge to close an adult bookstore next door to the Crazy Horse that made the nightclub's expansion possible.

McDonald, who has threatened to sue Miller for defamation, acknowledges that he's friends with Rizzolo.

But he adds: "I have never tried to further his business interests."

McDonald says he will stress his achievements in office during the campaign rather than get in the gutter with Miller.

"He wants to get down and dirty," McDonald says. "That's his forte. He doesn't do his homework before he spouts off. But my campaign is going to be based on facts."

McDonald's ties to Rizzolo first surfaced four years ago (long before Miller entered the picture) during his race with ex-football star Frank Hawkins, who was the Ward 1 incumbent at the time.

As Hawkins trailed in the polls toward the end of the race, he alleged that Rizzolo was helping McDonald raise money for his campaign.

Both Rizzolo and McDonald denied the allegation, but records showed a number of Rizzolo's friends, including Cusumano's father-in-law, had indeed contributed to McDonald's campaign.

Hawkins also learned at the time that McDonald had been verbally reprimanded by his superiors in 1993 for showing confidential police information on then-Club Paradise owner Sam Cecola to a county commissioner.

McDonald, who called the reprimand a minor blemish on an otherwise distinguished record, had obtained the information as part of an investigation into Cecola's suitability to run the adult nightclub.

Cecola, reputed to have ties to the Chicago mob, later publicly accused Rizzolo of trying to use his political influence to drive him out of business.

Last year county authorities lifted Cecola's license after he was convicted of tax fraud in Illinois and sent to prison. His wife now runs the club.

The prospects for business at the Crazy Horse Too, meanwhile, have never looked better.