DID STATE FUNDS GO FOR POT?

The wife of a man charged with running one of the city's most sophisticated
marijuana-growing operations is the head of a gang-fighting neighborhood
group that hands out anti-drug fliers.

Jennifer McQueary's Brighton Park Neighborhood Council has been at the
forefront of the war on gangs and drugs on Chicago's Southwest Side, but
now Ald. Ray Frias (12th) wants to know if McQueary wrongfully used
government grant money.

"Here's an organization that's supposed to be fighting gangs and dope, the
most pressing concerns in our community. That's the cornerstone of their
existence. To find out that they're manufacturing cannabis in the home of
the president of that organization--I was floored," Frias said.

Last Saturday, Michael McQueary, 36, the husband of the woman who serves as
president of the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, was arrested and
accused of operating what police called one of the city's most
sophisticated marijuana-growing operations.

Allegedly growing hydroponically in pods in the McQueary home in the 4400
block of South Washtenaw were 350 marijuana plants. Special growing lights
were installed in the basement, on the second floor and in the attic. Logs
were kept to detail the growth of each plant, police said.

The house was insulated and vented to reduce the smell, but that didn't
prevent two police officers cruising the street from following their noses
to the McQueary home. Neighbors had complained earlier about the pungent
odor emanating from the home, only to have Michael McQueary tell police he
was raising hedgehogs, officials said.

The neighborhood group has held anti-crime marches and community meetings.
It has pushed for stepped-up crackdowns against public drinking, curfew
violators and local drug houses, funded in part by a $50,000 block club
organizing grant from the state.

"I'm calling for investigations by the Illinois attorney general and the
Cook County state's attorney to determine what they've done with the public
money they got to make certain it wasn't used to run an illegal drug
operation," Frias said.

Jennifer and Michael McQueary could not be reached for comment.

Alex Poeter, executive director of the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council,
called the allegation that government funds were used for illegal purposes
a "complete lie." He accused the alderman of retaliating against the
council for its many demonstrations against him.

Over the years, the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council has been a political
thorn in Frias' side. The group has picketed his office, demanding that
Frias move more quickly to install a traffic light at the accident-prone
intersection of 36th and California. The group got its $50,000 grant from
former state Rep. Sonia Silva (D-Chicago), who was defeated with the
alderman's help.

"We have done protests. We have tried to put pressure on him, and this
smear campaign is the response," Poeter said.