Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg’s top political donors received millions of dollars in city contracts after giving thousands to his campaigns while he was mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
Buttigieg’s political action committees took money from 23 companies who then got jobs from South Bend’s Board of Public Works whose members he appointed, documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal.
On two occasions, the former presidential candidate received donations the same day the companies were awarded contracts.
Other city contractors gifted the mayor cigars, alcohol and golf trips worth hundreds of dollars.
The companies, their executives and spouses donated a total $253,750 to Buttigieg’s campaigns, and received a total of at least $33,310,426 in city contracts between 2011 and 2019.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s pattern of donations and contracts during his time as South Bend, Indiana mayor raises concerns over the billions of dollars he can dish out under the bipartisan infrastructure bill
| COMPANY | TOTAL $ DONATED | TOTAL CONTRACTS AWARDED |
|---|---|---|
| American Structurepoint | $35,850 | $790,177 |
| Bradley Company | $11,790 | Part of a $6M development project and leasing agreements with the city* |
| Abe Marcus/Ivy Tower | $25,360 | Part of a $7M public-private partnership to develop commercial buildings* |
| DLZ Indiana | $14,150 | $885,030 |
| Lawson-Fisher Associates | $13,610 | $1,342,590 |
| Troyer Group | $9,000 | $1,772,344 |
| Arcadis | $10,150 | $1,879,283 |
| Christopher M Burke Engineering | $7,600 | $86,000 |
| Jones Petrie Rafinski | $6,550 | $922,280 |
| McCormick Engineering | $450 | $110,385 |
| Selge Construction | $4,250 | $4,049,996 |
| HRP Construction | $2,770 | $4,438,289 |
| Pyramid Equipment | $4,100 | $434,207 |
| Peerless Midwest | $3,200 | $532,763 |
| EnFocus | $8,970 | $285,000 |
| United Consulting | $27,835 | $558,420 |
| Abonmarche | $12,870 | $616,790 |
| Walsh & Kelly | $8,100 | $7,668,822 |
| Lochmueller Group | $22,600 | $1,105,050 |
| Donohue & Associates | $12,045 | $433,000 |
| Earth Designs | $6,000 | $400,000 |
| Panzica Building Corporation | $3,000 | $5,000,000 |
| Matthews LLC | $3,500 | Part of a $4.9M contract to develop a nine-story building for apartments, a grocery store, and a parking garage* |
| TOTAL | $253,750 | At least $33,310,426 |
| * = not included in total |
After Buttigieg appointed one former company executive to city’s Public Works department, the firm was then handed multiple infrastructure jobs, and became one of Mayor Pete’s largest donors.
Buttigieg served as the mayor of South Bend from 2012 to 2020. He was appointed transportation secretary by President Joe Biden early last year.
Government watchdogs say the pattern of donations and contracts could present the appearance of a ‘pay to play’ scandal – and raises concerns over the $210billion earmarked in the bipartisan infrastructure bill for Buttigieg to dish out in discretionary grants as transport secretary, part of a $1.2trillion budget.
‘The pattern of contracts and donations appears to be a huge conflict of interest,’ Taxpayers Protection Alliance president David Williams told DailyMail.com.
‘This really doesn’t bode well for the secretary of transportation when he has access to almost $1.2trillion in infrastructure money.
‘This is alarming, and very concerning, because this is the swamp personified. You don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to look at this and think that something’s wrong here.
‘Was there a quid pro quo? Was there some sort of backroom deal for these projects? taxpayers deserve answers.’
The City of South Bend told DailyMail.com that Buttigieg ‘was not involved in the awarding of engineering and construction contracts’ and that all contracts are awarded ‘through a professional procurement process that is public and transparent’, and given ‘to the lowest, responsive, responsible bidder per State Law’.
The Department of Transport said they have ‘consistently made transparency and accountability to the American people a top priority’ and that the federal grant money in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law awards funding to cities, states, ports, and local entities, not contractors.
The spokesperson told DailyMail.com any suggestion of corruption in Buttigieg’s US government department was ‘absurd’.
The former Indiana mayor, 40, cultivated close relationships with construction firms during his tenure in South Bend, which became a large source of funding for his political campaigns.
Documents obtained by DailyMail.com show American Structurepoint co-owner Marlin Knowles donated $1,500 to Buttigieg’s campaign on March 31, 2011
Buttigieg’s schedule shows he had an meeting with American Structurepoint two months before naming the firm’s executive Eric Horvath as director of the South Bend Department of Public Works
Senior VP Greg Henneke donated $1,000 on February 13, 2017 to Buttigieg’s campaign to become Democratic National Committee chair, Pete For DNC
In 2011 a co-owner of Indiana infrastructure firm American Structurepoint, Marlin Knowles, gave $1,500 to Buttigieg’s mayoral campaign.
In November 2012, two months after meeting with representatives of the company in his office, Mayor Pete announced former American Structurepoint executive Eric Horvath as director of the South Bend Department of Public Works (BPW).
As part of his role, Horvath also became executive director of the Board of Public Works – the city committee that grants public money for large construction jobs.
The following year, American Structurepoint was awarded a contract for the South Bend Smart Streets Project, which had a total budget of $25million.
Between January 2014 and March 2019, senior executive vice president at the company, Greg Henneke, donated $31,850 to Mayor Pete’s campaigns.
Over the same period, the company was awarded more than $790,000 in city contracts by the BPW, whose members Buttigieg appointed, and where former Structurepoint executive Horvath is executive director.
American Structurepoint was given $98,860 in two contracts on February 14, 2017, just one day after Henneke donated $1,000 to Buttigieg’s campaign to become Democratic National Committee chair, Pete For DNC.
A spokesman for South Bend said all construction projects ‘are bid through a professional procurement process that is public and transparent when approved by the Board of Public Works, which is a separate 5-member citizen board that approves City contracts and is governed by state law.’
‘Public Works construction projects are publicly bid through the BPW and are awarded to the lowest, responsive, responsible bidder per State Law. Engineering contracts are also approved by the Board of Public Works during open public meetings,’ mayoral communications director Caleb Bauer said.
‘Each of the firms named are well-respected and have a reputation locally for delivering high quality services for the city and South Bend residents.’
Schedules from Buttigieg’s mayoral office show several of his largest donors regularly enjoyed face to face access with him and were invited to holiday parties and other events.
The day after Henneke’s contribution, American Structurepoint was given two contracts worth a total of $98,860
In 2011 construction company DLZ Indiana donated $750 to Buttigieg’s mayoral campaign, and the next year invited him to a golf outing and a ‘holiday open house’ the company hosted.
Then in 2013, the city hired DLZ for a study into converting four downtown streets to two-way.
After Buttigieg attended another DLZ golf luncheon in July 2013, the company was awarded the bid for construction worth $113,000.
DLZ continued to donate to Buttigieg’s campaigns, with $4,200 in 2014 as well as a gift of $700 worth of alcohol and cigars.
The firm’s subsidiary DLZ Industrial LLC gave a further $600 to the mayor’s campaign in August 2016, and a month later DLZ Indiana was awarded a $17,430 contract from the BPW.
In February 2017 DLZ Industrial gave $5,000 to Pete For DNC, and a slew of further contracts followed.
The same month, they received two jobs totaling $218,900, and in March, April and May that year they were approved for a further $276,110 of city contracts.
After the half-million dollars of city jobs were awarded, DLZ gave Buttigieg’s campaign another $1,600 and took him on a $250 golf trip.
That fall, the BPW approved three more contracts worth $94,090.
Construction company DLZ contributed $250 on March 3, 2011
It added another $500 contribution on April 6, 2011
The mayor’s July 30, 2012 calendar shows he had lunch with DLZ at a golf outing
Schedules from Buttigieg’s mayoral office show several of his largest donors regularly enjoyed face to face access with him and were invited to holiday parties and other events
DLZ continued to donate to Buttigieg’s campaigns, with $4,200 in 2014 as well as a gift of $700 worth of alcohol and cigars on August 28
In total, available records show the company has given $14,150 to Buttigieg’s campaigns and received $885,030 in city contracts.
Ram Rajadhyaksha, a senior vice president at DLZ, said all contributions to Buttigieg’s campaigns ‘complied with Indiana state election laws.’
‘DLZ takes pride in providing quality engineering and architectural services at highly competitive fees, and has done so for many years prior to Mayor Buttigieg holding elected City office,’ Rajadhyaksha told DailyMail.com.
A source close to Buttigieg’s former election campaign team said some of his construction firm donors, including Martell Electric, lost contract bids while Buttigieg was mayor, and others, such as MHW, worked on projects like the Smart Sewers program that saved the city hundreds of millions of dollars..
According to documents, executives at construction consultancy company United Consulting gave Buttigieg’s mayoral and DNC campaigns $16,055 between 2014 and 2017, with the CEO Bill Hall meeting the mayor for lunch in March 2016.
In March 2017 the BPW approved a $378,300 two-part contract to the firm.
Over the next three years Hall and his vice president Michael Rowe gave a further $11,780 to Buttigieg’s mayoral campaigns, and received two more contracts worth $180,120 from the BPW.
Two construction firms, Abonmarche and Donohue & Associates, also received city contracts the same day their executives donated to Buttigieg’s mayoral campaign, according to documents.
Donohue & Associates president Craig Brunner and his wife Sandra gave $1,000 to the campaign on August 8, 2017, the same day Brunner’s company was awarded a $150,000 job by the city.
Two weeks later on August 22 that year, Abonmarche’s board chairman John Linn gave $2,000 to Mayor Pete’s campaign. The same day, the South Bend BPW approved a $75,700 contract for the company.
Abonmarche executives gave a total $12,870 to Buttigieg’s political funds between 2012 and 2018, and the company won $616,790 in city contracts. Donohue & Associates gave $12,045 and won $433,000 in jobs from the BPW.
In February 2017 DLZ subsidiary DLZ Industrial LLC gave $5,000 to Pete For DNC, and a slew of further contracts followed
After the half-million dollars of city jobs were awarded in 2017, DLZ gave Buttigieg’s campaign another $1,600 and took him on a $250 golf trip
None of the companies or their executives – besides DLZ – responded to DailyMail.com’s requests for comment.
Some donation records have already been destroyed.
St. Joseph’s County – whose county seat is South Bend – did not keep any campaign finance records for the Pete For South Bend Committee dating before 2015, meaning data on any donations from 2012 to 2014 are lost.
United Consulting received city contracts from the Board of Public Works after it contributed to Buttigieg’s mayoral and DNC campaigns between 2014 and 2017. Its CEO Bill Hall (pictured) met the mayor for lunch in 2016
United Consulting received two more contracts over the next three years following vice president Michael Rowe’s (pictured) additional donations
Buttigieg’s first act as mayor in 2012 was to create a formal ethics code for all city employees, including himself.
But the code did not include any clauses against the ‘revolving door’ of city officials working at companies they dealt with in office, and did not outlaw the city awarding large contracts to political donors.
A spokesman for anti-corruption organization Transparency International denounced the ‘obvious stench’ of Buttigieg’s long practice of taking money from businesses his public works board awarded city contracts to.
‘I’m stunned if it is true that South Bend Indiana doesn’t have laws on the books that prohibit this,’ said Scott Greytak, Director of Advocacy for the nonprofit’s US branch.
‘At the federal level, this would be entirely illegal. A federal contractor cannot make a contribution to a candidate, because of the obvious conflict of interest,’ he added.
According to the FEC: ‘Federal government contractors are prohibited from making contributions or expenditures in connection with federal elections.’
‘The laws in South Bend should be just as strong,’ Greytak said.
‘You’re not going to find a smoking gun in how access, influence and power works in American politics. So campaign finance restrictions are supposed to serve as proxies for preventing corruption.
‘The idea that a company that has either a potential or a pending contract, or recently was a government contractor, is able to so expressly and openly give money to the people involved in those decisions, is a fundamentally corrupt system.
‘I’m stunned that the elected leaders there would want to operate in a system that allows for such potential perception of corruption.’
Craig Brunner (left) and John Linn were executives at construction firms Donohue & Associates and Abonmarche, respectively, both of which were awarded city contracts, according to documents
Abonmarche’s board chairman John Linn gave $2,000 to Mayor Pete’s campaign on August 22, 2017. That same day, the South Bend BPW approved a $75,700 contract for the company. Pictured: An August 8 compensation packet for the agreement
Donohue & Associates was awarded a $150,000 job by the city on August 8, 2017 – the same day president Craig Brunner and his wife Sandra donated $1,000
During Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential run, he was for a time the only major Democratic candidate still accepting money from lobbyists.
He later reversed his stance and gave back more than $30,000 from federal lobbyists, promising that special interests would have no influence on his candidacy or would-be presidency.
Mayor Pete was also embroiled in a campaign funding controversy when he disclosed his top fundraisers in 2019 – but left more than 20 off the list.
The public list featured over 100 people who raised at least $25,000 for Buttigieg.
But news site Politico obtained an internal list showing dozens more, including Boston power broker Jack Connors Jr., La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz, hedge fund investor John Petry, and former US ambassadors to the Bahamas and Italy.
Buttigieg’s campaign said at the time they miscalculated and ‘inadvertently’ left the names off.
The Department of Transport told DailyMail.com: ‘Sec. Buttigieg knows that the American people have put their faith in the Biden-Harris Administration to responsibly deliver the benefits of the [infrastructure bill] — and that’s exactly what he will do.’