Emanuel campaign questions Garcia's financial background with non-profit

CHICAGO (WLS) -- New questions are being raised in the race for Chicago mayor. The campaign for Mayor Emanuel is calling into question a claim by challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia that a non-profit organization Garcia founded was financially sound when Garcia left the organization.

The questions surround the Southwest Side community organization now called Enlace. It was founded in 1999 and led by mayoral candidate Garcia for its first decade. As Enlace's first executive, Garcia grew it from scratch into a multi-million dollar not-for-profit corporation.

"People come from all over the city and the nation to visit some of the best practices that the organization has engaged in," Garcia said.

But Mayor Rahm Emanuel says Enlace had a $500,000 deficit when Garcia left in 2009.

"He said that he left it in the black while in fact the audit shows it wasn't in the black," Emanuel said. "It was bleeding money."

The mayor used his official event announcing 300 new neighborhood jobs by Sprint to criticize Garcia's management skills.

"That's a good community group. It's nothing about the community group," Emanuel said. "It's his leadership."

Garcia said the deficit was caused by the Great Recession and that Enlace's finances have since recovered.

"I grew the organization," Garcia said. "When I left it was in sound financial health and that's why it continues to grow and thrive over the years."

Garcia addressed the City Club luncheon as the mayor's campaign tried to change the conversation from Sunday's controversial endorsement of Emanuel by former opponent and longtime political adversary Ald. Bob Fioretti.

"I am making the decision based upon what is best for our city," Fioretti said when he announced his endorsement.

The mayor said he would ask his donors to help Fioretti pay campaign debts, but Emanuel insisted he had not agreed to pay for an endorsement.

"That's not the reason he's standing here," Emanuel said. "It's about the future of the city of Chicago."

Also Sunday, Fioretti admitted he asked the Service Employees International union, which supports Garcia, for help paying campaign debt. The union refused.