You just can't trust disclosure forms to tell the whole truth

WASHINGTON Everyone has heard of Hyatt hotels and resorts. Theworldwide chain was founded by the father of Democratic congressionalcandidate J. B. Pritzker.

"It is no secret that my family trust owns Hyatt and Marmon,"said Pritzker in an interview. Marmon is a reference to the MarmonGroup, a conglomerate of more than 60 companies that had revenue of$5.8 billion in 1996.

But the words Hyatt or Marmon do not appear on the financialdisclosure statement Pritzker, running for the seat now held byretiring Rep. Sidney Yates (D-Ill.), filed with the House ofRepresentatives.Running for office nowadays means opening your life to financialscrutiny. A main point of financial disclosure is to let a voterknow what an official or a candidate owns and invests in, square thatwith public positions or votes and decide if conflicts exist.But disclosure statements for Congressional candidates, likemost federal government disclosure forms, are seriously flawed. Theyare designed to let the public know some - but not all - of aperson's financial circumstances.The disclosure form filed by state Sen. Peter Fitzgerald(R-Inverness), who is considering a U.S. Senate run, suggests he isjust a multimillionaire with bank stocks, not a man who must ownmore. He told a reporter he is worth between $25 million and $51million.Disclosures of the richest people, who have enough assets to putin trusts, tell you the least about their holdings.In the case of Pritzker, whose family is among the wealthiest inthe country, about half of his 1996 income, ranging between $450,000and $4.8 million, came from 26 family trusts. That kind of incomesuggests the trusts are worth millions.Unlike non-trust assets worth between $2 million and $3 millionlisted on his statement - stakes in the Michigan-Adams Building Co.,a condo in Los Angeles his great aunt lives in, a fine artsinvestment company, the family's investment firm and his own company,which bankrolls start-up business - he does not have to place a valueon or describe the assets of the trusts if he can claim he does notknow what's in them.The names are non-descriptive of the holdings: Chelan trust;Entiat trust; Wallola trust; Fossil trust, Moses trust, etc.House rules, which Pritzker followed in filing his report, allowan exception in reporting the assets of a trust. Pritzker apparentlyfits the two criteria for "excepted trusts." He did not create thetrust, and neither he nor his spouse can have "specific knowledge ofthe holdings or sources of income of the trust."So even though, in Pritzker's words "it is no secret" about thefamily Hyatt and Marmon holdings, he says he does not have a clue -other than what he reads in the papers - about his trust assets."Other than the income, I don't know what assets are held in thesetrusts," Pritzker said. Why not? "Because that is the way I havechosen to have it structured, so I don't have a conflict ofinterest."Pritzker asked me why I don't write that he is in favor ofraising the minimum wage, noting that is a position not favored bythe hotel industry. I said I would, but if he's not sure how muchHyatt he has, then how do I know how selfless his position is?Lynn Sweet is the Chicago Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief.E-mail: sweet@dgs.dgsys.com