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Tuesday, Apr 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Besides raise a lot of money, what does Judy Baar Topinka have to do to win this November?

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Meeks, Blagojevich, Topinka poll; treasurer’s poll; SoS poll; Plus: Roundups and other good stuff

Tuesday, Apr 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

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“Sympathy for the Governor”

Tuesday, Apr 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Read the whole thing, but blogger Elwood Grobnik makes a lot of good points.

I’ve been by G Rod’s house twice in the last two weeks, as we’ve been spending our Sundays going to open houses in Albany Park. […]

I have to admit I was a little surprised by what I found. Unfortunately, the presence of cops in unmarked cars sitting on the block sort of discouraged me from taking pictures of G Rod’s digs, so you’ll have to take my word for it the Blagojevich place on the corner of Richmond and Sunnyside is not a mansion. I mean it’s a nice place and all - sizeable for a city home, probably four bedrooms, a little bigger than its bungalow neighbors - but it’s eighty years old and looking like it needs a little work. I’m quite certain the Governor’s Mansion in springfield is a much more lavish affair.

I bring this up because this governor has taken a lot of flack for a lot of things - and he’s earned most of it. But one of the oddest things he’s taken fire for is living at home. Many downstaters - who were key to his election in 2002 - have taken affront that his family prefers to stay at their own digs in Chicago rather than move into the Governor’s mansion.

When Jerry Brown was elected governor of California, but decided not to move into the Governor’s Mansion, he was hailed as a hero and an antidote to some of the waste and bloat of the Reagan years. But G Rod, instead of turning his fairly modest middle class home into a PR coup, has flubbed the whole thing and gotten burned.

I also agree that the governor shouldn’t be forced to live in that mansion. Why should his kids be stuck in that little apartment upstairs while the tourists are roaming through the place for hours on end? Why should he pull his daughter out of school to put her in a school in the state’s “company town” where everyone knows she’s the big boss’s daughter? The mansion isn’t the White House. There’s no office there. Jim Thompson moved much of state government to Chicago decades ago.

Yet, Blagojevich still gets hammered on this issue.

UPDATE: I should make it clear that I strongly believe he ought to be in Springfield a lot more often, particularly when the legislature is in session.

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Meeks meets with black ministers

Tuesday, Apr 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Dick Kay reports that a meeting between Sen. James Meeks and 79 black ministers yesterday was “no love fest”.

Andy Shaw has this:

Reverend James Meeks fielded some tough questions Monday about his possible run for governor. Some African-American ministers are worried a Meeks candidacy might actually help the Republicans.

Some of the Chicago area’s most prominent African American ministers agree with Reverend and State Senator James Meeks that the Democratic Party’s taken the black vote for granted much too long and shortchanged their community when it comes to key issues like education. But the ministers say it’s too soon to even consider supporting an independent run for governor by Reverend Meeks until they’ve met with the other candidates, including Republican Judy Baar Topinka and Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich. “Meeks is a pastor. We are pastors. We love him as a pastor. We support him as a pastor as we understand him. His candidacy is all but a proposition. We have two candidates right now, Topinka and Blagojevich,” said Bishop Tavis Grant, Clergy Speaks.

Most of the 79 African American ministers who grilled Reverend Meeks for two intense hours during a meeting Monday morning are worried about an independent candidacy siphoning off enough votes from Democrats, including Governor Rod Blagojevich, to elect a slate of Republicans led by Judy Baar Topinka. They are inclined to support Blagojevich– but only if he meets their demands for more spending on education, prison reform and drug treatment.

“We need to hold the governor’s feet to the fire right now. And if we have not heard something from the governor by a certain date, then we may have to look at other options,” said Bishop Larry Trotter, Clergy Speaks.

Mike Flannery adds:

A few minutes later, Illinois’s highest-ranking African-American politician, Sen. Barack Obama, declined to take sides.

â€œSomething I think would be great is for Meeks and Gov. Blagojevich to sit down and figure this thing out,” Obama said. […]

â€œRev. Meeks’ proposals are gonna be helpful in the short term, and he’s also proposing ideas in the long term that ought to be discussed and need to have a hearing,â€ Blagojevich said.

â€œWell, and, If that’s true, the Democratic Party needs to sit down and find out what the African-American community need in order for me not to run,â€ Meeks said.

More here.

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More allegations of pay to play

Tuesday, Apr 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Here we go again.

State government has awarded a $500,000 no-bid contract to a law firm because of expected legal action stemming from a decision to cancel two prison-building projects.
The companies overseeing those projects, Williams Brothers Construction of Peoria Heights and River City Construction of East Peoria, have said the state still owes them millions of dollars.

The state-hired law firm, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, has made more than $250,000 worth of contributions to political campaign funds since 2002, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections Web site. That figure includes separate contributions of $50,000, $25,000 and $25,000 to Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s political campaign fund, Friends of Blagojevich, and a combined total of $22,500 to the state Democratic Party’s coffers. […]

Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch denied any link between Piper Rudnick’s campaign contributions and its legal services contract with state government.

“I think CDB chose the firm that was in the best position to protect the taxpayers’ money,” she said, adding that part of the firm’s job is to ensure that only appropriate bills get paid.

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Morning shorts

Tuesday, Apr 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Â· Cook County faces cash crunch. Sources say gov’t may need to borrow to fund operations

Â· At least 12 tornadoes touched down in Illinois - eight of which caused damage - in a storm system that moved across most of the state Sunday night

Â· Illinois Review: Why Judy won’t win

Â· Venture capital investment growth in IL lagged Midwest. And, Illinoisâ€™ venture capital proposal shrinks to $3.2M

Â· Crane â€˜the pastâ€™ McSweeney says

Â· Two high-ranking officials of Lake County government have lost their jobs over violations of county policies underpinned by a romantic relationship between the two, officials said Monday.

Â· Editorial: Budget shouldnâ€™t ignore abused and neglected kids

Â· More problem with the wall. Maybe the guv should declare war.

Â· This really is absurd.

Â· No more cursive?

Â· The Chicago Defender got its first makeover in a century.

Â· Jesse White Tumblers hit by double tragedy

Â· It’s smooth commuting on Ryan

Â· Sneed: Media maven Bruce DuMont is looking for “dynamic, young media savvy entrepreneurs” to add to the board of the new Museum of Broadcast Communications. Is that you?

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