Question of the day
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
If there was just one person you could ban from Illinois politics forever, who would that be? Why?
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Group says plan is gaming expansion
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
As I told you yesterday, ILCAAAP isn’t happy about the governor’s lottery scheme.
Church groups charged Thursday that the proposed lottery sale or lease could lead to a massive expansion of gambling.
To make money, a private company would have to create new games, such as keno, or allow Internet sales of lottery tickets, said Anita Bedell, executive director for Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems.
“This means an expansion of gambling. In the lottery the next steps are keno, video lottery and Internet lottery,†she said. “All three of these would make the sales very accessible and very quick. They would also lead to addiction.â€
Privatization will not be an expansion of gambling, said Becky Carroll, a spokeswoman for the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget.
“They would have to work and operate within the four walls of the lottery system that we have today,†Carroll said. “They would not be able to add in games like keno at will.â€
Until the governor’s office releases the Goldman Sachs report which details how they arrived at the $10 billion sales/lease figure, nobody is going to believe a word about either how much money the sale/lease will really bring in, or what companies will have to do to justify spending that much. I understand they have some good reasons for not releasing the report, but if they want to staunch this political hemorrhaging, they have to release it soon.
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The exasperation never ends
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
And they wonder why nobody ever believes a thing they say…
A hiring form Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office created to track state job decisions early in his tenure included a space for the applicant’s name, despite the administration’s assertion that it switched to a “blind” system for filling routine jobs soon after he took office.
A copy of the hiring form obtained Thursday by The Associated Press lists “name” alongside boxes to fill in the job title, salary information and possible start date. The form also asks agencies to check a box indicating whether the job falls under state rules requiring it to be filled by merit, not political considerations, or whether it is exempt from those rules.
The top of the forms include the names of Joe Cini, the governor’s personnel director, and Lon Monk, his chief of staff at the time.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said state agencies using the new forms did not fill in the box for names when requesting to fill jobs protected from political decisions. Names also are excluded from the administration’s current electronic system, she said. […]
The AP reported Wednesday that the governor’s personnel agency compiled the lists around the time he took office in 2003 with 1,800 positions - nearly 1,200 accompanied by names - showing that aides to the governor and his budget office had to sign off on each new hire, promotion, transfer and salary change.
Ottenhoff said those lists followed the format in place under Blagojevich’s predecessor, Republican Gov. George Ryan. She said names weren’t considered in hiring. Blagojevich quickly replaced the lists with a system that excluded names entirely, even though that’s not legally required, she said. […]
But the new paper hiring form obtained by the AP that replaced Ryan’s old system is led by the spot for the applicant’s name. It was submitted by an agency and is written as a memorandum from Cini to Monk, who is now Blagojevich’s campaign manager. Ottenhoff could not immediately explain how Cini and Monk were involved in the process.
I sure hope they aren’t using this sort of “change your story every day” tactic with the federales. Those FBI agents don’t like to be lied to.
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Another lousy audit
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
How long before they finally get a management problem right?
The Blagojevich administration combined four state agencies under one name but failed to merge them into a single, efficient government department, the auditor general reported Thursday.
The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation lacked an organization chart, failed to consolidate accounting systems, prepared four separate versions of some reports and maintained different employee policies, Auditor General William Holland found.
The state also hired a consultant to help with the merger, but the timetable in the $700,000 contract means the consultant’s recommendations won’t be adopted until three or four years into the life of the new department, the auditor found. […]
But auditors found problems that went beyond the initial turmoil of combining the agencies. The problems continued at least into the fall of 2005, they said.
In its official response to the audit, the new department listed a number of problems that have complicated the merger, including a lack of space to house the combined agencies and trouble consolidating the various licensing and enforcement systems.
But in a telephone interview, Martinez said everything is going according to plan.
Yeah. Right to plan.
The complete audit can be found here.
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The prodding may have worked
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
One Wednesday, Mayor Daley had this to say.
Mayor Daley said Wednesday it’s time for the family of County Board President John Stroger to be more forthcoming about Stroger’s recovery from the pre-election stroke he suffered nearly three months ago. […]
Daley, a lifelong friend who is Stroger’s most powerful supporter, said, “I know the family has gone through a period of time. He came from the hospital. He’s home now. There’s a period of adjustment. I think the family will speak out very shortly about his condition — rightfully so. . . . It’s a very serious issue and I think the family will speak out very shortly.”
Pressed on whether voters who must make up their minds in November are entitled to know more than the Stroger family is telling, Daley said, “Take it easy. I think the family will respond very appropriately in a short time.”
Late yesterday, Todd Stroger sounded like he was ready to comply.
It’s been more than two months since he’s attended a county board meeting or been seen in public. On Thursday night, for the first time, Todd Stroger told CBS 2’s Jay Levine we might see him soon.
“Yes. I’m thinking about it and I’m gonna talk to the rest of the family and the doctors and we’ll see what happens in the near future,” Todd Stroger said.
And Fran Spielman lays out the field:
County Commissioner Bobbie Steele, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Todd Stroger all have expressed interest in the job if John Stroger is unable to remain on the November ballot.
But, Aldermen Pat O’Connor (40th), Daley’s unofficial City Council floor leader, and Ed Smith (28th), chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus, said it was clear to them that none of those three could win a majority of the weighted votes cast by the Democratic Party’s 80 ward and township committeemen.
Three names were prominently mentioned as compromise candidates: Chicago Housing Authority President Terry Peterson, Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott and Ald. William Beavers (7th).
On Wednesday, Peterson took himself out of the running.
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Morning shorts
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
· Hawker out of county clerk’s race
· Cash connection?
· Why OneMan thinks the gov will not release the Goldman Sachs estimate (Hint: it could be about Keno)
· Ryan asks for new trial
· Can Ray Coleman drag down a governor?
· Lisa Madigan Asks State Court To Bar Power Auction
· Governor wants drug stores to post signs about morning-after pill law
· Blagojevich signs new consumer protection laws for Illinois homeowners
· “Kathleen Farrell said she felt sick when she heard Illinois offered almost $16 million in incentives for Triumph Foods’ to build a pork plant in East Moline.”
· “After receiving a public records request, Madison County Treasurer Fred Bathon is accusing his opponent in the November election of mounting a political smear campaign.”
· The Best of Dick Kay
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Ouch
Thursday, Jun 1, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
I wonder if the guv’s people anticipated this kind of a backlash from their own party members? From the AP:
Many lawmakers say they want to know how their school districts will fare under the [governor’s education reform/funding] proposal. Some downstate Democrats worry it will favor Chicago schools, leaving their districts in need of long overdue improvements.
“A student is a student, no matter where they’re at,” said Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Norris City. “That person should be treated the same.”
Other lawmakers say instead of selling an important state asset and throwing piles of money into the system, officials should resolve long-standing funding inequities through reducing the reliance on local property taxes, and increasing income taxes, to fund schools.
“I think this is a weak idea,” said Rep. Willie Delgado, D-Chicago. “We want to see a comprehensive plan and this isn’t it … This is too short-term and it’s too much of a quick fix.”
Emphasis added.
Fortunately for the governor, those above grafs appeared at the very bottom of the story.
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Quote of the week
Thursday, Jun 1, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
From the Daily Herald:
Political campaigns often are the source of hyperbole. First-time candidate Tammy Duckworth, who’s running as a Democrat in the 6th Congressional District, was guilty of that this week. Duckworth did a campaign appearance designed to show she supports more money for firefighters and other first-responders in the wake of terrorist attacks or natural disasters. Some Bartlett firefighters said they’d love to get GPS devices to replace their paper maps. Enter Duckworth: “How useful are paper maps going to be when a hurricane blows all your street signs away?â€
The last time we checked, there had been exactly zero hurricanes in Bartlett’s history.
Consider this a congressional politics open thread.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Jun 1, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
First, the background.
A candidate for the state House wants voters to be able to choose primary election ballots in private.
Schaumburg Township and Lake County’s Moraine Township around Highland Park are among 15 in the state so far that will poll voters Nov. 7 about the possibility of keeping their political party affiliations out of the public record. Now, when people vote in a primary election, they must choose a Republican or Democratic ballot, and their choice is documented.
Sam Cahnman hopes his advisory referendum, which enjoyed a test run in the city of Springfield last March, will persuade the state legislature to keep the party affiliations private.
The question asks, “Shall Illinois adopt an open primary law, allowing voters to cast a secret ballot in primary elections by eliminating the current requirement that voters publicly declare their party?â€
Cahnman is a Sangamon County board member and the Democratic nominee for the 99th state House district, which includes Springfield.
He said 80 percent of voters in the Springfield referendum favored having their party affiliation kept private.
“And those are the more partisan voters (in a primary),†Cahnman said. “I believe in a general election it will be even higher.â€
While recording voters’ party affiliation helps party leaders in their campaign planning, Cahnman believes it has a negative effect on voter turnout.
He said many people stay away from the polls during primaries out of a fear that their ballot choice will be used against them in the future.
Do you think this is a good idea? Do you think it will ever be implemented in Illinois? Why or why not on both questions.
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Oy, part 102,948
Thursday, Jun 1, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
Here we go again.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office reviewed and approved the hiring of state employees — often by name — for hundreds of routine jobs such as highway workers and plumbers, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.
Despite the governor’s claims that his office did not decide who would be hired for civil service jobs, which are nonpolitical, those positions are among nearly 1,800 hires, promotions, transfers and salary increases aides to the governor OK’d in the months following Blagojevich’s 2003 inauguration, according to hiring lists officials maintained.
The job-seeker’s name was included in nearly 1,200 cases. Blagojevich and his aides repeatedly have said the administration’s hiring practices were “blind” — meaning his office, for budget reasons, made the final decision on whether to fill jobs but never knew the names of individuals being hired.
And don’t you just love this explanation?
Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said the lists were in the format used by the previous governor and only were used until the new administration could set up a system that didn’t include identities. Hiring decisions made from the lists were not made based on names, she said.
CBS2 has more.
“More than 15,000 people have been recommended in our personnel office. The records that are there are kept by the personnel office. This is one of those areas I don’t get involved with,” Blagojevich said last week.
But an April 2003 e-mail obtained by the Associated Press implies Personnel Director Joe Cini was screening applicants very carefully.
“All hires and fires must come through this office,” it reads. “If Joe doesn’t sign off on it, it doesn’t happen.”
“That e-mail was written by someone who is no longer with our office and who was misinterpreting the intent of Executive Order One,” Blagojevich spokesman Abby Ottenhoff said.
But lists also obtained by the AP show those civil service positions filled and details those who filled them during the governor’s first months in office.
“Either Joe Cini is going down the list and making sure that the right people are getting the job, or else Joe Cini is making sure that Executive Order Number One is being cued to,” said Cindy Canary with the Coalition for Political Perform. “I think there’s no doubt that the FBI and the U.S. Attorney is gonna look carefully.
EO-1 is the hiring freeze.
You can find a partial list here. I really wish the AP would post the full lists when they do stories like this.
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More trouble for the lottery/schools plan
Thursday, Jun 1, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
As I told Capitol Fax readers this morning, House Speaker Michael Madigan wants some answers, and his letter (available to subscribers) was anything but supportive.
llinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has joined the list of lawmakers seeking details of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s idea of selling off the lottery in hopes of raising billions for schools.
In letters sent Wednesday to state representatives, Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who also heads the Illinois Democratic Party, outlines a litany of questions ranging from how Blagojevich arrived at the $10 billion figure for the lottery sale, to what the plan is for schools when the money runs out in a few years.
The governor has refused to release that info so far. He’ll have to now.
Meanwhile, Pat Gauen is the latest columnist to dis the guv’s plan, in a column entitled “Governor’s bold gamble looks like a sucker’s bet.” Ouch.
And the Tribune ran a story yesterday that casts even more doubt on the governor’s contention that he didn’t come up with the idea to get James Meeks out of the governor’s race.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich says politics had nothing to do with his plan to mortgage the lottery for new education money, but his campaign polled voters about the issue and how he would fare for re-election if state Sen. James Meeks joined the race.
Meeks said May 19 he would not challenge Blagojevich for governor after negotiating with the governor on education plans that included a $10 billion sale or lease of the lottery. Meeks agreed with Blagojevich’s plan the day before Meeks was to have begun gathering signatures to get his name on the Nov. 7 ballot. […]
“They seem to think that every decision that people in government make is motivated by some cynical politics. They seem to think that every decision happens for a political purpose,” Blagojevich said of his critics. “Did it ever dawn on [Topinka] or anyone else that raises that question that there are good people in this business who want to make a difference?”
But a source close to the governor’s campaign confirmed Friday that the poll was done for Blagojevich about three weeks ago.
Doesn’t anyone over there understand that these sorts of statements undermine his entire proposal?
Also, I’m hearing that Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems is having a press conference today. They apparently don’t like the idea and will reportedly claim that the governor has violated his pledge not to expand gaming by coming up with this proposal.
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Tollway lease will be studied
Thursday, Jun 1, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
The idea keeps moving forward.
State lawmakers hired a financial consultant Wednesday to determine how much money could be raised by leasing all or part of the Illinois tollway, but the elected officials steered clear of discussing how to spend the potential windfall.
Credit Suisse Group will be paid $30,000 to estimate the value of a tollway lease under various scenarios. Factors include how often tolls may be raised and how many years private operators would be allowed to cash in on anticipated increases in tollway traffic before the publicly owned road system reverts back to state control.
Officials advising Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who says he is considering the merits of privatizing the tollway, estimate a lease deal could generate at least $15 billion for the state. It would mark the largest privatization of public infrastructure in Illinois history. […]
“Governments that sign long-term concession agreements. … without retaining an ongoing interest in those assets risk being perceived as the equivalent of the Native Americans who sold Manhattan Island to Peter Minuit for $24 in beads and trinkets,” said John Adler, director of private equity at the Service Employees International Union. “When the deal took place, the Indians couldn’t believe the riches they had acquired from the foolish Dutchman. But since then, the perception of who got the better end of that bargain has changed considerably.”
Meanwhile, state Sens. Peter Roskam and Kirk Dillard are not happy with the way things are going. From a press release:
Sixth Congressional District Candidate Senator Peter Roskam and State Senator Kirk Dillard are calling for hearings to be held in the suburban communities who drive on the tollway and pay for the tollway. Recently, City Democrats have scheduled public hearings to discuss this proposal, but have excluded the two largest users - DuPage County and Suburban Cook County. More than 42% of the tollway runs through both counties covering more than 115 miles. On May 15th, Senators Roskam and Dillard alerted suburban communities and taxpayers of another Blagojevich scheme to lease the tollway for short-term political gain.
“It is irresponsible to specifically exclude DuPage County and suburban Cook County from this process. Suburban communities and taxpayers pay the tolls and use the toll roads. In fact, we already pay too much in tolls and another leasing scheme could force suburban motorists to pay twice as much. I believe suburban communities should have more input than less,†said Roskam.
“It is clear that Governor Blagojevich and City Democrats are trying to hide from suburban communities and residents with specifically avoiding input from those who pay and use the tollway,†said Senator Kirk Dillard.
Roskam and Dillard pointed out similar leasing efforts have led to higher tolls for taxpayers and no real benefit to suburban communities. On May 24th, a Congressional hearing before the House Transportation Committee heard testimony from experts who indicated similar concerns over leasing public highways. “Tolls paid by Skyway users will more than double by 2018 and be ‘significantly higher’ than otherwise, and the congested region will not even stand to benefit from lease proceeds, as no money was set aside for transportation projects, “ John Foote, Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
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Morning shorts
Thursday, Jun 1, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
· Crain’s: AARP Illinois called on Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the state’s four legislative leaders to stop a scheduled power auction that is estimated to result in an electricity rate hike above 30% beginning next year. Meanwhile, Exelon is a step closer to becoming the nation’s top utility.
· Assistant warden under investigation
· The Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin and other riverboats in Aurora and Joliet have joined in a lawsuit to stop the state’s new casino tax, which would send money to the horse-racing industry.
· From longer prison terms for negligent owners to mandated spaying and neutering, Illinois has a new set of laws designed to prevent serious and sometimes fatal attacks by dangerous dogs.
· Ex-cons’ prospects for jobs brighten
· A construction strike affecting projects in nine counties, including a massive overhaul of the Dan Ryan Expressway, was scheduled to begin at midnight Thursday, union officials said.
· The Cubs may be on the auction block, but not the Tribune Towers
· Politicos honor George Dunne
· New Mississippi River bridge still in limbo
· ‘”Silly, silly, silly, silly“?
· Daley OKs maximum school tax hike
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