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Apparently, we were one bureaucratic level short of an answer
Tuesday, Jul 25, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
Gov. Rod Blagojevich can’t explain his administration’s shifting accounts of when he implemented a hiring process that ruled out possible political considerations. Abby couldn’t provide any answers, either. UPDATE: Listen to the governor’s response here. [mp3 file] “My story’s always been the same,” the guv said. His original story was that they were hiring for coded civil service jobs without regard to who was applying for them. That story was disproved weeks ago. UPDATE 2: From the AP: Still, Blagojevich said he’s not worried about questions surrounding their activities. “Absolutely no wrongdoing has been leveled at anybody who is close to me,” he said in an interview with Chicago’s WGN-TV. UPDATE: People, that’s a shadow on his face.
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The governor first said today that his 
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Big biz wrong on Big Box predictions?
Tuesday, Jul 25, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller Zorn wonders if the giant retailers may be most worried that Chicago’s “big box ordinance” will work as planners intend - no current or prospective jobs lost and better lives for those who work at the stores. The proposed ordinance would kick the minimum wage up to $10 an hour with $3 in benefits by 2010. Zorn offers these reasons: A similar though broader “living wage” ordinance took effect in Santa Fe, N.M., New Mexico, in 2004, and a follow-up study by the University of New Mexico found that private sector employment growth proceeded to outpace the overall growth in New Mexico, gross retail receipts grew faster than inflation and employment levels rose. UPDATE: Were rally attendees tricked? Meanwhile, residents at the Harold Ickes Homes on the city’s South Side said organizers opposing the ordinance tricked them last week into attending a rally of about 1,200 people, heavily covered by the media, by saying that jobs at Wal-Mart awaited them there. [Hat tip: IlDemNet]
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Serious cash to be spent in Bean, Duckworth races
Tuesday, Jul 25, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller Animal Farm has been MIA recently, but they were back today with this: The Associated Press reported last week that the national Democrats reserved $30 million worth of TV ad time in targeted congressional races this fall.
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More on Dunkin
Tuesday, Jul 25, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller An item in today’s Morning Shorts is getting a lot of play today - “A highly touted music festival in Chicago Saturday and Sunday drew an estimated 2,000 fans. The cost to Illinois taxpayers: About $100 for each person who attended the inaugural Move! Chicago International House Music Festival.†A commenter pointed to this article in New City Chicago which sheds more light. “This thing is going to bring so much money into this town it’s not even funny!” shouts State Representative Ken Dunkin emphatically into his cell phone. I can hear the rush-hour traffic outside his car as he evangelizes the inaugural MOVE! House Music Festival. “We’re going to see at least 60,000 people come in for this–at a minimum!” […] Apparently, Randy Crumpton is Rep. Dunkin’s campaign manager and attorney. It also appears from state records that Crumpton was Dunkin’s former campaign treasurer. Dunkin requested the state grant as part of last year’s budget negotiations. At the time, he refused to release the names of the people who received the state cash.
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Peraica ahead, JBT poll confirmation
Tuesday, Jul 25, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller No crosstabs yet, but the Tarrance Group - a Republican pollster working for Peraica - has a poll that claims Tony Peraica is leading Todd Stroger 42-38 with 20 percent undecided. One very important point to remember: Lots of non-machine people have run lots of polls in the past where they were leading or right in the game and then BOOM! the machine kicks in late and they get clobbered. Also, we don’t have any crosstabs so we don’t know how the African-American vote is breaking (black voters tend to break very late). They posted a couple of other answers in the executive summary (doc file): · Just 27% of voters say Cook County is going in the right direction, and a 52% say things are off on the wrong track. And they add this: Currently, just 29% of voters say they will vote for Judy Baar Topinka, while Blagojevich receives fully 60%, with just 10% undecided. The fact that voters have largely made up their mind in the Gubernatorial race, means greater attention will be paid to down ticket races like the Cook County Board President sooner. Those Peraica numbers for Topinka are very close to Topinka’s own poll, which had her down 60-30 in Cook. The methodology is in the exec summary, but the MoE was 4.9 percent, with 407 registered, likely voters surveyed. Breakdown was 24 percent Republicans and 65 percent Democrats. UPDATE: Also, Peraica supporters, remember this: The machine don’t play beanbag. This will be a brutal, brutal race.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Jul 25, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller Posting will be light until early afternoon, so chew on this for a while: You’ve probably read about this Arizona idea. If Arizona’s voters approved, one lucky voter would win a million bucks, financed by unclaimed prize money from the state’s existing lottery. Citizens would qualify by voting in the primary or general election; vote in both and they’d be entered twice. Osterloh’s slogan: “Who wants to be a millionaire? Vote.” How do you feel about this? Should Illinois follow suit? Do we want people who are solely chasing dream money at the ballot boxes, or are they no better or worse than the usual voters.
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Topinka slams guv
Tuesday, Jul 25, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller This is the classic way of keeping a story alive. You mention a news outlet’s work in your press release. Then the news outlet makes that a story. AP: Gov. Rod Blagojevich should “come clean” about how his administration hires people for state jobs, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka said Monday. Except when disclosing those secret investigations helps them, of course.
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Morning shorts
Tuesday, Jul 25, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller · Legislators file FOIA to find out what’s in budget. Meanwhile, the AP follows up on Chambers’ piece with “Illinois deficit largest in U.S.” · “A highly touted music festival in Chicago Saturday and Sunday drew an estimated 2,000 fans. The cost to Illinois taxpayers: About $100 for each person who attended the inaugural Move! Chicago International House Music Festival.” · Wine legislation signed into law · ‘Big Box’ ordinance debate heats up · “Chicago aldermen have cracked down on foie gras, public smoking, noisy street musicians and drivers yakking on cell phones. Now they want to microchip Fido.” They also want a big raise. · It’s now Adeline Geo-Karis Illinois Beach State Park · UAL to post first profit since 2000 · “A former high-ranking state official and childhood pal of Gov. Rod Blagojevich was sentenced Monday to 15 weekends in the McHenry County jail after pleading guilty to a 2005 charge of drunken driving.” · Sen. Garrett must be making the editorial board circuit these days. · Fun link of the day: How fast can you type?
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