Madigan proposes moving primary
Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
House Speaker Madigan has just proposed moving the 2008 IL primary to Feb. 5 to help Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy.
More tomorrow.
[Comments closed. Go here for updated stories and discusssion.]
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
First, the set-up:
In the end, the Illinois General Assembly closed out its two-year session with a day of rejection.
On the eve of the inauguration of a new legislature, lawmakers on Tuesday failed to act on rate-relief proposals for electricity customers facing huge increases […]
Senators adjourned without voting on a House-passed plan backed by Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) that would extend for three years a nearly decade-long freeze on electricity rates. Madigan, in turn, never called a vote on a Senate-passed plan to phase in the rate hikes over the next three years. Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) backed the phase-in plan.
Rate increases averaging 22 percent for Commonwealth Edison customers and increases of 55 percent for Downstate electrical customers of Ameren Corp. took effect Jan. 1.
Now, the Question: Which side do you support in this fight, Madigan or Jones? Should the rate freeze be extended, or should consumers be allowed to essentially finance the rate hikes over time, without interest (although, depending on whom you believe, possibly with extra bond charges attached)?
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Obamarama - Timing
Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Political Insider has a prediction.
There is growing speculation in Democratic political circles that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) will announce his presidential intentions on Martin Luther King Day. That timing would certainly highlight the historic nature of his candidacy.
I’m not exactly sure when the State of the Union address is, since I’m more concerned with covering today’s swearing-in ceremonies, but All Headline News has this:
Reports say Senator Obama will wait until after President Bush delivers his State of the Union address in January…
And, once again, for those who can’t seem to find stories about where Obama stands on the “issues,” CQPolitics has an in-depth comparison of Obama and Hillary Clinton’s voting records, including a spreadsheet. [Hat tip: Sweet]
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Plucking the pigeon
Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
There’s some confusion over some of the facts surrounding the federal case against Alderman Arenda Troutman.
Troutman, who represents the South Side’s 20th Ward, was arrested for allegedly taking money to grease the way for a real estate development at 5730 S. Halsted St.
But the site in question, as it turns out, isn’t even in Troutman’s ward.
And her mouthpiece has seized on that fact as evidence that Troutman is somehow innocent.
“It just doesn’t sound right: [the informant] bribed Arenda Troutman to develop Shirley Coleman’s ward with money she didn’t ever get?” said Troutman’s lawyer, Sam Adam Jr. “They can’t even get the area where they’re trying to set her up right?”
Maybe, but she did, apparently, take the money and she allegedly made several calls on behalf of the informant.
According to the complaint, she got $5,000, the promise of another $10,000 and had discussed being given a residence and commercial space in the project.
Alley-access ordinances are routine, said Ald. Thomas Allen (38th), chairman of the council’s Transportation Committee, which processes hundreds of such proposals every year. It would be “ridiculous” to pay a bribe to get one through the City Council, he said.
It would be “ridiculous” unless Troutman was trying to pluck what she thought was a fat, stupid pigeon. Then it would be standard operating procedure.
Meanwhile, two of the city council’s broken down old bulls reflect on Ald. Troutman’s arrest.
“There are problems with people’s behavior all over the world. Government, industry, the churches. It’s a matter of human behavior,” said Ald. Burt Natarus (42nd).
It has been almost eight years since the last alderman was convicted of corruption. Virgil Jones became the twenty-fifth alderman nailed in 26 years.
That lull in convictions leads Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) to insist Troutman’s charges shouldn’t reflect on today’s council as a whole.
“There has been no problems in this council over the last decade and contrary to the common belief, the council is really made up of a lot of good people,” Stone said.
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State Fair follow-up question
Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Yesterday, I asked you to vote for a band to play at the State Fair Grandstand this summer, hoping to possibly influence the Fair’s booking decisions.
I didn’t make an exact count, but here are the names that I saw most often mentioned which didn’t fry my eyeballs:
* Wilco or some other alt country act - perhaps Steve Earle or the Bottle Rockets (and, yes, I know that Wilco isn’t really an alt country band any longer, but I put them here anyway)
* Green Day, White Stripes or another band that the kids enjoy
* Blue Man Group
* Alison Krauss & Union Station
* Buddy Guy, and/or an evening of Chicago blues
* Cheap Trick, John Fogerty, Steely Dan, Van Halen, or another bygone era rock group
* Weird Al Yankovic
Please vote for just one, and no whining if your choice wasn’t listed. Thanks.
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Morning shorts *** Updated x2 ***
Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Where the poor are: “In 1999 large cities and their suburbs had nearly equal numbers of poor individuals, but by 2005 the suburban poor outnumbered their city counterparts by at least 1 million.”
* A little clarity about Doc Walls
According to Fire on the Prairie, the account of the Washington years by former Reader staff writer Gary Rivlin, Walls was a gofer: “the man who took care of the tab, for instance, when Washington and a few aides stopped off for lunch — and then handled his schedule for his first couple years in office. Washington grew frustrated with Walls’s propensity for passing himself off as more important than he was, and fired him in 1985.”
Here’s what Walls told Reader contributor Mick Dumke recently when asked about being fired by Washington: “At 25, I was considered one of the most influential people in the city. At 29, I was considered too influential. Everything flowed through me, and everyone was jealous. . . . I did my job too well.”
* Local 150 sues treasurer over land deal - Profit went to him, federal suit alleges
* Suburban businessman Gerard Kenny accused of dealing with mob, ordered to divest Casino Queen investment
* University of Ill. investigates threats against Native American student
* QT (which really ought to be made into a blog with links and comments):
Gov. Blagojevich regarding his re-election with 49.79 percent of the vote:
“I read the election as a mandate for action.”
Add mandates for action to the list of things that aren’t what they used to be.
* Editorial: State can’t afford 4 years of ‘activist government’
* SJ-R inauguration photo gallery
* Editorial: Legislature should take aim at assault weapon horrors
* Editorial: Election is over; it’s time to focus on the future
* Pain expected from county budget cuts
* Layoffs set as tax bill fails - DuPage poised to cut services, 40 workers
* Hunters are reminded of new regulations in effect for 2007 Late-Winter Season
* Mongo picked to lead newest suburban arena football team
* Flood of complaints about CTA puddles
*** UPDATE *** * The Riverside-Brookfield Landmark newspaper reports that Judy Baar Topinka plans to have another “estate sale,” this time in Springfield, once her office is formally closed. I’m told the sale will be this weekend at her old house. Details will come later, I suppose.
*** UPDATE 2 *** This has been a long time coming. Foreclosure has begun against the owners of a notorious Springfield hotel that owes the state millions of dollars.
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Inaugural Ball pics
Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
These were taken with my Treo last night, so they’re not the highest quality.
A commenter here once called them “The three horsewomen of the apocalypse” and they all thought it was pretty funny, so we had to get a pic…
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Deputy Governor Sheila Nix with her husband. See? She’s a human being just like you or me…
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Himself. He said something to me, but I didn’t quite catch it…
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Doug Scofield, the calm one of the bunch…
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Alexi’s new chief of staff, Rep. Robin Kelly…
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Frankie!
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Should we announce their engagement here? Yeah, let’s do it. Quite a rock on that finger…
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I still say he looks like Joe Birkett…
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Roland was looking quite dapper…
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My good pal Bob and his MUCH better half…
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I hope this doesn’t get him in trouble with Rod, but if I had to pick a favorite director, Chuck would be it…
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Carol Marin currently has more jobs than some people have in a lifetime…
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Could be a big day today for Jimmy’s property tax bill…
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Let’s see… The IFT people were there, but the IEA never got an invitation. Must’ve been lost in the mail. Yeah, that’s it…
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Too much fun…
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Timmeh…
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
I had a chat with State Fair Manager Amy Bliefnick last night and told her I was thinking of asking my blog readers what bands they’d like to see perform at the State Fair Grandstand this summer. She said I’d better hurry up because the decisions are being made soon.
So, let’s give Ms. Bliefnick some ideas.
[Round One voting is now closed. Go to Round Two.]
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Reports explain Cook’s election night mess
Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Technical problems and poor training led to the second awful election night in a row for Cook County Clerk David Orr.
Cook County Clerk David Orr and Sequoia Voting Systems are both to blame for vote-tabulation delays that triggered confusion and distrust following the November election, a panel of experts has concluded.
Led by retired federal Judge Abner Mikva, the Orr-appointed panel found that a combination of “technology failures in multiple areas” and a lack of testing triggered a spiraling series of glitches that left some results unclear for days. […]
“Although technology problems occurring on Election Night constituted the primary cause of the reporting delays, operational shortcomings in the process leading up to Election Day also played a role in failing to understand and thus mitigate the risks,” the report said.
A separate report, prepared by Sequia found more problems.
A report prepared by Diamond and also obtained by the Tribune shows that more than a third of the precinct-tabulation machines did not even attempt to make a connection after the polls closed.
The panel also found that Sequoia, in a more than $50 million system sold to Chicago and Cook County, had stitched together components from its own shelves and that of its parent company in a way that failed to seamlessly work together.
What a mess.
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Blagojevich’s second inaugural
Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
The Daily Herald took the corruption route in its coverage today.
With the political pal once accused of trading state jobs for campaign cash and the father-in-law who made, then retracted, those allegations sitting in the crowd, Gov. Rod Blagojevich was sworn in for a second term Monday, never mentioning the ethical questions that continue to dog him.
Instead, Blagojevich used his 20-minute inaugural address to tout past successes such as expanded I-PASS use on the tollway and make the case for providing every Illinois resident with health insurance. […]
His aides maintain county, state and federal investigations into his administration have not and will not be a distraction, pointing to the governor’s re-election, making him the first Democrat to win a second term in the office since Otto Kerner in 1964.
The governor made healthcare his top priority for a second term.
Even some Republican critics gave Blagojevich points for opening debate on one of today’s most difficult policy issues. “Health care for Illinoisans is something on everybody’s mind,” said House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego. “I give him credit for bringing up an issue that needs discussion.”
But Blagojevich offered no details on how the program would be funded, saying he would lay out a plan in detail in coming months. Because he also vowed to continue opposing any general tax increase, the issue of how the cash-strapped state will fund such an ambitious program is likely to be the first and hardest question from critics.
But, as noted above, he avoided talking about ethics reform.
His decision to avoid talk about ethics reform was highlighted when Giannoulias, Hynes and White all mentioned their efforts to clean up government corruption in their inaugural speeches.
“I feel he should have addressed it head on,” said Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville.
And…
Notably absent from the governor’s address was any discussion of ethics, unlike his first inaugural when he noted his election represented a desire for change following the scandal-tarnished years of his predecessor, George Ryan.
Four years ago, Blagojevich declared he would “govern as a reformer.”
The event was far from well attended.
The convention center was far from full, symbolizing how the event was at a vastly restrained level compared to the celebration that marked Blagojevich’s initial inaugural, when he became the first Democrat in decades to become governor.
“I didn’t anticipate it would be this empty,” Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock), a frequent Blagojevich critic, said as he looked over the arena.
And the Sun-Times had a classic quote from Mike Madigan.
“Remember that old saying by Will Rogers? . . . He said that ‘I’m not a member of an organized party. I’m a Democrat,’ ” House Speaker Michael J. Madigan told reporters. “Democrats like to be Democrats. And Democrats by instinct don’t like to come together.'’
The governor wasn’t taking questions yesterday.
Meanwhile, back at the Executive Mansion, Blagojevich spokesman Gerardo Cardenas said the governor would not be answering any questions from the press. To ensure that this was the case, no reporters were allowed in the room where the governor was shaking hands with well-wishers. Television cameras, however, were willingly accommodated by the governor and his staff.
Audio of inaugural speeches:
* Governor Rod Blagojevich
* Lt. Governor Pat Quinn
* Attorney General Lisa Madigan
* Secretary of State Jesse White
* Comptroller Dan Hynes
* Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias
I’ll post some photos later today.
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Troutman arrest roundup
Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
You can download the criminal complaint against Alderman Troutman here [pdf file]. The Tribune starts off our coverage…
Chicago Ald. Arenda Troutman (20th) accepted a bribe from a federal informant who claimed to be working with a developer wishing to do business in her ward during an undercover investigation, according to a criminal complaint unsealed today.
The complaint, which charges Troutman, 49, with one count of bribery, was filed Friday and unsealed today following her arrest, according to Gary Shapiro, first assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago.
Shapiro described the complaint as a “civics lesson” in how Troutman conducts business in the 20th Ward.
“You want the alderman’s support, you pay your alderman. You pay Arenda Troutman,” Shapiro said at a news conference following her initial court appearance at the Dirksen Building Courthouse.
Sun-Times…
They turned up at her house early Monday, but Ald. Arenda Troutman (20th) pretended she wasn’t there, even though they spied her peeking out a window. So federal agents had to break another window to get in to arrest her on charges of public corruption. Such is the troubling saga of Troutman, who not only was questioned by the FBI more than two years ago about her relationship with a Chicago thug but also had connections to city’s scandal-ridden Hired Truck Program.
What the Feds say…
• In May 2006, a friend of the alderman began secretly recording conversations with her. The person, who was cooperating with federal agents, set up a fictitious development, and Troutman allegedly greased the way for zoning changes in exchange for $15,000, another $5,000 in campaign contributions and a residential unit within the development.
• Upon getting one $5,000 cash payment, Troutman allegedly called a city zoning administrator to push through the development.
• An ordinance involving the project was backed by the City Council’s Transportation Committee last week and is scheduled for a full Council vote Thursday.
• Troutman also is accused in a second alleged scheme. She allegedly shook down a businessman — who wanted a property re-zoned — for $12,000.
Mark Brown…
It had been so long since we’ve had a Chicago alderman indicted that I was starting to think they’d all gone straight. Nah — just kidding.
Before Monday’s arrest of Ald. Arenda Troutman, however, it had seemed as if Mayor Daley had so marginalized the City Council during his 18-year reign that its 50 members didn’t have nearly as many opportunities to get into mischief as in the old days.
But the case against Troutman, as outlined by federal investigators, is a good reminder that the long-standing policy of aldermanic prerogative, which allows each alderman to be the main arbiter of development matters in his or her own ward, continues to create criminal possibilities for those greedy enough to take advantage.
Or maybe it just reminds us what Troutman herself succinctly stated in a secretly recorded conversation: “Well, the thing is, most aldermen, most politicians are ho’s.”
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