Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2007

This just in… BGA to file FOIA suit over federal subpoenas

Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

I’ve been working on this story for much of the afternoon, saving it for the Capitol Fax. I’ll have more in tomorrow’s Fax for subscribers (including a very interesting twist not discussed below) and I’ll post the entire lawsuit on the blog after it’s filed.

The Better Government Association is suing the office of Gov. Rod Blagojevich to get copies of federal subpoenas issued to state government by the U.S. attorney’s office between Jan. 1 and July 24 of last year. […]

The organization’s chief investigator, Dan Sprehe, sent a Freedom of Information Act request for the documents to the governor’s office on July 24. The request was denied and appealed, and denied again by the governor’s office. […]

“Since Governor Blagojevich was first elected in 2002, he’s repeatedly touted his administration’s commitment to transparency and openness, but when it comes to providing some basic information about important issues swirling around his office, we get treated to George Ryan-like stonewalling and denials,” [Jay Stewart, executive director of the BGA, said]. “It’s shameful that this administration, which talks about transparency, can’t respond to a simple freedom of information request. They’re more concerned about spinning the reality than providing basic public records.”

Amen to that, bruddah. Amen.

The lawsuit itself is embargoed until tomorrow, but the supporting documents can be found here [.pdf file], including the original FOIAs, denials, the attorney general’s opinion that the subpoenas are subject to FOIA laws, etc.

The Freedom of Information Act is here.

Sec. 1. Pursuant to the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of government, it is declared to be the public policy of the State of Illinois that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts and policies of those who represent them as public officials and public employees consistent with the terms of this Act. Such access is necessary to enable the people to fulfill their duties of discussing public issues fully and freely, making informed political judgments and monitoring government to ensure that it is being conducted in the public interest.

[Comments closed. Go here instead for new and updated info.]

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Hospitals; Inauguration events; Recount; Kelly; Property taxes; Ochoa; Access (Use all caps in password)

Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

What specific education reforms do you support and why?

While you’re mulling that over, I thought I’d ressurect part of a pre-election subscribers-only post for you today…

A+ Illinois, which has advocated for an SB750-type solution to education funding and property tax woes, has been active in this year’s election. They’re not giving money to candidates, but they are sending out a lot of direct mail and doing robocalls. Here’s an e-mail from an A+ Illinois spokesperson:

We’ve dropped somewhere around $200K worth of mail and robocalls to targeted voters in over 4,000 precincts across roughly ten days.

Our outreach is targeted with far more sophistication than most legislative races. For example, we’ve been able to cross-reference voter registration lists with marketing data to focus our message on registered voters who are parents with children under the age of 18 in the home. […]

In addition to the direct mail and robocalls, we’ve obtained the e-mail addresses for roughly 1/4 of the voters we’re targeting, and they’ll be getting 2-3 emails from us in coming days

I’m told we can expect this group to spend a ton of money next spring. Here’s pretty much their entire mail program:

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Nix grilled

Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Daily Herald interviews new deputy governor Sheila Nix, a major favorite of this blog’s commenters.

After some background questions, Nix was asked if the governor would “cave” if pressure mounts to sell the Tollway…

He will not. He is very, very pleased with the progress of the tollway and obviously, especially Open Road Tolling. Itâ€™s made peopleâ€™s commutes easier. It makes it easier to get home to their families. And so, I think the governor would like to keep that as a state asset.

She dodged several questions about whether the administration’s tone would move away from confrontation, claimed the administration was following Freedom of Information Act laws (gag… not), and then the topic turned towards corruption…

Q. Are you confident there will be no more indictments in a second term?

A. Yeah, I donâ€™t feel like weâ€™ve had any indictments.

Q. (Blagojevich top fund-raiser) Mr. Rezko was indicted.

A. Thereâ€™s been nobody in the governorâ€™s office, you know, thatâ€™s even implicated in any wrongdoing.

Q. So youâ€™re confident no one will be indicted?

A. Yes.

She may have to eat those words (maybe even soon), but let’s not speculate about names or agencies in comments, please.

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No mayoral debates

Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

No surprise here. Hizzoner says “No” to debates. Daley hasn’t debated anyone since he first won the office in 1989.

…There is no need for Daley to engage in a public debate since he has answered more questions than any local elected official during his nearly two-decade reign, campaign manager Terry Peterson said Friday.

Plus, Peterson said, the proposed debates are “nothing more than a political strategy of our opponents to get their names out there.”

“For the most part, the people of the city know where the mayor stands on the issues,” he said. […]

“I think this is another example of the ‘Daley double,’” said Brown, Cook County Circuit Court clerk. “On one hand he tells the people of Chicago he is going to take responsibility, but then he turns around and arrogantly snubs his nose in the face of the voters by saying he will not discuss the issues with the other candidates. He wants to hide from people.”

On the one hand, Peterson is right. We know where he is on most issues. On the other hand, debates, done well, are a healthy part of democracy. The mayor should be pinned down on the issues, forced to talk about the future, forced to defend his legacy.

Thoughts?

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Open primaries pushed

Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

The open primary question was on more township ballots than I thought.

Supporters of allowing primary voters in Illinois to keep their party affiliation secret say they hope lawmakers will listen to the outcome of a number of local referendums held in November.

In more than 20 township advisory questions across the state, voters said they support a so-called open primary system by no less than 78 percent. The movement, spearheaded by Springfield attorney Sam Cahnman, who lost his race as a Democratic challenger for a state representative seat, was intended to get the Legislature to act. […]

About 20 states use a variation of the open primary system. Some states have seen court challenges to such rules.

The powers that be have always opposed open primaries, and Chris Mooney from UIS has his theory about why.

“Political parties need that information,” Mooney said. “The party people and the people running for office can go down to the county courthouse and get a list of their voters. It helps them strategize.”

The other, more philosophical reason, is that legislators are, for the most part, party creatures. “Closed” primaries force voters to decide which party to “join,” at least for that election. Perhaps the real problem happens when primary turnout becomes so low that too few people are deciding who will run in the fall.

Thoughts?

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Morning shorts

Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Duckworth urges vets to apply for IDOT jobs

* `I just wish I had a little more time‘ - Just as his issues reach the forefront, a veteran congressman steps down because of Parkinson’s

* Nichols finally off county payroll - Patronage chief on paid leave since August raid

* Stroger loses ride - Exclusive express elevator now open to everyone at County Building

* Editorial: Inaugurations no celebration for taxpayers

* Editorial: A new year, a few items for the to-do list

* Judge is biased, state’s attorney says - Birkett admits trying to steer cases away

* Great Lakes Health Took A Dive in ‘06

* Group forms to protest higher electric rates

* Editorial: State lawmakers should dump reverse auction

* IDOT seeks to hire Spanish speakers

* State officials seek single soda supplier

* County budget fight erupts on Internet… Stroger video here… transcript… Claypool rips Stroger’s budget plan

* Perhaps our threat of war moved the bridge talks along, but somehow I doubt it.

* Hospital tax will generate millions for some Chicago hospitals

* Editorial: Politics ruled McHenry County in â€™06

* City resolution: Less red tape for Chicago businesses

* Is Hometown Newspaper Ownership Really the Next Big Thing?

* Danville Realtors tire of black eye, to withhold sales data

* Best Pulse quotes of the year

* Breathing easier, Bean charts her course - Democratic majority may pressure congresswoman to vote with party

* Illegal dumping remains problem in much of the Metro East

* Governor Blagojevich honors some from area

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