Rito Martinez was an award-winning teacher who won a plum of a job as a principal in what was then the most expensive Chicago Public Schools building ever constructed.
But for the last 2½ years, as principal of Social Justice High, Martinez has been living a lie.
Though he claimed to CPS officials that he was living in Chicago, Martinez was actually residing in Oak Park, in violation of the system’s city residency policy.
On Thursday, Martinez, 40, fessed up to stunned students and teachers and revealed that he has handed in his resignation
“City employees should live in the city,” [Mayor Daley] said in 2003. “If I’m mayor, should I live in Waukegan? If it’s good enough to work and earn your salary, it’s good enough to live. I’ve always felt that way. I believe in that.”
This is how city Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle put it Thursday: “Requiring [workers] to be city residents gives them a greater commitment to what’s happening in the city of Chicago, a greater understanding of the needs and concerns of the city residents they would be serving as city employees.”
* The Question: Should all municipal residency requirements be abolished? Explain fully, please.
* A civil unions bill made it out of a House committee yesterday. Bills pass committees all the time and then go nowhere on the floor (or die quietly in the other chamber), so the hype surrounding the bill is because of its uniqueness, not necessarily the likelihood of its ultimate passage into law…
The bill, proposed by Democratic Rep. Greg Harris of Chicago, would create civil unions for both heterosexual and homosexual couples, giving them the same state and local rights as married couples. According to Harris, however, the bill could not address the more than 1,000 rights and responsibilities that the federal government grants to married couples.
Churches in opposition to same-sex civil unions could not be forced to perform any kind of civil union ceremony.
Opponents to the bill call it a backhanded attempt to legalize same-sex marriages in Illinois. Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, said the legislation “is all about same sex-marriage” because it would redefine the term “spouse” by including anyone in a civil union.
Gilligan also expressed a concern that faith-based organizations that oppose homosexuality would be forced to acknowledge civil unions when making hiring decisions and giving benefits.
Creates the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act. Defines “civil union” as a legal relationship between 2 persons, of either the same or opposite sex, established in accordance with the Act. Provides that a party to a civil union shall be entitled to the same legal obligations, responsibilities, protections, and benefits afforded or recognized by the law of Illinois to spouses. Prohibits certain civil unions. Provides that the Director of Public Health shall prescribe forms for an application, license, and certificate for a civil union. Contains provisions regarding: application for a civil union license; certification of a civil union; and duties of the county clerk and Department of Public Health. Provides for dissolution and declaration of invalidity of a civil union. Provides that a marriage between persons of the same sex, a civil union, or a substantially similar legal relationship other than common law marriage, legally entered into in another jurisdiction, shall be recognized in Illinois as a civil union. Contains provisions regarding construction, application, religious freedom, severability, and other matters.
Important point…
Section 15. Religious freedom. Nothing in this Act shall interfere with or regulate the religious practice of any religious body.
Rep. Deb Mell, who is gay, said 648 state laws — on topics from inheritance to health care — help married couples. “I find it very strange that I can be elected to the General Assembly and vote on rules and laws, but these don’t apply to me and my family,” said Mell, D-Chicago. “We’re not protected.”
* The Mormon Church has caught a lot of heat for intervening heavily in California’s Proposition 8 fight, so an intercepted e-mail sent to members of one Illinois Mormon “ward” stirred up some dust. This letter from Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese was published in the Windy City Times…
Those same anti-gay, Mormon forces that brought you the passage of Prop. 8 in California, Prop 102 in Arizona and the defeat of Utah’s pro-equality legislation have now set their sights on Illinois. We just learned today that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sent a private e-mail to its Illinois members urging them to contact state legislators and voice opposition to pending civil-unions legislation.
This message has been authorized for sending by Bishop Church. […]
As has already been seen in Massachusetts, this will empower the public schools to begin teaching this lifestyle to our young children regardless of parental requests otherwise. It will also create grounds for rewriting all social mores; the current push in Massachusetts is to recognize and legalize all transgender rights (An individual in Massachusetts can now change their drivers license to the gender they believe themselves to be, regardless of actual gender, which means that confused men and women are now legally entering one another’s bathrooms and locker rooms. What kind of a safety issue is this for our children?). Furthermore, while the bill legalizes civil unions, it will be used in the courts to show discrimination and will ultimately lead to court mandated same-sex marriages.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Wednesday that an e-mail authorized by the bishop of an Illinois congregation did not reflect the church’s position on a bill before the Illinois Legislature and is not part of a larger campaign.
But Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the national church, said the e-mail was not part of a church wide opposition campaign. The church’s engagement with political causes is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. It is unclear if the Illinois legislation would violate church doctrine as interpreted by Latter-day Saints.
“As is widely known, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes in the sanctity of traditional marriage,” she said in a statement. “The Church has not taken a position on any legislation currently being considered by the Illinois State Legislature … An e-mail was sent from a local Illinois Church leader to his congregation – one of 129 congregations in the state — who was free to express his own views.”
* The Democrats are clearly hoping the heat dies down on the Roland Burris appointment…
Hopes for a U.S. Senate special election grew dimmer Thursday as Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-backed proposal to create an election for Roland Burris’ seat and future vacancies.
A Senate subcommittee on ethics voted 3-2 along party lines against Senate Bill 285. The measure calls for a special election within about six months after becoming law, opening Burris’ seat and possible future openings for election.
Republicans say the state should have a special election because of the clouded Burris appointment by now ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Democrats cited soaring costs in blocking the measure.
Both sides accused the other of playing political games.
While many legislators and state elected officials have called for a special election, this is the first plan to get any kind of vote at the Capitol. Last week Attorney General Lisa Madigan said lawmakers could legally replace Burris by ordering a special election.
But the estimated cost of a special election factored strongly in Chicago Democratic state Sen. Ira Silverstein’s decision to vote against the plan, Silverstein said. The three Democrats on the subcommittee voted to stop the plan while the two Republicans voted for it.
Republicans and Democrats went back and forth over the possible costs of a special election.
Murphy said a special election would cost $62 million and proposed using $15.4 million in unspent Senate funds to pay a quarter of the cost. Hendon countered with an estimate that the real cost of the special election would be between $71 million and $101 million. Murphy replied that cost shouldn’t be an overriding factor. […]
House Republicans have also introduced several special election plans but Democratic leader Barbara Flynn Currie, of Chicago, has stopped them from being assigned to a committee, much to the chagrin of Republicans who fume daily about it.
* But a choice could be forced on them if this lawsuit prevails…
Quinn is the defendant and Madigan is his lawyer in a suit brought by attorneys Tom Geoghegan, Marty Oberman and others based on the 17th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It seeks to force the governor to call a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama and now held by Roland Burris in what the plaintiffs view as a temporary appointment. […]
The suit says an election is mandated by the amendment, which states: “When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.”
Ratified in 1913, the amendment ordered popular elections of U.S. senators, in order to end the corrupted process of state legislatures appointing them.
In sum, it says elections are absolutely required—as they are for congressional seats. It makes a gubernatorial appointment temporary, aimed only at filling the gap between the date of the vacancy and completion of a special election, rather than for years until the next general election.
A Downstate prosecutor investigating whether Sen. Roland Burris perjured himself before a House impeachment panel has asked federal authorities for any recordings involving Burris for use in the probe, sources tell the Chicago Sun-Times. […]
The Republican prosecutor, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Schmidt, has zeroed in on conversations between Burris and the governor’s brother Robert Blagojevich, who chaired the ex-governor’s campaign fund.
Those particular conversations have been a significant issue for Burris since the Sun-Times first reported last month that Burris failed to disclose, both under oath and in public statements, that Robert Blagojevich hit him up for money on the ex-governor’s behalf.
On the same December day then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich named Roland Burris to fill President Obama’s U.S. Senate vacancy, Burris’ right-hand political man, Fred Lebed, phoned an associate and told him, “We’ll have to do some things for the governor.”
That’s the recollection of the associate, a health-care and political consultant named John Ruff, who went on to become one of Burris’ co-plaintiffs on a January lawsuit that sought to help Burris claim his Senate seat. […]
Lebed has a phone record of his own, which he said demonstrates Ruff is “a very scary guy.” Lebed saved a profanity-laced voicemail from Ruff from Feb. 17 — the same day Sangamon County’s top prosecutor announced the perjury probe of Burris and the Senate launched its Burris ethics inquiry. […]
“He is lying through his teeth,” said Lebed, who has no formal role with Burris’ Senate office. “He’s playing you guys.”
Former Commerce Secretary William Daley is leaning toward running for the Senate seat President Obama once held, sources close to Daley tell The Hill. They characterize the decision as all but finalized. […]
Daley has already held discussions about the race with two top political professionals in advance of making a bid official. They include Larry Grisolano, who played a central role in 2008 as Obama’s director of paid media and opinion research during the campaign. In January, Grisolano signed up with AKPD Message and Media, the firm founded by Obama senior adviser David Axelrod and home of Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.
Veteran pollster John Anzalone, who has seen his profile rise in recent years after handling surveys for Democratic candidates around the country as well as for Obama’s campaign, will also join the Daley team, if and when a run becomes official.
Among those considering a Senate campaign in 2010 are former Commerce Secretary William Daley, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and the Chicago Urban League’s Cheryl Jackson, a one-time press secretary to Blagojevich.
* Related…
* Senate Democrats deal likely fatal blow to special election to replace Sen. Roland Burris
A federal prosecutor drew a direct connection between illicit political hiring and Mayor Daley in a City Hall corruption trial Thursday, asking a key witness whether city hirees were also the mayor’s most loyal and hardest-working political supporters.
Former Streets and Sanitation Department personnel director Jack Drumgould agreed that they were, testifying in the trial of former Commissioner Al Sanchez.
Illinois had the nation’s highest jump in the number of people filing new unemployment claims last week, up by 3,791 claims, or almost 14 percent.
The increase ran counter to the national trend for the week, in which the U.S. as a whole saw 5 percent fewer people laid off and seeking unemployment benefits.
* More details on CTA stimulus request: Lots of maintenance, renewal programs
Seven local employees, including WLUP-FM 97.9 midday host Erin Carman and sportscaster Bruce Wolf, were shown the door in parent Emmis Communications’ companywide 7.5-percent workforce reduction.
Everyone is trying to make do with less, and Indianapolis-based Emmis expects its remaining staff to join it in doing so. All those not under contract, including folks at Chicago’s WLUP-FM and WKQX-FM 101.1, will have their pay cut by 5 percent beginning Monday.
Illinois is getting some much needed cash from the stimulus package.
U.S. Transportation Secretary and Peoria native Ray LaHood announced Thursday Illinois will get just under 500 million dollars in public transportation funding.
The money comes from the $8.4 billion available throughout the country for mass transit.
An Illinois child mental health crises hot line received nearly 2,000 more calls this February than a year ago after three recent suicides of children under age 12 and a public warning issued to parents by three state agencies after the deaths, officials said.
Calls to the Crisis And Referral Entry Services hot line increased to 14,071 this year from 12,419 last February, said Kendall Marlowe, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. From 2000 to 2007, the number of suicides of children between the ages of 10 and 17 has ranged from 15 to 36 each year, state figures show.
Nose-diving revenues have forced Chicago’s 2009 budget at least $10 million deeper into the hole — to a gap of well over $60.5 million — turning up the heat for more layoffs and union concessions.
