* Finally, the long-awaited cemetery attack ad from Pat Quinn. Rate it…
Quinn is obviously trying to staunch the bleeding of his support in the African-American community lately, so Hynes fires back using Harold Washington’s own words. Effective? You tell me…
Oof. As someone just told me, that ad will work for everybody, not just black people. He’s right. It’s all about the theme that Quinn is incompetent.
There is obviously some chutzpah here since Hynes’ father ran against Washington. I didn’t remember this, but the Quinn people tell me an 18-year-old Dan Hynes appears in one of his dad’s ads. Wanna bet we’ll see that footage?
I have a couple of more ads, but I wanted to get these up since everything is so delayed today. Check back in a few.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Apparently, Gov. Quinn didn’t know that Hynes was using actual video of Harold Washington, because the governor today denied he was fired by the late mayor…
Quinn denies Washington fired him.
“That didn’t happen — I resigned. I supported Harold Washington in every election. He told me sometime Quinn, someday we’ll have a drink together.”
He resigned? That’s not what Washington said. Oops. Pretty stupid prevarication by Quinn.
Quinn’s campaign shot back that the ad is in poor taste coming from Hynes, alleging that the comptroller’s father, 19th Ward power broker Tom Hynes undermined Washington. The elder Hynes ran as a third-party candidate against Washington in his 1987 re-election campaign at a time when racial tensions ran high in Chicago politics
“Harold Washington is spinning in his grave,” said Quinn spokeswoman Elizabeth Austin. “Dan Hynes was featured in ads for his father against Harold Washington.”
I asked the Hynes campaign about that last point, and they said the then 18-year-old appeared in a positive ad for his dad.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The IFT and the IEA are running a new radio ad for Hynes. Listen.
* Speech ran long and I am running late for the funeral, so here’s a big list of campaign stories. I’ll do something with some of this when I get back, but have at it for now campers…
* Ill. Senate candidate alleging anti-gay discrimination in debate fight
Businessman Bob Dold looked next door after a rival candidate in the Feb. 2 primary locked up endorsements from the Illinois Republicans he hopes to join in Congress.
Dold — who’s going after the seat being vacated by Rep. Mark Kirk — announced the endorsement of Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar.
* I have to give a speech this morning, so there isn’t much time to post until around 10 o’clock. After that, I am going to the Carlos Hernandez Gomez funeral. I hope to get a couple of posts up in between.
In his rise to the pinnacle of Illinois politics, House Speaker Michael J. Madigan built a reputation for wielding control over every bill, every budget line and every Democratic representative elected to oversee them.
Away from the public eye, the state’s ultimate power player enjoyed a similar rise in his private career: rainmaker for one of Chicago’s most successful property tax law firms.
In a first-of-its-kind examination, the Tribune found these two careers repeatedly intersect, and in some cases Madigan took public actions that benefited his private clients.
As a public official, he got a private road behind a shopping mall repaved, helped secure state funding for an expanded tollway interchange and intervened for a developer looking for state cash. In each case, Madigan was a private lawyer for businesspeople who stood to benefit.
His list of clients multiplied as Madigan consolidated political muscle over the last two decades. Now, many of his decisions as speaker have the potential to affect someone who has hired Madigan & Getzendanner in hopes of having a tax bill lowered. The Chicago firm represents banks the state regulates, investment houses that have overseen billions of dollars in public pensions, developers who want roads — all subject to decisions made by a state House in the firm control of their tax lawyer.
In 2005, while serving as the executive director of the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, Jon Bauman says he was surprised one day when his secretary announced a call from the speaker of the House.
“He talked about these gentlemen from a Chicago-focused fund who were trying to start something,” Bauman said of Madigan. “He understood minority-owned and/or Illinois-based funds may be of special interest to us, and he asked that we give the guy and his fund a look.
“I told him he was correct, we were working with particular emphasis on those kinds of funds and I appreciated his call and would be in touch,” Bauman said. Records show pension fund managers did have a meeting with the broker, John Cooke, who represented the Arches at Oakwood Shores, a low-income housing project developed by Granite Development Corp. and The Community Builders. Both firms have been tax clients of Madigan & Getzendanner. […]
Bauman cooperated with federal agents building a corruption case against members of the Blagojevich administration for, among other things, corrupting pension contracts. After Blagojevich’s indictment and impeachment last year, Madigan introduced legislation to fire Bauman, saying he cooperated only to save himself.
Bauman said he now wonders whether his ouster was retaliation for not hiring Madigan’s client. He said Madigan did not disclose his professional relationship with the developers and he did not know about it.
Madigan press secretary Steve Brown responds…
For about 11 months, a team of at least four Chicago Tribune reporters have been pouring over documents, conducting interviews and studying files. In many instances their question was “tell us how Mike Madigan used his public office to enrich his law practice.”
The following document speaks for itself. It was provided to the Tribune reporters in response to their questions and revised based on additional conversations.
The mass at Chicago’s St. John Cantius Catholic Church, 825 North Carpenter St., is set for 11 a.m. and will be in Latin. A priest will assist with CLTV’s coverage.
The core problem is money. Most CTA subsidies come from taxes on retail sales and real-estate transfers, and the worst recession in many decades has knocked that take way, way down.
The agency has agreed to borrow more than $100 million to close the funding gap, but had to pay a big price. To sign the needed legislation, Gov. Pat Quinn demanded a two-year freeze on fares — not even a little hike, not even on well-heeled Loop office workers who might prefer to pay an extra quarter rather than wait an extra quarter-hour in the cold for a bus.
If something isn’t worked out by Feb. 7, the CTA plans to cut 9 express bus routes, cut hours on 41 bus routes, and reduce service on 119 bus and 7 rail lines. The agency also plans to lay off 1,067 workers.
The transportation board is sending questionnaires to the Illinois and Indiana communities affected by Canadian National’s acquisition of the 198-mile rail line, which runs in an arc around Chicago from Waukegan to Joliet to Gary.
Next month, Mrs. Obama officially launches her anti-obesity initiative, and during a speech before the U.S. Conference of Mayors, she told them, “We’re looking to you to be leaders on the front lines of this effort across the country.”
Unspent money stays in an alderman’s account for future use — but is certain to become campaign fodder for challengers charging the ward’s needs aren’t being met.
Chicago area suburbs saw a 47 percent spike in the number of poor, and the nation’s suburbs were home to the largest and fastest-growing poor population in the country from 2000 to 2008.
Take Northwestern University, with building after building lining the lakefront in Evanston. A world class institution with a world class endowment, or investments of nearly $6 billion.
Or the University of Chicago which stretches for blocks on both sides of the Midway in fashionable Hyde Park. Its endowment: also $6 billion.
But like all not-for-profit schools, hospitals and churches, they pay no property taxes.
According to the Cook County Assessor, all this costs the rest of us anywhere from $200 to $400 milliofn.
People like Refund Anticipation Loans, or RALs, because it lets them get their expected tax refunds a couple of days after filing. Lenders like them because the fees in Illinois alone total $114 million a year.
* Athletic department waiting to hear about furloughs
Illini coaches could take after similar behavior this semester, when the University implements furloughs to help combat the institution’s rising financial problems.
Superintendent Rick Schmitt told the school board this week that the district should have been paid $4,534,862 by the state by now, but the district has only received $3,565,615.
* Unit 5, terminated contractor reach agreement for work on junior high school
The January issue of Discover magazine, which focuses on “science, technology and the future,” listed science’s Top 100 Stories of 2009, ranking FutureGen as No. 9.
But Rolling Stone magazine also mentioned FutureGen in its January magazine when it called FutureGen lobbyist Dick Gephardt one of the 17 “polluters and deniers who are derailing efforts to curb global warming.”
* Legislator’s book to outline how Southern Illinois can help the green economy
State Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville, will join Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard and John Mead, director of the SIUC Coal Research Center, for an announcement about the release of the book, “Hope for the Heartland.”
[Mike] Schafer and entrepreneurs like him advocate aggressive fishing of Asian carp as a way to make money and save the Great Lakes, where environmentalists fear the voracious fish would starve native species by consuming their food. But several of them say such efforts can’t get going without government help, and that’s been in short supply as states face budget problems.
[City Clerk Cecilia] Tumulty told aldermen this week she didn’t want to present a budget based on the assumption that unions would accept contractual concessions of 12 unpaid days off or smaller pay increases, as Mayor Tim Davlin has proposed.
Springfield Police Chief Rob Williams is counting on personal connections and word of mouth — what he calls “informal recruiting” — to help the mostly white department diversify, a goal that has been elusive for more than a decade.
* Some support for Decatur parking plan, but it’s not unanimous
The proposed plan calls for instituting employee parking permits at the 10-hour parking meters that line the outlying streets downtown, setting all city parking garages at equal pricing, and putting in place measures to allow the city to boot and tow cars and suspend the driver’s licenses of those with high amounts of unpaid parking tickets.
* Mattoon officials defend use of TIF districts, approve two grants
* Back in the day, lots of politicians had what was called a “flower fund.” Their government employees kicked into the fund every payday and were told their cash would be used to buy flowers for funerals, weddings, retirements, etc. But, of course, not all the money was used for those purposes. Dorothy Brown has apparently put a modern twist on the concept. Fox Chicago’s Dane Placko has the story…
It’s called “Jeans Day” – when employees of Cook County Clerk Dorothy Brown pay for the privilege of wearing jeans at work. […]
“Jeans Day” has turned into nearly a year-round fundraising operation within the massive clerk’s office.
Yet, we’ve been able to find little accountability as to where the cash goes.
Employees are allowed to wear jeans if they pay $3 a day — or $10 per week– cash only.
The money is collected by managers, stuffed into brown manila envelopes.
Employees are told it goes for charity and employee functions like picnics and parties.
But our repeated Freedom of Information requests for more details about the program– written guidelines, how much money is raised, who’s getting it — have been rebuffed, as were our requests for a sit-down interview with Brown.
Placko will have more tonight. Don’t miss it.
Brown had a big lead in the last Tribune poll. I’m hearing that the Trib is in the field again. So far, none of the negative stories on Brown have really been burned in, so she may still be ahead. Somebody better go negative soon, because she could be a disaster in November, even against Roger Keats.
A review of the governor’s campaign and official public schedules shows his handlers scheduled blatantly political events on the political docket - avoiding the use of taxpayer dollars for campaign purposes.
But it also shows far fewer events on the campaign side so far this year, despite an increasingly intense primary campaign that has dominated the headlines.
For all five workdays last week, Quinn had not one public campaign event. But he had eight public government events. […]
In all, there were six days in the last 18 that lacked any public event on taxpayer time compared to 11 days void of events on campaign time.
• To wit: Sneed is told [Rep. Art Turner] spoke at the recent funeral of his former chief of staff Bea Smith — and intoned if Smith were here today she would tell you to vote for Art Turner [for lt. governor].
• Upshot: “Everyone in the church was a gasp, without a doubt,” said a Sneed source who was there. “You just don’t do that — self promotion at a funeral.”
• The response: “I was in campaign mode,” Turner tells Sneed. “If I offended anyone I apologize. Bea was a friend of mine and a neighbor. I worked with her for more than 15 years. And her family has been strong supporters.”
* In other campaign news, Democratic comptroller candidate state Rep. David Miller has a new TV ad. It’s quite good. Watch it…
* Republican US Senate candidate Mark Kirk has a new radio ad featuring Jim Edgar. Listen.
One of Kirk’s primary opponents, Patrick Hughes, has a new TV ad. Rate it…
* WSIL TV analyzes the gubernatorial ads, and actually has somebody on air saying that Hynes’ early release ad isn’t resonating. Oops. Have a look…
* And here’s your gigantic campaign roundup, courtesy of my two new interns, Dan Weber and Barton Lorimor. Dan is from UIUC and Barton is from SIUC…
* Gun Owners of America endorse Hughes for U.S. Senate
* The pontificating over the impact of the Massachusetts Senate race on Illinois has begun in earnest. This statement was released by the Illinois GOP chairman before the contest was even called by the AP…
“Today, the citizens of Massachusetts repudiated the first year of President Obama’s term by electing their first Republican Senator since 1972. Republicans, Independents and even a substantial segment of Democrat voters turned out to soundly reject the Obama Administration’s uncontrolled spending and attempt to nationalize healthcare. Tonight’s victory for Republicans reflects a trend that started last November in New Jersey and Virginia. Republicans won Governor’s races in these two states, which were won by President Obama in 2008. Since the Democrats took control of Washington last January, Republicans have won 27 of 36 special elections, including gaining a majority of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.”
“Illinois is next. Like Massachusetts, Illinois is under control of the single-party rule Democrats who have had unbridled control of the State of Illinois for the last eight years and have brought us to the brink of financial collapse. The eyes of the nation will be upon Illinois as we seek to regain the United States Senate seat formerly held by President Obama and retake the Governor’s mansion.”
Those independents who yearned in 2008 to throw out George Bush and elect Barack Obama may now be yearning to send a message to the Democrats by giving Illinois’ Senate seat to the GOP.
That is what Illinois House Republican leader Tom Cross, a moderate, argues is going to happen in the Illinois Senate race.
“Republican voters are more energized, coupled with independents who were with the Democrats in 2008 but coming back to us in 2010.”
* The Question: What do you think the impact will be, if any? Explain fully, please, and, as always, don’t use regurgitated DC talking points. They’re boring and worthless and I hate them. Thanks.
* The Dan Hynes campaign has released a new polling memo which shows they’ve done some major damage to Quinn’s fortunes and made this a real horse race - with a major assist from Republican Andy McKenna’s campaign, which is whacking the guv like crazy on the tax issue. In essence, Quinn has been hit with a two-track assault for weeks without much of a response.
The seven-point spread in Hynes’ poll is about the same as a poll I told subscribers about yesterday. That other poll, taken by the Alexi Giannoulias campaign, had it at 49-43, sources outside the campaign now confirm.
Anyway, on to the Hynes polling memo. All emphasis in original…
With two weeks to go in the primary campaign for Governor of Illinois, Dan Hynes is surging – according to a recent poll of 500 likely Democratic primary voters conducted January 17 – 18, 2009 by Global Strategy Group. Key findings include:
* Dan Hynes is now within just seven points and Quinn is polling well below 50%. Today, Pat Quinn leads with just 44% of the vote to Dan Hynes at 37% and 19% undecided. That is a remarkable change versus our November poll (where Quinn led by 17 points) and the Chicago Tribune’s December poll (where Quinn led by 26 points). It is clear that the most recent advertising blitz is causing voters to tune into this campaign and that voters are moving towards Hynes as they see competing advertisements from both sides.
* Pat Quinn’s ratings are in a total free-fall. Quinn’s negative job approval rating is now at 60% – up ten points since November. Remarkably, only 36% of primary voters approve of the job Quinn is doing.
* Pat Quinn is unelectable in a general election. Pat Quinn has a 60% negative job rating (and just a 36% positive job rating) among primary voters – a group that should be his strongest in a general election. Such a low rating with primary voters means that Quinn’s ratings must be even worse with a general election electorate that includes Republicans and Independents. In this political environment, Quinn simply cannot win in November.
* Voters view Dan Hynes as by far the better choice on the key economic issues facing Illinois. Voters think Hynes will do a better job “handling the state’s budget and finances” (Hynes 43%/Quinn 29%), and “cutting waste from state government” (Hynes 39%/Quinn 27%). In addition, by a stunning 54% to 9% voters believe it is Pat Quinn who will raise their taxes.
The bottom line is this: Now that voters are paying attention to this campaign – and seeing competing advertisements from both campaigns – Dan Hynes is surging and Pat Quinn is in a total free-fall. Hynes is within single digits and Quinn is well below 50% in an environment where undecideds will likely break against the better known incumbent Governor. With two weeks to go, Hynes is in a great position to win this campaign.
Those are awful numbers for Quinn. Just awful. A disapproval of 60? Oof. And that 54-9 on how Quinn will be the one to raise their taxes? Hynes ought to send McKenna a big box of roses for that one.
* Meanwhile, Hynes has a new, hard-hitting 15-second ad on the botched early release program. It was ripped from live TV, so there is a little bleed-over from other stuff at the beginning and end. Sorry about that. Anyway, rate it…
* I was asked by people connected to both Democratic gubernatorial campaigns last night what I thought about the debate. After ripping the League of Women Voters’ ridiculous format - which encouraged the candidates to just repeat their sound byte attacks on each other for an hour - I said that since few would actually watch the debate, if the governor’s botched prisoner release plan makes the lede in all the coverage and is fleshed out in the stories, then Hynes probably won. After looking at the coverage, it seems to be a draw, with the governor scoring points early in every story with a media-ready quote. Sun-Times…
They shook hands at the end and said they’d still be friends, but for an hour, Gov. Quinn and challenger Dan Hynes accused each other of incompetence, deception, and/or “cover-ups.”
“He smiles in your face and stabs you in the back and that’s what he’s done since Day One,” Quinn said of state Comptroller Hynes, who is challenging Quinn in the Feb. 2 Democratic primary for governor.
The governor’s harsh attacks belied his criticism of Hynes. The comptroller never really called Quinn names, so this was more about political projection than reality - a tactic rarely acknowledged by the media. Quinn also used an inappropriate ethnic slur…
Quinn also raised a few eyebrows by twice referring to taxpayers getting “gypped,” a reference to a derogatory stereotype that people of the Roma ethnicity, often referred to as “gypsies,” are swindlers and thieves. Afterward, Quinn, who was battling a cold, said the term applied to the situation.
I saw close up how the Roma were treated in central Europe several years ago. It’s horrible. In Kosovo, back in 1999, they were essentially herded into make-shift concentration camps “for their protection.”
But it was last year’s headline-grabbing scandal at the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip that Quinn kept revisiting to attack Hynes.
Quinn said Hynes had responsibility as comptroller to oversee the cemetery but didn’t discover the scandal that was uncovered by the Cook County sheriff’s office.
On the defensive for much of the debate, Quinn tried to counter the early-release issue by hitting back with allegations that the comptroller’s office ignored its regulatory role in the Burr Oak Cemetery scandal. Quinn accused Hynes of engaging in a “cover-up” on that scandal, mirroring the phrase Hynes accused Quinn of on the prisoner program.
And in what appeared to be an appeal to African-American voters, Quinn said Hynes was employing against him the same attack-focused style he used against Barack Obama in the 2004 Democratic U.S. Senate campaign. Obama defeated Hynes in that contest and went on to become a U.S. senator that fall.
We may see more about both of those subjects soon. Sun-Times…
Quinn also launched a new line of attack against Hynes, saying Hynes was using the same criticism against him that he used against Barack Obama when Hynes ran for the Senate seat Obama won in 2004.
“He said, ‘You voted for George Ryan’s taxes and fees in order to get your piece of the pork pie.’ That’s what he said to our now-president,” Quinn said. “You know, when I listen to the rhetoric in this whole campaign, it’s remarkably similar to that: Run down your opponent.”
“That’s silly,” Hynes said. “Barack and I, when we ran, we were friendly before, during and after that. You can read it in his book.”
Hynes said Quinn was on the defensive Tuesday: “The governor seemed agitated … because the polls show the race tightening. He’s losing his lead. He’s losing his grip on reality.”
“Taxing the middle class” served as Hynes’ go-to rip, while Quinn called his challenger’s budget plans “fantasy.”
It was an often-used blast, but the early release vs. cemetery scandal was a far more prominent exchange.
ABC7 also covered the press conference afterwards…
“The governor seemed agitated and almost angry tonight, and maybe it’s because polls are tightening and the race is getting much closer,” Hynes said.
The governor explained why he thought Hynes bombed.
“I was disappointed that my a opponent didn’t say one word about jobs. He wanted to talk a lot about me, but I don’t’ think that’s what the people want to hear,” said Quinn.
By the way, I’m told that the Better Government Association was so disgusted with the LWV’s debate format that the group will refuse to participate in any more events such as these unless the format is radically altered. Good for them. And shame on the League.
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The mayor said he’s proud that the kerosene stink of aviation fuel is long gone from a several-mile stretch of the lakefront. His midnight bulldozer raid that closed Meigs Field provoked a huge uproar from users of private airplanes.
Officials long have defended the closing of schools because of poor performance, saying they believe it gives students a shot at a better education. But recent research shows that just 6 percent of displaced students were moved to top schools and gained academically. The majority did no better because they landed at schools about as bad as the ones they’d left.
The rest of the lawsuit, still unaddressed by the court, calls for the reopening of a nearly century-old lawsuit about Chicago’s diversion of water from Lake Michigan and permanent closure of the locks.
The Corps says researchers combing the Calumet Harbor near Lake Michigan for the presence of Asian carp have found two DNA samples that seem to indicate the invasive fish has already breached the lake near Chicago.
One sample was in Calumet Harbor a half-mile north of the Calumet River; the other was in the Calumet River north of the O’Brien Lock. Both samples were collected Dec. 8. The agency said that two earlier tests in the area didn’t show carp DNA.
Several states are suing Illinois to shut down the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal amid concerns over invasive Asian carp species — a shutdown that would be burdensome to an important commercial corridor, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert said on Jan. 8 in Lockport.
Radium is a naturally occurring radioactive element abundant in deep-water wells in northern Illinois and throughout the Midwest. Cities such as Joliet that rely on these deep wells spend millions of dollars each year to remove radium from their drinking water. Some communities pay to dump radium in a landfill, but Joliet and others use a cheaper alternative, mixing it with waste material that is sold to farmers as fertilizer.
About 21,000 tons of Joliet’s radium-enriched fertilizer has been dumped on area farms since 2005 The city is petitioning the state EPA to allow it to dispose of more than twice the level of radium that’s currently allowed.
The convention business nationally was down about 3.1% in 2008 from a year earlier, according to an index put out by Mr. Ducate’s research group, and likely was off in the double digits for 2009, he said. In Chicago, revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30 is expected to be off about 18% from the previous year.
Two supporters of banning video gambling, Ald. Patrick Curran, R-2, and Ald. Frank Beach, R-10, said in talking to their colleagues they expect the measure to fail.
The discussion came during the city council’s first debate of Davlin’s proposed spending plan for the fiscal year that begins March 1. The $105 million budget calls for the elimination of 55 positions — including 15 immediate layoffs — 12 furlough days and smaller pay raises for the entire city workforce.
* O’Fallon council may go it alone on TIF district proposal
* ‘Outrageous’: Cahokia trustee shocked by $1,046 fee to see mayor’s records
The bill was for $1,046.50 and stated at the bottom, “The above items will be released when the invoice is paid in full.” That’s a rate of 50 cents a page for about 2,000 copies.
A shocked [Phyllis] Pearson, who is also a member of the village board finance committee, said there is no way she’ll pay to see records that state law guarantees is her right to review as an elected official.
Brinker, whose promise to her sister, Susan Komen, launched the Race for the Cure to fight against breast cancer, received the medal last year for her dedication to the cause.
McLean County Board member Tari Renner made it official Tuesday: He is resigning from his board seat effective Feb. 28 because he is moving out of District 8.
Mayor Brad Cole abstained from all three votes, saying he chose to do so because of “various thoughts by certain folks.”
Cole received a $5,000 donation under Short Enterprises, Inc., for his mayoral campaign in 2007, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. He received another $5,000 donation from the Shorts for his lieutenant governor campaign in June of 2009, according to Cole’s Team Brad Web site.
Davis, a native of Anna, assumed the prison’s top position as warden days after the Dec. 14 incident that saw an inmate, 37-year-old Alonje Walton, take a hostage before being shot and killed.
