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Friday, Nov 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Today is Barton Lorimor’s last day as my intern. Barton has served us all well, so I wanted to take this opportunity to thank him for all his hard work and long hours.

I’ve developed great relations with all my interns, and it’s tough to see them go. Barton will definitely be missed.

Barton requested a song for our traditional Friday post. Booker T. and the MGs will play us out…

They may call you Doctor, or they may call you Chief

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Quinn asks for cabinet member resignations

Friday, Nov 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Back on November 6th, Gov. Pat Quinn talked about asking for resignations from his cabinet members…

Quinn: “…it would be my view that each cabinet director after the election, as we just had, would as a pro forma exercise submit their resignation. I may accept some, but that is a process that I think would be helpful. The cabinet directors serve at the pleasure of the governor, and the governor is re-elected, then they submit their resignations and I determine who stays and who doesn’t.”

Tribune: Are you calling on that to happen?
Quinn: “Well for directors, yes. Major leaders.”

Tribune: Even ones you have appointed?
Quinn: “Everybody. That’s really not an unusual exercise at the federal or the state level. That every director as a matter of course submits their resignation. The governor will decide which to accept, which not to accept. But I do think that’s the proper accountability for all directors. Because the governor appoints them and there should be an opportunity for review.”

Tribune: Have you gotten any resignations?
Quinn: “I think we’re going to have a cabinet meeting discussion with all the directors and that will come up.”

* I’ve confirmed that those resignation requests have now been issued. David Ormsby has a bit more…

In addition to handing in their resignations, each agency director has been asked for a two-page summary of their department’s function and assessment of its productivity. This document will be due in approximately two weeks.

Agency reorganization and possible department mergers are on the horizon.

30 Comments

Question of the day

Friday, Nov 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From an e-mail…

You should know that I actually put my Golden Horseshoe award on my resume! I’m sure it sealed the deal on my new gig!

Our annual Golden Horseshoe awards started out as just a bit of fun, but they’ve morphed into something much greater than that. Statehouse people really take this stuff seriously. We’ll start the nomination process sometime after veto session ends next month. But before we get to that, let’s tackle this…

* The Question: Now that we’ve gone all mainstream, should we rename our annual award? And, if so, what should the new name be?

* Bonus Question: Are there any new categories you’d like to see added this year?

…Adding… These were our categories last year…

* Best legislative staffer
* Best state legislative secretary/admin assistant
* Best political bar/restaurant in Springfield
* Best IL state agency director
* Best Illinois state legislator
* Best Illinois congresscritter
* Best IL statewide elected official
* Best Statehouse lobbyist
* Best press spokesperson
* Best non-press staffer for a constitutional officer
* Best “insider”

45 Comments

*** UPDATED x1 *** Recent moments in Massive FAIL

Friday, Nov 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Chicago Cubs owners have not had a great week. Their universally panned rollout of their taxpayer-financed stadium remodeling has been a massive failure so far. And they’ve now even managed to embarrass themselves during what ought to be a wildly favorable publicity stunt.

As you may know by now, Wrigley Field will play host to this weekend’s Illinois vs. Northwestern football game. The Ricketts family has ordered their park’s famous marquee painted “Wildcat Purple.” The outside of the stadium has been “swathed with Northwestern football pictures.” Everybody is just so excited.

Well, maybe not everybody. Because the field of play is so small, the teams will be able to use only one end-zone tomorrow…

The east end zone is feet away from the right-field wall, and although there is padding, there was still concerns that injuries could take place. Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald had said he would have different game plans for the different end zones to avoid the possibility of injury.

When a team is on offense Saturday, it will be positioned to head to the west end zone.

From the Big Ten…

* All offensive plays will head toward the west end zone, including all extra points and all overtime possessions.

* All kickoffs will be kicked toward the east end zone.

* After every change of possession, the ball will be repositioned for the offense to head toward the west end zone.

* As a result of a coin toss held by the conference office Friday morning, Illinois will occupy the west team bench in the first half and Northwestern will occupy the west team bench in the second half and for all overtime periods.

Oy.

*** UPDATE *** With a hat tip to a commenter, the endzone FAIL in question…

Oof.

[ *** End Of Update *** ]

* Speaking of failures, remember William Kelly? He ran for state comptroller and failed. He was hired by an independent US Senate candidate to gather petitions and failed. He even failed when he tried to move a sign posted by the Freedom From Religion Foundation in the Statehouse rotunda.

Michael Sneed’s lede this morning…

Conservative radio ranter William Kelly and veteran TV reporter Jay Levine will get their day in court today following a Columbus Day quarrel when the two vied to interview mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel.

• Backshot: Kelly — who owns airtime on WIND-AM (560) radio and who unsuccessfully attempted to rattle Emanuel with a barrage of frenetic questions — filed a misdemeanor assault complaint against WBBM-Channel 2 chief correspondent Levine, who tried to end Kelly’s obnoxious rant by threatening to ‘’deck'’ him. (The videotaped ruckus can be seen on YouTube.)

• The upshot: The case will be heard in Cook County court at Belmont and Western.

You can relive the hilarity by clicking here.

* Alas, another fail. From Kelly’s Facebook page…

Disregarding a textbook case of assault, a Chicago judge granted Levine a “not guilty” verdict. I was hoping for justice today…but justice was not to be found. The fight continues!

Maybe next he’ll follow through with his claims of “assault” against a young woman who works for Rahm Emanuel.

Sheesh.

* And our failure quote of the day comes from failed Green Party gubernatorial nominee Rich Whitney on this month’s election results…

The recent results across the board were “a pretty bitter pill,” Whitney says. “It was certainly disappointing, but in the Green Party we tend not to get too discouraged for too long.”

The Greens need to start learning from their failures rather than just being hopelessly optimistic. This advice from Dan Proft to the Illinois Republicans could just as easily apply to them…

After losing three gubernatorial elections in a row to the corrupt and the incompetent, it is tempting for Illinois Republicans to say, “What the heck is wrong with the voters of Illinois?” when they should be asking, “What the heck is wrong with the Illinois Republican Party?”

63 Comments

It’s not a crime in Glenwood for a police dispatcher to tip off drug dealers

Friday, Nov 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* In the “There oughtta be a law” category, we have this…

It’s not necessarily a crime for a police dispatcher to warn drug dealers about law enforcement activity, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The court overturned the conviction of Carmecita Williams, a dispatcher in the Chicago suburb of Glenwood, who was found guilty of official misconduct and sentenced to two years of probation. Prosecutors said she contacted the father of her son and alerted him to police activity that might have discovered his drug-dealing.

“So I’m not sure what agency, you know — if there’s FBI, DEA or ATF or whatever — but we just know there’s agents in the area,” Williams said in one of three calls that authorities recorded on July 12, 1998.

In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court called Williams’ actions “troublesome” but said they didn’t amount to official misconduct.

That’s because there was no specific law barring Williams from revealing what she knew about police activity, the court said. It clearly violated the police department’s rules, but that wasn’t enough.

* From the opinion…

As a final matter, we emphasize that our holding should not be interpreted as an approval of defendant’s conduct. The conduct here is certainly troublesome and unjustifiable. We hold that defendant did not commit the offense of official misconduct only because the confidentiality rules at issue here cannot be construed as “laws” under the statute. At oral argument, defense counsel asserted defendant may have been properly charged with other criminal offenses. We do not express any opinion on that point. We only hold that the circumstances presented by this case do not establish the offense of official misconduct.

Apparently what happened is that the police chief claimed the employee violated a rule, but the alleged rule was never voted on by the village board of trustees. No vote equals no “law.” No law violation equals no crime.

I think maybe somebody should now make this a crime.

Glenwood might also want to start vetting its dispatchers a bit better.

16 Comments

The Statehouse meat starts to cook

Friday, Nov 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The veto session kicked into a much higher gear yesterday…

Illinois Senate leaders have charged a few select lawmakers with reforming the state’s Medicaid program and workers’ compensation system - by Jan. 3.

Subscribers already know what that could mean.

* More stuff…

A slew of top state officials could be ousted under a proposal floated Thursday.

In what could turn out to be a fumigation of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, introduced legislation to formally remove nearly 700 people from a variety of state posts because the terms of their positions have ended.

Among those affected are heads of major state agencies dating to Blagojevich’s tenure as chief executive. Members of the state Board of Elections, the gaming board and the Board of Higher Education also could be affected.

Cullerton said the proposal does not bar people from being reappointed to the jobs they currently hold. But, under his plan, they would not be able to continue working after 30 days if a new nomination is not sent to the Senate by Gov. Pat Quinn.

* More pension reform is also on the way…

With 2010 winding to a close, however, it almost certainly will fall to the General Assembly — not the unions and local governments — to impose new benefit guidelines for future public-safety employees in Illinois. Cities and unions simply are too far apart on some issues to forge compromises.

We’re encouraged by some of the reforms detailed this week by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, D-Orland Park, a member of the House Police and Fire Pension Reform Committee. Also encouraging is the resolve that seems apparent to have significant reforms in effect for police and firefighters hired as of Jan. 1, 2011.

Under McCarthy’s plan, which is being drafted into a bill, police and firefighters will be eligible to receive their maximum pension benefit (75 percent of their salary) after 30 years, but the retirement age will rise from 50 to 57. Pensions would be calculated on the average of the employee’s four or eight highest salaried years with cost-of-living increases capped at 3 percent or tied to inflation, whichever is less (currently they are guaranteed at 3 percent). Pensions for surviving spouses would be 67 percent of the employee’s pension.

A whole lot more happened yesterday, but you have to subscribe to find out what it was.

* Meanwhile, Progress Illinois took a look at the numbers in the House on a tax hike plan in the wake of the election…

* Dems whose district voted for a tax hike and party won re-election: 40
* Dems whose district voted “present” for a tax hike and party won re-election: 2
(Reps. W. Davis, Miller)
* Dems whose district voted for a tax hike and party lost re-election: 2
(Reps. Smith, Hannig)
* Dems whose district voted against a tax hike and party won re-election: 21
(Reps. Fritchey, O’Sullivan, Carberry, Froelich, McCarthy, Farhmam, Crespo, May, Lyons, Dugan, McAsey, J. Gordon, Holbrook, Reitz, D’Amico, Zalewski, Mell, Franks, Beisler, Bradley, Phelps)
* Dems whose district voted against a tax hike and party lost re-election: 5
(Reps. Boland, Hoffman, Flider, Walker, C. Gordon)

What’s this tell us? To secure 60 votes, Madigan would need to retain the support of all 44 Democrats whose districts voted yes or present and then pick up at least 16 more votes from the 26 districts that voted against SB 2252 last year. Of those 26, nine are leaving the legislature, either to pursue other opportunities or because they were upended by a Republican challenger last week. Presumably, voting for a tax increase is easier for those folks because they won’t have to fight to retain their seat in 2012.

It’s a big hill to climb, but that’s what tax reformers are working with.

Only a few of those people who won reelection and voted against a tax hike last spring could be tapped to vote “Yes” this time around, however. The key here is to look at lame ducks in both parties. It’ll be close either way.

* Roundup…

* Ill. Senate president targets holdover appointees

* Confirmation hearing expected for state police director

* Daily Herald: Alter pensions for police, firefighters

* New program lends money to agencies owed by state

* Warden: Death penalty is a costly exercise in futility for state

* Zorn: Time to give same-sex couples the same right we give to criminals

* Elgin school district to get $15.5 million from veto override

* Lawmakers revive U46 funding fix

* State legislature succeeds in overriding veto of funding bill

* Attorney general: UI must release records in presidential search

* Lawmakers Chip Away at New FOIA Law

* Miller: Freedom of (some) Information Act

* Smoking issue: Should ban be lifted in casinos?

* Report: Illinois’ top officials paid well

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Morning Shorts

Friday, Nov 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Illinois jobless rate falls for 7th month in a row

* Jobless benefits to expire as Congress debates tax

* Report card has Illinois students beating national average

Months before graduation, 4 out of 10 Illinois high school seniors had the skills needed to read proficiently whether they stepped onto a college campus or reported for their first day of work, according to the results of a national exam released Thursday.

In math, about a quarter of the state’s public school 12th-graders who were tested were proficient in such key concepts as using probability to predict an outcome, understanding changes in scale or identifying bias in a data sample.

* Small number of City College students moving on

Only 16 percent of Chicago’s 120,000 City Colleges students transfer to four-year colleges. Fewer than five percent earn bachelor’s degrees. Half of all students seeking degrees leave the system before completing their first 15 credit hours.

* Illinois Ranks 35th in Protecting Kids from Tobacco

* $4.5 Million Federal Grant to Give 1500 Illinois Prisoners’ Kids Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentors

* U.S. Sen. Burris: ‘This is simply unacceptable’

There will be no African Americans in the U.S. Senate when he leaves office at the end of the month, a fact outgoing Sen. Roland Burris called “unacceptable” and “troubling” in his farewell speech Thursday.

* Burris says absence of blacks in next Senate is unacceptable

* Cook County ‘Clout List’ Details How Stroger Regime Rained Jobs on Friends

FOX Chicago News obtained a copy of a “clout list” showing who landed jobs funded by a federal disaster grant. The list details who in county government sponsored the employees and contains information about friends and family already working at Cook County.

The $10.3 million dollar grant was awarded to help residents whose property was damaged by flooding following heavy rains that swept through Cook County in the summer of 2008….

The list contains the names of 31 people who got jobs or contracts funded by the disaster grant. Written in hand beside many of the names are notations such as “father and uncle with county,” “Andrea’s brother,” or “uncle in highway.”

* Preckwinkle: All county leaders must share in 21% spending cuts

Slashing the remainder of that unpopular sales tax hike championed by outgoing Board President Todd Stroger — who was bested by Preckwinkle in the Democratic primary last February — will be on the back burner until 2012. And with a $3 billion government operation whose 24,000 employees make up 80 percent of the budget, layoffs are inevitable, observers say.

* Preckwinkle: County Faces $487M Shortfall

* Preckwinkle sounds alarm on county budget shortfall

* Preckwinkle orders 21% Cook County spending cuts

* Sun-Times: County spending cuts overdue

* Southtown: Property taxes: Little room for sunny outlook

* Kiki Yablon Leaving Reader

Yablon’s departure is not the other shoe falling. “Do an editor and publisher ever see eye to eye on everything?” she asked rhetorically, but she wants it understood her resignation has nothing to do with her relationship with publisher Alison Draper and assistant publisher Geoff Dougherty.

* RTA job search won’t end quickly

* Metra Task Force To Discuss Pollution

* The city that works at Christmas . . . sort of

* U.S. Senate OKs bill against Asian carp

* Kirk To Vote Again on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

* Navistar’s Sharp named to NCC board

* Lisle police chief announces retirement

* Elgin will keep at-large council system

* Citing family, work, Speer won’t run in February in Streamwood

* Buffalo Grove budget expected to drop in 2011

* Malay seeks to replace Richards on St. Charles council

* Boone County Board passes balanced budget for 2011

* Possible Earmark Ban Could Slow Down New I-74 Bridge Project

* Tazewell board OKs raise

* Pekin City Manager Announces Resignation

* Peoria County OKs balanced budget for 2011

* Journal-Star: May the mayor now appreciate the ‘can’ and ‘can’t’ of office

* ICC reduces its tax rate

* Eureka council tentatively OKs tax levy

* Candidates already launching campaigns for April’s local elections

* U. of Ill. faculty: Clout firewall appears to work

* Gary Minish picked as next SIUC provost

* PCCC chairman Coffey to run for mayor of Springfield

* News-Democrat: No veto; let people vote

It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that Fairview Heights Mayor Gail Mitchell plans to veto a resolution on term limits. Mitchell has been mayor for 15 years, so he’s going to argue against term limits, not for them.

Still, we urge him to respect the City Council’s decision as well as residents’ ability to choose wisely.

* Madison County to cut 25 jobs

* Jackson County seeks $3 million from bonds

* Walsh victory party Sunday in Lakemoor

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Caption contest!

Friday, Nov 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We haven’t done one of these in a while. And it’s Friday, so let’s have some fun…