Daley react
Monday, Sep 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
Quinn Campaign’s Statement on Bill Daley’s Decision
CHICAGO - The Quinn for Illinois Campaign released the following statement on Bill Daley’s decision not to run in the 2014 primary election:
“We respect Bill Daley’s decision. A divisive primary would have only helped Republicans who want to take this state backwards and undo the important progress we have made.
“When Governor Pat Quinn took the oath of office, Illinois faced a triple crisis due to decades of corruption, fiscal mismanagement and the worst recession since the Great Depression.
“Under the Governor’s leadership, Illinois is making a comeback.
“From restoring integrity to state government with strong new ethics laws to working with our auto manufacturers to create thousands of new Illinois jobs, all the while making many hard but necessary decisions to balance the budget, Governor Quinn has never stopped fighting for working families.
“We have more work to do.
“The Governor will continue fighting for taxpayers to enact a comprehensive pension reform solution that will strengthen Illinois’ economic competitiveness.
“And when the time comes for voters to make their decision on Nov. 4 next year, we are confident they will recognize the difficult and important work the Governor has accomplished on their behalf.”
* From a press release…
Bruce Rauner Statement on Bill Daley Dropping Out of Governor’s Race
Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner issued the following statement in response to Democrat Bill Daley dropping out of the governor’s race:
“Pat Quinn is a master of machine politics, but that approach to governing has failed the people of Illinois. I’m the only candidate able to offer a clean break from the failed policies coming out of Springfield, and I can’t be bought by the government union bosses and special interests running the state. I can’t be intimidated, and I won’t back down until we bring back Illinois.”
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Daley drops out
Monday, Sep 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
“One of the things I always thought in my career that I wanted to do, I thought I would be able to have that opportunity, I hoped, would be to run for office. And even though you’re around it for a long time, you really don’t get a sense of the enormity of it until you get into it,” Daley told the Tribune.
“But the last six weeks or so have been really tough on me, struggling with this. Is this really me? Is this really what I want to spend my next five to nine years doing? And is this the best thing for me to do at this stage of my life?” he said. […]
“There’s no doubt in my mind that Pat Quinn will not be the next governor of Illinois,” said Daley. “This governor is not that strong that somebody should fear running against him.”
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All those years ago
Monday, Sep 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Fifty years ago the Beatles took a vacation before starting an American tour. John Lennon went to Paris. Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney headed to Greece. And George Harrison went to Benton, IL to visit his sister…
Illinois State Historical Society executive director William Furry says Harrison’s obscurity allowed him to walk Benton’s streets, jam with local musicians, visit record stores and even camp in the Shawnee National Forest without being hassled by fans. Harrison also bought a guitar in Mount Vernon and sang “Happy Birthday” at a bocce ball club in Benton.
A radio station in nearby West Frankfort played many of the Beatles’ first recordings, and Harrison was interviewed by a local teenager in what has been said to be the first American question-and-answer session with a Beatle.
* Check this out…
Louise Harrison wanted to promote The Beatles’ music with local radio stations.
She had previously been sent a copy of “From Me to You,” that she took to the WFRX-AM radio station in West Frankfort. Disc jockey Marcia Raubach played the song over the airwaves for the first time in the U.S. in June 1963.
When George Harrison visited his sister, the two hitchhiked to the West Frankfort radio station with a copy of “She Loves You,” which had been released the previous month in the United Kingdom. The single was also played by the station.
Can you imagine a Beatle hitchhiking in southern Illinois to promote a single?
Wow.
* Marilyn Lewis Dickey interviewed Harrison back then for her high school newspaper…
I was editor of the BCHS newspaper, The Echo, during my senior year. My sister Jean had also been an Echo editor.
Louise Caldwell called me and asked if I would like to interview her brother, George Harrison, who was on “Holiday” from England.
She said he was in “a band.” Little did I know what that band was to become.
This was in the fall of 1963 before the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan in the spring. This “band” was not known in the States just yet.
I remember meeting Louise and her brother, George Harrison, on the front porch of the house. My first reaction was that I thought it strange that he had on socks with his sandals.
My next reaction was that his hair seemed long for the style at the time.
We went into the house and I asked him questions about his band and his impressions of the United States.
I don’t remember any of these answers! He then played a 45 rpm record of the band’s latest songs that were popular in England. Those songs were “She Loves Me” and “I Want to Hold your Hand”
You can find lots more details about his visit by clicking here.
* There was also a documentary made about his visit…
* From a press release…
Governor Pat Quinn has proclaimed Sept. 21 as “George Harrison Day” in Illinois to commemorate the late musical star’s two-week stay in southern Illinois 50 years ago, when The Beatles were poised to conquer pop culture and music history. Governor Quinn also urged citizens to attend the Sept. 21 historical marker dedication in Benton that will unveil a permanent reminder of Harrison’s southern Illinois activities as “The First Beatle in America.” Today’s announcement is part of Governor Quinn’s commitment to promote heritage tourism in Illinois.
“Many icons through history have Illinois connections, and we are recognizing one more with this proclamation,” Governor Quinn said. “George Harrison helped define a generation, and we encourage visitors to follow his footsteps throughout southern Illinois.”
The historical marker dedication, hosted by the Franklin County Historic Preservation Society and the Illinois State Historical Society, will be held in Benton’s Capitol Park on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The marker will describe the regional exploits of a young British musician just months before he and his partners exploded into worldwide fame that is as strong today as it was in 1963.
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Daley’s retort
Monday, Sep 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release announcing the Illinois Democratic County Chairmen’s Association’s endorsement of Gov. Pat Quinn over the weekend…
“Four years ago the Illinois Democratic County Chairman’s Association remained neutral in the primary race for Governor. Now our Association enthusiastically and overwhelmingly endorses and supports Pat Quinn for election in the 2014 primary and general elections,” Pirtle continued.
County chairmen voted overwhelmingly to support the Governor. Chairmen from 79 of Illinois’ 102 counties voted in favor of Governor Quinn, who inherited a triple crisis caused by decades of corruption and fiscal mismanagement and the worst recession since the Great Depression.
Governor Quinn’s record includes enacting the largest capital construction program in state history supporting more than 400,000 jobs; the largest increase in health insurance coverage for people; and his work to help families who are facing foreclosure stay in their homes.
By contrast, millionaire bankers including Bill Daley - who served as Chairman of the Midwest Region for JPMorgan Chase from 2004-2010 and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility from 2007-2010 - helped create the recession.
Today’s latest win for Governor Quinn’s re-election bid served as the second recent failure for Mr. Daley. Mr. Daley tried but failed miserably to secure the endorsement of the Cook County Democratic Party, which overwhelmingly voted to support the Governor.
* Daley said he was “offended” by the governor’s jabs…
“If I’m so bad about the Democratic values, I mean, you tell me why President Obama offered me the chief of staff or why Bill Clinton put me in his Cabinet,” Daley said in an appearance on WGN-AM 720.
“I take second place to no one who stands up for the Democratic values on behalf of the people that are working in this state — no one. Not Pat Quinn or anybody else,” he said. “And I just am offended by his sort of trying to get the ball on me and try to avoid the responsibility which he has.”
Offended or not, as I’ve told you before the polling shows the attack works…
“Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate who ran a major bank that received federal bailout money, foreclosed on large numbers of Illinois homeowners, and engaged in predatory subprime mortgage lending?” voters were asked.
Unsurprisingly, that question moved the needle in a big way. According to the poll, a whopping 73 percent of Democrats were less likely to vote for the candidate.
Daley is gonna need a better comeback.
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Question of the day
Monday, Sep 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Treasurer Dan Rutherford with his new running mate Steve Kim…
* The Question: Caption?
Also, bonus points for anyone who can explain to me two things: 1) What does Kim really bring to the ticket?; and 2) How is Kim the best person qualified to take over the governor’s job if, God forbid, something happens to Rutherford?
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Charlie nails it
Monday, Sep 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Charlie Wheeler’s latest Illinois Issues column…
After watching Illinois government and politics for more than 40 years, one might reasonably assume that he or she has seen it all.
One — or at least this one — would be wrong. […]
On the other hand, the amazement was understandable to find out that Ty Fahner, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, was claiming that he and his cohorts had been urging Wall Street agencies to downgrade the state’s credit ratings as a way to pressure lawmakers to slash pension benefits for current and retired public employees.
The story was broken in late July by Rich Miller on his capitolfax.com blog site, a must-read for anyone interested in what’s happening in state government and politics. Miller posted an Illinois Channel video of a Union League Club luncheon last March, at which Fahner said he and some of his Civic Committee colleagues contacted the rating agencies, saying, “How in the hell can you guys do this [maintain the state’s existing credit rating]? You are an enabler to let the state continue.”
Miller’s report drew calls for investigation from We Are One Illinois, a labor coalition working to protect public employee pensions but was ignored by virtually all the major media, save Illinois Public Radio.
Two weeks later, Fahner emailed Miller to say that he “misspoke,” and that no one connected with the Civic Committee had contacted the ratings agencies. […]
What morphed the story from simply “amazing” at what the super-rich might do to protect or enhance their fortunes to the higher level of “unbelievable,” though, is the fact that Fahner also is a current partner and former chairman of Mayer Brown, the Chicago law firm that two years ago won a lucrative contract to serve as the state’s bond counsel.
So in essence, a partner of the law firm advising Illinois on its borrowing — for which it’s already been paid more than $1 million in fees and expenses — was simultaneously stabbing the state in the back by trying to crash its credit rating.
Breath-taking perfidy, even for Illinois, but also a good reminder that one should never, ever say, “Now I’ve seen it all!”
Charlie was also on the latest edition of Illinois Public Radio’s “State Week” and chastised reporters for focusing on the “Statehouse doors” controversy and completely ignoring the Fahner story.
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Prison brunches to save money, time
Monday, Sep 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Some state prisons are now serving two meals a day instead of three…
Feeding prisoners is a lot of work — not only cooking and cleaning up, but moving inmates from cells or dorms over to the mess hall.
Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman Tom Shaer says at some prisons, breakfast is served at 4 a.m., which means moving inmates in the dark. […]
But the John Howard Association, an independent prison watchdog, cautions that in Ohio, a similar brunch program caused health problems among inmates who hadn’t eaten enough to property digest their medication.
An official with AFSCME, the union that represents prison guards, says brunch is OK as long as it’s properly staffed and there’s enough food to meet inmates’ dietary needs.
* Meanwhile, late Friday, IDOC’s Tom Shaer responded to a Thursday post about there being no more prison dogs…
In yesterday’s entry, you wrote as fact something that is not true and about which IDOC was not asked:
Without those dogs, the guards have to do the cell and visitor searches on their own, so contraband could get by them.
This is incorrect. IDOC regularly uses dogs to search for contraband. As I’ve told other media, we have arrangements with local police and county sheriff departments for use of canines. The IDOC K-9 positions were eliminated because they weren’t necessary, as we still use dogs whenever we have a need.
—–Also, regarding this:
*** UPDATE *** From AFSCME’s Anders Lindall in comments…
Due to staff cuts, Tower One at Robinson is closed save for three approximately hourlong periods each day. Contrary to Shaer’s claim, frontline employees at Robinson report that Tower One is located just 200 yards from where the escape occurred and has a direct line of sight over the area.
This is incorrect. According to the Robinson CC Warden, two IDOC chiefs and a Lieutenant involved the search, no guard tower has direct line of sight to the normally unused area from which inmate work trustee Jared Carter walked away. As you know, Robinson is a minimum-security facility and Carter had clearance to be outside the walls, always supervised. There had not been a walk-away or other escape from Illinois prisons in years. Security at Robinson CC and throughout IDOC is effective, which is why we do not have these occurrences.
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Today’s quote
Monday, Sep 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Jim Edgar asked an AP reporter a couple of questions about his story on GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner…
For a candidate seeking support, [Rauner] comes on strong and can sometimes give offense.
“Have you met him? Did you get to talk?” former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar asked sardonically. Edgar has — and didn’t.
Heh.
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Two sets of victims
Monday, Sep 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* At first glance, I, like Eric Zorn, was somewhat puzzled about this story…
Gov. Pat Quinn has asked the director of a state commission vetting allegations of police torture to step down amid complaints from victims’ families that the commission violated Illinois law by excluding them from the process.
Quinn said in a letter released Wednesday that he had asked David Thomas to resign from the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission immediately, “and if he does not do so the commission should remove him.”
While the commission’s assignment to look for possibly torture-induced confessions was critical, “it is just as critical … to hear from the families of the murdered victims,” Quinn stated in the letter, which was addressed to Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who had written to the governor expressing concerns about the treatment of victims’ families.
* Zorn…
What possible information, let alone relevant information, could the family members of crime victims have to offer a panel exploring the narrow and preliminary issue of whether the suspect or suspects in the related crime were tortured while in police custody?
How could it possibly be useful — never mind “critical” — to hear from them at such a stage in the review process? […]
(W)hat “input” could victims’ families possibly offer when it comes to legal determinations about investigatory/procedural matters to which they were not witnesses?
The alleged “victim” here is actually the person who may have been tortured. The original “victims” wouldn’t have any knowledge of that.
* But Chuck Goudie’s I-Team also jumped into the fray…
“We are outraged and we think the people of Illinois would be outraged if they knew what we know,” said Joe Heinrich, murder victim’s brother.
What Joe Heinrich says he knows started precisely thirty years and two weeks ago, in 1983. His sister JoEllen Pueschel and her husband Dean were savagely killed in their West Rogers Park apartment. Son Ricky saw it. The then-11-year old was left for dead, but survived and testified against Jerry Mahaffey and his brother Reginald. Ricky is now 41 years old.
“Without question they are the ones who swung the bats, they are the ones who grabbed the gun, the ones who stabbed the knives. They are the ones who did unthinkable things to my mother,” said Rick Pueschel, attack survivor.
Murder-con Jerry Mahaffey claims he was tortured into confessing under the regime of notorious police commander Jon Burge. When Mahaffey asked the new Illinois torture commission to review his case, under state law, the victims’ family members were to be notified. But they never were.
* From the state law…
The 2009 law establishing the commission states that in cases where evidence of torture is found, the director “shall use all due diligence to notify the victim and explain the inquiry process,” and notify victims of their “right to present his or her views and concerns throughout the … investigation.”
So, the commission screwed up and didn’t follow the law.
* Then again, Zorn quotes DePaul College of Law professor Len Cavise, a member of the commission…
The work of the Commission has absolutely nothing to do with underlying guilt or innocence. We have no power whatsoever to retry the case or even to examine the weight of the evidence. Our statutory charge is solely to determine whether physical coercion led to a confession in the case. If we so find, the case is referred to the Chief Judge for further proceedings. At that point, our work is done. It is then up to the court to determine the relationship between the torture and the conviction…..
As much as we welcome the participation of the families of the victims of crime as well as the families of the victims of torture, most families have no personal knowledge as to whether or not the police tortured the defendant. I repeat we are only looking at torture, not the underlying case. The underlying case is an inquiry for the courts and we are not a court.
OK, I get all that, but state law is state law. I don’t remember the details, but I’m betting the bill was crafted in a way to make sure it could pass, and that meant making sure the original victims were notified. The commission dropped the ball.
It’s possible, even probable, that Burge and his thugs used torture to “frame” guilty men. While admittedly irrelevant to the commission’s mission, the original victims still have a right to be heard.
Your thoughts?
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One battle almost over, others to begin
Monday, Sep 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Several members of the Illinois General Assembly’s special pension reform committee told me last week that they believed a final proposal would emerge within the next week to 10 days.
The conference committee has been working since June on a solution to the state’s nearly $100 billion long-term pension funding shortfall, after Gov. Pat Quinn urged members to find a way around the spring legislative session’s gridlock on the issue.
For the past several weeks, the committee, made up of three Democrats and two Republicans from each chamber, has been working on “tweaks” to ideas that they’ve discussed behind closed doors.
As I write this, there was no word on what the final proposal would look like, but there was real concern among Democrats I spoke with that the Republicans might decide not to go along. While the Republicans on the committee have strongly indicated they’re committed to finding a solution, three of the four GOP members are running for higher office — Sen. Bill Brady (governor), Rep. Jil Tracy (lieutenant governor) and Rep. Darlene Senger (U.S. House).
The Democrats fear that any strong objections from traditional Republican allies, particularly in big business, could spook those GOP members into opposition. And, as is usually the case with this sort of stuff, the chaos created by no solution could be more politically beneficial to the Republicans in next year’s election than getting this monster off the table now.
Despite their super-majority status in both chambers, it’ll be impossible for the Democrats to pass a reform bill without significant Republican assistance. Democratic members are just too closely allied with union interests.
Plus, as long as there is no pension reform proposal for Chicago (and none is on the horizon), Mayor Rahm Emanuel has little or no incentive to lobby his Democratic members to pass a bill and billions of dollars in budgetary reasons to quietly oppose it until he gets what he wants.
In the House, a majority of Republicans sided with the public employee unions last spring when they voted against Speaker Michael Madigan’s pension reform bill. That bill passed with just two votes above the bare majority, so there are few to spare.
And while Madigan (D-Chicago) probably has some votes in his back pocket that he can bring out to cushion the roll call a little more (depending on what Emanuel does, of course), it’s doubtful that any of the House Republican “no” votes will flip to “yes” once the compromise is unveiled.
That means that about all of the House Republicans who voted for the business-backed Madigan bill in May will have to vote for the pension reform committee’s report when it gets a vote, likely during the upcoming veto session.
Aside from the politics, there are some legitimate concerns being raised by Republicans about what they know of the proposal so far. They believe the savings assumptions are based on what they view as a too-low projection of the inflation rate.
Despite three straight decades of low inflation, there are those who insist that a wave of high inflation could return with a vengeance, blowing those savings projections out of the water.
Another concern is the back-loaded nature of the savings. About $94 billion of the $146 billion the bill is projected to save the state will occur between fiscal years 2045 and 2050. It’ll be tough to allow most of the income tax hike to expire in 2015 if more pension savings can’t be found upfront.
The details leaked out of the committee so far add up to a savings of $1.14 billion in fiscal 2015 — not nearly enough to ensure that crucial programs could be spared from the ax if most of the income tax increase goes away.
And make no mistake, achieving the expiration of the higher income tax is the reason behind much of the public demands by business groups for cutting the pension benefits of state workers, teachers and university employees.
About the only recourse the Democrats will have to prevent this from getting out of hand is to threaten to run the Senate-passed, labor-backed reform bill, that’s opposed by business, if Republicans refuse to go along with a compromise.
That possibility is already being floated. Such a vote would get the unions off the Democrats’ backs, and the GOP most certainly knows this.
The vote wouldn’t stop the demands for more reform, however, and the New York credit ratings agencies might not love it either. The Democrats clearly know this as well. So we could end up with a high-stakes game of “chicken” next month.
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This is how it’s done
Friday, Sep 13, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We’ve seen some pretty lame campaign kickoffs this year. Videos, social media, three-city car tours, etc. This one is the most impressive by far. From a press release…
TOPINKA EMBARKS ON ‘COMMON SENSE EXPRESS’ ANNOUNCEMENT TOUR
Comptroller begins three-day statewide bus tour Sunday
CHICAGO –Judy Baar Topinka will board the “Common Sense Express” Sunday and begin a three-day, nine-stop statewide tour to announce her re-election campaign for Illinois Comptroller.
Topinka will begin her journey surrounded by supporters Sunday morning in Chicago and conclude Tuesday evening in Marion, making stops with her “Common Sense Express” bus throughout the state along the way. Specifically, the Announcement tour will include: Chicago, Rockford, Moline, Peoria, Quincy, Springfield, Edwardsville, Mt. Vernon and Marion.
Topinka will join a rally of local leaders and supporters in each community for a short program, and then be available to media. A mult box will be available to media outlets at each location.
SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2013:
10:30 a.m.: CHICAGO TOPINKA RALLY
Billy Goat Tavern, 1535 W. Madison, Chicago
Program participants include: Cook County Board Commissioner Liz Gorman, Lake County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor
2:30 p.m.: ROCKFORD TOPINKA RALLY
Stone Eagle Tavern, 6445 E. State St., Rockford
Program participants include: Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen, Winnebago GOP Chairman Jim Thompson, State Sen. Dave Syverson
5 p.m.: QUAD CITIES TOPINKA RALLY
Rock Island County GOP HQ, 1721 5th Ave., Suite 100, Moline
Participants include: Rock Island GOP Chairman Mike Steffen, Bobby Schilling
SCHEDULE FOR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2013:
9:30 a.m.: PEORIA TOPINKA RALLY
Peoria County GOP HQ, 8835 N. Knoxville Rd., Peoria
Program participants include: Peoria County GOP Chairman Katherine Koyle, State Rep. David Leitch, State Rep. Mike Unes, State Sen. Darin LaHood, U.S. Congressman Aaron Schock
2 p.m.: QUINCY TOPINKA RALLY
Villa Katherine, 532 Gardner Expressway, Quincy
Program participants include: Mayor Kyle Moore
5:30 p.m.: SPRINGFIELD TOPINKA RALLY
Route 66 Hotel & Conference Center, 625 E. St. Joseph St., Springfield
Participants include: Sangamon County Sheriff Neil Williamson, Sangamon County GOP Chairman Rosemarie Long, Governor Jim Edgar
SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2013:
10 a.m.: EDWARDSVILLE TOPINKA RALLY
Madison County Courthouse, 155 N. Main St., #120, Edwardsville
Participants include: Madison County Republican Women’s Club Chairman Amy Sholar, Edwardsville Mayor Hal Patton, Congressman Rodney Davis
1 p.m.: MT. VERNON TOPINKA RALLY
Papa Z’s Ice Cream Shop, 1812 Broadway, Mt. Vernon
NOTE: Ice cream served as part of “Get the Scoop on Us” kickoff rally
Participants include: State Rep. John Cavaletto, Mt. Vernon Mayor Jane Chelsey, State Sen. Kyle McCarter
5:30 p.m.: MARION TOPINKA RALLY
17th Street BBQ, 2700 17th St., Marion
Participants include: State Rep. Mike Bost, Williamson County GOP Chairman Sue Hamilton, State Sen. Dave Luechtefeld
Two taverns, an ice cream shop and a famous barbeque joint, plus a bunch of other stops along the way. I like it.
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Department of dumb ideas
Friday, Sep 13, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I tried restraining myself, but I just gotta say, this is probably the most stupid reaction to the “Statehouse doors” controversy I’ve yet seen. From Rep. Dwight Kay’s website…
Do you think the Illinois State Capitol should have copper doors valued at $670,000? Illinois State Representative Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon) thinks they should be sold. Rep. Kay recently introduced legislation to auction off the outlandish doors to the highest bidder and use the revenue to pay unpaid bills or reinvest in education. […]
Rep. Kay’s resolution (HJR48) orders that the new copper doors be removed from the capitol building’s west side entrance to be auctioned off or sold to the highest bidder. Rep. Kay added, “we can have beautiful doors appropriate for the capitol for an amount less than what was spent on copper doors by the administration.”
The resolution actually goes further than that…
RESOLVED, That we urge the Architect of the Capitol to direct the revenue from the sale of the copper doors towards Illinois’ public education system or to pay down unpaid bills;
So, who might be in the market for custom, made-to-fit, copper-plated doors? Maybe scrap dealers. And then we take the few bucks we get, put it toward schools or bills and then spend even more money to put up some doors on the western entrance?
Got it.
Great.
* Meanwhile, from a Chicago Tribune editorial…
The General Assembly “skipped the requirement of justifying why the investment was a higher priority than the needed improvements to our water, roads, public transit and education systems,” says the Civic Federation’s Laurence Msall.
From Msall’s official bio…
Msall was the Senior Advisor for Economic Development for Illinois Governor George H. Ryan. Msall was responsible for the oversight of eleven of the state’s economic development and infrastructure-related agencies including the Departments of Commerce and Community Affairs, Revenue, Transportation, and the state’s housing and other development authorities
Yes,. and there was no waste at all in George Ryan’s Illinois FIRST capital plan. Nope. None. Not even the stained glass windows in a suburban parking garage.
* In other news…
The architect in charge of a $50 million renovation project at the Illinois Capitol is defending his work in the wake of criticism from Gov. Pat Quinn, saying Friday that the governor was “completely out of line.”
J. Richard Alsop III has come under fire for portions of the project Quinn has deemed “excessive,” including three sets of copper-plated doors that cost nearly $700,000, as well as expensive chandeliers and light fixtures of robed maidens. Earlier this week Quinn said Alsop needed to be “reined in” by the board that oversees the architect’s office, a comment Alsop said was “unwarranted.”
“It’s completely unfair,” Alsop said Friday. “We were given a direction. The scope was agreed to long before I got here, money was appropriated long before I got here. We did the best job we could with the resources that we had.” […]
Both Alsop and the board also sought to place some of the responsibility back on Quinn, saying all contracts were vetted and approved by the Capital Development Board, an agency that reports to the governor’s office.
“I think there is a misunderstanding about the way the process works here,” Alsop said after the meeting. “This office isn’t solely responsible for the project that happened in the complex and I think it’s important that people realize that’s the case.”
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Question of the day
Friday, Sep 13, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The setup…
As expected, the Illinois Supreme Court Thursday named Justice Rita Garman to become the court’s next chief justice, making her the second woman to head the state’s high court.
The Danville Republican will take over from Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride after his term concludes Oct. 25. Garman will serve as the state’s top jurist for a three-year term.
Garman, who was chosen for the slot by a unanimous vote of the justices, was appointed to the court in 2001 to fill the vacancy left by former Justice Ben Miller, who retired. Garman was elected to a 10-year term on the court in 2002 and retained by voters for a second full term last year.
“I am honored and humbled to have been chosen by my colleagues to serve as chief justice,” Garman said in a prepared statement. “The office has been held by many great jurists, several of whom I have served with and count among my friends.
* A recent photo…
* The Question: At the risk of destroying myself if I ever end up in front of her… Caption?
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What’s at stake
Friday, Sep 13, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* An e-mail from NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde about yesterday’s Illinois Supreme Court rulings on the right to carry guns in public…
Rich — here is the dilemma the state is now in.
Both the Federal Court and now the State Supreme Court have said that that there is a right to carry a firearm in public.
So the state passed a law that provides a way to carry a gun in public — get a carry permit. Yet, as of today, no carry permit exists for people to obtain. No state courses have been approved for people to even take to be able to apply for their permit.
So what is the relief? If the Courts say, carry ban unconstitutional, and the State has no way for us to comply with the “relief” of obtaining a carry permit — now what? And a growing amount of thinking is it is legal to carry today with a FOID card.
Now remember that for 90 days we have had FOID carry in 15 counties. No extra training. No extra anything. And I have yet to hear of any problems, road rage incidents, fights over parking spots, shootouts at Starbucks or anything in those 15 counties.
The court said on page 8:
Again, in the “form presently before us, section 24-1.6(a)(1), (a)(3)(A) categorically prohibits the possession and use of an operable firearm for self defense outside the home. In other words, section 24-1.6(a)(1), (a)(3)(A) amounts to a wholesale statutory ban on the exercise of a personal right that is specifically named in and guaranteed by the United States Constitution, as construed by the United States Supreme Court. In no other context would we permit this, and we will not permit it here either.”
So tell me how the state or the Court allows the ban on carry, in effect today, to go on any longer?
He has a point.
* Here is the language for 24-1.6(a)(1)…
Sec. 24-1.6. Aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
(a) A person commits the offense of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon when he or she knowingly:
(1) Carries on or about his or her person or in any vehicle or concealed on or about his or her person except when on his or her land or in his or her abode, legal dwelling, or fixed place of business, or on the land or in the legal dwelling of another person as an invitee with that person’s permission, any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or other firearm
And here’s (a)(3)(A) …
(3) [Or] One of the following factors is present:
(A) the firearm, other than a pistol, revolver, or handgun, possessed was uncased, loaded, and immediately accessible at the time of the offense
* And here’s the response to the rulings from the Second Amendment Foundation…
he Second Amendment Foundation is applauding the Illinois State Supreme Court, which has unanimous ruled that the right to keep and bear arms is not confined to the home and that a state statute regarding aggravated unlawful use of weapons (AUUW) violates the Second Amendment.
In the ruling, written by Justice Robert R. Thomas, the court states, “As the Seventh Circuit correctly noted, neither Heller nor McDonald expressly limits the Second Amendment’s protections to the home. On the contrary, both decisions contain language strongly suggesting if not outright confirming that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms extends beyond the home.”
“This is one more court rejection of claims by anti-gunners that the right to keep and bear arms is somehow confined to the home,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb.
The case at issue, Illinois v. Alberto Aguilar, dates back to June 12, 2008, slightly more than two weeks prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller.
The case challenged a section of the law that prohibited carrying firearms outside the home that, according to the court, “…amounts to a wholesale statutory ban on the exercise of a personal right that is specifically named in and guaranteed by the United States Constitution, as construed by the United States Supreme Court. In no other context would we permit this, and we will not permit it here either.”
The court footnotes that the Illinois General Assembly has enacted the state’s Firearm Concealed Carry Act due to SAF’s victory in Moore v. Madigan, which is cited in today’s ruling. The Act amended the state statute to “allow for a limited right to carry certain firearms in public.” The court also noted that “Neither the Firearms Concealed Carry Act nor the amended (state) statute is at issue in this case.”
Still, recognition that the AUUW section violated the Second Amendment is significant, Gottlieb said.
“Here we have a state Supreme Court declaring a section of state law unconstitutional under the Second Amendment,” he said. “That would not have happened without our victories in McDonald and Moore, and it affirms our effort to win back firearms freedoms one lawsuit at a time.”
And yet, yesterday’s Supreme Court decisions received almost no media coverage in Illinois.
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Board responds to “doors” outrage
Friday, Sep 13, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
“The decision to renovate the west wing of the Capitol was part of the Illinois Jobs Now! program approved by the General Assembly and the governor in 2009.
While much attention is given to the finishes that restore the building back to its original period of significance, that focus represents a mere fraction of the work being done to restore the Capitol. This renovation was primarily about life safety and making the necessary infrastructure changes needed to stabilize the building for future generations.
The Office of the Architect of the Capitol worked with this Board and Capital Development Board to ensure that all procedural requirements were followed and the fiscal limits of the plan were respected. As a result, we will have a safer and more accessible building that will stand the test of time while appropriately reflecting the greatness of the state.
The Board will continue to ensure that we uphold these standards, review our policies and preserve this national historic landmark on behalf of its occupants, visitors and Illinois taxpayers.”
Office of the Architect of the Capitol Board:
Tim Anderson
Brad Bolin
Scott Kaiser
Tim Mapes
Those signatories are the two House clerks and Senate secretaries, representing both parties. Mapes, of course, is also House Speaker Michael Madigan’s chief of staff.
Needless to say, it’s highly doubtful that any of the four would sign on to this statement without an OK from above.
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Quinn asked for slating session
Friday, Sep 13, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told subscribers yesterday that Gov. Pat Quinn had asked for a state party slating session. It appears this time around, though, that Bill Daley’s campaign will try to deny Quinn the award. The governor will need 60 percent to get the slating, and there are some Democrats who think he might be stopped, but others who say Quinn wouldn’t have asked for the session if he didn’t firmly believe he’d win. If he is denied the slating, that’ll be a huge embarrassment. If he gets it, then I’m not sure it means a whole lot, except to show party members that he’s one of them…
Illinois’ top Democrats will gather for their first formal primary election endorsement session in nearly a decade this month amid expectations they will back Gov. Pat Quinn for re-election against rival Bill Daley.
On Thursday, House Speaker Michael Madigan, the state’s Democratic chairman, announced a slating session for Sept. 22 in Springfield. The race for governor is the only statewide battle being contested by major candidates in the March 18 primary.
Steve Brown, Madigan’s spokesman, said the decision to call the endorsement session was made after a request by Quinn. That indicates Quinn believes he has enough support among the 38 members of the Democratic State Central Committee to capture the endorsement.
Quinn campaign aides were not available for comment. Tom Bowen, Daley’s campaign manager, said the Democratic challenger would reach out to members of the committee to urge them to support an open primary in which no endorsement is made.
Discuss.
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Budget cutting consequences
Friday, Sep 13, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The problems at Cook County’s jail are never-ending, and appear to be getting worse. One reason is the huge influx of the mentally ill, which now account for more than 20 percent of the jail’s inmate population. And a big reason behind that population surge is state budget cuts to mental health budgets. Tribune…
After dipping to 8,900 in 2011, the average annual jail population — primarily inmates awaiting trial — has been on the rise, with the daily count now frequently more than 10,000, the highest totals since a day in 2007. […]
While the jail is overcrowded, detainees no longer sleep on mattresses on the floor, as they did during some other episodes of overcrowding, and the sheriff, whose operation of the jail is monitored by a federal judge, no longer assigns inmates to sleep on bunks in shifts.
The exception is at Cermak Health Services, the county-run hospital on the jail grounds where acutely mentally ill inmates are treated and patients sometimes sleep on mattresses the floor, according to the sheriff’s office. […]
More than 2,000 mentally ill detainees are being held at the jail, and many of them have medical issues as well, said Superintendent Robert Lyles, who runs Division 2, the jail’s largest unit. “When the state hospital and private (mental health) facilities were shut down, it seemed like the jail had to adapt,” he said. “It’s a challenge every day.”
Some mentally ill inmates are kept longer than necessary because no beds are available in state treatment centers when a judge finds them unfit to stand trial, public defenders and others involved in the cases said. Although Gov. Pat Quinn has pledged to boost spending on mental health services next year by $25 million, [Sheriff Tom Dart] and other officials are skeptical.
Go read the whole thing.
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How far can that choice go?
Friday, Sep 13, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a Dispatch-Argus story about Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner…
Mr. Rauner has long been involved with the charter school movement in Chicago. If elected to the governor’s office, he said he would push for more competition among schools across Illinois.
“I think we’ve got to create competition and choice to the broken monopoly that’s our system,” he said. “We need charter schools, we need vouchers.” […]
Illinois has a cap of 120 charter schools, with a maximum of 75 allowed in Chicago and 45 for the rest of the state. That cap, Mr. Rauner said, is supported by teachers’ unions and should be lifted. […]
Mr. Rauner said parents should be allowed to choose which public school their children attend.
“We should have vouchers, so that when a school is failing parents can afford to take their child to whatever schools work for them,” he said.
Since he clouted his own kid into Payton Prep after “moving” from Winnetka to Chicago, perhaps he’d be willing to let kids who attend sub-par Chicago schools enroll at Winnetka’s New Trier High School?
Now, that would be a dramatic gesture.
* Also, I have yet to see a study that shows charter schools as a whole are outperforming “regular” public schools in Illinois. I actually like the idea of charter schools if it gives parents real choices and the possibility of opting out of the industrial education model. But, so far, charters in general aren’t doing anything spectacular here except helping to break the teachers’ unions and provide patronage opportunities for the political establishment.
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