* Eric Zorn…
“I sound like a high school boy,” says state Sen. Ira Silverstein, D-Chicago, in a moment of blinding clarity on the 437th page of what I’m calling “The Silverstein-Rotheimer Papers,” a printout of 17 months’ worth of Facebook messages between Silverstein and victim rights advocate Denise Rotheimer.
Rotheimer released this tome to certain members of the media last week as evidence, she said, of the “torment” she suffered due to Silverstein’s “unconscionable” sexual harassment of her while he was sponsoring a bill that she was backing in Springfield.
Rotheimer’s accusations were magnified by the current focus in the news on predatory behavior, from inappropriate to illegal, which was touched off by widespread allegations of sexual misconduct against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. And they resulted in Silverstein losing a seat in party leadership that paid him $20,649 a year.
Fair enough, I suppose. “The Silverstein-Rotheimer Papers” show that the veteran North Side lawmaker engaged in an inappropriately personal relationship with a woman who personal and political propriety demanded he keep at arm’s length. It was an ethical failure.
Notably, though, there’s little to no evidence in the 444-page record of Silverstein, 57 and married, threatening, harassing, intimidating or propositioning Rotheimer, 45 and single. Rather, as Silverstein says, he sounds in this to me like a high school boy — goofy, smitten and awkward as he flirts with a woman who, it seems to me, coyly leads him along.
Zorn also provided some excerpts from their conversations which he claims boost his case.
Rotheimer tried to put this into context yesterday, so click here if you missed it. She adamantly denies that the relationship was mutual.
I don’t know anyone who believes that Sen. Silverstein is the perfect poster child for sexual harassment. He’s not on anybody’s top ten list. But I also believe that, at minimum, he behaved unprofessionally with Rotheimer. Also keep in mind that there are no perfect victims in this world.
From comments on yesterday’s post…
Of course there are plenty of men here, doubtless in positions of authority, who read this as flirting. That’s gross, guys. She isn’t flirting, and all the women in subordinate positions to you who respond similarly aren’t flirting with you — they’re trying to get you to stop without you screaming at them or hitting them. The 20-year-old waitress does not find your 50-year-old flirting charming, she finds it creepy. The secretary you’re engaging in “flirtatious banter” with is not amused, she’s trying not to get fired and hating you like fire.
* Meanwhile…
Reached on Tuesday, Rotheimer urged the new legislative inspector general to move quickly to resolve her complaint, which she filed nearly a year ago.
As for Silverstein, she said he has no one to blame but himself.
“I’m not going to apologize for how things are coming out on him,” Rotheimer said. “That’s on him. That’s on the people in Springfield who decided to sweep my complaint under the rug. That’s on them, not me.”
* And Senate President Cullerton has a suggestion…
But Illinois Senate President John Cullerton’s office noted the Legislative Ethics Commission should be responsible for notifying victims since the panel has the responsibility to take in complaints and follow through with victims.
“One of the problems we’ve identified is the lack of follow through in notifying victims that their complaints were received, who they can contact and where they can send additional information if they have any,” Cullerton spokesman John Patterson said in a statement. “There needs to be a clear line of notification and communication. It’s an issue that would be best handled by the ethics commission and its executive director.”
* One more…
Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, said there is a “disconnect” in Springfield in which people call for an end to the culture of sexual harassment but “there are enough folks walking around who still don’t know what it is they are not supposed to be doing.”
Hutchinson told a story of when she started lobbying and was trying to land her first contract. She was at a luncheon, and the “head person on this bill told me that the only reason I was there was so that we could put my beautiful black breasts on sale,” she said.
“Now, I was just starting out. I hadn’t gone to law school yet. I had absolutely no power to speak out. I had just one client in my pocket I was trying to work. That is an example of a conversation that crosses three things: it was generational, it was racist and it was sexist.
“I didn’t know there was any place that I could have gone to say anything about it at the time,” Hutchinson said.
…Adding… I’ve been telling subscribers about these two folks since Monday morning…
From yesterday…
Ram Villivalam, SEIU Healthcare’s legislative coordinator and former political director to U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider’s campaign, tells us he’s challenging embattled state Sen. Ira Silverstein in the Democratic primary. Silverstein last week resigned from his leadership post amid sexual harassment allegations leveled by a victims’ rights activist, which he has denied.
Villivalam told POLITICO on Monday he expects to formally file campaign papers today and he set a goal of raising $25,000 in the first week. “I think we need a new and young generation with more diversity in our government. The 8th district has the highest concentration of Asian Americans in the state of Illinois. As an Asian American, it’s time we elect the first Asian American state senator,” said Villivalam, whose parents immigrated to the United States from India. “I want to be a part of the new generation of leaders that we elect who want to listen to everyday people, who want to change the culture in Springfield.”
Villivalam worked as a legislative coordinator for SEIU Healthcare for three years, including combating right to work efforts by Gov. Bruce Rauner, advancing wage issues for home health care workers and child care assistance programs for working parents. “It’s the organization that’s been on the frontline of fighting Bruce Rauner’s disastrous policies,” Villivalam said.
More on Alison Leipsiger is here.
- Wildcat Wayne - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:43 am:
Zorn giving a North Shore Democrat a wrist slap for this behavior is not shocking.
- MG85 - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:45 am:
The longer this drags on in public, I’m afraid, everyone will learn the bar that one must clear to prove sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is hard to prove and often confused with infidelity and crass behavior.
That said, none of this would be on full public display had the legislative leadership done its job to ensure these claims were properly investigated. Regardless of the outcome of this compliant, I believe Cullerton should receive even harsher criticism. MY Democratic Party should seriously consider whether or not to continue to let him lead the senate.
Leaders don’t lead after the fact.
- Galena Guy - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:47 am:
“Zorn giving a North Shore Democrat a wrist slap for this behavior is not shocking”
And Republicans in high dudgeon over what seems to be a tempest in a teacup when the leader of their party is an admitted sexual predator is, as usual, the height of hypocrisy. #Ironyisdead
- Amalia - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:51 am:
I’m not a fan of Sen. Silverstein, even before this incident. it’s good that he was bumped off his leadership position and perhaps he should resign. But Zorn is right in his article on this. And if the defense is I went along with the harassment and played back in kind over and over and over again, I find that problematic as well.
- Texas Red - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:52 am:
Zorn is right..” the veteran North Side lawmaker engaged in an inappropriately personal relationship with a woman who personal and political propriety demanded he keep at arm’s length. It was an ethical failure”
Silverstein was in the position of power in this relationship and after the IG investigates if the statements are indeed verified, then he needs to pay the price of losing his seat. Zorn’s attempt at being an apologist for Silverstein is pathetic. The author is trying to create a relativistic quagmire where we the citizens of Illinois can not look to our leaders to be decent people; rather he is establishing the lowest common denominator that we must all put up with.
- Perrid - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:52 am:
idk if you can say it’s not flirting. I think we might be using slightly different definitions of the word. I would agree she was probably flirting a bit to keep the relationship she needed intact, not out of interest, but it was flirting. She should NOT have needed to do it to get her bill considered, and it was almost certainly harassment, but at the same time she was participating in the banter i.e. flirting. It doesn’t matter, her participation, in my mind, is not mutually exclusive with Silversteing’s actions being harassment. Just my two cents, which probably isn’t even worth that.
- Curl of the Burl - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:57 am:
Rich - with respect there are perfect victims in this world. Children.
- Montrose - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:57 am:
The “was it or was it not flirting?” debate is missing the point. There was a power dynamic being exploited. Period. Her “flirting back” is not a sign of innocence on Silverstein’s part.
Also, I hate that only one person has been outed in this. Not because I think other women that have been harassed have the responsibility to name names, but because fixating on one guy is making people lose sight of the big picture and systemic problems. Making it about Silverstein is becoming a way to avoid the bigger issues.
- phocion - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:03 am:
I don’t recall that Zorn was quite so forgiving when a certain former Republican state rep resigned following his participation in an ill-advised, embarrassing, yet victimless internet scam.
- walker - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:06 am:
Focusing on the details and individuals involved in this one case will do little to help change what is clearly a harassing and disheartening environment for women in Springfield overall.
Paying close attention to the insights and suggestions of all the “me too” women, including such as Emily Miller, Toi Hutchinson, Sara Feigenholz, etc, will help. Training will help. Most of all: Leadership coming down clearly and forcefully will help. If leaders can deliver bills, vetoes, and winning campaigns through personal intervention, they can apply that power to this problem.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:10 am:
Montrose is right. Focusing on Silverstein only avoids the bigger issue. And because this case has some very confusing aspects, it will make followers believe that this is how it works in every case and could cause dismissive attitudes. talk more about other incidents, SF.
- Sue - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:20 am:
Zorn is a total partisan hack. As long as it’s a Dem in the crosshairs he is willing to overlook sleaze
- Rogers Park Roger - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:25 am:
Ram is going to Michael Jordan from the foul line slam dunk this race.
- m - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:36 am:
“this does not seem like the sort of relationship we want to use to illustrate the problem of sexual harassment”
This is spot on. Whether this is or isn’t harassment, or whether you believe it is or isn’t, a lot of people read this stuff and come to his same conclusion. Whether it’s fair or not, this case, if no more evidence surfaces and no more names get named, will undermine the cause at hand.
- Responsa - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:36 am:
Thank you Rich for this post which hopefully will help keep all of us (or at least more of us) focused with our eyes on the prize. The “prize” being a better and safe process for making complaints– and an adequate followup process for communicating with complainants exactly where in the process of adjudication their complaint is and who is handling it. None of this would be happening had there not been the open letter –essentially a cri de coeur– signed by a number of statehouse women and followed up with the eye-opening hearing with testimony by several very brave women last week. Another part of the “prize” is conducting training on ethics and harassment at the statehouse similar to what has been presented in corporations for years now. We all at least know this. Right?
- City Zen - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:37 am:
“Villivalam worked as a legislative coordinator for SEIU Healthcare for three years, including combating right to work efforts…”
So Ram should be very familiar with Caleb Jennings, the recently fired director of SEIU’s Fight for $15 campaign who was accused of sexual harassment.
- faretheewell - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:38 am:
Senator Ira Silverstein must go.
- cdog - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:39 am:
Think about what she is saying.
She was aware that a boundary was being crossed, but choose to make a judgement that a separate cause was more important.
She chose to endure the sexual harassment to get her bill across the finish line.
I find this ridiculous.
This is why child abusers, embezzlers, and just plain evil doers, get away with stuff for so long. Those that are knowledgeable about the wrong-doing make a moral judgement that something else is more important than drawing the boundary.
She choose her bill over stopping her pain of being aggressively flirted with.
Don’t cover for wrong-doing, that’s wrong.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:41 am:
===She choose her bill over stopping her pain of being aggressively flirted with===
So, you’re saying she was acting in a selfless manner? She put the fate of her cause above herself? And yet you criticize her?
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:49 am:
Yeah, that’s just like your opinion, Zorn.
Zorn gives little or no credence to Rotheimer’s previous testimony before the House committee or her subsequent explanations as to how she viewed these contacts.
I don’t understand the culture of silence when it comes to many victims, but I sure as heck know it exists and respect the difficulty many have in coming forward.
Why does Zorn think she came forward, for the fun and kicks of splashing your personal life in the newspapers and TV boxes?
- RabidDog - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:08 am:
Ira is no saint here and his actions are completely inexcusable. That said, Zorn raises some good points and why come forward now? Would she have come forward if she wasn’t running for office too?
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:11 am:
–why come forward now?–
Can you think of any other examples regarding sexual harassment or sexual abuse in which the victims did not come forward for a long period of time.
Like maybe a few dozen, right off the top of your head.
Isn’t that very real phenomenon quite clear by now?
- 10th. Ward - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:22 am:
Do the right thing Ira…you know you should and go away. Heck maybe make a comeback in a couple years?
- tell zorno - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:32 am:
I don’t know who say its on here, ow/wordslinger/whoever, but Ira, if your explaining your losin (droped that g for you eric) (even if you get your joke/hack zorno to do it)
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:34 am:
===why come forward now?===
She filed her complaint a year ago and it was ignored. So, maybe that’s why.
- cdog - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:36 am:
I wish my response would show.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:39 am:
Fellow detectives to Serpico: “We’re not gonna hurt ya, we just won’t be there when you need us”. And they weren’t. Maybe Ira’s personality/arrogance finally caught up with him?
- RabidDog - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:45 am:
Wordslinger and Rich, I get your points. Would this have been such a story if not for bigger picture Hollywood scandals happening recently?
- Ron Burgundy - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:51 am:
Is it the most egregious example you could dream up? No. Is it unethical and sleazy in my opinion? Yes.
As others have said, given the author you do have to wonder how much the “you vote my way, you get a pass” phenomenon is at play.
- Montrose - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 12:09 pm:
“Would this have been such a story if not for bigger picture Hollywood scandals happening recently?”
A state senator accused of sexual harassment with facebook messages to back it up and an unheard complaint to a non-existent inspector general? Yup.
- Stuntman Bob's Brother - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 12:14 pm:
“Ira, there are a lot of things I admire about you, but you need to realize that although I really need your help on this very important piece of legislation, we need to keep our relationship on a more professional level. After all, you’re a married man with a great deal of power, and with that power comes a great deal of responsibility. I do like your sense of humor, but it’s taking us to a level that is unprofessional, and I don’t want to lead you on”.
Would that have been so hard to Facebook?
I’m not letting Silverstein off the hook, he’s an idiot and should probably resign. That’s what’s wrong with politics - it attracts the best of us, and it also attracts the worst of us. Bottom line, I’m going to go wash my brain out with soap for at least partially agreeing with Zorn here.
- Molly Maguire - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 12:21 pm:
I don’t read the messages as her flirting, I agree with Rich. However, I do read the messages as her consciously choosing to engage and lead him on in the hopes of passing her bill. So I believe she is being somewhat disingenuous now coming out as a victim of sexual harassment. It’s more complicated than that, in both directions.
- Chicagonk - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 12:23 pm:
When you are in a position of power over someone (which is the case here), it is your responsibility to act appropriately. The smart thing for Ira to do is to apologize and change his behavior going forward.
- Chris P. Bacon - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 12:24 pm:
If for no other reason, Ira Silverstein should resign just for being an embarrassing, creepy nerd. Those exchanges Zorn printed are beyond cringe provoking. I would like to think I wasn’t even that much of a loser with the opposite sex when I was in grade school. No one looks good in this, including the press focusing on this sleazy drama.
- RabidDog - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 12:49 pm:
Molly Macguire. Yep
- Ginhouse Tommy - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 12:54 pm:
This is a little off subject but when I was in a sexual harassment seminar while I worked for the state, late in the session a guy stood up and asked the instructor if a supervisor says that if he can sleep with the applicants wife he can have the job, was that considered harassment . The instructor looked at him for a few seconds and asked to see him after class. Some supers, men or women, are creeps.
- Northside Dude - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 1:48 pm:
I thought this incident might derail the Ron Sandack restoration but now I am not so sure.
- m - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 2:02 pm:
-perrid
=She should NOT have needed to do it to get her bill considered, and it was almost certainly harassment, but at the same time she was participating in the banter i.e. flirting. It doesn’t matter, her participation, in my mind, is not mutually exclusive with Silversteing’s actions being harassment.=
Generally the definition of harassment requires it to be extreme, involve a quid pro quo, or for one person to make it clear the behavior is unwanted. If you’ve ever been through training, they will repeatedly tell you that if both people engage in it (with no one saying to stop) it is very specifically not harassment. So again, unless there is more that will be alleged, or messages that haven’t been shown, this does not meet the standard. Whether one person is in a position of power does not matter for that.
If there is evidence of holding up the bill over a perceived relationship, that meets the quid pro quo standard. Short of that, this goes nowhere.
I’m not defending anyone’s actions in this. It is what it is.
- Rod - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 2:15 pm:
There is the prevailing discussion of “sexual harassment” but there is also another discussion which needs to be had and that is sexual favors as a direct part of corruption in the legislative process. Effectively its a bribe under 720 ILCS 5/33E-7 in my opinion.
Its not being discussed and I can’t believe it has not happened repeatedly over the years. We need to recall that individuals like Dennis Hastert and Keith Farnham along with others with a troubled past were once members of the Assembly. Illinois earned only a D+ in the State Integrity Investigation, an assessment of state government transparency and accountability by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity only two years ago. There are likely problems that are simply being avoided in this discussion.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 2:22 pm:
-m- , thank you for saying this
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 2:38 pm:
I don’t think Zorn is being a partisan hack. He seems to be reacting like lots of people have in response to these exchanges. And not just men as Rita Mayfield demonstrated in Kyle’s feed.
Ira was wildly inappropriate, but based on her own words, she encouraged it in dozens of conversations. In so many of those conversations there were ample opportunities to change the subject and move it towards the professional. But that’s not what happened.
Let’s be clear. Silverstein behaved like a pig. But I think the point a lot of people are making is that there is so much horrendously bad behavior down there so this seems mild by comparison.
- Eric Zorn - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 3:12 pm:
Interesting thread so far. The CapFax community seldom disappoints. I want to underscore, however, that Rotheimer has used some very strong language in launching a very serious charge against Silverstein. She offered these Facebook messages — and these messages alone— as actual evidence of her claims of his wicked behavior. I read them carefully and the excerpts I published –http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/zorn/ct-highlights-from-the-silverstein-rotheimer-papers-20171107-story.html — represent them fairly. If Rich or anyone else who has read them thinks these are unfairly chosen or out of context in any way, let me know. But do read them.
Rotheimer says she perceived that Silverstein’s willingness to support her bill was contingent on her prolonging their Facebook conversations, meeting her for coffee and lunch, calling him “cute” and so on. But perception isn’t evidence and not even necessarily reality. She offers no quote from him, no threat and no proposition, and she makes no allegation of an untoward physical act. The one story she tells about him “pulling” the bill because he thinks she has a boyfriend and then reinstating it when he discovers she doesn’t have a boyfriend is second-hand — he never said this to her — and whatever actions were taken on the bill as it ground through committee could well have been coincidental.
Perhaps there will be evidence to this effect when testimony is taken and more documentation is presented. Or perhaps the emails and text messages and phone messages will just be more of the same banter and light innuendo. Like I said, my mind is open.
I write in the column that Silverstein “engaged in an inappropriately personal relationship with a woman who personal and political propriety demanded he keep at arm’s length. It was an ethical failure.”
His party affiliation has nothing to do with my assessment of this situation, but of course anyone is always free to throw around the “partisan hack” label in lieu of an actual argument, though it often suggests you don’t have one.
- LuckyCharms - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 3:59 pm:
I would be interested to see how she characterized these interactions to others at the time (if she talked about it). From the messages, she never expresses discomfort or disapproval with his actions. I respect the view that the flirtation crossed the line on account of the position of influence Silverstein was in over her, but her accusation goes beyond that to claim that he retaliated when she did not play along. Certainly this could be the case, but her FB messages don’t show that and actually show her flirting back. Of course this case merits an investigation and Silverstein should face the consequences if wrong doing is found.
- Free Set of Steak Knives - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 4:09 pm:
m said it so well,
I think it bears repeating:
“Generally the definition of harrassment requires it to be extreme, involve a quid pro quo, or for one person to make it clear the behavior is unwanted. If you’ve ever been through training, they will repeatedly tell you that if both people engage in it (with no one saying to stop) it is very specifically not harassment. So again, unless there is more that will be alleged, or messages that haven’t been shown, this does not meet the standard. Whether one person is in a position of power does not matter for that.”
Emphasis added.
- cdog - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 4:37 pm:
Using others as a means to an end comes in all varieties and forms.
She wanted her bill passed and was willing to play facebook-footsie.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 6:46 pm:
Hutchinson’s remarks are interesting. Given the few details it should still be discernable as to ehom she is referring . . . so why doesn’t she name him?
- ? - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 7:01 pm:
Eric; didnt you point out bob greene had a relationship with a girl of legal age?