* I figure there will be several of these, so I opened up a new thread. Our first is from attorney general candidate and former vice president of the Chicago Board of Education Jesse Ruiz…
It is unfortunate that it had to come to this, but I believe that Forrest Claypool, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools, has chosen to do the right thing in resigning his position.
It is time for Chicago to follow the lead of major cities around the country and move to an elected Board of Education. I believe an elected school board will increase transparency and accountability in the leadership of our public school system.
* Chris Kennedy campaign…
Today’s resignation by Forrest Claypool is just another example of how our broken political system is failing our children. Our city and our state have been operating without a moral framework for far too long. The inspector general’s report shows irresponsible and self-serving leadership by Forrest Claypool at the expense of the more than 350,000 students who attend Chicago Public Schools.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel appointed Barbara Byrd-Bennett, a school chief who is in prison, and Forrest Claypool, another school chief who attempted to skirt ethics laws. Emanuel’s track record proves where his loyalties lie: to his peers who benefit from a discriminatory public education system that works to rob our students of opportunity.
We need an elected school board to bring accountability, transparency and trust to the city’s public schools.
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
Gov. Bruce Rauner won’t say if he’ll commit to debating his primary opponent before the March 20 Republican Primary.
At a stop in Jacksonville Friday morning, Rauner was asked if he’d commit to debating state Rep. Jeanne Ives, who has filed to run against Rauner in the March 20 Republican primary.
Asked three times in a row if he’d debate Ives, Rauner only laughed and said “what I’m committed to is winning the general election and beating the Chicago machine.”
Ives reacted later Friday.
“It makes sense when he says that he’s not in charge,” Ives said.
Earlier this week, Rauner told reporters he’s not in charge, saying Speaker Michael Madigan’s influence is controlling the state. Rauner said Illinoisans need to have Republicans take back the state House and remove Madigan as speaker.
“[Rauner] also doesn’t understand the issues so no wonder he doesn’t want to debate it because it would be pretty obvious that he hasn’t been in charge for three years,” Ives said. “It’ll be very obvious that I’ve been leading the charge for good government in Springfield even as a state rep.”
Reporter: Gov. Rauner, will you commit to debating your Republican primary opponent?
Gov. Rauner: Um, well, what I’m, um, very excited about is, uh, this election process, we’re gonna get the truth out about what’s going on in Illinois. Illinois has been dominated by Speaker Madigan and his Chicago machine for 35 years. They have spent us into oblivion, they’ve pushed jobs out of this state, they’ve given us the highest property taxes in America, and they’ve given us massive cronyism and patronage. And we need to change the system so that Speaker Madigan and the Chicago is not in charge. I’ve been battling against that machine for three years, we’ve beat ‘em on some critical things, they’ve beat us on some critical things. They blocked term limits so far, but we’ve gotta prevail. They’ve blocked us getting property tax relief on our families, but we’re gonna prevail. Um, and we’re, we’re just never gonna give up or give in. We’ve gotta take on the machine, we’ve gotta have a democracy restored so the government’s working for the people. And we’re gonna win. We’re gonna win this election and we’re gonna beat the machine.
Reporter: Are you gonna agree to a debate with Rep. Ives?
Gov. Rauner: What I’m gonna do is win this general election and beat the Chicago machine.
Reporter: But will you commit to a debate with Rep. Ives? [Rauner and others laugh]
Gov. Rauner: What I’ve committed to is winning the general election and beating the Chicago machine.
* John Cullerton: Governor Rauner not in charge? Tell me something I don’t know: From day one, this governor has left budgeting responsibilities to the legislature and the courts, even though it’s one of the specific constitutional duties that comes with being the state’s top executive. The state’s backlog of past-due bills grew to a record $16 billion because he didn’t manage his administration’s spending. Keep in mind, the three-year Illinois budget impasse ended because lawmakers in both parties grew tired of waiting for the governor to do his job and took it upon ourselves to solve the problems he wouldn’t.
A Republican lawmaker challenged GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner Thursday to prove his claim that the Democratic House speaker improperly influenced an autonomous agency’s decision to cancel a state consulting contract.
Rep. David McSweeney said Rauner made a “really serious charge” when he alleged his political nemesis, Speaker Michael Madigan, pressured the state’s independent monitor to end the $12.5 million contract dealing with Medicaid services.
“I’ve seen no proof. I’d like to see proof, or the governor needs to apologize,” the Barrington Hills Republican said. […]
The chief procurement officer, Ellen Daley, who is appointed by the independent Executive Ethics Commission, found no evidence of that. She nullified the pact on Tuesday, finding it should have been offered to the lowest and best bidder.
Asked if he thought the procurement officer who’d voided the contract was controlled by the speaker, Rauner said he thought Madigan had “heavy influence.”
* Well, guess what? In March of 2015, Gov. Rauner’s chief legal counsel Jason Barclay sent a letter to the Executive Ethics Commission’s executive director Chad Fornoff recommending that Ellen Daley be hired as Chief Procurement Officer, along with two others for top procurement jobs…
Chad, as we discussed, we would like to offer our own recommendations of individuals for the three open CPO spots… We can give these individuals high marks and recommendations, and would like for the newly constituted board on July 1 to have an opportunity to consider them since they will be the ones working with them going forward.
The letter (with some privacy redactions) is here.
* Rep. McSweeney’s react…
Governor Rauner made very serious charges against Ellen Daley on Wednesday when he said that Speaker Madigan has “heavy influence” over Daley in a feeble attempt to take the focus off his Administration’s no bid $12.5 contract with McKinsey that was rightly voided. Now it turns out that Daley was recommended by the Rauner Administration. Governor Rauner needs to immediately apologize to Ellen Daley, members of the General Assembly and most importantly the people of this state for not telling the truth.
* We didn’t get very many responses to yesterday’s question and that may have been because people were at the Third House holiday party. On a side note, congratulations to new Third House Speaker Erin O’Brien!
Anyway, let’s try this again. If you already submitted your nomination yesterday, you don’t need to repost it today…
* Best House Secretary/Admin. Assistant
* Best Senate Secretary/Admin. Assistant
Remember to explain your nominations and please try to nominate in both categories. Thanks.
Charles Thomas: What did the mayor know and when did he know it? When did you brief him on the LaQuan McDonald shooting and what that videotape said?
Garry McCarthy: The shooting I believe happened on a Monday night, so it would’ve been at my Wednesday briefing that we did the shooting review. And after that, I spoke to the mayor and I told him all about it.
Maze Jackson: Did he know about it?
Garry McCarthy: I told him about the shooting and the video a few days afterwards.
Maze Jackson: Did he see the tape?
Garry McCarthy: Now, that, I can’t answer.
Charles Thomas: How did you tell him about the video? Did you tell him that the video did not jive with what the officers on the street said about it?
Garry McCarthy: Well, Charles, you’ve got to realize, I didn’t know that. We didn’t know that at the time because the investigation was underway. I got a high-level briefing from Dave McMartin, who’s the chief who conducted the preliminary investigation. And what I told the mayor was, the officer is going to have a problem explaining what’s going on here. And [Officer Jason Van Dyke] was stripped of his authority.
Authorities said the city’s Independent Police Review Authority opened an investigation into the shooting within hours, and Van Dyke was stripped of his police powers nine days after the shooting.
* Now, some caveats. McCarthy is talking about running for mayor. So, the timing here could possibly be suspect. And as far as I can tell, this is the first time McCarthy has said anything like the story he told this morning. For instance, from a 2016 Tribune story…
In his first public remarks since the Laquan McDonald controversy cost him his job as Chicago police superintendent, Garry McCarthy distanced himself from any responsibility in the handling of the fatal police shooting, saying by law his only role was to strip the officer of his police powers.
During a panel discussion on policing earlier this week at Harvard University, McCarthy said he viewed the video of Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting the black teen 16 times on the day after the Oct. 20, 2014, incident.
“That was the end of my involvement until the Independent Police Review Authority recommended that I take the only disciplinary step that I could take by Illinois state law, which is to strip that officer of his police authority, which I did immediately,” he said Tuesday, according to a recording of his appearance. “After that, I was completely not involved in it.”
As numerous people including myself said yesterday, unless and until Nazis are given protected class status under the state’s public accommodation laws, then this is a ridiculously horrible take.
We reached out to editorial page editor John McCormick, asking about the tweet and whether the Tribune considered taking it down.
McCormick emailed us: “We often receive impassioned responses to editorials, op-eds and other content we share on social media. All of us promote our work to promote conversations. In the editorial, the line excerpted in the tweet acknowledges that it’s hard to understand the First Amendment issue of compelled speech if you don’t share the baker’s beliefs on homosexuality — so let’s try an example you can relate to, something you wouldn’t want to express. The most important word in this three-paragraph passage is the word ‘required.’”
Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth endorsed JB Pritzker for governor at a campaign event in Chicago. The two endorsements come as support for JB Pritzker continues to grow throughout the state with endorsements from Secretary of State Jesse White, Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Treasurer Mike Frerichs, the Illinois AFL-CIO, and over 30 individual unions.
As the Senior Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin has served in the U.S. Senate since 1997, and is currently the Democratic Whip. He is a tireless advocate for our state, fighting to strengthen the economy through infrastructure funding and standing up for immigrant families and Dreamers. Senator Tammy Duckworth was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016 after representing Illinois’ Eighth Congressional District for two terms. She is an Iraq War Veteran, a purple heart recipient, and one of the first Army women to fly combat missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom. She has been a relentless advocate for working families and Veterans during her time in public service.
“Senator Duckworth and Senator Durbin are fighting for our values every single day,” said JB Pritzker. “But they can’t do it alone. They need all of us. I’ve introduced bold plans to move our state forward and I will continue to do so throughout this campaign and as governor of this state. We’re going to have to unite and turn our energy and ideas into victories. With Senator Durbin and Senator Duckworth on our side, with over 30 individual unions and the 900,000 members of the statewide AFL-CIO, with elected leaders and issue advocates speaking out on behalf of this campaign, and with the support of hundreds of thousands of working families across this state, we are united and ready for the fight.”
“I’m proud to endorse JB Pritzker for governor because he will be a strong partner and an effective leader for our state,” said Senator Durbin. “I’ve spoken with all the Democratic candidates and heard their visions for our state, and JB has emerged as the clear choice for governor. JB has traveled across Illinois, hearing from people in Rockford and Cairo, Macomb and Danville, and everywhere in between. He has thoughtful and comprehensive policy plans on the issues that matter to Illinoisans. He has shown continued support for immigrants and the Dream Act, protecting health care for all, and creating new and good paying jobs in Illinois — all things that will make Illinois stronger.”
“I’m proud to endorse JB because I know he is ready to fight for working families in Springfield,” said Senator Duckworth. “With JB, I know I’ll have a partner in the governor’s office who will work to create good jobs, help give Veterans the support and opportunity they deserve, and make sure every child gets a quality education. JB understands that pitting Illinois communities against each other is no way to govern, and I’m confident he will work for every Illinoisan as governor. I know JB can bring Democrats together to beat Bruce Rauner and win up and down the ticket, across the state.”
I have no particular desire to see former Gov. Rod Blagojevich released early from his 14-year prison sentence. And despite claims about bias by U.S. District Judge James Zagel, as someone who testified in both of Blagojevich’s corruption trials I found Zagel to be consistently fair, objective and reasonable.
Nineteen Illinois politicians signed a letter asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review Blagojevich’s case — and while I don’t see Rod’s fate as an especially valuable use of the court’s time, I do agree that virtually everyone working at high levels of government and politics across the nation could use clearer guidance as to what is legal and what isn’t.
The petitioners argue that the court needs to “distinguish the lawful solicitation and donation of campaign contributions from criminal violations of federal extortion, bribery and fraud laws.”
They have a point. For as long as politicians are allowed to freely solicit money for their political campaigns, there is always going to be an intersection of campaign donations, taxpayer funds and government spending. Giving elected officials, their government staff, their campaign staff and donors abundantly clear rules and guidance can only help reduce corruption, change the social norms around pay-to-play politics (especially in Illinois, where it’s still seen as a cost of doing business), and give the taxpayers far more confidence that the system is corruption-free.
I see this frequently in my work as a venture capitalist. I founded a firm that works with and invests in startups in a variety of regulated industries. My company does business with virtually every state, every major city and the federal government, so I’ve seen how things work pretty much everywhere. Time after time, the entrenched interests our startups are disrupting try to use pay-to-play politics and campaign donations to stifle competition, limit innovation and preserve the status quo.
Pay-to-play politics is a potent threat to innovation, and the lack of clarity about what is allowed and what isn’t only makes things worse.
It’s been one day since the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois published their investigative story about our rigged property tax system that benefits the well-connected and political insiders at the expense of homeowners, communities of color and working families, and my opponents have yet to join in the call for Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios to resign.
This is a clear signal that a JB Pritzker administration will do nothing more than protect the political establishment while the rest of Illinois residents are left navigating a system that is working against them. Will JB help end the racket and adopt my proposed reforms, including banning elected officials from holding outside jobs as property tax appeals attorneys?
I just don’t see how the government can legally block tax appeals attorneys from holding elected office, but whatever.
* In case you missed it, this is Pritzker’s comment yesterday…
As I’ve stated, we need to reform our flawed and inequitable property tax system. But I’m not here to score political points by attacking other Democrats. That’s what my opponents are doing when we should be focused on defeating Bruce Rauner. The voters will ultimately decide if Mr. Berrios deserves another term.
* From a fundraising e-mail from Illinois Policy Institute CEO John Tillman…
I hope your week is going well. I wanted to reach out and thank you for your support this year. You know that reforming our state government is not for the faint of heart.
Entrenched politicians – like Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan – have rigged state government to benefit themselves and their special interests.
Uprooting this decades-old system is not easy. But that’s exactly what we’re doing here at the Illinois Policy Institute.
Thanks to your support, here’s what we’ve been able to do this year:
You helped us convince entrenched, bureaucratic politicians to resign. When lawmakers debated a multibillion-dollar tax hike over Independence Day weekend, we connected with more than 40 percent of the state’s population. Tens of thousands of taxpayers called their lawmakers. And as a result, more than 30 state lawmakers have already either resigned their seats or will not be holding on to their seats in the next General Assembly. This is an exodus unlike anything Springfield insiders have ever seen. And most importantly, it’s a sign that power is shifting back to where it belongs: you.
You helped us lead the fight against forced unionization: In just a few months, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for Janus v. AFSCME. Our litigation partner, the Liberty Justice Center, is representing plaintiff Mark Janus. The historic case has the opportunity to provide right to work for every government worker in the nation, freeing millions of people from being forced to pay money to unions.
You helped repeal the Cook County soda tax: This fall, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to repeal its penny-per-ounce sweetened beverage tax. Leading up to the vote, our team generated massive support in favor of the repeal. And our policy experts educated the public about the wasteful spending in Cook County government that was being fueled by this regressive tax.
This was a historic victory for millions of Cook County residents. Tax repeals are a rare species in Illinois. And most importantly, this victory proved that even the most powerful machine politicians – including Mike Madigan – are not above the wrath of the voting public, especially when people are given the tools necessary to make their voices heard.
None of this would have been possible without the support of principled Illinoisans like you.
As you think about your year-end giving, will you consider supporting the Illinois Policy Institute? We rely on the support of donors like you to help teach Illinoisans about the policies that affect their everyday lives. When your fellow citizens see the truth, they can’t help but join this movement to take back our state from crony politicians like Mike Madigan.
Bruce Rauner paints Mike Madigan as a villain. How do you see him?
We have two options. There’s the Rauner option, which is a constant personal war with Madigan. And there’s the Pritzker option, which is, “Hey, I’m Madigan’s guy.” Those are both the wrong path for Illinois. I’ve been independent of Madigan, and I’m proud of that. He has been there too long and he’s too powerful. But I also don’t pretend that the problem is a person; the problem is a system.
In October, you were polling at 6 percent. Have you considered dropping out?
I’m not well known across the state. But we’ve been successful raising money. Spending it to get in front of voters—that hasn’t happened yet. In the meantime, the other candidates haven’t taken off. And that creates a striking opportunity for a progressive middle-class candidate.
So you wouldn’t say that J.B. Pritzker has taken off?
I think it’s actually quite shocking. He’s just written his fifth $7 million check [to his campaign], so he’s $35 million deep, and in that poll he’s still stuck in the 30s.
* Thursday, August 24th Rauner administration press release…
General Counsel Dennis Murashko will leave the Administration at the end of August to pursue opportunities in the private sector. As part of the legal team’s succession planning, Kenton Skarin will assume the role of Acting General Counsel to the Governor.
That press release was issued not long after Gov. Rauner told reporters there would be no more major departures.
But Murashko’s departure didn’t happen at the end of August, which would’ve been a week later. It happened the very next day.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s top attorney – whose end of August departure was announced Thursday – was escorted out of the governor’s office at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago on Friday [August 25th], according to published reports, nearly a week ahead of his planned exit.
What happened? It’s been the object of much speculation.
But Murashko also authored a memo to the governor raising the question of whether the administration was properly keeping politics out of the office, sources with knowledge of that memo say.
That didn’t turn out to be totally true.
* I obtained a copy of the memo this morning. Click here to read it. It’s addressed to Gov. Rauner and his then-chief of staff Kristina Rasmussen as a response to their request for info on “best practices for interactions between employees of the Office of the Governor (including the Governor) (collectively, ‘Governor’s Office employees’) and members of the Governor’s 2018 reelection campaign.”
I’m told that the governor did not react well to these proposed restrictions, some of which were pretty strict.
I support Representative Ives call for an EOIG investigation of the overall Murashko situation. The EOIG needs to also immediately respond to the press report about an existing or closed potential investigation of Murashko alleging that he “abused the powers of his office.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the governor’s office…
You appear to have an internal document prepared for internal use — one of dozens of legal memos prepared to provide advice to the office on various topics.
As to Mr. Murashko, he resigned from our office. (see attached.)
“Bruce Rauner fired a senior advisor, spent months trying to hide the Murashko memo, and he refuses to answer any questions on the subject,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “As questions about potential ethics violations mount, it is time for Bruce Rauner to come clean to voters about why Dennis Murashko was fired.”
* I’ve been working on a couple of interesting stories this morning and am completely distracted. Keep it Illinois-centric and be nice to each other, please. Thanks.
Today, Crisis Creatin’ Rauner is wrapping up RAUNER TOP FIVE, a five-day series highlighting the lasting damage, misplaced priorities, and embarrassing stumbles that led Bruce Rauner to be crowned: ‘The Worst Republican Governor in America.’
Social service agencies were hit the hardest throughout Bruce Rauner’s manufactured budget crisis. Without state funds, services were cut, hours were reduced, staff were fired, and some agencies were forced to close altogether. While a budget was finally passed by the legislature over the #WorstGov’s vetoes, social service agencies are still reeling and trying to rebuild to their pre-crisis capacity.
“Bruce Rauner decimated social services in Illinois, all so the failed governor could gain leverage to force his special interest agenda on our state,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “It will take years to restore services that help Illinoisans build better lives after the damage done by ‘The Worst Republican Governor in America.’”
* ILGOP…
“J.B. Pritzker is willing to throw the middle class and those in low-income neighborhoods under the bus just so he doesn’t make Joe Berrios and Mike Madigan angry. His statement yesterday is a sad response to a scathing report indicting the corruption at the highest levels in Cook County. The next time J.B. Pritzker says he’s working to help the middle class, no one should believe him.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Aaron DeGroot
In response to yesterday’s troubling report from the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois about Joe Berrios’ and Mike Madigan’s property tax racket, J.B. Pritzker clearly stated where he stands. Instead of standing up to a corrupt Chicago machine that has been caught shifting taxes from the wealthy to the poor in a scheme that’s been called out for its “institutional racism,” Pritzker stood with them. Pritzker is willing to let Mike Madigan make millions off the backs of the poor, so long as Madigan continues to support Pritzker’s campaign behind the scenes.
For Pritzker, campaign endorsements and backroom deals with Madigan and his allies are more important than doing what’s right.
* Running way behind this morning, so chew on this one for awhile…
It is ok kids to lie to authorities. Go ahead do it multiple times. Even try to get other people to lie for you. However after you are caught admit it. We will support you. #CPS#ClaypoolLessonPlanpic.twitter.com/zoQlZJik58
Claypool: Lies in an ethics investigation. Berrios: Rigs tax system to favor the wealthy and lawyers Preckwinkle: Relies on regressive soda tax to solve budget crisis. Emanuel: Fails to address police misconduct. How are those Democrat policies working out Chicago voters?#twill
Embattled Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool plans to resign Friday, sources familiar with his decision said.
Sources said CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson, who has long been seen as the heir apparent to the district’s top office, is expected to be named as interim CEO.
