Question of the day
Tuesday, Jul 23, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* While residential property taxes are relatively low in Chicago, the city nickels and dimes you to death with fees and fines, partly designed to keep those property taxes relatively low…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday made no apologies for her methodical approach to an intractable problem: Chicago’s “addiction” to balancing its budget on the backs of those who can least afford it.
Lightfoot campaigned on a promise to bring equity to an overly punitive ticketing, towing and booting policy that has unfairly targeted minorities and forced thousands into bankruptcy.
She promised to raise the boot threshold, stop booting for non-moving violations and eliminate a hefty chunk of red light cameras at 149 intersections if those cameras were placed there to raise revenue — not increase safety.
She even promised to abolish city stickers that are the source of so many compliance tickets and replace them with higher fees on ride-hailing vehicles.
Compared to those lofty promises, the solutions Lightfoot is delivering seem somewhat timid. She’s ending driver’s license suspensions for non-moving violations, reducing exorbitant city sticker penalties, creating a six-month, universal payment plan and empowering booted scofflaws to request a 24-hour extension to pay their fines in full or get on a payment plan.
* From her new plan…
* Ending the practice of suspending driver’s licenses for non-moving violations.
* Reinstating the 15-day grace period to renew a city vehicle sticker before issuing a ticket.
* No longer doubling the $200 fine for not renewing a city vehicle sticker; the city currently doubles fines after 83 days.
* Halting the practice of issuing multiple tickets on the same day or consecutive days for vehicle sticker violations.
* Creating a six-month ticket payment plan open to every driver with unpaid fines, and granting more time to motorists facing financial hardship.
* Allowing drivers whose cars have been booted for unpaid fines a 24-hour extension to either pay their fines in full or enter into a payment plan before their car is towed to the pound.
* The Question: What’s the most annoying local fine or fee you’ve had to pay? Explain.
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June home sales plunged 11.2 percent
Tuesday, Jul 23, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Statewide sales dropped 11.2 percent in June…
Home sales prices across the state and in the greater Peoria and Bloomington areas plunged in June. That’s according to Illinois Realtors.
The trade group says the Peoria metropolitan area recorded 504 sales in June, 14 percent less than a year ago. The median sales price jumped nearly five-percent from May to $133,450. The Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Peoria, Woodford, Tazewell and Marshall counties.
The Bloomington metropolitan statistical area’s June sales dropped 21.2 percent to 268. The month-over-month median sales price pushed 3.4 percent higher to $164,250. […]
Only a third of Illinois counties recorded June sales gains. The Moline-Rock Island and Springfield areas posted the strongest numbers. The Decatur and Bloomington regions were among the worst performers.
* Crain’s…
With a double-digit plunge in home sales in June, the Chicago area’s housing market reached its 12 consecutive month of declines.
In Chicago, 2,766 homes sold in June, 13.3 percent below June 2018, according to data released by Illinois Realtors, the statewide trade group.
In the nine-county metropolitan area, 12,002 homes sold, down 11.6 percent from a year earlier.
The local declines were far steeper than the national dip. Nationwide, home sales fell 2.2 percent in June from a year ago, according to data released separately by the National Association of Realtors.
Speaking of the national dip, NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said in comments released with the national data that “Either a strong pent-up demand will show in the upcoming months, or there is a lack of confidence that is keeping buyers from this major expenditure.” He said it’s “too soon to know how much of a pullback” is related to the reduction of homeowners’ property tax deductions in last year’s tax reform package.
* Analysis from the Illinois Realtors…
“The market choppiness that we have seen throughout the year continued in June, with home sales once again lagging previous-year numbers and sellers struggling to provide the number of homes consumers want,” said Ed Neaves, president-elect of Illinois REALTORS® and managing broker of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Snyder Real Estate in Bloomington. “The good news for consumers is that median prices are not appreciating nearly as fast as they have in years past, so for the truly dedicated house-hunter there is opportunity.”
The time it took to sell a home in June averaged 45 days, the same as a year ago. Available inventory totaled 58,376 homes for sale, a 4.1 percent decline from 60,898 homes in June 2018. […]
“Housing affordability is being discussed once again as a contributor to sales declines that are once again lower than those recorded last year for the same month,” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “Price increases in Chicago and Illinois last month were barely positive and the increase in apartment rentals and declines in consumer sentiment indices suggest that many potential home buyers are sitting on the sidelines, no doubt influenced by concerns about trade conflicts and the future growth of the economy.” […]
“We can’t escape the topic of tax increases right now, and prospective buyers are paying attention,” said Tommy Choi, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and broker at Keller Williams Chicago – Lincoln Park. “High assessments in the north, and tax increases expected in 2021, has made some leery. Still, the summer proves to be an active time for the Chicago housing market. For buyers, rates remain low and market time and inventory has increased, meaning there is more choice and more time to make key decisions. For sellers, prices remain relatively steady, and pricing appropriately is key.”
* But this is from their May analysis, so take everything with a grain of salt…
Statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) in May totaled 17,034 homes sold, down 1.3 percent from 17,256 in May 2018. […]
“The housing market is showing clear signs of strengthening as we enter the summer months,” said Ed Neaves, president-elect of Illinois REALTORS® and managing broker of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Snyder Real Estate in Bloomington. “The data suggest healthy buyer demand remains a fixture this year, while at the same time home sellers are still poised to make a modest profit.”
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* Let’s return to December of 2017…
Both of Illinois’ Democratic senators on Wednesday joined the list of lawmakers calling on U.S. Sen. Al Franken to quit.
In a tweet Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the chamber, said, “Senator Franken’s behavior was wrong. He has admitted to what he did. He should resign from the Senate.”
As we discussed yesterday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth now regrets calling for Franken’s resignation.
* I asked Sen. Durbin’s office for comment yesterday and again today and didn’t hear back until they sent me this link to a Washington Post story…
“I certainly would have said that we should turn to due process,” Durbin told The Washington Post. “He deserved his day before the Ethics Committee, and his accuser the same. I think that would’ve been a more thoughtful outcome.”
When asked whether he would not have called for Franken to resign that day, Durbin responded: “With the assurance that there would’ve been a timely hearing and due process, I would’ve held back.” […]
Now, Durbin said Senate Democrats rushed to judgment on Franken, saying senators were “pressed to make a quick decision and unfortunately did it at the expense of due process.”
He also acknowledged that a controversy involving then-Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore, who faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls in the 1970s, was one factor in the Democrats’ swift decision to push out Franken.
“You’ve got to put it in that context,” Durbin said. “I mean, it was a political context of Roy Moore. The accusations were very, very serious against him, much more so than the serious allegations against Al. But I think that was definitely part of the context.”
* Back to the New Yorker article…
Franken asked to meet with [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer], who suggested talking at his apartment in downtown D.C., in order to avoid the press. “It was like a scene out of a movie,” Franken recalled. Schumer sat on the edge of his bed while Franken and his wife, who had come to lend moral support, pleaded for more time. According to Franken, Schumer told him to quit by 5 p.m.; otherwise, he would instruct the entire Democratic caucus to demand Franken’s resignation. Schumer’s spokesperson denied that Schumer had threatened to organize the rest of the caucus against Franken. But he confirmed that Schumer told Franken that he needed to announce his resignation by five o’clock. Schumer also said that if Franken stayed he could be censured and stripped of committee assignments.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Franken told me. “I asked him for due process and he said no.”
By the end of the day, thirty-six Democratic senators had publicly demanded Franken’s resignation, including Schumer, who had known Franken since they had overlapped at Harvard.
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* Press release…
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), state Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst), and state Sen. John Curran (R-Downers Grove) today filed an amicus brief in the Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit in response to the proposed consent order that will allow for the re-opening of the Sterigenics facility in Willowbrook.
“Sterigenics has lost the right to operate in our community,” said Durkin. “This brief lays out the steps taken by the General Assembly, through The Matt Haller Act, to ensure corporate polluters like Sterigenics can’t harm any more of our state’s residents.”
“The Matt Haller Act’s language was specifically crafted to allow Illinois EPA to keep Sterigenics shut down based on its prior Seal Order findings, and the Illinois Attorney General’s assumption Sterigenics can meet the narrow limited exceptions given the added new compliance standards is premature and unfounded,” said Mazzochi. “At this time neither Sterigenics nor the Illinois EPA have shown Sterigenics can or will meet The Matt Haller Act standards, and until they do, they should remain shut down.”
The brief provides the court with additional background regarding the language in, and the intent of, The Matt Haller Act to show that the legislature appropriately addressed the issue of ethylene oxide in Illinois and that any attempts to circumvent the law are misguided and a misinterpretation of the law.
The amicus brief is here. I’ve asked the governor’s and the attorney general’s people for comment.
* From the brief…
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
In light of recent developments regarding the potential re-opening of the Sterigenics facility in Willowbrook, Illinois, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Sean Casten (D-IL-06), Dan Lipinski (D-IL-03), Bill Foster (D-IL-11), and Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) today urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set new, strict national standards for facilities emitting ethylene oxide (EtO) as soon as possible. The members also requested that a timeline of events, along with a status of progress, be shared publicly to reassure neighboring communities that the EPA is working to mitigate the cancer risk associated with prolonged EtO exposure. They also pushed EPA to conduct ambient air monitoring in Lake County where two EtO emitting facilities operate.
“The EPA is taking too long to move forward with an action to protect communities surrounding ethylene oxide facilities,” the members wrote in a letter to EPA Administrator Wheeler. “Even after elevated levels of EtO emissions have been found around the facilities in Willowbrook and Lake County, the EPA has been slow to respond to this public health crisis.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Governor’s office…
The Legislators’ amicus brief reflects a fundamental misstatement of the new state law which they drafted and sponsored. The consent order not only explicitly requires the company to comply with the new law but actually includes provisions that are more stringent than the law by imposing additional conditions on Sterigenics to protect the community. Without the consent order, Sterigenics would fight to reopen even before the strongest ethylene oxide sterilization regulations in the nation take effect.
From the consent order…
This Consent Order in no way affects the responsibilities of Defendant to comply with any other federal, state or local laws or regulations, including but not limited to the Act and the Board regulations.
And, I’m told, the judge in the case and the attorney for Willowbrook and Burr Ridge acknowledged in court last week that the statute allows Sterigenics to operate if they comply with the state’s new law.
…Adding… The transcript of that proceeding is here.
*** UPDATE 3 *** AG Raoul…
When my office partnered with DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin to file a lawsuit against Sterigenics, we called on the state’s lawmaking body – the General Assembly – to pass legislation to ban or greatly restrict the use of ethylene oxide in Illinois.
The Illinois EPA issued a seal order that our office has vigorously defended, ensuring the order remained in place to prevent operations while the General Assembly enacted stricter standards for ethylene oxide facilities in Illinois. The Legislature passed, and Gov. Pritzker signed, stringent regulations requiring facilities that generate ethylene oxide emissions to reduce emissions from each exhaust point by 99.9 percent. Under the law, facilities – including Sterigenics – that comply with the new law can operate in the state of Illinois.
The law passed just this spring by Leader Durkin, Sen. Curran and Rep. Mazzochi does include the strongest regulations of ethylene oxide emissions in the nation. However, it does not ban the use of ethylene oxide in Illinois.
Nothing in the proposed consent order filed last week allows Sterigenics to reopen unless and until Sterigenics can demonstrate compliance with the law, as recently passed by the Legislature.
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* Tribune…
The Trump administration on Tuesday proposed tightening automatic eligibility requirements for the food stamp program, a change that could affect about 3.1 million people.
The Agriculture Department said the rule would close “a loophole” that enables people receiving only minimal benefits from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to be eligible automatically for food stamps.
“For too long, this loophole has been used to effectively bypass important eligibility guidelines. Too often, states have misused this flexibility without restraint,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement. […]
Under the proposal, to qualify for automatic eligibility, people would have to get at least $50 a month in benefits from TANF for a minimum of six months.
* I asked the governor’s office for a response. Here’s Jordan Abudayyeh…
The governor believes SNAP is an important tool that families across Illinois need to build better lives. The Trump administration is attempting to change rules around SNAP so less people will have access to the assistance they need and that’s just wrong. In Illinois, we believe in lifting up our neighbors so everyone has the opportunity to thrive. The Pritzker administration will tell the federal government that this rule change will hurt families across our state and urge them to reconsider the change.
* Meanwhile, from the Southern Illinoisan…
In Jackson County, nearly 12,000 people benefit from a federal anti-hunger program that helps families buy groceries.
Lauren Stoelzle is among them.
Without the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, Stoelzle said she’s not sure how she would be able to juggle completing her master’s thesis, raising two little girls as a single parent, part-time work as a bartender, job searching and helping her father, who has been diagnosed with colon cancer, make it to and from appointments at the Marion VA. […]
Almost 40% of Alexander County’s residents, and 30% of Pulaski County residents, receive SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps. In Jackson, Williamson, Union and Gallatin counties, about one in five people receive them. And in Saline, Franklin and Hardin, its about one in four, according to U.S. Census data analyzed by the Daily Yonder, a publication of the Center for Rural Strategies, a nonprofit with offices in Tennessee and Kentucky that is focused on rural issues.
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No, he can’t do that
Tuesday, Jul 23, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
A Muslim civil rights organization called on Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker to sign an executive order cracking down on hate speech by elected officials after a faux movie poster labeling four Democratic congresswomen “The Jihad Squad” was posted on the Facebook page of a statewide Republican organization.
“It’s not about one meme that brings us here today,” Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Monday at a news conferences at CAIR-Chicago’s Loop headquarters. “It’s about a culture that exists within the Republican Party, unfortunately, and really that exists in the political fabric in America today. And it is problematic and poisonous.” […]
CAIR-Chicago has not yet reached out to the Pritzker administration about its idea for an executive order, said Maaria Mozaffar, the organization’s legislative attorney. […]
The governor’s office declined to comment on CAIR’s request. It’s unclear whether it would be within Pritzker’s authority to issue an executive order addressing hate speech by elected officials.
Huh? There’s nothing “unclear” about it. The governor has no such power to issue an order about anything outside of his direct control. Read the Illinois Constitution, for crying out loud.
The governor can order agencies and state employees under his command to do certain things (like cancel a concert). But he most certainly can’t officially order a political party, or a candidate, or a legislator or another constitutional officer (like, for instance, the auditor general) to do anything. And the Illinois State Board of Elections is also beyond his direct reach. By the way, he also can’t shut down a manufacturing plant by fiat (no, not even Sterigenics). He has to follow the laws on the books.
And I doubt anyone who thought about it for more than a few seconds would ever want an executive - any executive - to have such massive authority.
* Racism has poisoned and divided our country for centuries. And instead of trying to work our way through it, far too many people today appear to prefer rejoicing in it. That’s just disgusting behavior, particularly when some of our supposed leaders either encourage it or turn a blind eye (which is just another form of encouragement).
But handing dictatorial powers to a governor would be disastrous.
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Gun dealers complain about new regulations
Tuesday, Jul 23, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The SJ-R has a story up about the new Firearm Dealer License Certification Act. I’m a gun owner, but I’ve never been to this particular shop because they have (or had) a “no reporters allowed” policy posted at their entrance…
Reached Thursday by phone, a representative from Birds ’N Brooks Army Navy Surplus in Springfield confirmed the store is “out of the gun business and it was due to the gun license law.”
* One reason for the new law was to require gun dealers to increase their security procedures. Birds ’N Brooks apparently had a problem with that issue back in the aughts…
Police arrested the prime suspect this morning in Monday’s fatal shooting of a statehouse security guard. […]
Law enforcement suspects the shooter may have attempted to steal a 12-gauge shotgun from Birds ‘N Brooks Army Navy Surplus on South 6th Street, one hour before the Statehouse killing.
The store owner identified Monday’s robber as the same man who stole a 12-gauge shotgun last week, Burton reported.
Lt. Doug Williamson of the Springfield Police Department confirmed that the shotgun found in Potts’ apartment was the one stolen from the surplus store.
Maybe the State Journal-Register could’ve searched its own archives before running today’s piece.
* Anyway, back to the SJ-R…
Bill Oglesby, a fourth-generation gunmaker and gun dealer in Springfield, had choice words last week for the Illinois State Police website that wouldn’t accept his application. Promised return phone calls haven’t materialized, he said.
“We tried to meet the deadline and (this happens),” Oglesby said. “What’s a guy supposed to do? We believe in obeying the law.
“There are no administrative rules.”
“Give us clear rules,” Dale said. “I’m a rule follower.”
That’s probably the most valid point. The ISP is definitely understaffed and overwhelmed and the compliance deadlines were very tight.
…Adding… I forgot to post this bit…
[Doug Schmidgall, the owner of Aim 2 Shoot in Springfield] said that gun sales there have doubled the past month.
…Adding… Stolen guns are not uncommon. Per a commenter, here’s a Springfield example from 2016…
Springfield police say they believe the theft of more than 50 guns from a local firearms dealer last weekend is gang-related.
Five people have been arrested, including three juveniles, in connection with the break-in Sunday night at Letz Hunt and Sport
There’s no excuse for something like that.
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Governing Mag claims Pritzker is “thriving”
Tuesday, Jul 23, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Governing Magazine rates the rookie governors. Ours came out on top…
THRIVING
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D)
Pritzker took over following the contentious single term of GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner, which featured ideological warfare and budgetary paralysis. The Democrat has been able to make the most of his party’s solid majorities in the legislature and successfully work with Republicans to strike bipartisan deals.
Pritzker’s legislative achievements fall in two areas: progress toward fiscal stability and a shift to the left on social issues.
On fiscal policy, bipartisan negotiations produced a budget that provides full funding for a new K-12 school formula, increases money for early childhood education, and modestly boosts spending for higher education and public safety. Pritzker enacted a transportation capital plan funded by increased gas taxes, as well as an education and public facilities capital plan that is funded by higher taxes on gambling and cigarettes. And the legislature placed on the 2020 ballot a Pritzker-backed measure to move the state income tax from flat to graduated.
In addition, Pritzker reached a four-year contract agreement with the public employee labor union, AFSCME, ending a standoff that had begun four years earlier under Rauner.
On other issues, the Democrat enacted a broadly liberal agenda that included a $15 minimum wage, an assurance that abortion will remain legal, heightened oversight of gun shops and legalization of recreational marijuana.
He had quite the session, no doubt. We’ll see if he can make his agencies function properly. That’s still to be determined.
* For example…
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is facing new scrutiny.
The Cook County Public Guardian is accusing the agency of forcing children to sleep on the floor because of a shortage of beds. Charles Golbert says he knows of seven such children who have been forced to sleep on a cold floor, and after trying to go through the proper legal channels to get DCFS to open their records, he is taking his case to court.
It was a heartbreaking report as told by Golbert, who describes children as young as five being forced to sleep on an office room floor right after being removed from their homes.
He believes it is because of recent changes with DCFS, that they did a little restructuring of their space, reducing the number of shelter beds by 500 in the last five years.
“Just this year, DCFS converted one floor of its shelter for other purposes what formerly had been shelter beds,” Golbert said.
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* Proft got the ball rolling…
* About an hour later, legislators began receiving this inquiry from one of Proft’s papers…
Hello
This is Hoang again, assignment editor for LGIS. I’m reaching out regarding the controversial picture Kankakee County democrats posted this late last week:
https://twitter.com/DanProft/status/1153380391870455808/photo/1
We’d like to get your thoughts on this.
Questions:
1) Wha do you think about the image comparing MAGA to KKK?
2) What are your thoughts on the divisiveness of the current political landscape? Can we escape this toxic rhetoric?
3) Isn’t this an expression of free speech? how does it differ from other expression of speech?
Those are all the questions I have for you. If you would prefer to conduct a phone interview, we can set up a time for me or another reporter to call you.
The unique email address above - though it looks strange - directly relays your response to our editorial system. When you hit “reply” to this email, your message will be sent directly to me.
If you have any questions please let me know.
Thank you.
* Craig tweeted it out…
* Greg picked it up…
A day after a GOP group caught heat for a faux poster dubbing four Democratic congresswoman “The Jihad Squad,” the Kankakee County Democratic chairman conceded he posted a now-withdrawn image likening a support of President Donald Trump to membership in the Ku Klux Klan.
In a phone interview, Chairman John Willard defended the picture of someone wearing a Klan-style peaked hat—dyed red and with a spin on Trump’s patented slogan, but here reading “Make America hate again.” To the side of the image, the posts reads: “What’s the difference between a Klan hood and a MAGA hat? The Klan hood was made in America.” […]
A screenshot of the image was forwarded to me by a Republican operative. I phoned Willard to see if it was legit, and he said he had posted the image on July 19 but the post was taken down a day or two later by a member of his organization who works as a web administrator and “said it wasn’t in good taste.”
Willard said he posted the image because, “for me, it’s all about the hypocrisy of this president. He says he’s going to make America great, and then did what he did to these four congresswomen. . . .If he’s going to really make America great, don’t make your stuff overseas,” Willard added, referring to reports that some MAGA hats are produced in foreign countries.
In fact, official MAGA hats are made in a California factory by a mostly Latino workforce, though some knockoff hats reportedly come from China.
*Sigh*
People are so goofy. But, hey, at least they had enough sense to take it down before somebody demanded it.
* Or did they?…
The social media posts by the Democrats and Republicans represent the increasing political polarization over issues of race, immigration rights and ideology that have been fueled by Trump’s recent comments. The post by the Kankakee County Democratic organization, which appeared to have been posted after 5:30 p.m. on Monday based on the Twitter feed, followed a weekend Facebook controversy for the Illinois Republican County Chairmen’s Association.
* The governor stepped in…
Missing a K, dude.
* And then the Sun-Times added to the story…
A representative from the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association did not respond to a request for comment Monday night. […]
Willard said he posted the image but deleted it July 19 — the same day that the Republican County Chairmen’s Association of Illinois shared a bogus movie poster on its Facebook page that depicted four Democratic congresswomen of color as “The Jihad Squad.”
I haven’t looked, but I’m betting lots of county party Facebook pages are nightmares just waiting to be discovered. Do better.
* Fox Chicago…
“Internet memes that’ve been posted by both parties on different partisan websites highlight something that I think most people in this state understand. Both political parties are run by a bunch of knuckleheads,” said Dan Proft, talk show host of AM-560 The Answer.
* Tribune…
Democratic state Sen. Toi Hutchinson of Olympia Fields who also is president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, said “no one should be clutching their pearls” as if they haven’t seen such memes played out on both sides across the nation.
“It should make us all take a hard look at the power of social media to incite division and hate in our country,” Hutchinson said. “We should insist on doing better because I for one am tired of this.”
* Kankakee Daily Journal…
In a statement, Kankakee County Republican Chairman Jeff Keast said the local Democratic Party has become “a radical, left-wing, fringe party.”
“Comparing President Trump and his supporters to a white supremacist hate group that systemically engaged in terror and murder is absurd,” Keast said. “Democrat officials in our county must call out and reject such extreme rhetoric. While I appreciate that the county Democrats have since deleted their Facebook post, I believe they must apologize for their actions. They have gone too far.” […]
[John Willard, chairman of the Kankakee County Democratic Party] said his organization would not apologize for the local post, saying the demand for one is part of a political strategy.
“This whole thing was initiated by Trump, when he told four minorities to go back where they came from,” Willard said. “We are not in line with what the president instigated. It’s nonsense. It’s unbecoming of the United States.”
*** UPDATE *** Kankakee County Republican Central Committee Chairman Jeff Keast…
John Willard is so extreme and out of touch with his own county, that even far Left Democrats like JB Pritzker are saying he lacks ‘civility’ and are calling him out. It’s far past time for local elected Democrats to follow Pritzker’s lead and speak out against Willard. It’s clear that John Willard must resign as Chairman of the Kankakee Democrats. Our county deserves party leaders who are respectul in their disagreement. Willard has proven he is incapable of that.
…Adding… Wise advice…
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* Covering all their bases here…
The Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association today announced the organization’s final three 2019 Party Builder Award honorees: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Illinois Congressman Glenn Poshard, and Illinois House Deputy Leader Jehan Gordon-Booth.
“The IDCCA Party Builder Award is reserved for those who’ve influenced and activated grassroots Democrats in meaningful ways,” said IDCCA President Kristina Zahorik. “These honorees are reflective of the important work that is being done on the ground in every corner of our state.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who will be the special guest at the 2019 IDCCA Chairs’ Brunch on August 14th, will be the highest-serving elected official to ever receive the award. Pelosi has served in congress since 1987 and has served in the House Democratic leadership since 2003. She is the first woman to be elected as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and has advanced historic middle-class priorities including the Affordable Care Act. Last week, Pelosi and House Democrats passed a plan to incrementally increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.
While he’s known all over Illinois as a fierce fighter for organized labor and worker fairness, former Congressman Glenn Poshard is a legend throughout Southern Illinois. A lifelong Illinoisan, Poshard began his public service career immediately out of college – first as a teacher, then as an Illinois State Senator (1984-1988). In 1989, Poshard was elected to represent a wide swath of Southern Illinois in congress. Congressman Poshard built a record of boosting rural health care access and advanced initiatives addressing abuse, neglect and abandonment of children. The Poshard Foundation for Abused Children, led by Congressman Poshard and his wife Jo, have been recognized throughout the state for their efforts to improve the lives of abused and neglected children.
In 2006, Poshard took on the role as President of the Southern Illinois University system. Upon his 2014 retirement he returned to the campaign trail, traversing the state advocating for the importance of electing Democrats. In 2016 & 2018, Poshard was an instrumental part of the IDCCA Get Out The Vote efforts traveling to over 60 counties to rally Democrats.
Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) has a knack for making history. When she won her first election to the statehouse in 2008, Gordon-Booth was the first African American woman elected from central Illinois. In January, Gordon-Booth was appointed to leadership, becoming the youngest woman to become Deputy Majority Leader in Illinois state history.
Leader Gordon-Booth is known for tackling big issues in Springfield. She has made economic and social justice the cornerstone of her service. In 2018, she led the passage of the Neighborhood Safety Act, the most comprehensive criminal justice reform package in state history. In 2019, she was instrumental in passing several pieces of progressive legislation including the legalization of marijuana.
In total, there are six 2019 Party Builder honorees. In February, the IDCCA presented awards to Lucy Moog, Democratic Committeeperson for Chicago’s 43rd Ward; Ron Powell, longtime labor activist and former Local 881 UFCW President, and; posthumously honored, Public Relations trailblazer Desiree Tate, who was a longtime community organizer and public relations advisor for scores of elected Democrats, including Chicago mayors and President Barack Obama. Tate passed away unexpectedly in May 2018.
Pelosi, Poshard and Gordon-Booth will be honored at the 2019 IDCCA Chairs’ Brunch, held at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield. The brunch is expected to have the largest attendance in IDCCA history, surpassing the more than 3,000 who attended in 2018.
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