* Last month…

A Cook County judge has dealt state Rep. Thaddeus Jones another setback in his quest to become mayor of Calumet City.

The judge’s ruling may apply to any Illinois town where citizens want to prevent elected officials from becoming “double dippers” by also serving as state lawmakers, said Burt Odelson, city attorney for Calumet City and an expert in Illinois election law.

“When the appellate court upholds this, you’re going to see other communities changing their form of government so they don’t have double dippers doing this,” Odelson said.

Cal City Mayor Michelle Qualkinbush has been battling with Rep. Jones for a very long time. Jones wants to be the city’s first African-American mayor. Qualkinbush and Odelson have been using every trick in the book to keep him off the ballot. For instance…

In 2016, the Calumet City City Council voted to place three referendum questions on ballots. The question seemed aimed at rendering Jones ineligible to run for mayor in 2017. Jones pursued a constitutional challenge in federal court, but judges rejected his arguments.

* Well, Odelson’s prediction was wrong because the appellate court sided with Rep. Jones today, ordering that Jones’ name must be placed on the mayoral ballot. Click here for the order.

* Meanwhile, during last month’s lame duck session, Rep. Jones complained bitterly during debate that a bill he passed in 2019 to install special cameras on expressways to combat shootings had not yet been implemented by IDOT. During his remarks, he called for Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman to resign.

Press release…

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced today it will provide $12.5 million to the Illinois State Police (ISP) for the purchase and installation of automated license plate readers (ALPR) and software to aid in the investigation of Cook County expressway shootings. ALPR installations at 47 locations will include specialized cameras to read the license plate numbers of vehicles moving in traffic. The installations will also include a communication system to backhaul the video images to a central location where additional software is used to query and match license plates to existing license plate and vehicle databases. This will help agents investigating expressway shootings.

“No one should feel afraid for their life or safety on Illinois expressways, and I’ve directed my administration to work collaboratively and creatively to ensure we have assets in place to protect the public,” Governor JB Pritzker said. “Tamara Clayton’s tragic death must not be forgotten, and we must do everything we can to prevent more expressway shootings.”

“The ISP welcomes this important step toward expanding force-multiplying technology we have long needed to protect the public,” said Illinois State Police Director Brendan F. Kelly. “With funding secured, the next step is to execute the plan, and start collecting the evidence we need to detect and deter crime on our interstates.”

“Making sure Illinois highways are as safe as possible always is our No. 1 priority at IDOT,” said Acting Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman. “This agreement, made possible through the efforts of the General Assembly and Gov. Pritzker, is another step in that direction. We look forward to continuing our partnership with ISP and law enforcement throughout the state in finding new ways to protect the public.”

The $12.5 million grant from IDOT will cover the costs of engineering, permitting, and labor associated with the purchase and installation of readers, controllers, servers/software, electrical power, and communications equipment required to install ALPR systems. The maintenance of the ALPR systems for up to two years is also included in this agreement.

The Tamara Clayton Expressway Camera Act (Expressway Camera Act) was signed into law on July 12, 2019 and became effective on Jan. 1, 2020. On Feb. 4, 2019, Ms. Clayton was on her way to work when she was tragically shot and killed while driving on Interstate 57 near Cicero Avenue. ISP investigators responded and the investigation into her death remains open and ongoing. The Expressway Camera Act requires the ISP, IDOT, and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) to conduct a program to increase the number of cameras along expressways in Cook County. The images from these cameras will not be used for petty offenses, such as speeding.

“Today is a victory for Tamara Clayton and her family,” said Rep. Thaddeus Jones, who sponsored the bill. “By implementing this camera technology, we are not going to stop the number of shootings on the expressways; however, this technology will be used as a tool to catch those people who are using our expressways as their own personal shooting range. We have had enough these senseless shootings,” he concluded.