Now I’m debating whether to kill off Facebook too, a site I have used to post columns and TV stories I’ve done.
Hardly a decision to be taken lightly, I clearly was in need of a social media intervention.
And who better to call than the brilliant Dan Sinker, creator of @MayorEmanuel, the unauthorized, hilarious Twitter feed and running account of the Rahm-quest for mayor. Sinker ultimately turned it into a James Joycian-type book on the campaign. He now heads up Knight-Mozilla Open News project, a cutting-edge effort to combine open web innovation with journalism.
Sinker sees the journalist’s Facebook conundrum. “How can you do your job if you don’t ‘friend’ politicians to see what they’re saying? . . . [But] there are all sorts of ways to exploit these words — ‘friend,’ ‘like’ — that would imply that actual relationships exist where they don’t.”
Sinker reminds us that Facebook’s vocabulary was dreamed up by a college freshman who transformed Internet interactions into a kabillion dollar enterprise. “The idea that Facebook mimics reality,” he says, “is false.”
Only once in my reporting “career” did a campaign try to turn my interest into an endorsement, but Dillard and his people are smarter than that. You don’t get to this level without respecting that people interact with your profile just to see what you are posting. Heck, I “Like” and “Follow” tons of profiles I completely disagree with just to keep their posts in my news feeds. I’m glad she called them out on this one.
Former Illinois governors Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar have thrown their support behind gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard saying, “Dillard is the only Republican candidate who can win in November.”
Thompson and Edgar sent a joint letter to all GOP county chairmen, township chairmen and ward committeemen throughout the state.
* And so are all of the editorials written over the weekend by downstate editorial boards and columnists in favor of Bruce Rauner’s term limits, legislative cuts, and veto override proposals. Rather than take excerpts from them all, here is a list with embedded links…
* When Doug Whitley announced his retirement last week, some commenters speculated it could mean he would be named a lieutenant governor candidate. According to Bernie, the answer is no…
Whitley flirted with a run for governor as a Republican in the 2010 cycle, but says he’s not planning to seek elective office.
It’s no shocker. . . but watch for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White to formally announce his candidacy for a historic fifth term at a news conference in Chicago next Thursday after an introduction by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Last Friday morning, my hero, my best friend, my soulmate left this mortal coil behind and entered the realm of spirit while wrapped in my loving arms. God blessed us with almost an entire year since Don’s surgery to embrace life, love, family, and adventure, all while knowing that his time on this beautiful earth was drawing to a close. What a gift! What a joy to be entrusted with my magnificent man’s care for that precious time.
I love him more than life itself.
Thank you for all your messages of love and appreciation. You kept Don’s spirit alive in your hearts and we bless you for every thought. Your thoughts are prayers.
Just know that we had a lifetime of blessings together and one of the very best was sharing our thoughts,our family, our joys and sorrows with YOU, our radio family. You meant the world to us.
May God bless you and keep you safe.
With love and sorrow,
Roma, Hunter, Heather, and family
Hi, I’m former Capitol Fax intern Barton Lorimor. You may remember me from such posts as “Rich isn’t here right now,” and “You’re stuck with me until he gets back.”
* State sales tax collection jumps 11 percent: Illinois sales tax collections soared by more than 11 percent in August, likely fueled by a surge in automobile sales…”It’s a little surprising,” said Jim Muschinske, revenue manager for the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. “Certainly we’re above where we thought we would be. The caution is, however, that there’s still a lot of time for that to change.
* Sun-Times: Grounding Midway deal a smart move: Were Emanuel’s motivations pure? Did political considerations come into play? The possibilities are plentiful, including a potential rejection of any deal by a highly dubious City Council and the fact that Emanuel’s chief financial officer, who has been quarterbacking this process, is under scrutiny for recommending the city comptroller for his position.
* Behind the scenes as Midway privatization deal falls apart: “Usually, if someone is gonna withdraw, you pick up signs. They stop coming to meetings. Lawyers stop paying attention to documents. In IFM’s case, they were very engaged until the end. Then, quite suddenly, we had a process with only one bidder.”…But Ald. Pat O’Connor (40th), the mayor’s City Council floor leader, insisted that the Midway deal would have passed and that Scott’s political troubles had nothing to do with Emanuel’s decision.
Nor did Ferrovial-Macquarie’s decision to hire lobbyist William Filan, who works together on some projects with former Ald. Mark Fary (12th), husband of Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino. While the lobbying relationship might have created an appearance of a conflict, Andolino’s job — one of the lone holdovers from the Daley administration — is considered safe.
* Firm got city deals after hiring lobbyist linked to indicted Rahm aide’s deputy: Raussen and Colwell have ties going back more than a decade, Ohio campaign finance records show. Colwell was among the former Ohio legislator’s earliest political backers, contributing $1,500 to Raussen’s campaigns between 2000 and 2008. Raussen also got $4,153 in contributions from the Cincinnati Bell telephone company between 2000 and 2004, when Colwell was the company’s vice president of government relations.
As Raussen weighed whether Colwell’s client should be given more city insurance business over other companies vying for the work, it’s unclear whether he disclosed to Ahmad or other city officials that Colwell had given him campaign money, Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said. City ethics rules do not require him to do so, according to Hamilton.
* Cairo Residents Question New Tap Water Source: Officials at Illinois American Water apologize for the inconvenience of the water treatment plant repairs, but assure customers the water is safe. “It may be different than water from the Ohio River, but it is safe to drink,” says spokesperson Terry Mackin. “We made this decision because we wanted to ensure that Cairo had uninterrupted water services. We wanted to make sure the customers in Cairo turned on their tap and that water came out.”
* 5:58 p.m. Friday - Well, at least we had a five minute break before the next Friday news dump…
Governor Pat Quinn today made a number of key appointments to the state’s boards and commissions. Included in today’s action is the appointment of James Conway, Associate Chief of the Criminal Division for the United States Attorney’s Office, as the Chief Administrative Law Judge to the Illinois Independent Tax Tribunal. This announcement continues the Governor’s commitment to making Illinois government more accountable, transparent and effective.
…
Conway, of Wilmette, is currently the Associate Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. He has been a federal prosecutor for 29 years and a supervisor for the last 17 years. Prior to his position as an Assistant United States Attorney, Mr. Conway was a Revenue Agent with the Internal Revenue Service’s Examination Division in Chicago. In addition to being an attorney, he received a B.A. from Loyola University, a J.D. from The John Marshal Law School, an LL.M. in Taxation from DePaul University and he is a Certified Public Accountant.
More…
Commission on the Elimination of Poverty:
Gayle Nelson of Glenview has been an Arbitrator with Cook County Mandatory Arbitration for the past eight years and is a board member of The Harbour, Inc. She was formerly Executive Director of Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers. She holds a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin.
Commission on Environmental Justice:
Tamika Gibson of Chicago is Policy & Outreach Coordinator at the Illinois Environmental Council. She holds a B.S. in Geography & Environmental Resources from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Workforce Investment Board:
Justine Hood of Glenview is Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Centerpoint Properties Trust. She holds an MBA from Loyola University and a B.S. from James Madison University.
Thanks for putting up with me this week. I’ll be here for at least part of next as well, so stick around because the show will still go on.
I really enjoyed your “Session” playlist suggestions in yesterday’s question. I found this one while playing through some of them and thought it was too good to not add to our list.
Please be safe if you’re traveling this weekend.
It’s good to get high, and never come down
It’s good to be king of your own little town
* 4:35 p.m. Friday - Jack Lavin has reportedly left the Governor’s Office to accept a position in the private sector. Deputy COS Ryan Croke has been promoted…
Croke has served as deputy chief of staff to Governor Quinn since November 2009, where he spearheaded a variety of key public safety, economic development and government modernization efforts. In this role, he has served as a senior advisor to the Governor while managing and collaborating with the Governor’s cabinet officers. His responsibilities have included oversight of critical agencies from the Illinois State Police, Department of Corrections, Emergency Management Agency and Fire Marshal’s Office, to the Departments of Veterans’ and Military Affairs, Historic Preservation Agency, and Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture.
The Governor left for Japan this afternoon. I’ll try to have more details.
* 4:46 p.m. - From the Retail Merchants Association…
“The members of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association want to congratulate Ryan Croke on being appointed as Chief of Staff to Governor Pat Quinn.
“We’ve worked with Ryan since he was in the Lt. Governor’s office and we found him to be laser-focused on whatever responsibilities were assigned to him. We look forward to working with him in the administration of Governor Quinn to improve the jobs climate in Illinois.”
* 5:05 p.m. - The word I am getting is that Lavin played his departure pretty close to the chest. People who talked to him yesterday said they had no idea this was coming. Those that work with Lavin on a more regular basis have said they only knew he was headed to the private sector, which was the only clue included in the press release.
“We have enjoyed working with Ryan Croke on a number of issues and have found him to be a talented and dedicated person who always respects Illinois’ working men and women,” Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael T. Carrigan said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to working together with Ryan in his new role as we continue to help create jobs and build the middle class.”
Governor Pat Quinn today announced that Illinois has set an all-time record for tourism, breaking the 100 million visitor mark in 2012. International visitors rose 11.8 percent last year to set another new record and push the total to 101 million. Tourism in Illinois generated an estimated $33.5 billion and 298,700 jobs for the state’s economy, also new high marks for the state.
The record tourism numbers reflect Governor Quinn’s targeted efforts to showcase Illinois as a travel destination. In the past two years, Illinois has launched a new tourism marketing campaign; promoted Illinois tourism on trade missions to Canada, China, Mexico and Brazil; and worked closely with local convention and visitors bureaus across Illinois to trumpet the unique attributes of their regions.
Help is finally on the way for Illinois State Parks.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is starting to chip away at a $750 million maintenance backlog, as money from a new $2 surcharge on license plate renewals is starting to make its way out to the parks.
Despite unseasonably warm temperatures during much of the Du Quoin State Fair, officials say the 2013 event may set an attendance record…It’s already been reported that the Du Quoin State Fair had the largest opening day in its 91-year history on August 23rd when more than 50,000 people visited the fairgrounds. The fair ended on Labor Day.
* Laurence Msall of The Civic Federation (not to be confused with Ty Fahner’s Civic Committee) and Speaker Madigan spokesman Steve Brown were featured guests on Chicago Tonight earlier this week to discuss the west wing renovation. Go ahead and guess what part of that project took center stage…
When originally designed, the main entrance to the Capitol was from the east through a long set of 37 steps up to the second floor of the building. These were removed before the building was officially opened when Architect W.W. Boyington converted the Basement into the First Floor. While the first floor doors were oak on the outside and black walnut on the inside, they were heavily carved with bronze ornamentation. Bronze is a metal made primarily of copper. As the western exposure and elements took their toll on the doors, they simply became inoperable and were replaced with a much simpler, non-historic door. In this renovation, we took the cue from the bronze ornamentation from the original doors, and clad a new wood door in copper to give it protection for a time period that should well exceed a century. Aside from an historic standpoint, Copper was chosen for its longevity, natural beauty and because of its tendency to patina to a brown that is similar to a US10B finish, or oil rubbed bronze, the standard finish for the building.
* New doors are mentioned in this project description from two summers ago. You will notice it does not say how exactly they would reflect the building’s history. Beyond the doors, there are much more costly differences between this document, what was being talked about before construction began, and the work that is nearing completion. For example, this document still includes an eatery in the basement and the renovation, not removal, of the Mezzanine. Those doors alone did not boost the listed bids from $43 million to $50 million. As Brown mentioned in the interview, some of that involves the removal of asbestos, which is not cheap.
“The governor is concerned about the architect’s judgment and some of his decisions,” Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said, adding her boss was “surprised” at the doors’ extravagant look when he first saw them.
“Gov. Quinn believes any capital project must always be conducted in a prudent and cost-effective manner, and it’s important for the architect to sit down with those he reports to and review these decisions,” she said.
More…
“The governor heads the board that approved this wasteful expenditure, so if the governor is not in charge, then who is running this state?” Daley said.
“I think that type of expenditure by whoever and however they did that is inappropriate at this — perhaps at any time — but particularly at this time,” Rutherford said at a news appearance on Thursday. “As the treasurer I just happen to hold the keys to that office at the present. They designed it. I will not move into it until it’s done.”
“My understanding,” Rutherford joked, “is those doors are not to the office of the state treasurer.”
Rutherford’s staff hardly had a chance to get settled into the Treasurer’s executive office before it was relocated to an adjacent office suite in the north wing.
* For those interested, or haven’t seen some of the work that has been done over at the Capitol, I snapped this picture a few weeks ago while moving between meetings. This is the new Press Briefing Room…
* By now you have heard that Bob Schillerstrom has withdrawn his name from consideration for his party’s state Treasurer nomination. From a letter to supporters that became widely reported last night…
To that end, I recently had the opportunity to sit down with House Republican Leader Tom Cross to discuss the future of our state. During the course of that and subsequent conversations, it became clear that we share a vision for the Treasurer’s Office and a desire to hold the line on spending, safeguard family college savings and restore our state’s fiscal integrity.
Those goals will best be achieved through fiscally conservative Republican leadership – and the stakes are too high to lessen our chances with a costly and divisive Primary.
For that reason I have decided not to run for State Treasurer in 2014 and instead do what is in the best interest of our State and Party by unifying behind a candidate, Tom Cross. I hope you will join me in doing whatever is necessary to make his campaign successful.
Schillerstrom, an attorney from Naperville who headed the DuPage County Board from 1998 to 2010, launched his exploratory bid in June and had lined up 50 backers, including former U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and several state legislative and area county officials. Hastert has been a close Cross ally.
* As Rich noted previously, Schillerstrom was a no-show at the State Fair this year, which caused some at Republican Day to scratch their heads as to whether the former Du Page County Board chairman would continue to seek the office.
Schillerstrom has not filed a report with the Board of Elections since the June quarterly. However that report shows he has just under $40K in the bank, but outstanding loans valued at over $136K. That’s nowhere near what Cross reported in his quarterly, which is now outdated thanks to a number of other large donations he has received since.
* Rich has talked about potential running mates for Gov. Quinn with subscribers. NBC 5 contacted one of those candidates…
Some political sources say Quinn asked Chicago City Treasurer Stephanie Neeley to join up with his ticket but that she said “no.”
Neely declined to confirm that nugget, but her statement doesn’t appear to deny it either.
* In full transparency, I’m only here to show my wife and parents that my journalism degree wasn’t a waste of time and money. But my being here has allowed Rich to take some time off in order to…
I wasn’t suppose to say, but …
Rich, Tom Cross and I are on a Golf Weekend.
Whew! Keeping secrets is hard!
We may not have any Oscar pictures this Friday, but we can always count on Oswego Willy to have Tom Cross golfing material at the ready. As we’ll discuss in another post, Willy, you appear to have your work cutout for you this cycle.
* OK, enough of that for now. Let’s get to some headlines…
* No movement in IL pension reform: “What the pension committee has been trying to do all summer is patch a hole in the Titanic,” John Tillman, director of the Illinois Policy Institute, said. Tillman, who wants the state to adopt a 401k style system, said the committee is mired in the status quo.
“While they have met and talked and conversed they have not entertained a single proposal that would fix the structural problems with the current system,” Tillman said.
Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Dan Rutherford is not optimistic the conference committee process will produce pension reform, and predicts the issue will not go away any time soon.
“My sense is the next pressure point is going to be the election,” Rutherford said.
* Mayor Emanuel grounds Midway privatization plan: sources: With only two bidders remaining on the runway, one of the competitors “dropped out” this week, convinced the joint-venture would not be able to meet the mayor’s demands. Another source familiar with the negotiations identified the bidder that walked away as the team that includes Industry Funds Management of Australia and Manchester Airports Group.
That would have left the city with only one bidder for a transaction estimated at $2 billion. Emanuel was simply not willing to forge ahead under those circumstances.
The source refused to identify which of the joint ventures had dropped out of the competition a few weeks before formal bids were due.
Bloomberg news has identified the two bidding groups as Great Lakes Airport Alliance, a partnership between Spain’s Ferrovial and Macquarie Group that leased the Chicago Skyway for 99 years, and a team that includes Industry Funds Management of Australia and Manchester Airports Group
* Sun-Times: GIVE WISER PRISON POLICIES A CHANCE: We need political leaders of all stripes to support the idea of diverting nonviolent offenders to destinations other than prison. It’s an issue easy to demagogue because some people who leave prison inevitably again commit crimes, no matter how carefully the risks of release are assessed.
* Thomson prison funding may fall prey to budget battle: Congress must approve the funding and include it in a budget for the new fiscal year that starts October 1. But with another debt ceiling fight looming, funding for the prison could get caught up in the partisan crossfire….It’s unlikely the House and Senate will agree to a budget before October 1.
A temporary spending plan known as a continuing resolution will be enacted if a budget can’t be agreed and Sen. Durbin said that would put the Thomson project “on hold.”
* DuPage chief selects Metra appointee: Zediker, 41, a Naperville Republican, served on the County Board for three years but lost his seat in last year’s election.
* Metra attorneys say board member did not harm agency: Schaffer acknowledged that he gave Clifford a document prepared by the agency’s attorneys about three weeks before Clifford wrote a scathing memo alleging that two other board members engaged in political back-scratching. The accusations led to an $871,000 separation agreement with Clifford and spurred two ethics investigations and five board resignations.
But in a letter sent to board members this week, agency lawyers said Schaffer did not ignore his legal or ethical responsibilities when he sent Clifford information related to the CEO’s performance evaluation. Schaffer believed he was acting in Metra’s best interests by sharing the document, which Clifford would have access to anyway in his role as the agency’s highest-ranking employee, according to the legal opinion.
