* My biggest fan (who isn’t a relative) just died. My father fills us in…
Arnold Jensen and I have been friends for forty years. He taught me more about the fuel business than anybody and on top of that we genuinely liked each other. Whether it was playing pool at his house all night long with friends, or having ten cent beers at Mathy’s Corner Tap in Clifton or sharing time together as officers of the Lion’s club, or sitting on his porch in Clifton, I always enjoyed our time together. Sometimes we would just get in the car and go for a ride around the country. He was a very positive person, positive about life, work, people, whatever.
Arnold and Kitty [his wife] moved us to Hanover in 1975. Moving is when you find out who is your best friend or family member. That effort cemented an already firm bond and cemented it forever.
We stayed in contact through mail, phone, then email and I always found time to drop in and visit them whenever I was in town.
He loved reading Rich’s column in the Clifton Advocate plus I would email the Sun-Times column and then he read Rich’s Blog every day. Rich dropped in to see him once and I took their picture. Arnold hung it above his kitchen table.
There were a lot of connections when Kitty moved into the nursing home before Mom moved out the first time. Arnold then moved into an assisted living apartment at the home to be near Kitty every day, the one Mom had been living in. Kitty passed away earlier this year and it was rough on Arnold as they had always been together. Arnold’s Dad lived to be 102, but life wasn’t the same for Arnold without Kitty. I talked to him the other day and he said he was having a hard time.
This morning he passed away. I’m going back this weekend. Last year he rode in the Herscher Labor Day Parade with me in the Cadillac and we had a GREAT TIME! I will always cherish that last great time we had together.
I’ve known Mr. Jensen since I was a child. He was a heckuva guy and I really got a kick out of sitting down with him several months ago. He was so happy to see me you’d have thought I was some international star or something. I’ll never forget that as long as I live.
* From a press release by Democratic House candidate Dennis Ahern…
“It is clear that people are ready for a change in leadership throughout our state. I believe that change must start at the top. If I am fortunate enough to win on November 2nd, my first vote will be for a new Speaker of the House of Representatives. This vote will not be for the current Speaker. My vote will go to a non-incumbent, a freshman.” [Emphasis added]
Ahern is running against Republican Rich Morthland for retiring Democratic Rep. Mike Boland’s seat.
* The Question: Your thoughts on this idea? Politically and governmentally, please.
…Adding… I should’ve noted that Ahern will continue to take money and staff assistance from Madigan.
“Leaners” tie this up at 45-45, with 3 percent for “other” and 8 unsure. We really need to get those other candidates included in these polls. I called Rasmussen yesterday, so we’ll see what they do next time.
* This topline is interesting, if not terribly surprising…
* In terms of how you will vote in the next national election, are you primarily interested in National Security issues such as the War with Iraq and the War on Terror, Economic issues such as jobs and economic growth, Domestic Issues like Social Security and Health Care, Cultural issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion, or Fiscal issues such as taxes and government spending?
10% National Security Issues
55% Economic Issues
13% Domestic Issues
3% Cultural Issues
13% Fiscal Issues
7% Not sure
Crosstabs show that 58 percent of moderates, 50 percent of independents, 67 percent of Democrats and 63 percent of Giannoulias supporters put economic issues at the top of their list. That number is less for Republicans (41), Kirk supporters (43) and conservatives (45) because “fiscal issues” rate higher than average.
Kirk has only recently begun talking about the economy, and now you can clearly see why. This whole “mob banker” thing is a lot of fun, but it isn’t helping him move upwards.
Alexi Giannoulias is loath to admit it, but LeAlan Jones could become his gnarliest nightmare.
Two recent polls show Giannoulias is locked in a suffocatingly tight race with U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk. Along comes the youthful and energetic Jones, a 31-year-old journalist, high school coach and youth mentor. He’s not only fresh, he’s “Green.” Jones is running with the insurgent Green Party, which is trying to make inroads in the Nov. 2 election.
Jones has no political or governmental record, paltry cash and scarce name recognition — plus a monstrous helping of chutzpah. He owns one unmistakable asset — he is African American. Jones may be a Green, but the color of the moment is black.
From PPP’s latest xtabs…
Yes, Jones could make a slight move if he becomes known. Yes, it is a concern for Giannoulias. Yes, there’s a long time to go. But Jones is not even showing up on the radar screen yet. Rasmussen’s xtabs have 5 percent of African-American voters leaning towards “other.” There are indeed plenty of undecideds, but without cash and a strategy, it’s gonna be tough to eat into Giannoulias’ numbers, particularly with Obama on his side.
In case you can’t watch videos, that was Republican state Sen. Kirk Dillard reacting to Gov. Pat Quinn’s appointment of Michelle Saddler as his new chief of staff. His full quote…
“While she, as an African-American, Asian woman, is a political choice, it remains to be seen if she can govern state government.”
The video comes from Quinn’s campaign, which is why we see that over the top video headline. The Quinn campaign’s response…
“When we talk about the political games the Brady Bunch plays, this is what we mean. Governor Quinn chose the most capable person to fill the position of Chief of Staff as he continues to guide our state through this difficult economic period.
“But Republicans never stop doing the political calculus and trying to divide the electorate. The Brady Bunch’s craven calculations should offend every woman and person of color in this state, as well as anyone who believes in good government over divisive wedge politics.”
There’s no getting around the fact that Pat Quinn is doing poorly with African-Americans and is likely desperate to win them back and that Ms. Saddler’s race was part of his calculus. But one sure-fire way to help Quinn out is to give his campaign an opportunity to play the race card. Quinn needs to motivate his base. This kind of stuff will do it. If Saddler was a hack, that might be one thing. But she’s not, even if some folks despise Episcopalians and whatnot.
I talked to Dillard a few minutes ago and he pointed out that Saddler started her press conference by pointing out her ethnic heritage and said he was approached by some black reporters who asked specifically about her race. But, he said, he understood the point and said he wished her well and thought she was a good choice, “governmentally as well as politically.” Kirk is a decent guy and I know he meant no harm, but you gotta think before you speak in this business.
* Mark Brown sums up our current situation quite well…
It might have been helpful for Quinn to explain what specific steps his office takes to keep the political and government sides separate. Would he really have us believe there is no campaign input into the planning of what he does as governor, or is the truth more that his staff takes care not to conduct political business using state phones or computers?
To the extent an absolute separation is true in Quinn’s case, it could go a long way toward explaining why nobody can figure out his re-election message.
When Quinn took over as governor, I said I thought he would be the right guy to lead Illinois in Blagojevich’s wake, and as far as calming the waters, maybe he has been better than the alternatives. But unfortunately, despite his good intentions, he hasn’t shown he can govern effectively.
Even more unfortunate is that there’s no reason to believe his Republican opponent would be any better.
Nobody can figure out Pat Quinn’s message because he doesn’t have one. Other than that, Brown’s right.
“I’m not going to listen to state government for financial advice, we’d be bankrupt.
Sell the parking meters and spend almost all the money in a year. Good one. Put half the city into a TIF district, thereby squeezing every budget, including the city government’s, for the sake of creating a mayoral slush fund. Excellent. Refuse to hire more cops during a horrific murderous crime spree. Sparkling.
“We [should] not listen to them, your state senators or representatives. No way. Look what they’ve done with the state budget and now they’re telling us what to do with the city budget. No way.”
It seems clear that the inspiration for his caustic comments was State Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago). Fritchey, who is running for a seat on the Cook County board, held a news conference Sunday and called for a “major TIF overhaul” to funnel more tax dollars to the Chicago Public Schools.
But asked which Springfield critics he was referring to in his remarks Tuesday, Daley replied, “All of them, in general.”
Daley has a point about Fritchey and glass houses, but he should take his own advice. His reputation as a stellar manager is in tatters. The city is on a downward spiral, and maybe he should be looking for some solutions, rather than getting all defensive about the lousy job he’s done.
Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, has two terrifying words for Mayor Richard Daley:
Forensic Audit.
It may not sound sexy. But having former IRS agents go through two decades worth of insider political deals and revealing it all to a tax base of voters that has been bled dry is something Daley and his boys would hate.
After spending months pointing out the corruption and waste of taxpayer dollars at City Hall —including that ridiculous parking meter deal that may have sparked a revolution — Waguespack, 40, is thinking about challenging Daley for mayor.
The first thing he’d do would be to add more police on the streets. But a forensic audit might be just what the doctor ordered.
Today is the first day for circulating nominating petitions to get on the February city election election, and Alderman Scott Waguespack said Monday he would seek signatures to run for four more years as 32nd Ward alderman — not for mayor. […]
The alderman, who narrowly defeated Daley-backed Ald. Ted Matlak in the 2007 election, had less than $20,000 in his campaign account at the end of June, according to documents filed with state officials.
But that doesn’t mean the audit isn’t a good idea. Daley was elected mayor 21 years ago. One can only imagine what an audit would find. Fritchey and Waguespack are feuding, but there’s no reason why Fritchey couldn’t push that idea as well. It the city won’t do it, maybe the state could help. And do one on itself, for that matter. I’ve been on the fence about this idea for a while now, but I’ve come around all the way. The state, city and county could all use one.
Sauk Village is broke, according to the mayor. “We’re just about out of money,” said Lewis Towers, 59, the part-time mayor who works full-time as director of the Cook County assessor’s Markham office. “We can make Friday’s payroll and that’s it. We have $150,000 in our general fund and an annual budget of $9.1 million.”
Towers said the village payroll is $160,000. He plans to lay off at least 10 of the village’s 60 employees and expected the village board to approve the cuts at a meeting last night.
Saddler is the Director of the Department of Human Services. She’s an African-American female and Quinn is desperate lately to appeal to black voters, who appear to be shunning him. She also worked for Quinn when he was state treasurer. He prefers people whom he knows.
The governor’s press conference is about to start, so we’ll see if the sources are right soon enough. Sadler’s name surfaced late.
Saddler’s background includes working as Quinn’s director of investments when he served as state treasurer in the 1990s. She has a bachelor’s from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a master’s from Northwestern University’s Kellogg graduate school of management.
* Grace Hou, DHS’ Assistant Secretary for Programs, has been appointed acting secretary of DHS.
* Quinn is now taking questions on the Stermer fiasco. He began by saying “someone violated” state law by giving the inspector general’s report to a reporter.
“It has not a shred of truth,” Quinn said about any connection between the inspector general’s Stermer report and Wright’s firing.
“On the 23rd of July, we e-mailed” their executive appointments person about a replacement for the inspector general. Quinn said his chief counsel went to the EIG and told him personally on the morning of the 13th that he was being replaced. “I don’t think he labored under any assumption that I was going to reappoint him,” Quinn said about James Wright.
“I did not know anything about the report until I arrived at my office” at about 5 o’clock on the afternoon of the 13th. That’s important because the report arrived at his office the day before.
“I was planning to discipline my chief of staff Jerry Stermer” and Stermer was willing to accept that discipline, Quinn said. But after the Sun-Times reporter called, Quinn said he called Stermer and his chief said he did not want to be a “distraction.”
Quinn said he planned to mete out a “strong punishment,” involving “a suspension” for Stermer.
Quinn said his brother made a “keystroke error” when he sent that campaign e-mail to Stermer.
The governor said he interviewed several people for inspector general, started the vetting process and was then told that the candidates decided to go elsewhere.
* 3:29 pm - End.
* I thought he did a pretty decent job, as far as these things go. We’ll see how Brady reacts. Stay tuned.
* In case you missed it, the audio archive of the entire presser can be downloaded here.
Enjoying my evening at the Probation Challenge’s 31st Annual dinner.
The man has no sense of irony.
More importantly, though, a considerable number of prominent African-Americans were likely at that dinner. I wonder if Gov. Pat Quinn was anywhere near there.
For the first time, they also included “leaners” in the poll. In other words, those who say they are undecided are asked whom they are leaning towards. The margin narrows a wee bit…
Brady: 49%
Quinn: 41%
Some Other Candidate 3%
Not sure 7%
It really would be nice if Rasmussen started polling the other candidates in this race.
This race now moves from Leans GOP to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Gubernatorial Scorecard.
From far away, maybe it looks that way. I still don’t see it up close, though.
Back to the pollster…
Brady receives support from 85% of Republicans, while Quinn is favored by just 68% of Democrats. Among voters not affiliated with either political party, Brady holds a commanding 61% to 17% lead.
Quinn, who took over from impeached governor Rod Blogojevich more than 18 months ago, continues to face a $13-billion state deficit, one of the country’s worst. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of voters in the state know someone who is out of work and looking for a job. Forty-three percent (43%) say the job market is worse than a year ago, while only 15% say its better.
Thirty-nine percent (39%) of Illinois voters approve of the job Quinn is doing as governor. Sixty percent (60%), however, disapprove of his job performance.
Brady is viewed Very Favorably by 19% of the state’s voters and Very Unfavorably by 17%. Quinn earns Very Favorable marks from 10% and Very Unfavorable reviews from 31%.
Both candidates are well-known in the state, but at this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with strong opinions more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.
* A check of the crosstabs shows Quinn doing quite well with African-Americans. The Illinois Chamber, you may recall, claimed that once those black voter numbers firmed up for Quinn, this could be a 5-6 point race. But with 75 percent black support, it’s still a 9-point race. And Scott Lee Cohen hasn’t ramped up his campaign yet. Quinn’s black support rises to 80 percent with leaners, which accounts for just under half of Quinn’s one-point narrowing because Brady picks up an additional point among African-Americans and rises to 10.
The survey of 750 Likely Voters in Illinois was conducted on August 23, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/-4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
Illinois 11. Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D) finds herself in deeper trouble than she expected, as GOP challenger Adam Kinzinger has emerged as a serious threat to her. The state political environment is increasingly toxic for Democrats, and polling shows Halvorson, a former leader in the state legislator, in bad shape. Move from Toss-up/Tilt Democrat to Pure Toss-up as Halvorson’s prospects deteriorate.
Other pundit ratings on this race, from Halvorson’s opponent…
The Cook Political Report - Toss-Up (moved from Lean D, 8/17/10)
Real Clear Politics - Leans GOP
* As I’ve already told subscribers, Gov. Pat Quinn will hold a press conference this afternoon at 2:30 to announce his new chief of staff and take questions from reporters. IIS will have a “watch it live” link here.
* While we’re waiting on the guv’s newser, check out this press release from Bill Brady’s campaign…
PAT QUINN’S ILLINOIS: NO JOBS, NO REFORM
Brady Says Quinn Obsessed with Politics, Not Jobs
Chicago – Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady today said Governor Pat Quinn’s firing of the state’s Executive Inspector General on the very day he learned of an ethics probe involving his chief of staff suggests he’s focused on politics, not jobs during our fiscal crisis.
“In the middle of a recession, people need a governor focused on creating jobs and cleaning up state government,” said Brady. “Instead, Governor Quinn has gone down the same road of his predecessors - ethical lapses, investigations, and protecting political insiders at taxpayer expense.”
“Illinois lost 20 thousand jobs last month alone,” he said. “This latest revelation proves we won’t ever solve our fiscal crisis under a governor consumed by politics, not jobs,” he said.
Questions over the firing of the state’s top ethics official are the latest in a string of published reports that call into question the Governor’s commitment to government reform, and the priorities of his Administration.
Previous examples include:
· Secret pay raises for political appointees, including his Budget Director
· Questionable use of official state time and resources for his political campaign
· Supporting the honesty and integrity of convicted Governor Rod Blagojevich months after federal officials revealed their investigation
· Quietly signing a video poker bill to allow known criminals into gambling against the recommendation of the Gaming Commission
· Failing to support the recommendations of his own reform commission
· Keeping a majority of Rod Blagojevich’s officials in top government positions
* Many years ago, I made a huge mistake and got into an automobile with someone who had way too much to drink. He was pulled over and arrested for DUI, and the cops told me I was on my own.
It was very late at night during the work week, it was freezing cold and I was so poor back then that I didn’t have enough cash for a taxi. But I knew right away that there was one person I could call for help: Jason Hammond.
Jason answered the phone on the first ring, then high-tailed it all the way across town to get me. He had coffee and cigarettes waiting for me as I stepped into his car, freezing, tired and feeling stupid. What a guy.
Jason was one of the most unusual people I knew. He served in Vietnam. He was wounded in action, but reenlisted as a medic. That second tour really screwed up his head, but he said his life was saved because he was discharged in San Francisco at the tail end of the summer of 1967.
He spent the next several years hanging out with hippies and honing his skills as a master carpenter. The guy could build anything. He and his wife raised their children in a modified Bluebird bus and a tipi in southern New Mexico. Not exactly your typical middle class family, but it worked well for all.
Jason eventually ended up working on the National Park Service’s massive Lincoln home restoration in Springfield. The master carpenter was matched up with one of the more difficult and painstaking restoration jobs ever done in the Midwest. He was in Heaven.
After that job ended, Jason decided to move back to New Mexico. His friends were universally bummed out. Jason’s house was the center of most of our gatherings. He had a great fire pit and even an outside bar area. I decided to rent the place to help preserve our little communal spot, but I knew it wouldn’t be the same without Jason and it wasn’t.
We kept in touch, and some friends and I occasionally visited him. I hadn’t heard from him in a while, but sometimes we’d go months without talking then gab like we’d just seen each other the day before.
Anyway, a mutual friend saw a disturbing post on Facebook yesterday and went to Jason’s page and to her great sadness saw that people were leaving condolence messages. Jason had died.
We eventually discovered that Jason had a recurrence of cancer, but didn’t really tell anybody about it. That was his way. He wouldn’t want us fussing over him when we could be laughing with him instead.
I guess my only real regret is that I didn’t visit him more often, particularly after he set up an awesome recording studio in his house and was bringing musicians in almost every Friday night for extended jam sessions. He had quite the scene going on. I often called on Friday nights just to catch the vibe.
On my way to visit him in the late 1990s, I stopped at a friend’s house in northern New Mexico and we wound up at a beautiful American Indian-owned mineral springs spa out in the country. I was chatting with the masseuse about my trip, and discovered that she was from Springfield. I told her that my next stop was to visit Jason and she said she had met him once in Springfield and recalled her entire conversation with him. Jason made a lasting impression on just about everyone he ever met. He was a different sort of human, and I loved the man like a brother.
The former CEO of Helene Curtis Industries Inc., who ran for governor in 2006 and now chairs Republican Bill Brady’s gubernatorial campaign, is donating his own money and raising more from other Chicago executives to help Tea Party groups in various parts of the state. The money helps the activists get organized, a largely behind-the-scenes effort that could benefit candidates up and down the Republican ticket this fall.
“I see energized people,” Mr. Gidwitz says. “A lot of people are angry. We want to identify people who are dissatisfied with the status quo in Illinois and give them the opportunity to make a change.”
Mr. Gidwitz chairs and helps fund the Illinois arm of Americans for Prosperity, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative, anti-tax group that has a political organizer—longtime Illinois GOP operative Joe Calomino—working with Tea Party groups here.
“They’re very good at putting the plan on the ground,” Mr. McQueen says. “They’re instrumental at showing us what we need to do to be effective.
That move by Gidwitz seems logical, but there’s always the danger of tying his candidate too closely to the more “out there” tea party types.
After seeing the list of the targeted districts, I thought it odd that AFP would neglect Illinois—given all the competitive races in Obama’s adopted state. So I called Joe Calomino who, with just one other staffer, runs the Illinois chapter of the 1.2 million member national group. Calomino told me that a new AFP project, November is Coming is, in fact, dispatching by bus grassroots activists armed with anti-spending petitions to “educate” voters in the 11th, 14th, and 10th districts on September 15th, 16th, and 17th, respectively.
One can safely bet that although the AFP bills itself as nonpartisan, its brigades will not be promoting Democrats Debbie Halvorson (11th), Bill Foster (14th), or Dan Seals (10th), the Democrat who is seeking the seat now held by Mark Kirk. The culmination of the Illinois events is an appearance in Hoffman Estates on September 18th by Glenn Beck who bashed Obama on air for his criticism of AFP.
* In other campaign news, Rich Whitney has come up with some pretty good spin…
Green Party candidate for governor Rich Whitney went on the attack Monday, saying Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn has “peaked” and can’t beat Republican state Sen. Bill Brady.
At a Springfield news conference, Whitney referenced recent independent polls that have shown Brady leading the race for Illinois governor. Whitney urged voters who don’t want to vote for Brady to vote for him instead of Quinn.
“He’s peaked,” Whitney said of Quinn. “He can only go down.”
If Whitney knew how to take advantage of this situation then he might have a legit shot. So far, at least, there’s no indication that he does.
* Emphasizing Whitney’s point, Quinn’s running mate Sheila Simon just admitted that her boss’ budget is a disaster…
“It boils down to jobs and education and they are thrown in together,” [Simon] said. “The concern now about jobs is much more personal. It’s not a generic concern. The folks I am running into say they are concerned about their own jobs or the jobs of family members. The state budget and the disaster it is really has an impact on anyone at the school level.”
* Campaign 2010 roundup…
* Illinois Review: Despite the base of the Republican Party and the Party’s platform itself being staunchly prolife, Congressman Mark Kirk, also the IL GOP’s nominee for U.S. Senate, continues to hold firm on his commitment to despicable and up-until-now non-productive human embryo experimentation. This response sent out by Kirk campaign to the U.S. district judge’s decision to strike down President Obama’s stem cell executive order is disappointing and disturbing, because it assures us where a U.S. Senator Kirk would be if presented with a decision on the ever-important issue of the sanctity of life.
* Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama.
It’s not unusual or illegal for police officers to flip on a camera as they get out of their squad car to talk to a driver they’ve pulled over.
But in Illinois, a civilian trying to make an audio recording of police in action is breaking the law. […]
“It’s a stretch to apply surveillance laws to a situation on the street with an encounter between the police and the public,” said Maryland defense attorney Steven Silverman. “An officer has no expectation of privacy when he makes a traffic stop or arrest in the course of his workday.” […]
Mark Donahue, president of the Fraternal Order of Police in Chicago, said he believes the state’s eavesdropping law is a good one. Allowing people to make audio recordings of arrests “could potentially inhibit an officer from proactively doing his job,” Donahue said.
According to the ACLU, six people have been arrested in Illinois and faced felony charges for making audio recordings of police officers (usually in conjunction with video).
* The Question: Should the state law which makes it a felony to make audio recordings of police be repealed? Explain.
* Rod Blagojevich may be yapping through Christmas about his “persecution” by federal prosecutors, according to the Sun-Times…
Rod Blagojevich’s retrial may not start until next year, and if he wants the public to pay for his defense, he will get only two lawyers — down from seven.
In a private conference last week, Judge James Zagel told lawyers a quick retrial on the corruption charges wasn’t likely because of the logistics of getting a new jury pool.
Zagel said he didn’t want to put a “Christmas burden” on jurors, pushing a retrial possibly to January at the earliest, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting.
The two lawyers are not likely to be Sam Adam Jr. and Sam Adam Sr., who sources say intend on filing a request to leave the case.
Bad news for the Democrats. Very bad.
* Meanwhile, Jon Stewart busted Rod Blagojevich but good last night…
Stewart played back a tape of Blagojevich from a year ago when he then tried to explain his words on tape: “I’ve got this thing and it’s f—ing golden.”
In 2009, Blagojevich explains that in the next few words that prosecutors didn’t reveal at the time, he talks about health care for Illinois. But the now-released tape shows Blagojevich actually discussed parachuting himself into the Senate seat spot and calling President Obama a “demigod.”
“The reality of what you said is very different,” Stewart says.
Blagojevich hems and haws as he tries to explain: “Listen to the whole tape.”
Stewart cuts him off: “Is this why you didn’t take the stand?” the audience laughs.
“You’re a guy that’s the most adamant about his innocence of anyone I ever met, so you’re either the victim of a terrible persecution or you’re a sociopath,” Stewart said.
There’s nothing quite like listening to imbeciles rant about Illinois politics. The Wall Street Journal writes that, “If (U.S. Attorney Patrick) Fitzgerald doesn’t resign of his own accord, the Justice Department should remove him …”
The Washington Post, in commenting on the likely retrial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, says that “(Fitzgerald) should stand down before crossing another fine line - the one that separates prosecution from persecution.”
You want to talk about persecution, try living in a state where a “For Sale” sign seems permanently posted on the governor’s mansion.
Quinn’s office added new clarity Monday to the timeline of Wright’s ouster. His removal occurred on the morning of Aug. 13 while the governor did not get formally briefed about Wright’s report against Stermer until that evening, a Quinn spokeswoman said. […]
Many in state government’s political circles were stunned Monday by Stermer’s decision to quit Quinn’s staff over three “inadvertently” sent political e-mails, particularly given that Wright reported scouring 38,700 of Stermer’s e-mails looking for a political angle.
Stermer brought those three e-mails to Wright’s attention in January, the same time Stermer briefed Quinn about the possible violations of a state ethics law. In his Aug. 11 report to Quinn, Wright recommended that Attorney General Lisa Madigan file a complaint against Stermer, 67, before the state Executive Ethics Commission for the political e-mails.
The penalty for such transgressions generally has been light. Earlier this year, the commission imposed a $250 fine against a high-ranking Department of Human Services administrator for a 2008 correspondence to four state workers from his government e-mail address encouraging them to support Barack Obama for president and Howard J. Brookins Jr. for Cook County state’s attorney. The DHS administrator was allowed to keep his job.
I don’t believe that Stermer really resigned over those three e-mails. As the article makes clear, that’s barely a petty offense. And Stermer did, indeed, report every wrongly sent e-mail to the OEIG because the the OEIG spent seven months going over every one of his 38,700 electronic messages.
I believe Stermer resigned because Quinn fired Executive Inspector General Wright the same day he was formally briefed on Wright’s Stermer report. This was either a ham-fisted attempt at retaliation or an extremely unfortunate coincidence. Quinn will answer questions from reporters today, and they need to ask whether he was at all aware that Wright had sent his office a report on Stermer, not just whether the governor knew what the exact wording of the report was. It would also be interesting to know whether Stermer was in on the decision to replace Wright. But don’t hold your breath on getting full answers.
An influential adviser to his brother, Thomas Quinn sent an e-mail headlined: “PQ, the tax cutter.”
“I believe that it’s true to say (that) Pat Quinn has implemented more budget cuts than any other governor in Illinois history,” the e-mail said. “Isn’t that a powerful antidote message to push back at Hynes when he tries to paint Pat as a tax and spender. Also a powerful message for the general election as well.”
Through the governor’s campaign spokeswoman, Thomas Quinn said he inadvertently sent the political e-mail to Stermer’s state account. He then left Stermer a voice mail to “ignore that e-mail.”
Quinn campaign consultant John Kupper, who also got the e-mail, replied that the idea about the governor’s budget-cutting would be a “great fact, if true. Also something to test in our next poll.”
A day later, Stermer hit “reply to all” from his government account. Stermer said he would “work with the budget office to get the precise amount.”
Within minutes, Stermer then sent a separate note to David Vaught, the budget chief, asking for the total amount of money Quinn has cut from the state budget since taking office.
A third e-mail exchange took place in December, when another Quinn campaign aide asked Stermer to weigh in on proposed answers to a candidate questionnaire by the Tribune’s editorial board.
Stermer should never have replied to those e-mails, but he owned up to his mistakes. Also, the campaign folks should’ve known better than to send Stermer e-mails to his state account.
And Quinn’s opponent, Republican Bill Brady, didn’t hesitate to draw a straight line between the two events: “On the very day Pat Quinn was confronted with evidence by the inspector general of an ethics violation, he put his political interests before citizens yet again and fired the inspector general himself,” Brady said Monday.
It’s now up to Attorney General Lisa Madigan to determine whether to file a complaint with the Executive Ethics Commission, which could impose a fine or other discipline on Stermer.
Is there more to this story? Does there have to be? Nobody in Illinois should need to be reminded why the ethics act prohibits the use of state resources for campaign purposes. Quinn’s interpretation of the rules is liberal enough to justify a public schedule chock-a-block with barely disguised campaign appearances — four stops in a single day, for example, to “encourage shoppers to take advantage of Illinois’ first-ever back-to-school sales-tax holiday” — but there’s no question that Stermer’s actions did cross the line.
Sure, the actions crossed the line. That’s why Stermer reported it himself. And I, too, would like to know if the firing was connected or not. But, pardon me for asking, when has the Tribune published an editorial blasting state Sen. Bill Brady for voting three times for legislation that directly benefited his own construction business? Brady wouldn’t even cop to a conflict of interest, even though that was probably one of the most direct legislative conflicts many of us have seen in a very long time.
Exelon Nuclear said in a statement Monday that the $4.6 million planned program should create more than 4,200 jobs in Illinois over the next five years. The program also includes equipment upgrades at six nuclear plants.
The Zion Station decommissioning is to begin in September as a $1 billion, 10-year project.
A mix-up in issuing violation notices to Indiana drivers has the Illinois tollway figuring out how to collect an estimated backlog of $7 million from 116,129 Hoosiers.
The glitch spans nearly two years from summer 2008 to spring 2010 and originated from problems related to duplicate Indiana license plates.
The duplicate license plates meant erroneous violations were going out to Indiana motorists. As a result, the Illinois tollway halted sending out fine notices in May 2008 to reprogram the electronic toll system.
Chancellor Cheryl Hyman and board Chairman Gery Chico are not talking about abolishing City Colleges’ admissions policy.
What they’re saying is that a lot of kids who are admitted to City Colleges’ seven campuses aren’t ready to take college courses. They need an alternative because the current system isn’t serving them or taxpayers well.
Yes, those students hold a diploma, often from a Chicago public high school. But many of them have been finished with high school for several years before they seek to start college. And in some cases, their high school diploma doesn’t count for much. They’re not ready for college.
In an effort to extend what is one of the nation’s shortest school days, Chicago Public Schools plans to add 90 minutes to the schedules of 15 elementary schools using online courses and nonteachers, sources said.
The project will improve drainage to Orchard Lake and alleviate frequent flooding that has occurred in the neighborhood north of Illinois Avenue on the West Side, FEMA officials said.
* I just found out that a very good friend of mine passed away. That’s three lost friends since last fall. I need to go be by myself for a while, so I won’t be monitoring comments. Be good to each other. See you tomorrow.
* I already posted my newspaper column, but I want to pick out one section for our discussion here…
Meanwhile, it occurred to me as I watched Quinn’s speech at the Illinois State Fair’s Governor’s Day event that the guy wouldn’t recognize a campaign theme if it was bleeding to death on his front lawn.
Voters need simplicity. When they think about a candidate for major office, one word or short phrase needs to come to their minds. “Hope,” “Change,” “It’s the economy, stupid,” “What’s she thinking?” etc.
But Quinn is just all over the place, not only with his attacks on Brady, but in his defense of his own governance. One minute, he’s whacking Brady for not paying his taxes, the next he’s talking about the new jobs at Ford, the next he’s whacking Brady on some social issue or for missing a vote, the next, he’s holding a news conference to sign some obscure bill.
* The Question: What campaign theme would you recommend for Gov. Pat Quinn? Snark heavily encouraged.
* When we first learned that the Rod Blagojevich jury was deadlocked, I was silently hoping that the holdout wasn’t an African-American juror because I knew we’d end up with commentary like this…
It was no surprise to learn that Jo Ann Chiakulas, the juror who refused to convict Rod Blagojevich of selling a U.S. Senate seat, was an African-American. When Blagojevich was governor, blacks were his strongest supporters. By the end of his governorship, they were his only supporters. In late 2008, Blagojevich’s approval rating was 13 percent. Among African-Americans it was 32 percent.
The headline on that piece was: “How Blagojevich Really Tainted the Jury Pool (Hint: Black Folks Like Him!)”
Nevermind that there were four African-Americans on that jury and only one was a lone holdout on some charges. Nevermind that a poll taken the day after his arrest showed 68 percent of black respondents thought Blagojevich should go to prison, about the same level as all respondents 65 and older. There were other retirees on that jury, and the holdout was also retired, but retirees aren’t the object of attack here. And nevermind that the same poll found that black people and males were just two points apart on whether Blagojevich should resign. The holdout was a female, but there were lots of males on that jury. Also, nevermind that the same poll found that almost half of Illinois Republicans - 46 percent - believed it was somewhat or very likely that President-elect Barack Obama was somehow involved in the alleged Blagojevich crimes. And, finally, nevermind that the poll referenced in that above story showed that barely over half of Democrats disapproved of Blagojevich’s job performance near the end of his career.
No. It’s Chicago, so the race card is obviously going to be played by somebody.
And this is just stupid…
Chiakulas was also a state employee, a toxic combination of liberal leanings that made her inclined to support the governor who signed AllKids and tried to pass the Illinois Covered universal health care plan.
Anybody who wrote that doesn’t know much about state employees during Blagojevich’s reign of error. They despised him. Also, the coverage isn’t clear whether she was a state employee under Blagojevich for very long, if at all.
All that having been said, it is no secret that Blagojevich heavily targeted the black vote while he was governor overtly targeted black jurors after his arrest. His choice of lead defense counsel was probably no accident. But, again, three out of four black jurors voted with the overwhelming majority to convict on numerous counts. Tarring an entire race (or religion, or whatever) for the actions of one person seems more than a bit extreme.
But if you really want to read something extreme, stupid and bizarre, click here. Yeesh.
Defense attorney Terry Ekl, who represented Blagojevich chief-of-staff John Harris, said he was surprised Blagojevich wasn’t found guilty on all counts. “What the defense did was really jury nullification. It was not about following the law,” Ekl said. “They said, ‘Well, it was just talk. He’s broke.’ But, that’s what conspiracy is. Even if he just intended to get something, he’s guilty. You probably had two or three jurors who didn’t understand that even just talking is still a crime.”
I agree. But John Banzhaff, a Professor of Public Interest Law at the George Washington University Law School says it’s perfectly OK…
Although many do not realize it, and judges usually refuse to let defense attorneys argue — or even mention — it to members of the jury, jurors have a legal right, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, to refuse to convict for any reason and all, or for no reason at all. Indeed, under the doctrine of jury nullification, jurors may disregard a judge’s instructions and return not guilty verdicts even if the evidence of guilt is overwhelming.
If a jury finds a defendant not guilty because they believe that the law is unjust, there was governmental overreaching, or simply out of sympathy for the accused, that verdict cannot ever be overturned or even reviewed, and the defendant can never be recharged, even if overwhelming evidence eventually comes to light.
* Related…
* Blagojevich on “Fox News Sunday” with Chris Wallace. Transcript
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column is a warning to Democrats to start facing reality…
Lots of people are having trouble getting their heads around the fact that Republican state Sen. Bill Brady may well be our next governor. This is, after all, a Democratic state.
But it’s way past time to consider Brady a very real, even likely probability. Gov. Pat Quinn’s poll numbers, along with the economy and the state budget, are in the dumper. Scott Lee Cohen likely will target African-American voters and badly damage Quinn’s chances. The Green Party’s candidate won’t help, either. And almost $2 million spent on negative TV ads attacking Brady on abortion, health care and the minimum wage haven’t yet worked.
I’ve told you this before, but I think it’s even clearer now. This campaign looks more and more every day like the 1980 presidential campaign between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. We have the decent, honest person who can’t seem to run a government up against a conservative guy whom all the liberals love to hate.
Carter, remember, relished the opportunity to run against Reagan because he thought Reagan would be the easiest Republican to beat. Carter and friends vastly underestimated Reagan, believing him to be a telegenic empty suit with an actor’s smile and dangerously out of step positions.
Sound familiar?
And Reagan had to clear a hurdle that Brady doesn’t have to worry about. The nuclear button. Once voters decided that Reagan wasn’t crazy enough to blow up the world, they were more willing to give him a shot at the top office. Whatever Brady does as governor, he probably can’t end civilization as we know it.
But it’s not just current polls, spoiler candidates, a failed paid media strategy and an eery American history parallel that point us in Brady’s direction. The Republicans are surprisingly united behind Brady’s candidacy. That’s something few would have believed the morning after the primary, when the state woke up to discover that Brady led his fellow state Sen. Kirk Dillard - the “regular” Republicans’ candidate - by a tiny handful of votes.
The Republicans have been in disarray since George Ryan’s downfall. Jim Thompson gave a less than rousing speech at the Governor’s Day festivities during the 2002 state fair for fellow Republican Jim Ryan, then ended up co-chairing Democratic victor Rod Blagojevich’s transition team. Longtime Republican moneybags Bill Cellini moved in Blagojevich’s direction almost before the last Republican had filed out of the fairgrounds that year. Four years ago, the party’s right wing ridiculed Judy Baar Topinka’s candidacy, and the party never really unified behind her.
The GOP is fully engaged this time, however. The regulars are almost all on board. The right is pleased as punch that they have one of their own on the ticket. And the moderate Republicans are so happy that their party has a real shot at winning that they’ve hardly spoken a discouraging word.
Their party is hungry for victory, but most did their best at the state fair last week to not show how ravenously starved they really are. Their criticisms were pointed, but mostly measured.
Meanwhile, it occurred to me as I watched Quinn’s speech at the Illinois State Fair’s Governor’s Day event that the guy wouldn’t recognize a campaign theme if it was bleeding to death on his front lawn.
Voters need simplicity. When they think about a candidate for major office, one word or short phrase needs to come to their minds. “Hope,” “Change,” “It’s the economy, stupid,” “What’s she thinking?” etc.
But Quinn is just all over the place, not only with his attacks on Brady, but in his defense of his own governance. One minute, he’s whacking Brady for not paying his taxes, the next he’s talking about the new jobs at Ford, the next he’s whacking Brady on some social issue or for missing a vote, the next, he’s holding a news conference to sign some obscure bill.
The scattershot approach may be satisfying to some partisans, who want their governor to provide as many reasons as possible to support him and deliver as many hits as possible on the other side, but if you can’t tie it up with a unifying ribbon, then this stuff will just go over everybody else’s head. It’s just background noise, and that’s no way to deliver an effective message.
Quinn just hired a new media consultant, so we’ll see if anything changes. If Quinn wants to win, it had better.
Once a $400 million “partial pension holiday'’ expires in 2014, the system’s teacher pension tab is expected to soar from $196 million to nearly $600 million, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall warned.
Talks to replace three-year contracts for UIC clerical, technical and service workers had stalled. Service Employees International Union Local 73 was gearing up to begin a three-day work stoppage at the university and its medical center this morning.
The groups were identified because they failed to file required returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009. Many of them were never required to file tax returns before that because of their size.
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 required all tax-exempt organizations other than churches and church-related organizations to file an annual return with the IRS.
It’s a safe bet that 99.99 percent of Chicago-area drivers using I-88 or the Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate Highway 290) probably have no idea that they are on stretches of a new national highway corridor: the 532-mile Chicago-Kansas City Expressway. In the state, it also goes by Illinois Highway 110.
* Nearly 10,000 in 7 Illinois counties apply for flood aid
Cost considerations led Hainesville to eliminate its two-year-old police department and contract for service with Grayslake. Hainesville expects to save about $300,000 over the next budget year, which runs to April 30.
“This is yet another stunning report involving the administration of Governor Pat Quinn. Today’s revelation suggests that on the very day Pat Quinn was confronted with evidence by the Inspector General of an ethics violation, Pat Quinn put his political interests before citizens yet again and fired the Inspector General himself. This disturbing report leads to a myriad of questions that the citizens of Illinois deserve to have answered.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Gov. Quinn’s statement…
“Gov. Quinn has accepted Jerry Stermer’s resignation, effective immediately.
“The Office of the Governor complies with investigations of the Office of the Executive Inspector General and takes its inquiries very seriously.
“Jerry Stermer, who previously led the nonprofit organization Voices for Illinois Children for more than 20 years, has served as Gov. Quinn’s chief of staff since Feb. 9, 2009, at an annual salary of $150,000.
“In the case of the three emails in question, Jerry Stermer himself reported the inadvertent use of his state email account to both the governor’s ethics officer and the Office of the Executive Inspector General in order to allow the OEIG to both investigate and recommend corrective action under the state Ethics Act. Jerry Stermer disclosed the emails to the appropriate authorities in order to address the emails in the most honest and ethical manner possible.
“Gov. Quinn was briefed on the OEIG’s report and recommendations on Aug. 13 and has accepted Jerry Stermer’s offer to resign from his position as chief of staff, effective immediately.
“Ricardo Meza was appointed by Gov. Quinn to head the Office of the Executive Inspector General on August 15, 2010 after a lengthy search process which began in the summer of 2009. Ricardo Meza replaced an inspector general appointed by the previous administration whose term expired in 2008. The replacement was not in response to this or any other specific OEIG report, and these events are in no way connected.
“Gov. Quinn is committed to reforming state government, increasing ethics and accountability. All allegations are taken seriously, and acted on as appropriate.”
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* Gov. Pat Quinn’s chief of staff Jerry Stermer has resigned, but the resignation raises more questions than it answers. Why? This..
Quinn removed [Executive Inspector General James A. Wright] Aug. 13, the same day the governor was briefed by his staff about findings against Stermer by the executive inspector general.
Wright concluded that Stermer “engaged in prohibited political activity” and encouraged Attorney General Lisa Madigan to file a complaint against him before the state Executive Ethics Commission, according to a confidential report written by Wright and obtained by the Sun-Times.
Normally, one would say that this firing of Wright is a blatant attempt at a cover-up. But Stermer actually reported himself to the OEIG…
Stermer, Quinn’s chief of staff since February 2009, actually initiated a complaint with Wright’s office Jan. 12 to report that campaign-related e-mails he sent “inadvertently” last October and December from his state-issued BlackBerry or personal computer may have broken state ethics laws.
“While my intention was not to do anything wrong, I recognized that a mistake was made and quickly disclosed this information to the governor’s ethics officer — a former assistant U.S. attorney — who recommended that I provide the information to the OEIG for appropriate investigation,” Stermer said. “I voluntarily provided the information to the OEIG for investigation, and made it clear that I was prepared to accept the consequences for my mistakes.”
The plot thickens…
The first of Stermer’s alleged missteps came last Oct. 11 in a response to an e-mail sent a day earlier from the Quinn campaign’s media consultant, John Kupper. He wanted to formulate a response to an expected argument from Democratic gubernatorial rival Dan Hynes about Quinn being a “tax and spender,” the Wright report said.
That ain’t much, and neither are the other two e-mails. If that’s really all Stermer did, and if Stermer really did report his own behavior way back in January, then why, all of a sudden, was Wright demanding an attorney general complaint with the ethics commission? It took him eight months to conclude that Stermer was a bad guy?
Still, firing your inspector general the same day he files a report against your own chief of staff - no matter how rinky dink - is a really stupid idea. Wright could’ve been playing some internal politics to keep his job, but that’s the way it goes. Dumping him that same day was truly idiotic.
Also, John Kupper is the “K” in AKPD, which was fired last week as Quinn’s media consultant. Everybody’s going down at once, it appears.
What a great way to kick off the first week after the Blagojevich verdict.
“I have offered my resignation as Gov. Quinn’s chief of staff effective immediately.
“Last year, I inadvertently used my state email account to send three emails that the Office of Executive Inspector General later found to be prohibited under the state’s Ethics Act. While my intention was not to do anything wrong, I recognized that a mistake was made and quickly disclosed this information to the governor’s ethics officer - a former assistant U.S. attorney - who recommended that I provide the information to the OEIG for appropriate investigation. I voluntarily provided the information to the OEIG for investigation and made it clear that I was prepared to accept the consequences for my mistakes.
“The people of Illinois must have full confidence in the leadership of their state, and I will not be a distraction in achieving that goal. Gov. Quinn has built his career on the belief that government must be honest and accountable. Today, I am holding myself accountable for a mistake I alone made. I do not want to be a distraction for the governor, the work of his administration and - most importantly - for the people of Illinois. “
Jason was one of the most unusual people I knew. He served in Vietnam. He was wounded in action, but reenlisted as a medic. That second tour really screwed up his head, but he said his life was saved because he was discharged in San Francisco at the tail end of the summer of 1967. 
