* Press release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois…
U.S. District Judge Richard Mills today sentenced former Illinois State Representative Constance ‘Connie’ Howard to three months in prison for fraud committed by Howard when she was a state representative. Following her release from the federal Bureau of Prisons, Howard, 72, was ordered to serve three months home confinement, the first three months of a two-year term of supervised release. Howard was also ordered to pay restitution to two organizations: $15,900 to the Chicago Urban League and $12,450 to the Black United Fund, Chicago.
In July 2013, Howard waived indictment and admitted that from 2003 to 2007, she solicited and obtained approximately $76,700, representing that the funds would be used to provide scholarships. In fact, no more than five scholarships, totaling $12,500, were issued, and approximately $28,000 of the funds raised was converted to her personal and political use. Misuse of the funds included expenses associated with the promotion of her campaign, and campaign events, and to benefit one of her assistants.
At the time of the fraud, Howard was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. She served as Chairwoman of the Computer Technology Committee for the House of Representatives and the Eliminate the Digital Divide Advisory Committee of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Howard’s legislative and campaign offices were located in Chicago.
In 2003, Howard created an organization known as “Tee Off for Technology,” (TOFT), and established the “Constance A ‘Connie’ Howard Computer Technology Scholarship Fund, to provide scholarships to persons in need seeking a degree in computer science and related fields. Howard established an annual event in July 2003, known as the “Tee Off for Technology Celebrity Golf Outing.” Howard represented that the purpose of the organization and the annual golf outing was to be a fundraising mechanism for the scholarship fund. Because TOFT was not a tax-exempt organization, it partnered with tax-exempt organizations to serve as its fiscal agent to ensure that donations to TOFT and the scholarship fund were tax deductible.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy A. Bass prosecuted the case on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois. The investigation was conducted by participating agencies of the Central District of Illinois’ U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Public Corruption Task Force including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Chicago Division; the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations; and, the Illinois Secretary of State Office of Inspector General.
Howard’s indictment and subsequent admission shocked a heck of a lot of people because Howard (D-Chicago) was pretty well respected in the GA.
Just goes to show, you never really know a person. Particularly in this business.
Lt. Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti made it her goal at the beginning of the Administration to visit all 102 counties in her first year in office. Her stop at the Gibson Area Hospital in Gibson City last week completed that mission.
Below is the lieutenant governor’s statement on visiting all 102 counties.
“Last week, I accomplished my goal of meeting with residents in every one of our 102 counties in Illinois,” Sanguinetti said. “Along the way I’ve met with small business owners, farmers, elected officials, students, educators, entrepreneurs, labor leaders, healthcare professionals, waterway operators, coal miners, veterans… and an endless number of Illinois residents who are ready for real reform in Illinois.”
“The most important job of an elected official is to listen. As the governor’s partner, it was important that I connect with as many Illinoisans as possible in the first year of this Administration,” Sanguinetti said. “Meeting with residents in their own communities helps me to better serve them by learning firsthand what issues are most important throughout our diverse state.”
The lieutenant governor’s responsibilities as Chair of the Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandates Task Force, Chair of the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council, Chair of the Interagency Military Base Support and Economic Development Committee, and Chair of the Illinois River Coordinating Council, the Mississippi River Coordinating Council, and the Wabash and Ohio Rivers Coordinating Council allows her to lead the charge in advocating for an important, diverse and geographically spread-out set of interests. The Lt. Governor’s outreach to all 102 counties insured the priorities of each committee, council and task force she chairs are driven by local priorities.
* As you know by now, the governor signed the mostly non-GRF funding bill yesterday…
Rauner billed the move as a compromise, although it also provided him political cover as some House Republicans were willing to vote for the Democratic plan in the face of pressure from suburban mayors to free up the money. House Democrats ignored the governor’s requests and pressed on with their first plan, but ultimately used a procedural move to prevent the legislation from going to the Senate while the latest deal was worked out.
Monday’s action is likely to be the last major effort to plug budget holes for the remainder of the calendar year, as neither the House or Senate is scheduled to return to the Capitol until January.
Key areas that remain unfunded include colleges and universities, scholarship programs for low-income students and various programs for victims of sexual assault and those with developmental disabilities.
* Republicans are blaming Democrats for not funding MAP grants…
Republican Sen. Chapin Rose of Mahomet blamed House Speaker Michael Madigan for the lack of MAP funding.
“The Democrats had a few things that they added into this budget bill today, but apparently library grants rank higher than MAP grants in their opinion. The Speaker patted them on the head and said ‘We’re not going to (fund MAP) but we’re going to fund library grants,’” Rose said. “You’ve got Democratic supermajorities in the House and the Senate, yet Representative (Carol) Ammons was told no last week by the Speaker.
“We already have the answer, and the Speaker said no.”
* In case you’ve been under a rock, here’s the official Trump statement…
Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on. According to Pew Research, among others, there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population. Most recently, a poll from the Center for Security Policy released data showing “25% of those polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad” and 51% of those polled, “agreed that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to Shariah.” Shariah authorizes such atrocities as murder against non-believers who won’t convert, beheadings and more unthinkable acts that pose great harm to Americans, especially women.
Mr. Trump stated, “Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine. Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life. If I win the election for President, we are going to Make America Great Again.” - Donald J. Trump
“If a person is a Muslim and goes overseas and comes back, they can come back,” he said. “They’re a citizen. That’s different.”
OK, but Syed Rizwan Farook was a citizen.
* It’s good to see Gov. Rauner knocking down this nonsense. But if we’re supposed to be so afraid of vetted Syrian refugee families that we won’t let them temporarily resettle in Illinois, is it any wonder that people would then be scared half to death of almost totally unvetted Muslim travelers? Some might call the governor’s refugee proposal a slippery slope which led to the current inflamed rhetoric.
I still believe a recalibration of certain immigration/visa policies is in order because I love my country and I don’t want to see it attacked. But we gotta be really careful about opening up a racist Pandora’s Box because I love my country’s Constitution.
Frank Mautino, who resigned his seat Monday following more than two decades as State Representative of the 76th District, was sworn in as Illinois Auditor General in a private ceremony at Ottawa’s downtown courthouse late in the afternoon.
It was standing room only in the courtroom as Circuit Judge Eugene Daugherity gave the oath of office to a visibly emotional Mautino who stood before dozens of family, friends, supporters and public officials from both ends of the political spectrum.
Also present was outgoing Auditor General William G. Holland, who has served as auditor general of the Illinois since his first appointment in August 1992. Before the ceremony, Holland praised Mautino’s legislative career, calling the Spring Valley native “a man of great wisdom and dedication.”
Holland, who came from Springfield with members of his staff for the occasion, said, “This office is going to be left in wonderful hands.” Holland leaves office Thursday, Dec. 31.
* The raw vote tally and intensity of the nominations yesterday for our 2015 Steve Brown Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Government Spokesperson were pretty much split between two distinguished candidates. Oswego Willy was even torn…
What has been so frustrating to anyone following Illinois government is the constant and almost predictable messaging by all the offices involved. Many times it was easy to speculate what one of the other would respond to when faced with the issue of the day, the sound bite of the moment.
What has been noticeable is this Spokesperson’s responses. While doing her job at a high level, there has been more “plain speak” coming from her than any I can think of as quickly. Sometimes it is about saying what needs to be said for your boss without being saddled with checking the boxes of what is required to be said.
I nominate Rikeesha Phelon.
Her work-product and plain speaking when asked to comment for the President and the President’s Office has been refreshing and insightful. I have also enjoyed the “gallows humor” along with subtly pointing out avenues her boss and Office feel should be the message of the moment.
Being a spokesperson is hard enough, let alone in the environment Illinois government finds itself in today. People and communications are critical in trying to get Illinois government to function. This year, Rikeesha Phelon has done an outstanding job by not being cookie cutter, but being herself, and letting the message be more about the issue, and far less about checking talking point boxes.
* OW texted me after he made that nomination and said he had another one in mind as well. I encouraged him to add it…
I’d also like to include my name in calling for Lance Trover;
While dutifully working for the Governor, Lance has continued to be the constant and consistent voice in ensuring the Governor’s message is framed and making clear the position of the Administration.
Being a spokesperson is hard enough, let alone in the environment Illinois government finds itself in today. That holds true for Lance Trover, taking his lunch pail and hard hat and working tirelessly.
He has my unquestioned respect, and does the job with deft skill. Governor Rauner is being served exceptionally well by Lance Trover and deserves this award.
They’re both tremendously deserving, so they both win.
* OK, let’s move on to today’s categories…
* Best Illinois State Representative - Republican
* Best Illinois State Representative - Democrat
Remember, it’s about the intensity far more than the numbers, so make sure to explain your nominations. Also, do your best to nominate in each category. Thanks!
As far back as 1963, then-civil rights attorney George N. Leighton, who went on to become a federal judge, said the “number of (police brutality) cases” was “so numerous” and the patterns of brutality “so complex” that his Chicago branch of the NAACP hired an investigator just to document the allegations.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel helped crystallize the Laquan McDonald case for me Monday, although not quite in the way he intended.
Still struggling to contain the political fallout from McDonald’s alleged murder by a Chicago police officer, the mayor characterized the situation surrounding the teenager’s death as an “inflection point” that can lead to real, substantive reform in the Police Department.
“It cannot be just another incident,” Emanuel vowed as he introduced a new boss at the Independent Police Review Authority.
That’s it, though, isn’t it? That’s been the problem.
Right from the start, city government from the mayor on down treated McDonald’s death at the hands of a police officer as “just another incident.”
Just another police shooting. In a city that records dozens every year. […]
There’s a popular narrative in some quarters that Emanuel and his minions covered up McDonald’s shooting to get past the election. It’s possible, I suppose.
But I think the real problem may be that the alarm bells barely sounded at all.
There have been other police shootings, other citizen complaints, other videos, but people barely took notice. The city’s big media outlets weren’t even the ones which finally pried that McDonald shooting video from the government. There was no series of thundering editorials, columns and blog posts in April after the city council voted to give $5 million to McDonald’s survivors.
The mayor and just about everybody else treated this the same way they’ve always treated these things.
Video footage released by Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez on Monday showing the police shooting of Ronald Johnson last year revealed more than a fatal police shooting.
It showed the turmoil that some Chicagoans are living in as a result of gun violence — turmoil that has also made it harder to hold police officers accountable for misconduct. […]
Prior to the shooting — something that is not captured on the video — Johnson allegedly struggled with another police officer and was able to break free, according to Alvarez’s investigation.
At one point, five police officers and at least three police patrol cars and a marked Tahoe were involved in the chase.
Officers were dispatched to the scene when frightened residents called 911 to complain about shots being fired. You could hear the fear in their voices.
Residents reported shots being fired in front of 346 E. 53rd St., and that there were hooded black males running in the backyards and trying to get into the building’s entrance.
One exasperated caller pleaded with police officers to do something.
Unbeknownst to scared residents, a group of males that included Johnson had left a party in the nearby building and someone had shot out the back window of the car the group was traveling in.
Way too many Illinoisans are trapped in their own homes while this insane street war rages on around them.
Chicago’s best hope — and the mayor’s best hope — is the federal Justice Department investigation announced Monday. This sort of “pattern and practice” probe, which likely will lead to long-term federal court supervision of the Chicago Police Department, has worked wonders for other police departments. In the most successful cases, the use of deadly force declines while crime rates decline or hold steady — and community trust soars.
“This mistrust from members of the community makes it more difficult to gain help with investigations, to encourage victims and witnesses of crimes to speak up, and to fulfill the most basic responsibilities of public safety officials,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Monday, announcing the investigation.
[Rep. Elgie Sims] and [Sen. Kwame Raoul] also suggested licensing police officers, in that suspending or revoking a license might serve as an extra level of enforcement, as with lawyers, doctors and other licensed professionals.
Republican state Sen. Tim Bivins actually introduced a police licensing bill way back in 2010…
Provides that the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board has the power to require local governmental units to furnish personnel rosters, employment status reports, and annual training plans to the Board. Provides that a police officer who has been licensed, certified, or granted a valid waiver shall be decertified or have his or her license or waiver revoked upon a determination by the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel that he or she knowingly and willfully violated a rule or regulation of his or her department or agency that has as a penalty the discharge or dismissal of the officer from the department or agency. Establishes hearing procedures on decertification. Contains other provisions.
Bivins’ bill attracted just two co-sponors (the Democrat Raoul and Republican Sen. Pam Althoff) and went nowhere.
* Other developments…
* ADDED: New FOIA bill on police videos filed: A bipartisan measure aimed at strengthening the right of the public to see police dash-cam video has been filed in the Illinois House in the wake of law-enforcement-involved shooting deaths in Chicago. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Art Turner, D-Chicago, and co-sponsored by Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, provides that such videos, including dash-cam and body videos, are not exempt from the state’s Freedom of Information Act unless an agency obtains a court order. The bill also requires a court to conduct an expedited hearing when an exemption to the FOIA Act is claimed.
* I wonder if Sen. Kirk realizes that Cairo, Illinois is further south than Richmond, Virginia…
Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk gave a lively speech boosting Illinois to the manufacturers group on Friday, but one attempt at a joke veered into stereotypes.
Kirk said he often asks employers why they operate businesses in Illinois, given the state’s reputation for “high costs and unions and corruption.” Kirk said one employer explained that in the states south of Illinois, it was hard to keep a business open, “because everybody was huntin’ on that day.”
The first-term senator, who is up for re-election next year, put on a southern accent as he cracked the joke, drawing a bit of laughter from the crowd. Illinois employees, Kirk said, “they just show up, they work all day.”
“My reason for this is our inherent Polish character,” Kirk continued. “The 2 million Poles that, you know, Poles just work all day long and don’t ask for recess. … We’ve got to make sure that we sell that. There’s no absenteeism during huntin’ season for us, unlike the southern jurisdictions. We sell the Illinois worker who is just going to work like crazy.”
Yep. No hillbilly hunters and a whole lot of Poles. That’s what makes Illinois so great.
Sheesh.
But, hey, at least he’s saying positive stuff, unlike so many other folks in this state.
* According to Greg Hinz, IDOT is looking at adding one toll lane in each direction on the Stevenson...
The Illinois Department of Transportation [yesterday] took the first formal step toward potentially adding tolled “managed lanes” in the median strip of Interstate 55 (the Stevenson Expressway) between Interstate 355 in Bolingbrook and Interstates 90/94 (the Dan Ryan Expressway) in Chicago.
The proposal—to be the subject of a public hearing at 4 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Holiday Inn at 6201 Joliet Road in Countryside—would not directly impact existing, free lanes. But with the Stevenson and other highways more clogged every year and money short for expansion, motorists eventually may have to chose between creeping along in heavy traffic or paying up and accessing faster toll lanes.
“We can’t go on moving traffic in the same way we have in the past,” said IDOT Secretary Randy Blankenhorn. “This approach works in more than 50 cities now,” such as Dallas/Ft. Worth, where tolled roads and lanes often adjoin existing free expressways. And, from my experience, vehicles on the toll roads move more quickly.
I, for one, would probably use the toll lanes if traffic was bad, and it’s often pretty bad in that area. But I’m not exactly poor. Your own thoughts? Would you use the lanes? Do you think adding toll lanes is fair to those who can’t afford them?
In many quarters, it’s common knowledge that Chicago’s system of investigating shootings by officers is flawed. But the Tribune’s examination of the system shows that it is flawed at so many levels — critics say, by design — as to be broken. IPRA’s own statistics bear that out.
Of 409 shootings since the agency’s formation in September 2007 — an average of roughly one a week — only two have led to allegations against an officer being found credible, according to IPRA. Both involved off-duty officers.
Yikes.
* Jonathan Goldman takes a look at how Chicago’s clearance rate of 99.5 percent stacks up to Las Vegas and other cities…
One of the findings by the [Las Vegas] Review-Journal was that the Use of Force Review Board cleared officers of wrongdoing in “a staggering” 97 percent of the use of force cases it reviewed. In its petition to the DOJ calling for an investigation, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) cited the 97 percent figure, noting that “Meaningful review of these events simply does not take place.”
Clearance rates in other places, while still high, were much lower than in Chicago. The Miami Police Department was also subjected to a DOJ investigation, which found that 87 percent of police shootings were cleared. In Palm Beach County, Florida, 90 percent of officer-involved shootings were cleared over a 15 year period.
A DOJ report examining the Philadelphia Police Department was released earlier this year, which found that 77 percent of the officers involved in a shooting did not violate departmental policies. Even with a clearance rate lower than some other departments, “Some interviewees told the Justice Department they believed that the department’s board of inquiry undermined findings from internal reviews of officer shootings, resulting in “too little discipline.””
Only one other police department had numbers similar to Chicago. The Newark, New Jersey police department was investigated by the DOJ beginning in 2011, after a request was made by the ACLU. In its petition calling for the investigation, the ACLU notes that in 2008 and 2009 there were 128 excessive force complaints made against Newark police officers. Not a single complaint was sustained – 100 percent were cleared, even better than Chicago’s 99.5 percent. An interesting trivia fact: the police chief in Newark at the time was Garry McCarthy, who was just fired by Mayor Emanuel from his Superintendent position here in Chicago because of similar problems.
[Yesterday] Alderman Howard B. Brookins, Jr. challenged the nominating petitions of his primary opponent, Congressman Bobby Rush (IL-01). After extensive review, Rush submitted less than 750 valid signatures. Illinois election law requires 1,314 valid signatures for the 1st Congressional District.
“For years Bobby Rush has not shown up for his constituents and it’s clear the community is no longer there for him. There’s no doubt that losing touch with the district resulted in desperate attempts of fraud. From hundreds of signatures outside of the district to blatant forgery, I’m confident the Board of Elections will find enough evidence to remove him from the ballot,” said Alderman Brookins.
Multiple discrepancies found in petition sheets:
Multiple signatures from the same person on different petition sheets.
One signer signed for another person or multiple people at a single address.
Circulators signed their own sheets.
Circulator signatures do not match.
Notary notarized his own signature.
Circulators repeatedly visited the same addresses and collected duplicate signatures.
Some sheets have no signatures and only printed names.
To see examples of these, please follow these links:
Rush spokesman Stanley Watkins said the congressman’s campaign has not yet had a chance to review the challenge, but predicted the incumbent “will have sufficient signatures” to remain on the ballot for the March Democratic primary.
The Brookins camp is using well-known election attorney Mike Dorf to pursue the challenge. An even better known election lawyer, Mike Kasper, also is working for Brookins but on other matters, spokesman Tom Bowen said. Kasper’s other clients have included Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
A second challenge also was filed against Rush by another party, according to Board of Elections records. Details were not immediately available.
Resolving a petition challenge can be a lengthy, complex process. By law, those who sign are supposed to be registered voters in the district that’s involved, but sometimes people move. In other cases, attorneys for both sides argue over whether a signature is or is not legitimate.
*** UPDATE *** Check out the last line in this tweet…
State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) said the budget impasse has carried on for so long, it’s possible Illinois might never get a spending plan for the budget year that started nearly six months ago.
“If what some people are saying is accurate, nothing will happen until after the March primaries, then what’s the point?,” Brady asked. “We are looking at a budget for next year anyway at that point.
John Tillman, CEO of the conservative think-tank Illinois Policy Institute, told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin he expects the Democratic leadership will insist on a budget before the spring elections.
“I think (House) Speaker (Mike) Madigan is going to be very focused on those elections and he’s going to want to send his (party candidates) to go campaign because he feels very vulnerable,” Tillman said.
Thoughts?
…Adding… From comments…
Wait, Madigan feels vulnerable so he’s going to put his members on a vote to raise taxes right before their primaries? That’s insane.
So, please, click here. Then click on the “…” next to the “Message box and click “Report”…
Then click “Report this account,” and then click either “This timeline is pretending to be me or someone I know,” or “This is a fake account.” Then complete the process.
Researchers from IGPA’s Fiscal Futures Project found that Illinois’ budget practices are badly in need of reform. They assert, “The buy-now, pay-later content choices of the past were facilitated, even disguised, by then-existing procedural and reporting practices. Reform of these practices would improve budget transparency and accountability, and help prevent Illinois from getting into such dire fiscal straits in the future.”
The IGPA team suggests five concrete steps that Illinois can take today:
1) Refine and expand multiyear budget planning,
2) Require meaningful fiscal notes to accompany legislation,
3) Modify cash-only budget reporting to include significant changes in liabilities and assets,
4) Clearly identify non-sustainable or one-time revenue sources, and
5) Adopt a broad-based budget reporting frame with meaningful spending and revenue categories consistently defined over time.
All of those would surely help. Requiring legit fiscal notes would be a good place to start, but so much more needs to be done.
The full report is here. Let us know what you think.
A working paper released by the Volcker Alliance, a nonpartisan organization established in 2013 by former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul A. Volcker, sets forth six basic principles of sound budgeting for states and provides ten recommendations for improved budgetary transparency, including disclosure of 1) the use of one-time revenue sources to cover recurring expenditures, 2) deferrals of spending, and 3) underfunding of infrastructure maintenance and public-worker retirement obligations.
* Apparently, this little scheme is quite popular in Chicago…
For more than a year and a half, state Sen. Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago) recruited people into a home-based sales organization that she called “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Other local politicians, including Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, also have belonged to the company, 5Linx. But Van Pelt was one of the most visible company cheerleaders, seen on one promotional video for 5Linx boasting of her BMW and Bentley. She joined the company after she heard about a “million-dollar earner” with 5Linx, she says on the video. […]
In the video, titled “Senator Patricia Van Pelt’s 5Linx Platinum Lifestyle,” she blurs the line between her public office (a part-time job) and her sales position. Twice on the video Van Pelt’s name, title and the seal of the State of Illinois are featured prominently.
Despite the rhetoric in videos from Van Pelt about the wealth potential of 5Linx, she told the BGA that saving money on services is the benefit most people realize after joining.
Van Pelt rose to platinum senior vice president — one of the highest rankings in the 5Linx organization. But she quit 5Linx in June and joined a similar company, Utah-based Ariix international because, she said, she liked that company’s products. Ariix contributed $10,800 to Van Pelt’s political committee in September.
Have a look at the 5Linx page. Sheesh. No wonder Jesse White (who backed Van Pelt for the Senate) never did anything with it.
Three months after the Illinois Senate rose to honor what seemed to be the heroics of Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, a McHenry Republican is asking to take it back.
State Sen. Pam Althoff has made the rare request to strike from the Senate record the mournful resolution honoring Gliniewicz that was adopted in September, days after the officer died.
“Since adoption of Senate Resolution 942 the facts and circumstances related to it have changed,” the new resolution says.
I wasn’t aware this could be done, but I suppose anything’s possible…
Rescinds Senate Resolution 942 and expungement of entries relating to it from the Senate Journal and the Illinois General Assembly website.
* And, finally, an e-mail that was sent to the secretary of state’s office…
Greetings;
My name is Chaz Stevens, Executive Director of The Humanity Fund.
I am seeking information regarding installation of our 2015 Gay Pride Festivus Pole inside the Illinois State Capitol rotunda. We’d like the pole’s erection to near the Baby Jesus … as you never know, the little one might want to dance the night away!
The 2015 Gay Pride Festivus Pole is approximately 6’6” tall, painted with purple-glitter, covered in the rainbow colors of diversity, and topped with an 8” disco ball.
There are no moving parts, no power requirements, but plenty of opportunities to air one’s grievances.
I’m including a couple of links to get you up to speed, just in case you dialed in from another galaxy.
* Let’s circle back to Friday’s nominations. The 2015 Golden Horsehoe Award for Best Legislative Campaign Staffer - Republicans goes to…
I nominate Jordan Ryan on the R side. Competent, smart and always informs the House Republicans of the pertinent talking points and positions of the caucus.
As of next year, when we go back to handing out four prizes in this general category, the Best House GOP Campaign Staffer award will be named for Nick Bellini. The man is a beast.
Runner-up this year is Roxanne Owens, who was a very close second.
* The 2015 Golden Horsehoe Award for Best Legislative Campaign Staffer - Democrats goes to…
Anne Schaeffer. Anne has been nominated in previous years, but this is her year to win the award. As previous posters have noted, she often leads some of the more difficult races. More than that though she is mentor to new staff and provides a great example of how to stay organized and task oriented, all with a smile on the face. And it hasn’t been mentioned this year, so I will add that she also led the re-map staff for the Dems. Anne Schaeffer is a team player and winner.
Runner-up is Mitch Schaben.
Congratulations to our winners!
* Today’s category…
* The Steve Brown Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Government Spokesperson
The winner can be a spokesperson at any level of government. It’s not specifically a legislative thing. Just remember to explain your vote or it won’t count. Thanks!
* WUIS on the governor’s recent speech to the IMA…
“I am the most persistent rascal on the planet,” Rauner said. “I do not back down; I do not give up.”
But Democrats also have been persistent. They won’t agree to any of the business-centered reforms Rauner’s pushed.
As a result, Rauner says the stalemate will continue.
“It looks now most likely January to April,” Rauner said. “‘Kay? Persistence. Persistence. Stay strong.”
* OK, so, have a look at this chart prepared by Voices for Illinois Children. It’s just a sampling of some human service programs in the DHS Division of Family & Community Services that aren’t being funded during the impasse. All dollars are FY 2015 and are displayed in thousands. Click the pic for a larger image…
* Some program descriptions from the state’s website…
* The Family Case Management (FCM) program serves pregnant women, infants, and children with high-risk medical conditions.
* The Supportive Housing Program provides the necessary supportive services coupled with housing to enable formerly homeless individuals and families, or those in danger of becoming homeless obtain or maintain community-based housing. The program is designed to prevent people returning to or falling into homelessness. The supportive services must be needed for the homeless or formerly homeless individuals to function independently.
* The Redeploy Illinois program grants funds to counties or groups of counties that will establish a continuum of local, community-based sanctions and treatment alternatives for juvenile offenders who would otherwise be incarcerated if those local services and sanctions were not available, as required by 730 ILCS 110/16.1. In exchange for these program funds, the provider agrees to reduce the number of Redeploy Illinois eligible commitments from that county (ies) by a minimum of 25%.
* Emily Miller at Voices wrote me the other day about the above chart and, more specifically, Redeploy Illinois…
Hi Rich,
Something that gets lost in the budget impasse conversation that we must keep an eye on is the value of investment in interconnected state services that have gone unfunded since July 1, and the inefficiency of a piecemeal approach. […]
I’ve attached a sample of DHS programs that will remain unfunded even after the non-GRF money is released. Redeploy Illinois is an excellent example of the lack of wisdom in funding services piecemeal.
Alternatives to incarceration for juvenile offenders offered by Redeploy Illinois are not receiving state funding. According to DHS, the average cost per capita to serve a youth in Redeploy in 2014 was $5,912. The cost to house that same youth in the Department of Juvenile Justice was $111,000. And because the program reduced incarceration by 238 youth in 2012, the state saved nearly $17 million that year alone.
As time goes on without investment by the state, Redeploy is increasingly unable to serve youth. Because youth who have access to Redeploy services have a 27% lower recidivism rate than those who are incarcerated, youth released from incarceration are more likely to commit crimes that land them back in the system.
And where are the youth without access to services committing those crimes? In the same municipalities that are about to have their non-GRF funding released. Aside from the damage crime does to children, families, and communities, increased crime means additional local policing costs, and the additional cost of re-incarceration for the state.
The argument is not that municipalities and other non-GRF areas should not get funding. It is that funding them alone, without the network of other support services, is not maximizing state investment.
Given the fact that we are about $6 billion down in revenue than we were this time last year, it seems like efficiency of state investments and responsible budgeting is something lawmakers and the Governor should pay more attention to.
* Among other things, SB 777 would allow Chicago to reamortize its police and firefighter pension debt to lower the next payment by $200 million. The governor has been against the bill. Now, he’s for it. But only after he gets his Turnaround Agenda passed…
In a statement, Deputy Chief of Staff Mike Schrimpf says the governor “would sign SB 777 as part of a larger package of structural reform bills.”
In other words, the bill will get signed–when and if Rauner and legislative leaders reach a deal on a new state budget that includes some of the pro-business and related “structural changes” that the governor wants.
That statement raised some eyebrows in the office of Senate President John Cullerton, who backs the bill but has held back from sending it to the governor for fear of a veto. “The Senate president is encouraged by the development,” his spokeswoman said in a statement.
So is City Hall. As one top Springfield insider put it, “This is a very positive movement toward the bill when you look at (Rauner’s) previous statements.”
So, the bill has been moved from one pile (no way) to another pile (OK, but only after TA is passed).
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced Monday that no criminal charges will be brought against a Chicago police officer in the fatal shooting of Ronald Johnson III because a dash-cam video of the shooting shows Johnson wielding a gun.
“The legal question in this case is not whether Officer Hernandez shot Mr. Johnson and killed him, those facts are not in dispute. The legal questions are: Number 1, is there sufficient evidence that exists to meet the legal burden of proof required to bring charges? Number 2, in using deadly force, did Officer Hernandez act reasonably under the law?” Alvarez said.
A dashcam video, which was enhanced to provide the clearest view, showed Johnson just moments before he was shot and demonstrates that he was carrying a gun, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
At a news conference Monday morning, Alvarez and one of her deputies gave an extremely detailed narrative of what happened leading up to the shooting of Johnson, including audio tapes of 911 calls, police communications, maps and dashcam video.
Johnson and three other men had been at a party at 53rd and King Drive in Oct. and as they left their car was shot at.
The driver of the car heard the sound of a cocking gun from Ronald Johnson, who sat behind him.
The video was analyzed by experts and Alvarez said they are confident Johnson was carrying a weapon. She said the people in the vehicle with Johnson, who attended the party with him, also confirmed that he had a weapon. When asked how sure she was about Johnson being armed, she acknowledged the video was not “Hollywood quality.”
“They’re grainy, it’s dark, it’s blurry, it happened so fast,” Alvarez said, but after consulting with multiple experts she said they are confident that Johnson was carrying a gun.
Again, the video had no audio. Alvarez called the lack of audio in the dashcam videos “frustrating” and said the Chicago Police Department needs to answer for that.
A screen grab from the video is here. It’s hard to see anything.
*** UPDATE *** Mayor Emanuel…
“A life was lost here, and that is a tragedy that can’t be taken lightly no matter the circumstances. That’s why independent investigations are so crucial in these cases. Now, as our independent police review authority resumes its investigation to determine whether the shooting was consistent with CPD’s policy, we must also ask ourselves if the existing policies on the use of deadly force are the right ones and if the training we provide to officers to make split-second decisions in life or death situations is sufficient.”
On the 14th day since the Laquan McDonald police shooting video was released, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is on political life support.
Not trying to pick on Politico here. Lots of outlets are saying the same breathless thing these days, as if any second now he’s gonna quit or be forced out.
[Chicago Ald. Ed Burke] noted that state law includes no recall statute for Chicago mayors and there is “no mechanism” to remove a mayor in whom the voters have lost confidence.
If he’s charged with a crime, if the president and/or Hillary throw him totally under the bus, if there are extended and devastating riots (which some seem determined to spark) then I can see Emanuel quitting.
As long as events don’t completely overtake him, he has a lot of time left on his term, and time is his main ally here.
* But as I’ve said before, the mayor truly needs to go big. Use this as an opportunity to create much-needed, dramatic change for the better. Chicago can be made a safer, better city if this is done right. And that benefits everyone, particularly the police.
In calling current and former Emanuel insiders and others who know him well, I hear some things that suggest that, as always, there’s another side to the story.
For instance, the mayor feared that if the McDonald video was released the wrong way, some cops would get their backs up and hit the city with a case of blue flu. And bad relations with some reporters, who “hate him,” according to one mayoral ally, can make things look worse than they are.
But far more typically, I heard there really is a problem, and his name is Rahm Emanuel.
“He’s a one-man band. That’s the way he’s been for five years. He micromanages everything,” says an insider who knows the mayor well. “Sure, he needs a better staff. But he wouldn’t listen to it anyhow.”
Others make the same point: Emanuel is so focused on the short-term goal of winning the 24-hour news cycle that he gets in his own way and avoids the long-term plans needed to reach his ultimate goals. He downplayed the need for a federal probe of the Police Department, for example, even though such an investigation is coming anyhow and could provide him with the necessary cover to force unpopular but needed changes.
Emanuel “needs a Teele,” says another source, referring to onetime mayoral aide Terry Teele, who in his own boisterous and convivial way was one of the few people in the world who could tell Richard M. Daley to his face when he was full of it.
…Adding… Related…
* Karen Lewis: Rahm Would Have Won Even if McDonald Video Had Been Released: “I don’t think he would have lost. I think that had he shown the video it would have helped him, shown that he was serious about transparency. But the real issue is how in the world was Chuy going to win? Rahm had all that money he could throw at the election. We are in a place now where elections are bought, not won.”
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez on Monday will announce the results of an investigation into a fatal Chicago police shooting that occurred a week before 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot and killed by a different officer.
The announcement in the case of Ronald Johnson III comes less than a week after Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the city would drop its fight against release of police dashboard video showing an officer shooting Johnson in the back on the South Side.
Newly released documents in the fatal shooting of Chicago teen Laquan McDonald – including original incident reports, as well as summaries filed later by detectives — show that critical aspects of some officers’ version of events are not backed up by the now widely-viewed video of the incident. […]
One report states that as Van Dyke arrived and exited his vehicle, McDonald was “swinging the knife in an aggressive, exaggerated manner.” […]
In the video, Van Dyke begins firing at McDonald within about 30 seconds of arriving on the scene, near Pulaski Road and 41st Street — though the other officers already on the scene did not fire.
The report, however, has Van Dyke fearing for his life.
Chicago police officers enforce a code of silence to protect one another when they shoot a citizen, giving some a sense they can do so with impunity.
Their union protects them from rigorous scrutiny, enforcing a contract that can be an impediment to tough and timely investigations.
The Independent Police Review Authority, the civilian agency meant to pierce that protection and investigate shootings of citizens by officers, is slow, overworked and, according to its many critics, biased in favor of the police.
It sounds like something James Bond would carry: A knife that’s also a gun.
But it is the kind of thing police officers are warned about from time to time, just as they are about guns disguised as belt buckles and tire gauges and motorcycle handlebars modified to fire a shotgun round.
The knife-gun, which isn’t well known outside of gun enthusiast circles, has pushed its way into the case surrounding the 2014 killing of Laquan McDonald, a black 17-year-old who was shot 16 times by a white Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke.
The city released more than 300 pages of police reports and other investigation documents late Friday pertaining to the case, including a December 2012 bulletin warning officers about a “revolver knife” and a reference to Van Dyke remembering the bulletin.
During an interview with his superiors about the sequence of events and his decision to use deadly force, Van Dyke said he was aware of throwing knives, spring-loaded knives that propel a blade and he “recalled a previously issued Chicago Police Department bulletin warning of a weapon which appeared to be a knife but which actually was capable of firing a bullet, making it a firearm.”
In painstaking detail, Patton described how Officer Jason Van Dyke, whom Patton did not identify by name on that day, fired 16 shots into McDonald’s body on October 20, 2014, as five other responding officers exercised restraint.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Monday the Justice Department civil pattern or practice probe of the Chicago Police Department will focus on the police use of force, racial bias and its systems of accountability.
Lynch said the investigation will review in part the department’s use of force and deadly force, how any violations are investigated, how those officers are disciplined and whether there is any racial or ethnic disparity in how those matters are handled.
A pattern or practice review determines whether there are unlawful policing practices in a police department. If there is an agreement that remedies need to take place, the negotiated deal is overseen by a federal judge who appoints an independent monitor. If there is no agreement, the Justice Department can go to federal court and seek an order.
According to the Justice Department, “in addition to gathering information directly from community members, all pattern and practice investigations involve interviewing police and local officials, gathering information from other criminal justice stakeholders, observing officer activities through ride-alongs and other means, and reviewing documents and specific incidents that are relevant to the investigation.
“At the conclusion of an investigation, the division issues a public report detailing the findings. If the investigation finds no systemic violations of constitutional or federal statutory rights by the law enforcement agency, the division will state that and close the investigation. If, on the other hand, there are findings of patterns or practices of misconduct, the division will articulate precisely what those patterns or practices are, and will identify any systemic deficiencies underlying those patterns.”
* Related…
* ADDED:Sen. Mark Kirk Reacts to Laquan Mcdonald Shooting: “As far as I’m concerned, every single police officer who witnessed this shooting and failed to arrest officer Jason Van Dyke or who falsified reports to mislead investigators should be off the streets,” said Sen. Kirk in a statement. “And every person who made an effort to hide the murder of Lacquan McDonald should be held accountable by either the Department of Justice investigation, the federal grand jury investigation or the upcoming trial,” Kirk added.
* Rahm Emanuel op-ed: I own the problem of police brutality, and I’ll fix it
* Black People Are Not Ignoring ‘Black on Black’ Crime: To the extent that killings by the police generate more outrage, it is completely understandable. Police in America are granted wide range of powers by the state including lethal force. With that power comes a special place of honor. When cops are killed the outrage is always different than when citizens are killed. Likewise when cops kill under questionable terms, more scrutiny follows directly from the logic of citizenship. Great power. Great responsibility.
* Police review authority boss ousted: A former federal prosecutor will head the agency charged with investigating police shootings in Chicago after the immediate resignation of its chief administrator, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office announced Sunday.
Acting in the aftermath of the San Bernardino mass shooting, the Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from gun owners who challenged a Chicago suburb’s ban on assault weapons.
Two conservative justices said they would have heard the case and struck down the ban.
The court, though, left in place a lower court ruling that found that local governments have leeway in deciding how to regulate firearms. The federal appeals court in Chicago upheld the city of Highland Park’s 2013 gun law that bans semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines.
In October, the federal appeals court in New York largely upheld similar laws in Connecticut and New York, among a handful of states that ban semi-automatic weapons.
Discuss.
…Adding… Steve Chapman has some perspective on this issue…
It’s hard to think of any plausible safeguard that would have blocked firearm acquisitions by the husband — a Chicago-born U.S. citizen with a government job, a spotless record and no known history of mental illness. Law enforcement officials report that all four of the guns the killers had were bought legally in California.
Farook bought the two pistols, and another man bought the two rifles. The couple may have gotten the rifles in violation of the state’s rule that all gun transfers must go through a licensed dealer. Determined criminals can easily evade the law.
Two people capable of making or acquiring more than a dozen pipe bombs, which are not sold at Wal-Mart, probably have ways of getting the sort of guns they deem necessary.
Not that they would especially need “assault weapons.” These rifles are functionally indistinguishable from other semi-automatic firearms, which discharge equally lethal rounds with equal rapidity. And plenty of ordinary guns with higher calibers can do worse damage just as quickly.
Trying to prevent carnage by getting rid of “assault weapons” is like trying to prevent alcoholism by outlawing vodka. There are plenty of good substitutes. Limiting the size of magazines is also no hurdle for a minimally competent shooter, who can bring extras to quickly replace depleted ones.
* We Are One, of course, is the labor coalition which fought pension cuts. From Chicago FOP President Dean Angelo’s Facebook page…
The following is an earlier response to an FOP member addressing his concerns about reevaluating the lodge’s previous support of the CTU.
Dear Member,
Shortly after my taking office, Lodge 7’s association with ‘We Are One’ took a different direction after discussions about some in ‘We Are One’, in the CTU and in a few of the other groups were voicing anti-Police rhetoric.
Although the Lodge’s previous administrative body, as well as our lobbyist of the time, thought is best that the FOP be affiliated with ‘We Are One’, personally I did not. I quickly informed the new Board of my concerns.
The CTU filled at least 3 buses that headed to Ferguson after accepting an invite from their president to join in the demonstrations against the Police. We have also been informed that there was a Chicago contingent in New York and in Baltimore as well. Maybe those who previously thought we needed to be affiliated with this organization would like to answer to our Membership for signing on with them in the first place.
In keeping with their organizational anti-Police stance, a recent CTU newsletter contained a 3-page article describing how to best go about complaining against Police Officers working in and/or responding to issues in the public school system. Maybe the CTU should quell the classroom behaviors and gang problems with their own internal staff, social workers or administrators.
If what I just wrote falls short of clarifying the Lodge’s present position on ‘We Are One’, the CTU, it’s present leadership and any future FOP support; let me guarantee you that as long as I am sitting in the President’s chair of Lodge 7 there will no longer be any support from Lodge 7 to the CTU or any other organization that calls for their body of membership to rally against the Police.
Fraternal Order of Police President Dean Angelo said Wednesday he was “surprised” at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s decision to fire Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, calling it “another kick” to the Chicago Police Department and “another blow” to a “beat up” rank-and-file.
Angelo also hinted strongly that Emanuel may have made a mistake by bowing to pressure to fire McCarthy to ease racial tensions brought to a boil by the Laquan McDonald shooting video. Angelo likened the mayor to a permissive parent who gives in to quiet a child’s tantrum.
“People are screaming for a change. If you have kids that scream for treats and you give them treats, they’ll continue to scream” and demand even more candy, Angelo said.
[Chicago FOP President Dean Angelo] would have you believe that from another angle, McDonald can be seen menacing the officers with a knife instead of walking hurriedly away from them. From another angle, he’s struggling to his feet, knife raised, instead of writhing on the ground and falling still.
No way.
The video is so damning that Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s top attorney negotiated a $5 million settlement with McDonald’s relatives before they even filed a lawsuit.
The city fought hard to keep the public from seeing it, until a judge ordered it released.
With growing numbers of black and Latino politicians calling for Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to resign, it’s probably time for the county’s Democratic Party leaders to rethink their summertime decision not to endorse anyone in the primary.
The incumbent state’s attorney is facing two Democratic primary challengers, Kim Foxx and Donna More.
Foxx, an African-American woman and former prosecutor, is the former chief of staff to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and is backed by other African-American and liberal leaders, plus some labor unions.
More is white, is a former county prosecutor and has represented casino interests since she left the Illinois Gaming Board decades ago. She also contributed to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s campaign (one of only a handful of contributions she’s ever made). The first-time candidate has demonstrated an ability to raise enough money to compete.
The general rule of thumb for incumbents facing primaries is “the more, the merrier.” Multiple candidates can split the “anti” vote against the incumbent, which means Alvarez won’t need to receive 50 percent plus one to win. In other words, she could win.
The Chicago media is currently in an uproar about police-involved shootings, and Alvarez is taking big heat for her cozy ties to the police and for her alleged slow-walking of murder charges against the police officer who shot 17-year-old LaQuan McDonald 16 times last year.
Alvarez has always been very friendly to police interests, once charging a woman with a felony for recording two Chicago police officers as they were trying to convince her to drop sexual harassment charges against another police officer. That’s going above and beyond.
So, when the state’s lone Latino in the U.S. Congress, Luiz Gutierrez, withdrew his Alvarez endorsement and other major Cook County Latino figures called on her to resign, the pressure built to a full-on boil.
But as we’ve seen elsewhere, a racial backlash could easily develop in this contest. Racial politics are a hard fact of life in Cook County (as they are most places), so what follows may seem insensitive, but it’s not meant to be at all.
The hard fact is that suburban Cook County just isn’t as racially diverse or as liberal as Chicago. It was just 24 percent African-American and 25 percent Latino in the last census, compared with 32 percent white in the city. The suburbs have quite a lot of people who fled Chicago or who refuse to live there.
It’s also not a stretch to imagine that the reaction by suburban whites to the “Black Friday” protests on Chicago’s famed Michigan Avenue were probably a bit different than they were on the South and West Sides.
Alvarez has repeatedly and quite angrily insisted that she won’t let “the politicians” with “political agendas” force her out of office or out of the race.
So, the question has to be asked: What if Alvarez actually wins the nomination as a pro-police, law and order candidate? The uproar from the Democratic base would be deafening, and the consequences in the state’s largest and most important Democratic county might be substantial.
On the other hand, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Chicago Ald. Ed Burke support Alvarez. Those two have a lot of sway in Cook County, so as long as they are with the incumbent, the party likely won’t back anyone else.
Both men represent majority Latino areas. Madigan is himself facing a Latino primary opponent (which is probably no big deal, but Madigan hates taking chances). When asked last week if it was time to reconsider the county party’s non-endorsement, Madigan said he was too busy focusing on the state budget — which is simply not believable if you know the multitasking Madigan even a little bit.
And Burke flatly refused to back away from Alvarez last week.
Madigan also has quite a few contested suburban general election House campaigns, so the opinions of those voters have to be factored in as well.
It’s always possible, perhaps even probable, that Alvarez and More will cancel each other out, allowing Foxx to win.
But Chicago Democrats have enough problems these days (impending school strike, huge budget deficits, a murder spike, taxes rising everywhere) without piling an Alvarez primary victory on top of that gigantic mountain.
The Democratic Party showed it could adapt when it stripped Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown of her slating because of a federal investigation and then handed it to one of her opponents.
The same sort of rethinking should be done with the Alvarez contest.
It was a big plate of awkward served up at the annual Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago Christmas luncheon Friday at the Chicago Hilton & Towers Hotel … and Sneed was there.
So was former Chicago top cop Garry McCarthy, who has just been fired. […]
McCarthy, who had been invited to the luncheon before he was canned, was given a prolonged and sustained standing ovation.
Emanuel was not.
McCarthy was the only one on the dais to receive a standing ovation.
A southern Illinois state senator pointed out something the other day that sounds obvious, but really isn’t.
Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said we can’t address challenges until leaders agree what those challenges actually are. He was referring to the excruciatingly long state government gridlock, but that’s just one example of a broader problem.
As we all know by now, Gov. Bruce Rauner won’t even talk about crafting a state budget until his nonbudget demands are met. He breezed past the very real hardships created by the lack of a budget on Dec. 1, telling reporters. “We’ll take short-term pain for big long-term gain.”
OK, well, tell that to rape victims who can’t get counseling. Explain that to homeless kids or pregnant women or infants with high-risk medical conditions who can’t get services because of the budget deadlock.
On the other hand, Rauner’s right that we need to do something about local property taxes and the workers’ compensation insurance program, which is too expensive for employers.
Yet neither side can agree on what the real issues are or on what the top priorities should be. The Democrats refuse to see the damage they’ve done to this economy with their decidedly not pro-business laws. On the other hand, how can Rauner sleep at night after all but saying rape victims won’t get help until redistricting reform is passed?
* One reason why the Democrats are so loathe to cut a deal with Gov. Rauner on his non-budgetary demands is that they figure he’ll just come back at them next year with another set of major demands. From the Tribune…
Gov. Rauner has long said he is not pushing a “right-to-work” agenda for Illinois, but when speaking to a friendly crowd Friday at the Illinois Manufacturers Association’s annual luncheon, Rauner said the idea was only off the table “for now.”
“Our labor regulations, while all the states around us have gone right-to-work, that’s killing a lot of employers,” Rauner said. “I’ve taken that off the table, for now anyway, in the spirit of trying to get a deal.”
Rauner is currently pushing a less aggressive version of right-to-work, which allows local governments and school districts to decide what gets collectively bargained and whether or not to pay prevailing union wage rates on public projects.
That effort, along with a number of other items on Rauner’s legislative wish list, has held up action on a budget for state government since the new financial year began July 1. Rauner told the manufacturer’s group that he had always expected the budget fight to drag into the new year, and said it could be months still before a deal is made.
“When I started this process, I thought we’d probably have a compromise in the fall,” Rauner said. “That was my original, when I started last January, I thought we’d have a compromise in the fall. It looks now most likely January to April.”
The Sunday Spin podcasts: State Rep. Ron Sandack of Downers Grove, the House GOP floor leader, said an agreement to end the Springfield stalemate may not come until April, after the March 15 primary elections.
* Before I sign off, here are yesterday’s winners. The Golden Horseshoe Award for Best State Senate Staffer - Non Political…
Dave McEllis. Tireless workhorse who gets the details while also recognizing the big picture. A rare combo. Willing to tackle the tedious and transformative with same enthusiasm and commitment to excellence.
Dave got a lot of very strong nominations. Jo Johnson on the Senate GOP staff was a mighty close second. She’s also a great pal and she wins runner-up.
* The Golden Horseshoe Award for Best State House Staffer - Non Political…
Ben Lazare, hands down. He is all over Medicaid and is always so cool, calm, and collected. Very agreeable to listen to issues and work on projects. He exudes confidence in meetings and cracks me up when he kicks his feet up on the desk in his office, no matter who is there.
Judging by the comments and discussions with others, Mark Jarmer is most definitely an up-and-comer, so he wins honorable mention.
Congrats to our winners!
You can continue commenting on today’s awards. The comments won’t appear on the site, but I can read them. Lots of folks are over at the Board of Elections, which may have kept the volume a bit low here today.
We need volunteers today, tomorrow, and Sunday. Here’s why:
As you may have seen in the press, the Democrats are running a number of candidates for Republican ward committeeman positions across the city. It’s appalling, but there is a twisted logic to it: if the Democrats pick up some seats, they get influence within the Republican Party. And they get to place the election judges in a ward, which means it’ll be open season for vote fraud.
Fortunately, many of these candidates filed very poorly-done petitions. The petitions contain clearly fake signatures. (Ever known a whole family to have exactly the same handwriting?)
Unfortunately, we have to challenge these petitions a line at a time, which means we need people to go to the Chicago Board of Elections and look up voters to see if the signatures match. And the Democrats, who wrote the election law, have only given us a few days to do it.
We need your help ASAP. Please call Michael Federico at [deleted], or me at [deleted], and let us know if you have time to put in a few hours this weekend. The Chicago Board of Elections is open these hours.
This is nice, clean, easy, indoor work. (Not like that door-to-door petition work we asked you to do.) If you want to volunteer for the party, now is the time. Call us and let us know when you’re free. The Board of Elections is downtown at 69 W Washington.
A woman accused of repeatedly trying to contact actor John Cusack was charged today with stalking.
Elizabeth Diane Pahlke, 45, was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Van Nuys Superior Court on the charge alleging that she stalked Cusack between Oct. 1, 2010, and Tuesday, when she was arrested by deputies from the Lost Hills/Malibu sheriff’s station.
Pahlke was already subject to a restraining order recently obtained by Cusack, who she’s allegedly tried to contact through text messages and Twitter for nearly three years, according to the criminal complaint.
Pahlke is accused of flying from Illinois to Los Angeles, going to Cusack’s home and following him to a restaurant, where she approached him, according to Shiara Davila-Morales of the District Attorney’s Office.
Elizabeth Pahlke of Arlington Heights ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate in the 2013 special election for the 2nd congressional district once held by ex-U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
In what is likely to be a first, the Illinois Board of Elections is going through nominating petition pages upon which Republican U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Diane Pahlke glued leaves, grass and bird droppings.
Pahlke’s reason for attaching these natural visual aids?
“The mud, grass & leaves & bird signatures represent the bad decisions that were made from developers & politicians that stole from our land”
To be clear, nobody has yet reported that candidate Elizabeth Diane Pahlke is the Illinois resident Elizabeth Diane Pahlke who allegedly stalked Cusack.
“He (the mayor) is saying positive things in private.” - Rauner
Rauner also claims he has had lots of productive one on one meetings with MJM in recent weeks.
And Rauner just said any tax hike should be temporary.
…Adding More… Emily Miller in comments…
Yes, there is a point of doing a budget, even if it is in April.
Providers are continuing to offer services based on contracts that say they will get paid when there is a budget. They need a budget to get paid for services already provided.
It’s only because providers have been able to figure out how to tap into reserves and borrow money that the fall out from the budget impasse hasn’t been worse.
And in that regard, I hope no one is under the impression that lawmakers and the administration are opposed to borrowing– that’s exactly how this state has continued to function for the past 6 months.
* I’ve been pretty busy this morning, so I’ll announce yesterday’s winners when I close down comments later today.
Today’s categories…
* Best legislative campaign staffer - Democrats
* Best legislative campaign staffer - Republicans
I wasn’t going to take those nominations this year, but there was some push-back in comments. Instead, I’ve combined four awards into two to save some time.
Remember to explain your votes or they won’t count. Thanks!
* From a Tribune story earlier this week about the mainly non-GRF appropriations bill that passed the House…
The bulk of the $3.1 billion in new spending is money set aside in accounts earmarked for specialized purposes, though lawmakers also signed off on $28 million in spending from the state’s main checking account. About $18 million of that will go to domestic violence shelters and another $10 million was set aside for the Secretary of State’s office, which stopped mailing yearly reminders for drivers to renew their vehicle registration because of the budget crunch.
* I asked the secretary of state’s office where the money was going. Response…
We are currently reviewing all outstanding bills.
Our top priorities remain ensuring that Driver Services facilities remain open – this includes catching up on unpaid rent and utilities – and our firewall remains secure in order to protect the database of the public’s critical information that we maintain.
We will continue to be prudent in how we manage our resources during the budget impasse.
The office was really worried about its ability to pay cyber security contractors.
* I thought I’d share a bit of what I’ve been reading today and yesterday, starting with the AP…
A police dash-cam video that captures a white Chicago officer fatally shooting a black teenager 16 times has no sound, nor do videos from four other squad cars at the scene. But department protocol indicates all the cruisers should have been recording audio that night. […]
Several experts on the type of equipment commonly installed in police vehicles told The Associated Press that it’s plausible for a single squad car to have a glitch preventing sound recording. But they could not imagine how an entire fleet of cars would ever lose audio at the same time and place by mere happenstance.
Either their equipment totally sucks or something else is going on.
* The Tribune took a look at Burger King surveillance footage which shows “12 camera angles from inside and outside” the restaurant near the LaQuan McDonald shooting…
There is a gap in the footage from about 9:18 p.m. to 10:39 p.m., which covers the time when McDonald was shot by Officer Jason Van Dyke on a nearby street. […]
After the gap, a police officer in a bulletproof vest is seen sitting at a desk in front of a computer monitor in the back of the restaurant. Another officer is seen walking around behind the seated police officer.
I checked with the reporter and the gap is from all 12 camera angles. So, either the system went down (I saw another report a while ago which claimed the BK system was unreliable), or we’ve got another cover-up. The state’s attorney says there was no alteration, and other media outlets claim the feds say the same.
* Speaking of videos, the city is releasing the police shooting footage of Ronald Johnson, who, like LaQuan McDonald, was also killed in October, 2014. Mary Mitchell talked to Johnson’s mom, Dorothy Holmes…
Shortly after her son was killed, Holmes said she and several other mothers went to City Hall and tried to meet with the mayor.
“We wanted the mayor to come out and talk to us. He sent his spokesman out for him. He didn’t face us. If he had come out and talked to me, it would have meant something. It would have showed me that he cared,” Holmes said.
“But now that I had to go this far with it, I can’t accept his apology because I shouldn’t have had to fight this hard. It’s been 14 months that I’ve been fighting to get this dashcam video released,” she said.
“I wonder if he would have had to fight this hard if it was his son that had gotten killed by police. I just don’t want him in the office period,” Holmes said.
* The mayor apparently reserves his anger for reporters who divulge his vacation plans…
Rahm Emanuel laid into POLITICO’s Mike Allen on Wednesday when Allen revealed the Chicago mayor’s plans to vacation in Cuba with his family over the holidays, angrily saying, “I really don’t appreciate that.” […]
Allen again expressed his apologies.
“I don’t know if you know this: It’s not gonna work,” Emanuel said
Asked this week why he never watched the video, Emanuel responded that “reporters would say, ‘If you got to see it, why doesn’t the public get to see it?’ ” Viewing it, the mayor claimed, would have “compromised the integrity of the investigation,” which assumes this investigation had any integrity to begin with.
“…But [Emanuel] also has the opportunity to make some historic reforms that will make a real difference.”
Axelrod noted that although use of excessive police force is not new to Chicago — he wrote his first newspaper column 43 years ago on that exact subject, “You fit it with other tragedies we’ve seen nationally, and it’s a seismic event.”
Agreed on both counts. Let’s hope the mayor eventually comes around to that thinking, because the Tribune is correct here…
Emanuel’s reflex is to try to control the story, the news cycle, the basic information about the operation of this city. He has been burned by his own instincts.
Yep. Use this as an opportunity to do some darned good. Stop being such a control freak.
The Justice Department launched a pattern-and-practice probe of the Los Angeles Police Department in 1994, as allowed by a new federal law. It was triggered by the notorious case of Rodney King, the black man who was beaten by Los Angeles police after being stopped for speeding.
The federal probe led to a 2001 consent decree in which the LAPD agreed to enact dozens of reforms. And that, in turn, led to a dramatic transformation of the department, well before court oversight of the department was lifted in 2013.
“The LAPD remains aggressive and is again proud, but community management and partnership is now part of the mainstream culture of the Department,” concluded a 2009 study by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. “The Department responds to crime and disorder with substantial force, but it is scrutinizing that force closely and it is accountable through many devices for its proper use.”
Public satisfaction in the LAPD jumped, with 83 percent of residents saying the police were doing a good or excellent job, according to the Harvard study. The use of serious force by officers declined for five years straight, yet the cops did not curl up in a fetal position for fear of being accused of overreacting.
Two takeaways: 1) The civil rights probe is needed; and 2) Don’t expect quick results since it took them 7 years to get a consent decreee in Los Angeles, which welcomed the probe. Mayor Emanuel needs to get something moving now. There’ve been enough police studies to fill the Harold Washington Library. Action is needed.
A couple of years ago, Garry McCarthy met my boss and me for lunch. It was months after the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago and around the time the police superintendent was getting good press for joining his rank and file on patrols. […]
McCarthy also recounted in detail the NATO protest and his role commandeering the police barricade that ended the march. He received wide praise for the department’s handling of that scrum, and it was deserved. Certain factions of protesters were beyond obnoxious. They got into cops’ faces and taunted. They repeatedly provoked. They wanted so badly for law enforcement to lose its cool.
I almost lost mine. I wanted to punch a few protesters’ bandanna-covered faces as they darted and shoved through the crowd, occasionally popping up black umbrellas and huddling underneath to do God knows what. I gained greater respect that day for the unassailable restraint good policing requires.
A democracy cannot long survive as a democracy if it’s for sale to the highest bidder, ignoring the interests of ordinary members of society in favor of those wealthy enough to influence the election outcomes.
And make no mistake: The interests and preferences of the wealthy elite are far different than those of ordinary Americans. That seems self-evident enough, but it was confirmed by a 2013 survey of the richest 1 percent of Americans. The study found that the priorities of America’s elite differ markedly from the those of the rest of the nation — and that the rich are far more likely to win those policy arguments.
For instance, while 52 percent of all Americans believe the rich should be heavily taxed, only 17 percent of the wealthy agree. Taxes on the highest-earning Americans are far less than half of what they once were, with little chance they’ll be going up anytime soon.
A strong majority — 59 percent of Americans — believe that Social Security should be expanded rather than cutting benefits and raising the eligibility age. Only 3 percent of America’s wealthiest agree. Despite the fact that simply eliminating the cap on income subject to Social Security taxes would be enough to guarantee the program’s solvency well into the future, there is no serious proposal to lift the cap, currently set at $118,500.
More than three-quarters of Americans believe that the minimum wage should be high enough that a full-time worker can earn his or her family out of poverty. Only 40 percent of the wealthiest agree. The federal minimum wage hasn’t gone up since 2009.
In essence, the study found that the United States is more oligarchy than democracy. Policy decisions at the local, state and federal level too often reflect the will of the wealthy rather than the will of the people.
The pilot study as a whole yielded a total of 104 interviews. After a brief false start in the autumn of 2010, during winter and spring 2011 NORC interviewers used the refined sampling design (described above) to contact, win the cooperation of, and interview 83 Chicago-area respondents, who provided the data for most of the analyses reported here.
Emphasis added. If you look at the accompanying charts, there’s always “n=83″ at the bottom, meaning 83 is the number of people interviewed.
Most of our respondents fell into or near the top 1 percent of US wealth-holders. Their average (mean) wealth was $14,006,338; the median was $7,500,000. To give a further idea of their economic standing: respondents’ average income was $1,040,140. About one third of them (32.4 percent) reported incomes of $1,000,000 or more.
In 2014, Illinois had an estimated 265,000 millionaires, according to Phoenix Global Wealth Monitor, a market research firm.
But that’s based on assets, not incomes. It’s also statewide, not just in the Chicago area. I can’t find better numbers, though, so assume the target interview size is half that and it’s 132,000 people or so. Maybe somebody else can find better numbers on the interwebtubes and I’ll update.
Raise your hand if you think 83 people out of a group of difficult to contact, very private people is a sufficient sample size to emphatically state that this poll “found that the United States is more oligarchy than democracy.”
I’m not saying the finding is wrong. You can calculate a margin of error for that sample size and target population. I’m just saying that I don’t have a huge amount of confidence in it.
Geneseo (IL) High School senior Morgan Miller has been selected for Western Illinois University’s Centennial Honors Scholarship, which awards $10,000 per year to academically high-achieving students.
High school students with an ACT score of 30 or higher and a grade point average of 3.0 or higher are eligible for the scholarship.
“I selected Western because I feel that it has the type of atmosphere that I learn best in,” said Miller of her decision to attend Western. “It has supportive and encouraging instructors, a substantial amount of educational resources and plenty of places that I can feel secure in. Western is a place where you can grow as both a student and a person. You can challenge yourself academically to prepare for your future career and you can join a wide variety of activities that will bring you in touch with inspiring and outstanding people to learn from.”
Miller said she expects to major in instrumental music education at Western.
After graduation from Western, Miller hopes to be hired by a local middle or high school as an instrumental director, as well as continue to teach private clarinet lessons.
In high school, Miller participated in several music ensembles, including honors band, pep band, pit orchestra, the Quad City Youth Symphony Orchestra and the ILMEA district and all state festivals, as well as her church’s orchestra and bell choir. She also played tennis over four years for her high school.
* Gee. Imagine that. The Cook County Board wants to hold a hearing about a topic everyone is talking about and the subject of that hearing gets all upset…
“Anita resign! Anita resign!” the group [of protestors staging a 16 hour sit-in at the Cook County Building] chanted.
While the group began its sit-in, Cook County Commissioners John Fritchey and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia said they are filing a resolution seeking to have Alvarez appear before the Criminal Justice Committee of the Cook County Board. They want Alvarez to answer questions about the McDonald shooting investigation and the timing of the murder charges.
“In light of the now internationally infamous video of the shooting of Laquan McDonald, there exist a number of legitimate inquiries as to whether the residents of Cook County, and justice itself, are being properly served and represented by the State’s Attorney’s office in this and other cases,” said Fritchey. “The quickest and most open way to do so is to have the State’s Attorney answer questions in a public forum such as a hearing of the Criminal Justice Committee of the Cook County Board, a body empowered to serve and represent the interests of the residents of the county.”
Alvarez fired back. She said neither of the commissioners called her or asked for a meeting.
“I would be willing to talk in a professional manner. I am not going to be subjected to some political grandstanding and circus, which is what I think they have in mind,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez said she will not resign and has refused to bow to political pressure.
“I absolutely have no intention of stepping down. I was voted in to do a job and I’m doing that job,” Alvarez said. “The people who are calling for my resignation aren’t the people of Cook County…They’re seasoned politicians all with political agendas.”
I’m betting a lot of “people” in Cook County ain’t all that happy with her now. So, she can be in denial all she wants.
And as an elected countywide official, the county board has an absolute right to haul her in to testify. The city council ought to consider doing the same with the mayor.
Yeah, that’ll happen.
* Inciting anti-Alvarez rhetoric? Wow! Goodness gracious, there should be a grand jury!…
Following a press conference with Cook County Commissioners John Fritchey and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Alvarez talked to reporters and pointed a finger at her political opponents for inciting the anti-Alvarez rhetoric in recent days.
“That’s disgusting, it’s degrading. It’s degrading to the criminal justice system,” Alvarez said. “The case is pending right now, and I think it’s disgusting what they’re trying to do, to turn this into their own political game. And I think that’s exactly what’s happening here.”
Criticism of an elected state’s attorney is not an attack on the criminal justice system. Equating her political self with that system did not help her cause yesterday.
* And while she makes some good points here, referring to herself in the third person made her seem like a cartoon character…
In addition to the backlash Alvarez has faced about the length of the investigation in the McDonald case, she has also been accused alongside Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy of aiding a cover-up of the shooting. Alvarez vehemently denied this claim, however.
“You’re all intelligent, you get this. Let’s think about it,” Alvarez told reporters. “If Anita Alvarez was going to whitewash a case, if Anita Alvarez was going to look away, if Anita Alvarez wasn’t going to do her job and look at this case and do her review for excessive force, let me think. Hmm. I’m going to conspire to whitewash this to push it under the rug. Hmm. Who are my co-conspirators going to be. Let me see. I’m going to call on the head of the FBI. He could be a co-conspirator with me. Let me call on the U.S. Attorney for the northern district of Illinois and say, ‘Come be a co-conspirator with me, so we can cover this up.’ That is just absurd.”
“They can stand up here and they can criticize me all they want,” Alvarez said. “But I have an election coming up, and the people of Cook County will speak. Because you know what? I would rather lose an election than compromise the integrity of an investigation.
“I have done this job for 29 years, speaking up on behalf of the victims of Cook County, the majority of those victims being minority. And to be portrayed in this light by seasoned politicians with political agendas is disgusting and it’s degrading. I’m going to continue to be the Cook County state’s attorney, and there’s no way that I would ever even consider resigning.”
Um, I’m pretty sure that her outburst yesterday was intended to stake out some high ground in her primary bid. So spare us the whining about those bad, old “seasoned politicians.” She’s been elected twice.
* By the way, this is not to deny that the proposed hearing has political motivations. Campaigns elect our leaders, so campaigns do play a role in stuff like this…
Garcia has already called on Alvarez to resign, and Fritchey acknowledged he has endorsed Donna More in the race against Alvarez in the upcoming Democratic primary election in March. Kim Foxx is also running.
Fritchey added that, if he had his preference, Alvarez would not be in office during next year’s budget hearings for the state’s attorney.
“This is not an inquisition. It’s an invitation,” Fritchey added. “We’re not bullying her. We’re inviting her.”
He called it “her chance to give us the facts we don’t know” and explain the delay in charging Van Dyke.
“We’re already known as the murder capital,” Fritchey said of Chicago’s murder rate. “We don’t want to be known as the cover-up capital as well.”
If you’re feeling safe because there’s been no “mass shootings” as dramatic as the one Wednesday in San Bernardino, California or the one in Colorado Springs the week before, you’re simply not informed about how violent the state of Illinois has been in 2015.
Data from shootingtracker.com shows that according to the Reddit group that maintains the information, there have been 23 mass shootings in Illinois in 2015 alone. Shootingtracker.com defines mass shootings as incidents when at least four people are killed or wounded, including the gunman.
The website is down as I write this, but you gotta wonder if many of these mass shootings are gang-related.
Whatever the case, and no matter what else has happened to the image of the police here in the past several weeks, the cops are doing a job that almost none of us would ever want.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday he favors releasing the dashcam video that reportedly shows a Chicago police officer shooting 25-year-old Ronald Johnson III.
“We’ll do that next week,” Emanuel said after unrelated event Thursday.
The video allegedly shows a police officer shooting Johnson eight days before Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by another Chicago police officer.
* It’ll be interesting to see how the Fraternal Order of Police reacts to this new video. Its president’s reaction to the LaQuan McDonald video was quite something to behold.
Chicago FOP President Dean Angelo told reporters this week that when he watched the McDonald video, he saw Officer Van Dyke stepping “into his training mode.” And then he said he saw this…
“Just prior to the engagement, of the first shots fired, the shoulders square off towards the officer.”
In case you need to refresh your memory, click here to watch the shooting video. I’ve watched it several times and don’t see any clear sign that the kid “squared his shoulders” at the officer.
* This FOP behavior could very well give the anti-union governor some credibility…
Rauner on collective bargaining btwn FOP & city on discipline for cops: ppl have begun to question that process
Recently ousted police Supt. Garry McCarthy said in a 2013 interview that his policy is “termination” for cops who get caught lying during an official investigation.
But as things turn out, that’s hardly the case in our town.
DNAinfo Chicago found that IPRA recommended firing only 55 percent of officers found guilty of violating Rule 14 [a little-known provision in the Chicago Police Department’s disciplinary code related to officers “making a false statement, written or oral.”]. And none of those officers were fired for making false reports. […]
[Chicago should] Follow the lead of states including Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio and Washington, that make all police disciplinary records public.
* Related…
* Rauner: ‘I cried’ when watching Laquan McDonald video: “Anybody who sees that video has to really wonder, why would it take so long to prosecute or deal with this? What’s taking so long? It’s a legitimate question for everybody to be asking.”
* The Beth Hamilton Golden Horseshoe Award for Best House Secretary/Admin. Assistant goes to Carol Shehorn, who works for both Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie and Assistant Majority Leader Sara Feigenholtz…
I don’t care what kind of day you are having or what is melting down on your legislative agenda, Carol will make it seem you are the most important in the Statehouse and your issue the most important.
She handles a parade of lobbyist and agency staff coming and going and never, ever gets rattled or fails to treat everyone with respect no matter what is going on around her.
* And as long as no objections are heard, the Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Senate Secretary/Admin. Assistant will be henceforth named after this year’s winner…
Robin Gragg is unfailingly pleasant and helpful in her traffic-cop role at the antechamber to SenDem leadership offices. Some days, there are 15 people milling about in that tiny space, making demands, etc, and it never seems to faze Robin.
She’s won before, so I think it’s only fair to everyone else if we name the award after her so others can win. Plus, she really is an example for others to follow.
* Today’s categories are…
* Best State Senate Staffer - Non Political
* Best State House Staffer - Non Political
Try to nominate in both categories if you can. I understand if you just don’t have enough info about one chamber, but please try. And always remember that the awards are based far more on the intensity of the nominations than the number of nominations. Explain your votes!
Also, unless I hear strong objections, I’d rather skip over political legislative staff this year. We’re running out of time and it’s not a campaign year.
HARRISBURG — In the sixth month of a state budget stalemate, lawmakers may make a final push this weekend to agree on the details of historic education funding, expanding the sales tax base, reforming public pensions and making wine and liquor more readily available.
The plan to increase state spending by 6 percent is far from finalized. There’s a “framework” of an agreement, but questions remain on the tax increase. Some Republicans question the robustness of liquor and pension proposals.
Several session days are scheduled next week.
Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre County, when asked how much is agreed to, said: “Ninety percent, but that last 10 percent is the bumpiest.”
“We have to be close,” said Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. “We worked through the past weekend. We need a budget soon.”
Wolf told reporters there’s not “any sticking point” but rather a need to work out details and language.
Pennsylvania is the mirror image of Illinois. They have Republican majorities in the General Assembly and a wealthy Democratic governor.
* Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and others have called for a Department of Justice civil rights investigation into the Chicago Police Department. Mayor Emanuel didn’t like the idea, but he came around to it today. From a press release…
“Many things must happen to restore trust in the Chicago Police Department and I welcome efforts and ideas that can help us achieve that important goal. I want to clarify my comments from yesterday and I want to be clear that the City welcomes engagement by the Department of Justice when it comes to looking at the systemic issues embedded in CPD.
First and foremost, we need answers as to what happened in the Laquan McDonald case, which is why the United States Attorney should swiftly conclude his year-long investigation and shed light on what happened that night, and the actions of everyone involved.
As it relates to a longer-term review of our police department and efforts to improve police accountability, I am open to anything that will help give us answers and restore the trust that is critical to our public safety efforts. I trust the Department of Justice to make the right decision based on the facts and the law. Like every Chicagoan, I want to get to a place where we’re permanently addressing the entrenched issues in our police department. Our residents deserve that, as do our police officers. Adherence to civil rights and effective crime fighting go hand in hand.”
Background:
* On Tuesday, Mayor Emanuel announced that a six-member Police Accountability Task Force would immediately begin a top-to-bottom review of the system of oversight and accountability training and transparency that is currently in place at CPD.
* In his speech, Mayor Emanuel said: “Every day, we must ensure the checks and balances are in place to keep the confidence of Chicagoans … There are systemic challenges that will require sustained reform. It is a work in progress as we continue to build confidence in our police force.”
* Additionally, on Wednesday during a discussion with Politico, Mayor Emanuel was asked a question of whether CPD violated the constitution and federal laws. He responded to that question in the context of the Laquan McDonald case. See the exchange below:
Q: Yesterday, the Illinois Attorney General requested the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division investigation whether practices by the Chicago Police Department violate the constitution and federal laws. Do you worry that’s the case?
A: No. I want everybody to remember this. First, the city had a civil – there’s kind of three legal tracks and three kinds of oversights. On February 27, the family came and approached the city. We reached a settlement in and around the civil case and then took it to the City Council. If you go and look back at what Steve Patton said in front of City Council, a lot of that was there and in public domain. Immediately after the incident, back in February 2014 – so 14 months ago, within weeks, I think two weeks — the U.S. attorney and the State’s Attorney both opened up investigations with the FBI as an investigatory body. They had all materials, all the tapes, all the background. We settled – as I said – in April. But started in the discussions end of February when the family approached. As you now know, the State’s attorney concluded her investigation. There’s an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office here in Chicago with the FBI. My view is that given the period of time they’ve had the information, like everybody else, I await their conclusion. They are looking into this situation and all the aspects around it. I think an additional layer prior to the completion of this, in my view, would be misguided. And if you notice, they are doing a thorough job, given that they had the information two weeks after, just immediately after the incident. They are doing a thorough job, and hitting the restart button on a whole new investigation does not get you to the conclusion in an expedited fashion.
Q: But those are two different things. What she’s looking at is a civil rights investigation. It would look at pattern and practice at the police department. It would be a more sweeping view. Other cities have done it – would you welcome that?
A: Well, what I would first welcome is the conclusion of the existing investigation by the U.S. Attorneys right now that’s present. I think that one of the reasons I asked the former head of the Civil Rights Division, Deval Patrick, to be an outside adviser and senior adviser to this working commission is because it’s exactly the question he is familiar with and he has a different set of eye — I think is essential. Before the U.S. Justice Department would ask the local U.S. Attorney and FBI to take on additional work, I would them to complete the work – I understand these are very hard cases. And so they are taking on and look at all the perspectives around this case.
* Randall Samborn, who was the US Attorney’s press spokesman for years, explains what’s at stake…
What is needed is a full-scale Justice Department “pattern-and-practice” investigation of civil rights abuses within the Chicago Police Department — the type of sweeping, outside investigation that Chicago, seemingly alone among large American cities, has mysteriously evaded over the last several decades.
From Newark to New York, Cleveland, Miami, New Orleans, Albuquerque and Los Angeles, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which exercises sole authority to launch and conduct such inquiries, has scoured dozens of large police departments, leaving Chicago’s omission head-scratching.
The Justice Department may act if it finds a pattern or practice by a local law enforcement agency that systemically violates people’s rights. These investigations have resulted in settlements and court orders requiring increased transparency and data collection, steps to prevent discriminatory policing, independent oversight, improved investigation and review of uses of force, and more effective training and supervision of officers — all measures that the Chicago Police Department urgently needs.
*** UPDATE *** I meant to post this earlier and forgot…
The Chicago police officer charged with murder in the shooting of a black teen also played a role in the alleged cover-up of another fatal police shooting 10 years ago, according to court records in an ongoing civil lawsuit against the city.
Officer Jason Van Dyke admitted as part of that civil case that he copied the work of other officers on the scene, which made his official report match theirs, without conducting his own interviews of witnesses to the controversial 2005 shooting of Emmanuel Lopez.
While his role in that case was relatively minor, it looms larger now as the Lopez family lawsuit heads to trial in February over allegations that Chicago police shot the 23-year-old janitor 16 times without justification and then concocted a story that they were acting in self-defense because Lopez tried to run over an officer with his car.
If no one ran in the GOP primary, the Republican Party could pick someone in a caucus, gather signatures for him or her to put the choice on the ballot.
If a ringer like Lichte were on the ballot without opposition, however, the local GOP would not be able to field a serious candidate against Franks.
Unknown to the Franks folks, Steve Reick, the Democrat’s 2014 opponent who drove his winning margin down to 58%, changed his mind and filed on the last day possible.
Nevertheless, a Lichte stalking horse campaign could be of value to Franks.
His pawn could be the source of criticism of Reick, leaving Franks’ hands relative clean.
The Google photo you see below, however, makes the connection of Lichte to Franks picture perfect.
The Franks sign is readable; the other isn’t.
It is Franks’ sign favoring passage of electing the McHenry County Board in an at-large election.
We tend to think of the drastic decline in unions as an inevitable consequence of technological change and globalization, but one need look no further than Canada to see that this isn’t true. Once upon a time, around a third of workers in both the US and Canada were union members; today, US unionization is down to 11 percent, while it’s still 27 percent north of the border. The difference was politics: US policy turned hostile toward unions in the 1980s, while Canadian policy didn’t follow suit.
