* From the Boycott Du Quoin State Fair Facebook page…
Family legend has it that one of my ancestors was deployed to southern Illinois during the Civil War to put down a Copperhead rebellion. The Copperheads were so vicious that the Illinois governor called out the militia during a state constitutional convention over fears that they might try to seize control of the government.
[A boycott] would only be cutting off the region’s nose to spite its own face, seeing as we really wouldn’t be helped any to lose the economic boost the fair brings here annually. (And we can’t help but fear poor fair attendance this year could give the state reason to disinvest in it.)
* The Question: Should the state stop funding the Du Quoin State Fair next year? Make sure to explain your answer in comments.
Businessman and former candidate for Chicago mayor Willie Wilson said he’d like to talk to Governor Pritzker about the new state budget.
Willie Wilson said the increases in the gas tax and license plate fees in the new state budget hurt poor and middle class voters. He said he would like to talk to Governor Pritzker about creating a state budget that takes some of the pressure off of the working class. But right now, he said, his calls are going unanswered.
“Governor, I have sent you three or four emails, I’ve sent you a letter, I’ve called you two or three times. Your people have not responded back to me,” Wilson said.
I sent a FOIA request to the governor’s office that very day asking for any “e-mails, letters and phone log records from Willie Wilson to the governor and/or employees of the governor’s office since April 1, 2019.” The governor’s FOIA person eventually responded that she needed additional time to check the records.
For some reason, I remembered my FOIA request yesterday and fired off an email to the governor’s office asking what the heck ever happened to their response.
* Turns out, they sent it to me on June 25th and I didn’t notice it. Oops. I was in Chicago that day for the cannabis bill signing, which may have been why I didn’t see it…
Re: FOIA Request # 2019-152
Dear Mr. Miller:
June 25, 2019
This letter is in response to your Illinois Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request received on June 11, 2019 seeking: “e-mails, letters and phone log records from Willie Wilson to the governor and/or employees of the governor’s office since April 1, 2019.”
The Governor’s Office conducted a search and found no records responsive to your request.
So, apparently, Mr. Wilson wasn’t telling the truth. No surprise and it means little now because so much time has passed, but I’ll remember that the next time he makes a similar claim.
*** UPDATE *** My FOIA was for attempted contacts dating back to April 1. But the Wilson people sent me some documents showing attempted contacts before April 1…
They also sent me a photo (click here) of Wilson seated next to Pritzker at the 103rd birthday party for Elizabeth Jordan in mid-June, as well as this social media post from the event…
From Wilson’s spokesman…
I was standing beside him on Monday June 17th at a luncheon for this 103 y.o. Woman at 1546 west water st, blue island 11am when he asked the Governor ‘why he had not returned his calls?’ And JB said ‘ he didn’t know and would call him from the car now’ - and never did.
Sorry about that, Reverend! If the governor did promise to call him, he should.
A Cook County watchdog’s investigation concluded Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against her former chief of staff was “reasonable,” but said the county needs to come up with a better way to consider complaints of improper behavior by employees when they’re off the clock.
In a summary released Monday, Inspector General Patrick Blanchard noted that the woman who accused then-Preckwinkle chief of staff John Keller of inappropriately touching her in 2016 initially was unwilling to come forward. When the woman decided to do so months later as Preckwinkle geared up to run for mayor, Preckwinkle looked into the woman’s account and took action, Blanchard added.
The woman’s “hesitancy to come forward was reasonable,” Blanchard wrote. “The president’s assertion that she would not take action against an employee based on unsubstantiated rumor is also reasonable.”
Blanchard went on to note a lack of clarity about how to handle allegations relating to county employees’ behavior outside work that could “bring disrepute on the county.” He recommended the process for such cases “be clarified so to eliminate any confusion surrounding whether a report can be filed under these circumstances and how to do so.”
A Preckwinkle spokeswoman said the office recently received the recommendations and have “taken them under advisement.” Stephanie Henson also said the county is putting in place recommendations from an anti-harassment panel Preckwinkle formed in the wake of the Keller firing.
The full report is here. The IG claimed the investigation turned up no “culture of sexual harassment or discrimination.”
* Our old friend Emily Miller helped bring this case to light and she sent out a statement yesterday…
I understand the desire to believe that the culture of sexual harassment and discrimination are pervasive everywhere other than in Cook County government, and it would be nice if that were true.
Based on my personal experience and the experiences shared with me by other women who I believe, I disagree with the finding that there is no pervasive culture of sexual harassment in Cook County government.
Unfortunately, women will continue to miss out on opportunities for professional advancement because of the culture of sexual harassment. The fact is that I could not consider accepting a position in Cook County government because it would have been dangerous for me to work for a man that assaulted my friend and harassed other women I know. If that’s not indicative of a culture of sexual harassment, we need a new measuring stick.
I look forward to the day when the process works for women and whistleblowers and will continue advocating for culture shifts. This finding is not a setback—it’s a spotlight on the work that lies ahead, and I’m ready for it.
Illinois motorists over Independence Day weekend were greeted with higher prices at the pump.
The driving cause? Illinois’ gas tax, which doubled overnight, making Illinoisans subject to the highest state and local gas tax burden in the Midwest. This will cost the average driver around $100 more per year. […]
Rush University Medical Center, part of a private health system with annual revenues of $2.4 billion, will receive a $14 million grant from Illinois taxpayers.
The state will send $50 million in capital plan grants to parks and recreational units for improvements, such as pickleball courts. The Chicago Park District will receive $15 million for a new field house at Jackie Robinson Park.
Taxpayers will float $5 million to Northwestern University to purchase new science equipment. The private university boasts an endowment of $11 billion.
Those are vertical projects and therefore not funded by the Motor Fuel Tax increase.
* A couple of civil suits, a sexual harassment case and a possible federal investigation can do this to you…
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s principal political committee has spend a whopping $1.2 million in legal bills since fall 2017, according to state campaign finance reports.
The majority of those costs was paid to Chicago law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. The most recent quarterly financial report, filed on July 15, showed Madigan’s political committee paid that firm $140,564 for “legal fees.”
In total, Friends of Madigan paid $284,260 in legal fees between April 1, 2019, through June 30, 2019.
By comparison, a Board of Elections search found that Madigan’s personal committee reported spending no money on legal fees between 1/1/2016 and 7/1/2017. He’s spent $1.3 million on legal fees and services since December of 2002.
* Related…
* Chicago Ald. Marty Quinn says federal investigators have not contacted him, despite raid of brother’s home: ‘I know what you know’
Wait until rank and file state union members realize the new fair tax vote in Nov 2020 will also allow the state legislature to change pension details at will. ASCME leadership is very quiet on this topic so far. Now that will be fun to see hard core Democrat State workers standing with anti tax increase Republicans. Heck, that vote might even put Illinois in play for Trump. It will be like the anti gay marriage ballot feature that Karl Rove used to win six borderline states for Bush against Kerry. Illinois State Republicans will look like geniuses because Democrats are just too inept to get out of their own way. Same problem at the national level. Trump can’t losel because he is up against termites.
Um, what? The graduated income tax proposal has nothing to do with changing the constitutional protections of government pensions.
* I asked if he was insane. His reply…
So you claim the Fair Tax bill does not open the Pension System up for adjustment or you are just too lazy to research it? I’m a ASCME steward and we are starting our plan to protect our pensions from the ground up since leadership seems to be in denial. Trying to educate Media these days against their myopic, biased worldview is always eye opening but never a surprise. Have a nice pointless career.
Anyone who claims to be a shop steward and misspells AFSCME should not call anyone else lazy, particularly since they’re dead wrong about the graduated tax proposal and the pension system. I mean, click here and read it yourself. It ain’t in there.
* I reached out to AFSCME Council 31 for assistance and received this reply from Anders Lindall…
It’s understandable that years of attacks on pensions by powerful political forces have raised the level of concern and vigilance among public service workers and retirees who rely on that modest income in retirement. Even so, this is obviously a very confused person. The fair tax constitutional amendment has nothing to do with pensions and in no way affects any constitutional provision other than fixing the state’s unfair, outdated and inadequate income tax structure.
Union members and every Illinois voter should know, plain and simple, that voting YES for fair tax reform means that 97% of taxpayers will pay less or the same, rich people will pay their share and the state will raise more than $3 billion a year for schools, public services and to pay its past-due bills.
We’ll continue to educate union members on the need for fair tax reform like more than 30 other states and the federal government, where wealthy people pay a higher rate and working people a lower rate. And we’ll continue to correct any misinformation that may arise, making clear that this amendment has nothing to do with pensions or any other issue.
* I forwarded that to my pen pal and he replied this morning…
First, thank you for your efforts here. Secondly, any Constitutional language adjustment that allows a more direct change to taxing Illinois wage earners does indeed put everything on the table. It may be a 1% vale added tax for bailing out pension, it could also be rate changes at any level of the wage scale. What this bill does is open the process protected by the existing Illinois Constitution. In a more competent or less corrupt institution maybe we could roll the dice. In Illinois? No. Maybe you have witnessed something different than most witnesses to our finances since 1980? May I suggest a subscription to Crain’s Chicago Business to begin your recovery from Springfield gullibility. I have worked in Springfield handing envelopes to these dedicated drones. One who voted present and later moved into much larger job. The change in language in this bill does indeed open the options for future bodies and selected tax targets. For this staff member to state otherwise indicts him as either incompetent or a liar. Have him stand up and be identified as such. He has company down there.
An iconic nonprofit thrift store is crying poor in the face of looming payroll increases, and it is announcing plans to layoff disabled employees in order to take on the extra cost.
However, the 501(c)(3) organization pays no taxes, collects state funding, was awarded state contracts, and has special permission from the federal government to pay disabled workers well below the minimum wage floor.
Sharon Durbin, President and Chief Executive Officer at Land of Lincoln Goodwill, told dozens of disabled thrift store workers they would no longer receive a paycheck as a result of the state’s new minimum wage increase, and she warns future job cuts could still be coming to the last 11 remaining disabled employees still on the payroll.
Durbin runs the Central Illinois nonprofit branch that oversees 15 retail locations and more than 450 total employees. She wrote about “upcoming changes to the Vocational Rehabilitation Program” in a letter dated June 14th. Her letter said the program “is funded through the Illinois Department of Human Services,” but the funding “does not cover all of the significant costs of the program.”
The abrupt shift not only comes as disappointing news to dozens of disabled workers in the area, including some who live in group homes without their parents, but it also threatens to weaken the core promise of Goodwill’s mission statement. […]
Durbin’s son, Brian Durbin, was hired onto the Executive Leadership team and makes an annual salary of $95,747 at the nonprofit. […]
Durbin acknowledged that her group already pays the sub-minimum rate for 27 of 50 disabled workers, however, inexplicably, she says the nonprofit is “progressing away from that.” The federal formula requires employers to pay disabled workers based on a productivity scale at a rate commensurate with the work they complete. […]
The organization’s 990 tax documents from 2018 reveal Durbin takes home an annual salary of $164,849 plus another $6,145 in benefits.
Seems to me that this is the opposite of what “goodwill” means. Hey @GoodwillIntl - You can’t say our donations “create jobs” when your greed means your clients don’t get paid while your CEO makes $165K & her son makes $95K https://t.co/FjAFQkBd5r
— Rep. Kelly Cassidy (@RepKellyCassidy) July 16, 2019
Senate Majority Leader…
What a sorry excuse for a charity. The comments I read were ridiculous, disappointing and, frankly, disgusting.
Land of Lincoln Goodwill CEO Sharon Durbin, who pulled paychecks from disabled workers, happens to share some rather extreme political views on her Facebook page.
Here, she compares liberals to Nazis & suggests lax public school dress codes & sex ed invites school shootings. pic.twitter.com/4ZJA9yogKb
Durbin also posted this meme saying "everyone outside of Chicago has no voice" in Illinois. She worked for IDOT under the Blagojevich administration, and her nonprofit receives state funding and state contracts. pic.twitter.com/JiJTvZ4qD2
*** UPDATE 4 *** This info was also posted in comments earlier today…
It's interesting when you look at their 990s - CEO Sharon Durbin made $134,912 in 2014 and increased to $164,849 in 2017 (current 990). CFO Ron Culves made $49,845 in 2014 and increased to $106,063 in 2017. But they can't manage the increase in minimum wage? BS.
*** UPDATE 5 *** I followed up and was told that a committee hearing “is something we are currently reviewing”…
News that Land of Lincoln Goodwill in Springfield is laying off dozens of workers with disabilities without a valid explanation is drawing concern from State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield).
“It is disheartening that Goodwill would use false excuses to terminate the employment of reliable, hardworking staff with disabilities in Illinois,” Morrison said.
Morrison – who is chair of the Senate Human Services Committee and founder of the Special Needs Caucus – passed a series of measures this year aimed at increasing state employment of individuals with disabilities, all aimed at breaking down the barriers to employment.
Sharon Durbin, the President and Chief Executive Officer at Land of Lincoln Goodwill in Springfield, communicated to laid off employees the reason for their job loss was due to the state’s recent enactment of a minimum wage increase. Because they hire workers with disabilities, however, Goodwill is permitted by the U.S. Department of Labor to pay these workers below the minimum wage. In addition, the first increase in Illinois’ minimum wage will not take effect until January 1, 2020.
According to a recent WCIA report, Sharon Durbin’s salary at Land of Lincoln Goodwill is more than $160,000.
In 2018, Goodwill received nearly $400,000 in state grants and contracts solely to be used for workers with disabilities.
“What are these contracts going toward if not for the employment of individuals with disabilities?” Morrison said. “That is something we will be looking into. We need Goodwill to return to its mission of working to lift up those experiencing barriers to employment, especially those with disabilities.”
This afternoon on the show: we were scheduled to talk to the CEO of the local Goodwill as a firestorm erupts about their decision to cut jobs for disabled people, but we were told moments ago that she’s now unavailable.
*** UPDATE 7 *** From Kathy Carmody, CEO of the Institute on Public Policy for People with Disabilities…
Community agencies across Illinois that support people with disabilities have had to work vigorously to develop creative and mission-driven solutions to the challenges we face in providing quality and essential services. While the pending long-overdue increase in minimum wage will have a significant fiscal impact on all social service organizations, directly impacting the very people we exist to serve should be the last place an organization goes to balance its ledger.
CITY OFFICIALS TO PROVIDE DETAILS ON THE HUMANE CAPTURE OF THE ALLIGATOR IN HUMBOLDT PARK TODAY AT 10:00 A.M.
WHO: Leadership from Chicago Animal Care and Control, and the Chicago Park District
WHAT: Officials will provide details about the safe and humane capture overnight of the alligator spotted in the Humboldt Park Lagoon last week.
WHERE: HUMBOLDT PARK BOATHOUSE, 1301 N. Humboldt Blvd. Chicago
WHEN: TODAY, 10:00 a.m.
WHY: The Humboldt Park alligator has captured the imaginations of the entire City of Chicago and beyond and has united residents who have been following this story for the last week. The City’s top priority has been to keep residents and park patrons safe while facilitating the safe and humane capture of the alligator. Officials will inform residents about the plan that led to his successful capture and the next steps for him.
The alligator will be in attendance.
Kind Regards,
Jenny Schlueter
Assistant to the Director
Chicago Animal Care and Control
* I thought he’d be bigger…
…Adding… Florida man…
Nice to meet ya #HumboldtGator! Thanks to Frank Robb, who rescued the 4ft. alligator from the lagoon at 3 am this morning, for helping make this introduction possible. pic.twitter.com/ldW3jyXlHt
— Chicago ParkDistrict (@ChicagoParks) July 16, 2019
* Considering Friday’s news about the federal raid on former Ald. Zalewski’s home and the reporting of how the feds were “seeking records” about House Speaker Michael Madigan, a top Madigan ally and ComEd, how much longer do you believe Madigan will remain as House Speaker?
Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
We were double-checking a location on the map and stumbled across this interesting place name, southwest of Peotone. Does anyone have a Photograph of this or is the map just Foolin'? @DefLeppardpic.twitter.com/pQPuaFzfke
The lagoon with the interesting name is located near the broadcast tower for Bible Broadcasting Network station WCPQ. Google lists the radio station location as WBUS-FM. The call letters have changed several times over the years. The last time the station was called “The Bus” was in the 1980s and 1990s when it played rock music.
A post to a fishing forum from 2015 sheds some light on the area, “You can find it, but I don’t think you can find it by googling for it as a phrase, and it’s not really a lagoon. It just happened to be the closest spot that FishMap had for me to check out for Rainbow Darters and Southern Redbelly Dace. Neither of which I found while there, unfortunately. It’s a small spot on the Rock Creek as it passes under S. Center Road SW of Peotone.”
I’m still hearing chatter that former gubernatorial hopeful Jeanne Ives is planning to enter the race, perhaps as soon as this weekend. An Ives candidacy would amount to a surrogate rerun of her contest against former Gov. Bruce Rauner, who has endorsed Sanguinetti. Ives hasn’t been returning phone calls. […]
Look for immigration policy and Donald Trump to be huge issues next year if [former Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti] indeed is the nominee. She and Casten already have clashed over his decision to support the opening of a Trump impeachment inquiry.
Asked about the president’s tweets over the weekend, in which he said of four Democratic congresswomen, “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” the spokesman for Sanguinetti, who is the daughter of an Ecuadorian immigrant and a Cuban refugee, said she has no comment.
I asked around and heard the same thing Greg did.
* Sanguinetti sent out this press release earlier today, perhaps in a bid to get ahead of Ives…
The Evelyn Sanguinetti for Congress campaign today announced more than 40 new endorsements from elected officials, activists and Republican leaders for Evelyn’s election to Congress for Illinois’ 6th district.
“I am so thankful and humbled by the amount of support I have received in the short amount of time since announcing my campaign for United States Congress,” said Evelyn Sanguinetti, candidate for Illinois’ 6th Congressional District. “Through my conversations with 6th District constituents and the overwhelming support I have received, it is clear the 6th is ready for change and I promise to work my hardest to ensure this district is properly represented in Washington.”
Adam Kinzinger, United States Congressman (IL-16)
Mark Kirk, Former United States Senator (IL)
Judy Biggert, Former United State Congresswoman (IL-13)
Corinne Wood, Former Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
Dan Cronin, DuPage County Chairman
Steve Balich, Will County Board, Founder of the Conservative Committeeman Project
Fred Bucholz, DuPage County Recorder
Greg Hart, DuPage County Board Member
Kitty Weiner, Elk Grove Rotary, Political Strategist
Robert Corbino, of Downers Grove
Jack Novak, Downers Grove GOP Township Committeeman
Michael Konewko, Winfield Township GOP Committeeman
James Doerge, of Cook County
Liz Eilers, Director At WLUJ
Jim Ruhl, Naperville Township GOP Chairman
Stephanie Rhinesmith, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Sam Maggio, Vietnam Army Veteran, Wheaton IL
Mark Senak, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Yvonne Sencial Bolton, Former Republican National Hispanic Chairwoman
Ron Menna, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Meaghan Jorgenson, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Tom Elsner, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Bob Cherry, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Tim Whelan, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Mike Formento, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Flo D’Angelo, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Christina Martin, Downers Grove GOP Township Committeeman
Don Rickard, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
James Wool, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Bob Krzyzewski, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Jim Norris, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Carl Miller, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
David Norck, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Paul Bischoff, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Thommen Poozhikunnel, Milton GOP Township Committeeman
Mark Thomas, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Greg Moffett, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Arthur Grant, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Chick Briner, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Christopher Davis, Downers Grove GOP Township Committeeman
Alex Ion, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Joe Duffy, Milton Township GOP Committeeman
Noel Manley, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Tim Waz, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Deborah Kraus, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Jonathan Nelson, Downers Grove GOP Township Committeeman
Jaye Wang, Downers Grove Township GOP Committeeman
Cynthia Schneider, Naperville Area Republican Women’s Organization
State Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, said elected officials encouraging local law enforcement to not cooperate with federal immigration officials was dangerous.
“To say that we’re going to not cooperate with federal agents to deal with illegal immigrants is a violation of the law and I think that, I don’t know, I think the consequences of this can be most severe,” Miller said.
He said elected officials can’t pick and choose which laws to obey, be they state or federal laws.
There are no federal laws mandating complete state and local police cooperation on immigration matters.
Elected officials, including two Republican lawmakers, talked with residents Saturday about two controversial efforts, one that would separate Chicago from the rest of the state and another to encourage more counties to pass resolutions declaring themselves gun sanctuary counties. […]
“This is shrinking all the time, but the last I checked [Illinois] had the 18th largest economy in the world – in the world – and we have done almost everything that we can possibly do to destroy that,” said state Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, referencing high taxes and regulations. “So just think about what would happen if we, instead of having the highest of everything, if we were the lowest of everything … we would be thriving.” […]
Effingham County was the first county to pass a resolution to be a sanctuary for legal gun owners from burdensome gun laws.
Effingham County Board Vice Chairman David Campbell started the gun sanctuary resolution efforts. He said it’s grown to more than half the state. He was also at the Springfield town hall event Saturday.
“We need Sangamon County [to pass a gun sanctuary resolution] so we can get the rest of the counties to jump on board,” Campbell said. “They see Sangamon do it, they’re going to jump on, a lot of the other ones.”
Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul has publicly said that county state’s attorneys have prosecutorial discretion on whether or not to charge people for violating state gun laws.
A new day, and a new reason for some people to hate Illinois.
Hating the state you live in is a pretty strange phenomenon, but a popular one in Illinois. In fact, I think of it more as a self-hate, honestly. People whine and moan and complain about Illinois loudly and often. And these are people who were born here and have lived here their entire lives.
Huh?
I have lived in eight states and one U.S. territory and have never seen anything like it. If complaining about your home state was an Olympic sport, Illinois would take home gold permanently.
There has been a spike in the incessant whining recently as a new gas tax, increased vehicle registration fee, new tobacco tax and a few others have gone into effect.
If you were to believe a lot of people you know locally, or from the sampling of unhinged comments on social media, you would believe Illinois is basically the deepest level of hell, or whatever other horrible place you could spend eternity in, like Kansas. […]
I hope that some of those apparently tortured people will leave, and I hope they find the utopia they believe is out there.
The reality is they will eventually find themselves miserable there too. Funny how that seems to work.
* Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA writing in the Daily Herald…
As a person who makes his living in the political world, a big part of what I try to do is separate my emotions from rational thought in hopes of being able to see the world as clear-eyed as possible. So, it is with much sadness, but after considerable rational analysis, that I have decided to say goodbye to the state of Illinois, the place that from this point on will have the qualifier of being my “childhood home.” I have officially made the move to Florida.
Like many other young people who are statistically likely to have their best earning years ahead of them, this decision will help me avoid the high taxes, excessive regulation and the corruption of Illinois politicians and government.
This is something I have been contemplating for awhile, but a combination of family, friends, loyalty and simple inertia have held me back from making the move. The results of the 2018 elections in Illinois and the rise to power of those who believe in growing the size of government, increasing regulations and strengthening labor unions — all at the expense of the individual, entrepreneurs and businesses — all helped make the choice relatively straightforward for me.
In some ways, I don’t feel like I’m leaving Illinois. I feel as though Illinois left me.
The fact is that a majority of the money from the infrastructure bill goes to Downstate Illinois. As you know, the many roads, the miles of roads all across the state, the bridges, the significant investment necessary, it’s in mostly Downstate Illinois. […]
Universities around the state are mostly, almost entirely in districts represented by Republicans. And that’s where hundreds of millions of dollars, in fact billions when you add it all up, are going. So, the money is getting distributed I think very fairly across the state.
At the time, I said I was looking forward to the fact check.
Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh responded to our inquiry not with details from a specific state plan but rather with some math and historical perspective, starting with the fact that the governor’s program dedicates 74% of funding to transportation projects. Well more than half of that, the summary of his plan details, is slated to go to roads and bridges.
“He was focused on roads and universities,” Abudayyeh said in an email. “Downstate roads make up the vast majority of the state’s roads and bridges.
“Of Illinois’ roughly 16,000 miles of IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) roadways, 83% are located Downstate,” she continued. “Historically, the traditional distribution of road funds has been approximately 55% going to Downstate projects, with the remaining 45% going [to] non-Downstate projects.”
While that statement dealt with transportation issues, neither Pritzker nor anyone in his office provided the information needed to back up the claim about the overall allocation of infrastructure money under the plan. So we won’t be rating it at this time. […]
Experts we spoke with confirmed the historic 55/45 funding split Pritzker’s office used to defend his claim, noting it’s been common practice for decades even though it isn’t prescribed by state law. […]
Our analysis of last year’s IDOT report bears out that trend. Estimated funds for projects in Cook County and its five collars comprised 41% of the department’s allocations for state roads and bridges over the six-year period.
After six fruitless days of searching for an elusive alligator in the Humboldt Park Lagoon, the city announced it’s bringing in an expert from Florida and shutting down part of the park in a stepped-up effort to trap the gator.
The orders came from the top — Mayor Lori Lightfoot, according to Ald. Roberto Maldonado.
The city’s Animal Care and Control Department said it “is grateful to the Chicago Herpetological Society for its onsite assistance,” but didn’t say if the group’s alligator hunter known as Alligator Bob was now out of the mix.
Alligator Bob, a volunteer, has toiled in the lagoon for six days, day and night, baiting traps and paddling his canoe around looking for the gator. He was on the job Sunday, but later packed up his traps and left the park.
Chicago animal control officials have closed the eastern half of Humboldt Park and have hired an expert from Florida as the search for an alligator in the park lagoon enters its second week.
The closure, which includes streets near the park, was done on the advice of the expert, Frank Robb, and is aimed at making the area around the lagoon as quiet and free from distractions as possible, according to Chicago Animal Care and Control. […]
Robb, who owns Crocodilian Specialist Services in St. Augustine, Fla., arrived in Chicago on Sunday and “immediately began assessing the park and lagoon,” according to the statement.
Robb’s LinkedIn page claims he’s been a “Self-employed Alligator Trapping Agent” since May of 1997. His media clips are here.
For the second time this year, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin has stripped one of his member’s access to a House communications staffer.
Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, is the most recent to lose his state-funded communications staff member. Earlier this year, Rep. Dave McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, lost his comms staffer for criticizing fellow Republican Rep. Steve Reick for allegedly making “racist” comments and calling on House GOP Leader Jim Durkin to resign for being a “fake Republican” and “corrupt insider.” McSweeney, who wants to run statewide in 2022, said he paid for his own communications staffer, so he wasn’t concerned.
The problems with Miller (no relation) started coming to a head last month when his Facebook page displayed an Americans for Prosperity Illinois post calling on readers to “Keep Rep. Brady accountable for raising the gas tax.” The post featured a photo of Rep. Dan Brady, a Deputy House Republican Leader.
Rep. Miller claimed later that his Facebook account had been hacked. “Thanks for the heads up,” he told me after denying he’d made the post. I was dubious of the explanation, to say the least.
And the attacks on his fellow Republicans continued. Earlier this month, he wrote on Facebook “Republicans don’t vote for tax hikes,” and called the GOP members who voted to raise the Motor Fuel Tax “Republicans in name only.”
Miller claimed in another post (which, like pretty much everything else quoted here, has also disappeared from his Facebook page, but was saved by the House Republicans) that gasoline was 30 cents a gallon cheaper across the Indiana border and wrote “Thank Dems and Rinos.” And he talked some smack about Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, who voted for the gas tax hike. “She done the same crap last time on the budget.”
“The House Republican caucus does not tolerate attacks on fellow members,” said Leader Durkin’s spokesperson Eleni Demertzis when asked about the staff move.
”Apparently people that vote against tax hikes must be punished,” Rep. Miller responded, claiming that the move reminded him of junior high school.
Miller also said he was “very emotional” after losing his comms staffer. “It’s going to be tough without him.” But he posted a photo on his Facebook page, also since deleted, of his wheat combine with the text “Mission accomplished! Wheat cut. [Staffer’s name] gone. Prayers have been answered.” Asked about that, Miller said it was a “weak moment” and said he was probably spending too much time on his combine.
Rep. Miller issued a formal statement the following day quoting the Illinois Republican Party Platform’s plank about opposing tax hikes.
“It apparently is completely acceptable to violate a clear tenet of the Republican Party platform as no one who voted for the tax increases is being penalized in any way,” Miller said in the release. “I make some comments about my disappointment in Republican support for tax hikes and that is what gets our Republican leadership angry.”
“I will continue to speak my mind and will continue to oppose tax increases,” Miller continued. “The vast majority of my constituents are furious about the tax increases approved this spring. I hear from them every day and the message I give to them is that I will stand with them by opposing tax hikers regardless of their political party affiliation.”
Notice that he said he will oppose “tax hikers.” That would include members of his own Republican caucus.
Miller is a member of what’s known in Springfield as the Eastern Bloc, a handful of anti-tax, pro-life, ultra-conservative House members from eastern and southeastern Illinois. They haven’t had an impact on the Statehouse outside of occasionally getting a little publicity by using over-heated rhetoric. And now at least one of them has decided to go after fellow Republicans.
It’s difficult not to wonder where all of this goes for Leader Durkin, who heads up a super-minority caucus that is fractured into at least two even smaller camps.
Rep. McSweeney, for one, has been a constant thorn in Durkin’s side all year. And the Eastern Bloc members are apparently trying to reignite the party’s old circular firing squad habits of attacking fellow Republicans (say whatever you want about former Gov. Bruce Rauner, but he and his people put a stop to that stuff for a few years) and they and other members, including Durkin’s own House Republican Organization chairperson, are calling on Chicago to be kicked out of Illinois while a fight continues festering in southern Illinois over the Confederate flag.
I wouldn’t want to be that guy.
* Rep. Miller responds…
What intraparty struggle? I did not realize that Democrat light was the same thing as the Grand Old Party I am a proud member of. Republicans oppose tax increases. Period. https://t.co/eXUg77Z7QP#twill
Federal agents recently executed a search warrant on the Southwest Side home of retired Chicago Ald. Michael Zalewski, and sources familiar with the investigation say they were seeking records regarding the alderman’s longtime political ally, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. […]
Part of the probe centers on efforts to get work for Zalewski at ComEd and the interactions between Madigan, Zalewski and longtime ComEd lobbyist and Madigan confidant Michael McClain, according to three sources familiar with the federal investigation. The three sources declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak about the investigation. […]
The younger Zalewski’s wife, Carrie, was appointed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in April to head the Illinois Commerce Commission — which is ComEd’s chief regulator. […]
Contacted by phone at his Quincy home, McClain declined to discuss the federal investigation but expressed confusion about what the agents might be investigating.
“There’s nothing against the law about asking for a job,” he said.
* ComEd statement…
Exelon and ComEd have received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois requiring production of information concerning its lobbying activities in the State of Illinois. Exelon and ComEd have pledged to cooperate fully and are cooperating fully with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in expeditiously providing the requested information.
Those two companies have a huge Statehouse presence. They employ a ton of lobbyists connected to all four caucuses, but Speaker Madigan does have a whole lot of his people on contract over there, as the WBEZ story points out.
Former Ald. Michael Zalewski (23rd) has hired one of the city’s leading criminal defense law firms, the first confirmation he is caught up in the sweeping federal investigation of the City Council.
Newly-disclosed campaign finance reports show Zalewski paid $25,000 in May to Breen & Pugh, whose name partners Thomas Breen and Todd Pugh are considered among the city’s go-to lawyers for politicos in trouble.
Some of their recent clients have included former Donald Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos, sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI in the Russia investigation; former Mayor Richard M. Daley nephew R.J. Vanecko, sentenced to 60 days in jail for the death of David Koschman; Chicago police officer Joseph Walsh, acquitted of conspiring to falsify reports in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald; and Cook County Judge Joseph Claps, acquitted of bringing a gun into the courthouse. […]
Zalewski resigned his aldermanic seat in May 2018, in partial recognition of the overwhelming Hispanic majority in the 23rd Ward that would have made re-election difficult. He was replaced by state Rep. Silvana Tabares, an ally of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
From what I’ve heard, the G is/was interested in that replacement process. Zalewski did have plenty of other reasons for getting out of the city council, including the Latinx composition of his ward and his maxed-out pension.
Public records indicate Zalewski, who was making more than $114,000 a year as an alderman, has been having money problems recently. The IRS filed two liens totaling $185,634 against Zalewski for unpaid taxes in the past two years, records show. The most recent, filed in March, was for $99,770. The IRS last November filed a lien for $85,864.
It wasn’t the first time Zalewski had faced financial difficulties. In 2001, he and his wife, Mildred, filed for bankruptcy, which they emerged from a year later.
* This may or may not be related, but you may recall that a formal request for a federal investigation of Madigan’s political operation was made by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners back in December. To my eyes back then, it looked like a case could be made for suborning perjury. And once these federal investigations start, they can go pretty much anywhere.
* One more bit that may or may not be related…
My name is Sarah Mckay, I’m married to Kevin Quinn. I have stayed silent long enough, I have two children that I love more than anything in the world, they are currently uninsured, while he has insurance, he made $14,000 in January, he’s being ghost pay rolled by Madigan goons.
