* Matt Hopf at the Quincy Herald-Whig…
Two of 10 lawsuits filed against the state of Illinois claim the Illinois Veterans Home knew of the presence of the water-borne bacteria Legionella in its facility by July 2015 and did not notify the residents or their families about the issues.
They also claim that when two residents became ill and exhibited fevers, they never were tested for Legionella by medical personnel at the facility.
The Herald-Whig obtained the lawsuits from the Illinois Court of Claims through a Freedom of Information Act request. An 11th lawsuit is expected to be filed. […]
In the lawsuit filed on behalf of the family of Melvin Tucker, who died Aug. 31, 2015, at the age of 88 from a Legionella pneumophilia infection, the family claims that daily nursing logs in July 2015 showed Tucker was doing well. But the family claims that on Aug. 21, 2015, Tucker told the staff that “he did not feel well and was concerned that he was sick.” The family claims further logs noted that Tucker had a fever and issues with his lungs. He reportedly was given Tylenol, but the suit says no further action was taken.
“By August 27, 2015, Mr. Tucker was very anxious about his health and it is noted that he informed his priest that he was fearful he was going to die,” an exhibit from the lawsuit said. “Finally, on this date, the staff took a urine sample and confirmed that he was in fact positive for Legionella.”
August 27th is highlighted for a reason.
Consult the timeline we talked about yesterday. Veterans Affairs Director Erica Jeffries claims that the remediation cleanup started on August 21st. Since I posted that timeline yesterday, IDPH Director Nirav Shah has told me that his agency was informed by the county health department on August 5th about the first case and was notified about the second case on August 21st (individual cases are pretty common everywhere, but when a second case is found, it’s more cause for alarm). On August 23rd, the CDC was formally notified of five confirmed cases. The governor’s office was notified on August 24th.
And yet, it wasn’t until August 27th that Tucker was finally tested even though he was exhibiting classic symptoms?
* Oh, and by the way, in the midst of all this, on August 25th, Gov. Rauner and IDVA Director Erica Jeffries did a photo op in Springfield with some veterans…
Two days later, IDVA and IDPH announced the outbreak to the public.
The lawsuits are here.
* Rep. Jil Tracy, who represents the Quincy area, told me today that she would “not hesitate about putting my father into the veterans’ home.”
It does appear that the veterans’ home has upped its game since then. They’ve had a couple of outbreaks since 2015 and they’ve both been contained. “It’s a great place for anyone to live,” Tracy insisted.
* I think one thing that local leaders are really worried about is the potential for closure. From WBEZ’s report...
Sen. Durbin tells WBEZ far more dramatic steps are necessary in light of the most recent legionellosis cases in October and November.
He said the state must move the Quincy home’s nearly 400 veterans and their spouses to a safe place until its century-old plumbing system is fully free of the waterborne bacteria that killed residents. If that isn’t possible, the state should build a new home, Durbin said. […]
“I want an admission by the governor that we have failed these veterans, and we need to do something immediately on an emergency basis to protect those who are there to make sure this never happens again and, if necessary, to replace this facility,” said Durbin, who along with fellow Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, has endorsed candidate J.B. Pritzker to be their party’s nominee to challenge Rauner as the potential GOP candidate in the 2018 gubernatorial election.
“What we have now lurching from year to year is a situation that’s embarrassing, and it’s an insult to these veterans and their families,” Durbin said.
* Pritzker campaign…
“Allegations of failure to notify families and test residents are appalling and more evidence of Bruce Rauner’s gross mismanagement and neglect,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “Sadly, this is only the tip of the iceberg as many more details remain unknown, which is why Bruce Rauner must immediately release all communication about the Legionnaires outbreaks in Quincy.”
…Adding… DGA…
Two new reports out today added more questions about Governor Bruce Rauner’s administration’s response to the tragic Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at the Quincy Veterans’ Home. Ultimately, 13 people died in 2015. The Herald-Whig obtained lawsuits that detail how residents were not tested or treated in a timely fashion, despite showing symptoms of the disease. Why did the Rauner administration not take more aggressive steps to ensure everyone was tested and cared for knowing the deadliness of the disease?
Secondly, Capitol Fax reported Governor Bruce Rauner attended a veterans’ honor flight with his Veterans’ Affairs Director after the Governor’s office was informed of the outbreak, but before the public was alerted. This meeting calls into question Rauner’s role in the then-unfolding situation at the Quincy Veterans’ Home. Was Rauner briefed by his Veterans’ Affairs Director during this meeting? Did Rauner and the Director talk about when the public should be informed?
So far, Rauner’s administration has done nothing to address the questions raised by WBEZ’s heartbreaking account from Wednesday. As new information leaks out, those questions will only grow.
“Bruce Rauner’s administration already failed veterans at the Quincy home, and now he is refusing to be transparent about what happened,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “The families of the deceased should not need to find out what happened to their loved ones through press reports. Rauner needs to come clean about what he knew when, and what he did about it. This is not the time for Rauner to simply duck accountability for his administration’s failures like he always does.”
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* I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this story, but when I was in 6th Grade I lost the county spelling bee because I misspelled the word “assessor.” I knew how to spell it. I had seen a billboard with a candidate running for the office. I was just too embarrassed to spell a-s-s in front of a bunch of people during an event broadcast live on the radio. I got to a-s and then froze. I could feel my face getting beet red. After what seemed like forever, I spelled it a-s-e-s-s-o-r. And that was the end of that. So, quite often when I write about this topic I flash back to my first public humiliation.
Anyway, maybe now that I’ve told my horrific story I can start healing myself. /s
The background on this press release, including the Berrios ad, is here. From the Kaegi campaign…
In response to the recent television commercial created by current Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios’ re-election campaign, progressive Democrat Fritz Kaegi’s campaign served Assessor Berrios and his campaign staff with a cease and desist letter demanding an immediate removal of the allegedly defamatory ad. Rebecca Reynolds, Kaegi’s campaign manager, issued the following statement:
“The Berrios campaign claim that Fritz Kaegi personally managed investments in private prisons is a malicious lie intended to mislead voters and deflect from Berrios’ history of incompetence, corruption and pay-to-play practices as Assessor. Assessor Berrios’ campaign and its allies continue to spread lies in the public sphere. Therefore, in order to set the record straight, and hold Berrios accountable for his actions, our team has no alternative but to seek legal remedy.
“The notion that Fritz personally managed investments in the prison-management sector is a complete and utter fabrication - one that could easily be discovered with minimal effort. The Berrios campaign points to Columbia Acorn Fund holdings as of March 31, 2017. But Fritz was not a portfolio manager on the Columbia Acorn Fund at this date. He provided notice of his resignation on February 28, 2017, and stepped down from the funds he managed on March 13, 2017. Fritz would not have allowed such an investment, not only because those companies operate in a way that he finds morally reprehensible; but also because they tend to make for a poor investment.
“While misleading voters to attack Fritz is shameful on its own, the fact that Berrios is politicizing an issue that continues to cause so much pain within the very communities he himself is preying upon is beyond the pale. We demand that Assessor Berrios discontinue this fallacious attack ad immediately and issue an apology to Mr. Kaegi.”
I’m having some trouble uploading the file, but I’ll post the cease and desist letter when I can. UPDATE: Click here for the file.
*** UPDATE *** Berrios campaign…
Today, our campaign office received a cease and desist letter from Fritz Kaegi requesting that we take down our television ad that demonstrates that while he was employed at Columbia Wagner Asset Management, where he designed and implemented investment strategies.
As a senior portfolio manager of Columbia Acorn Fund (ACRNX), Fritz and his fund managers invested in companies with bad track records. Most notable are:
$29 million invested in the Corrections Corporation of America, a private prison operator that lobbied for legislation increasing incarcerations in the U.S. Such policies have been shown to unfairly target African Americans, Latinos, and undocumented immigrants.
$44 million invested in DeVry University, which was sued for false advertisements that target lower-income communities
$41 million invested in Celanese Corp, which was Accused of contaminating water with cancer-causing chemicals in 2014
$21 million invested in Centene Corp, Health insurer criticized for refusing to cover surgery for infant with brain tumor
$19 million invested in Navigant Consulting, a consulting firm accused of charging Long Island Port Authority exorbitant fees while assisting with response to Hurricane Sandy
$196 million invested in MB Financial, bailed out by federal government
$52 million invested in TransUnion, Credit tracking agency that settled claims from New York Attorney General that it failed to properly respond to consumer complaints about mistakes in credit reports
Shame on Fritz Kaegi for using Wall Street tactics to run from his record of bad investments that hurt working families, African Americans, Latinos and the undocumented community. He cannot run away from his record and voters have a right to know Fritz Kaegi’s lack of values.
I’m kind of impressed by the Berrios campaign’s speed and its harshness. I thought he’d be helming an old steam ship. Nope.
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* From a publication called Suburban Chicagoland…
Arab Americans in Illinois called on gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker Wednesday to publicly apologize for insensitive comments he made in which he accused a Muslim American group of being “terrorists” when he ran for Congress in 1998.
Arab American Democratic Club President Samir Khalil said the comment has never been properly addressed by Pritzker and raises a concern that he remains “anti-Arab” and anti-Muslim.”
Pritzker ran unsuccessfully for the Illinois 9th Congressional seat in 1998 against rival State Senator Howard Carroll. During the campaign, Pritzker accused Carroll of accepting funds from a Muslim donor who he alleged had “ties to terrorists.” Jan Schakowsky won the Democratic nomination succeeding Congressman Sidney Yates.
“J.B. Pritzker is now running for another important position, as governor of the State of Illinois and he must clean the slate of his past comments,” Khalil said. […]
Pritzker accused Carroll of accepting money from leaders of the American Muslims Council, which is one of the state’s most reputable Islamic organizations.
* More…
The Arab American Democratic Club represents Arab American voters in Chicagoland and in Illinois and had previously invited Pritzker to address the group to outline his campaign platform on standing up to anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry and discrimination.
But Pritzker refused to attend. Later, the AADC formally endorsed gubernatorial candidate Christopher Kennedy for governor.
“Mr. Pritzker’s refusal to address our members was an insult on its own. But it is compounded by his failure to set the record straight and publicly address the issues of Arab American and Muslim American rights,” Khalil said.
* From the Pritzker campaign’s Jordan Abudayyeh…
JB apologizes for the language he used almost 20 years ago and has demonstrated throughout his life a commitment to civil rights and justice. When Donald Trump tried to ban Muslims from entering the United States, JB was at O’Hare protesting. JB has said if Trump tries to institute a Muslim ban he would encourage everyone to register as Muslim. JB also ran the Illinois Human Rights Commission and has made it clear that as governor, Illinois will be a welcoming state for all.
* While waiting for the Pritzker campaign’s response, I did a little Googling and found this old Mike Royko column about Arab American Democratic Club President Samir Khalil…
A man named Samir Khalil is unhappy with columns I’ve written recently about terrorism, Israel and other related subjects.
Khalil, who runs the SKI insurance agency in Chicago, dropped me a line that said: “Your columm is a pile of (obscenity). Your true color has shown, racism, close-mindedness and dumbness.”
He’s not alone in feeling that way. A staggering number of people have written or phoned to call me names, especially because of a column I wrote that, in effect, supports Israel’s right not to be destroyed by it’s large, oil-rich, heavily armed neighbors.
In a way, I enjoy hearing from them because it’s educational. It tells me how many people in this country have deep streaks of anti-Semitism and how many would enjoy seeing Israel obliterated. Quite a few, quite a few.
Oof.
*** UPDATE *** MrJM posted this link in comments. The American Muslim Council of 1998 had some real problems. From the Washington Post in 2004…
In addition to the first generation of groups aimed at consolidating the U.S. Islamic community, a second generation arose to wield political and business clout.
One such group was the American Muslim Council (AMC), launched in 1990 to urge Muslims to get involved in politics and other civic activities. One of its founders was Mahmoud Abu Saud, who 58 years before helped Banna expand the Brotherhood, and who later became a top financial adviser to governments from Morocco to Kuwait, according to documents provided by the SITE Institute, a Washington terrorism research group that has written reports critical of the Brotherhood. The AMC folded in 2003, and a more moderate group has assumed that name.
One leader of the former AMC was Abdurahman Alamoudi, who U.S. officials and Islamic activists say is a Brotherhood associate. In July he pleaded guilty to moving funds from Libya, which was illegal because the United States at the time considered that country a sponsor of terrorism. Federal documents in the case say he is a Hamas supporter. Alamoudi also was identified by U.S. officials in June as a participant in a plot hatched by Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi to assassinate the Saudi head of state, Crown Prince Abdullah.
Yikes.
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* AG’s office…
Attorney General Lisa Madigan today announced that she, along with other state attorneys general, will appeal the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) action to eliminate existing net neutrality rules that prohibit internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminating among consumers and content providers.
The FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order, which was approved today in a 3-2 vote over the objections of Madigan and attorneys general from around the country, eliminates existing prohibitions that allow people to have sole discretion over their internet usage. As a result of today’s vote, internet service providers will be allowed to interfere with customers’ use of the internet by blocking or slowing down access to content. Providers will now be able to favor their own content over third-party sites by slowing down access, or charging content providers for priority treatment or access to an internet ‘fast lane.’
“Today’s Commission vote undermines the public interest by putting our free and open internet at risk,” Madigan said. “In taking this action, the Commission disregarded the overwhelming view of the public and ignored the legal precedent upholding the existing net neutrality rules.”
Earlier this week, the Attorney General urged the FCC to delay its vote in light of widespread reports that millions of comments received by the FCC in the current rule-making process were submitted under fraudulent or stolen identities. Madigan also called upon the FBI to investigate the sources of the fraudulent comments to uncover how they were submitted and to require the FCC to protect the reliability of its public comment system.
Madigan also joined a coalition of 17 other state attorneys general urging the FCC to delay its vote, stressing the importance to the rulemaking process of public participation. The attorneys general encouraged the FCC to cooperate with investigations by law enforcement agencies.
In July, Madigan led a coalition of 14 attorneys general in submitting comments to the FCC opposing the proposed rollback of the critical net neutrality protections. Madigan argued that the FCC must ensure open access to the internet and the continued equal access to all content providers, which can only be upheld through the principles of an open internet or net neutrality.
* The CWA lays it out pretty well…
The Communications Workers of America opposes the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to abolish rules that have helped maintain a free and open Internet for all Americans.
“By eliminating the bright-line rules first introduced in 2005 and codified by subsequent Commission votes, the FCC today has eliminated essential safeguards that ensure fair Internet access to all users.
“A new survey by the University of Maryland showed that 83 percent of Americans — including 75 percent of Republican respondents — reject the FCC plan on net neutrality that will allow some companies to speed up some websites, and slow down or block others.
“We need clear, enforceable rules to protect a free and open Internet, with FCC authority to enforce any violations. Instead, the Republican majority’s plan seems to rely on a “trust me” approach that will be ineffective and meaningless.
“The FCC is turning enforcement of Internet freedom over to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Because the FTC lacks authority over broadband providers that are also common carriers, pending the outcome of a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, there is no agency at this time with authority to protect an open Internet from abusive practices by cable or telecom companies.
“The FCC’s action also eliminates its jurisdiction over mobile broadband, an increasingly important way that people, particularly low-income consumers, access the Internet, and preempts critical state authority over broadband networks.
“The three bright-line, common sense rules of no blocking, no throttling, and no favorable treatment to some websites and applications over others have worked to protect a free and open Internet. It is unfortunate that Chairman Pai and the Republican majority have chosen to move in the wrong direction, jeopardizing the technology that millions of Americans rely on.”
…Adding… JB Pritzker…
“Net neutrality is vital to free expression, online innovation, and public safety and today’s vote is a direct attack on those values,” said JB Pritzker. “For the past decade, I’ve worked to make our state a hub for technology innovation, helping to create thousands of good-paying jobs in Illinois. Today’s vote jeopardizes that work and undermines not just the tech community, but all of our families who rely on an open and free internet. We need a leader in Springfield who will protect Illinois from Donald Trump’s FCC, not stay silent as he attacks the jobs, entrepreneurship, and basic democratic principles that net neutrality fosters. I have a record of being that leader and I promise to bring that passion to the governor’s office.”
…Adding… Jesse Ruiz…
The FCC’s vote to dismantle net neutrality will hand over our online freedom and privacy to a handful of giant, greedy corporations, and it must not be allowed to stand.
When Donald Trump chose Ajit Pai – a former Verizon executive – as the FCC chair, he was putting a fox in charge of the henhouse. We cannot let Donald Trump and his kleptocratic administration of corporate shills and Goldman Sachs refugees destroy this crucial platform for the free, democratic exchange of ideas.
This wrongheaded decision will have enormous consequences for all of us. Students will lose access to educational materials, and small businesses and start-ups won’t be able to reach their customers – all while big telecommunications companies rake in record profits.
This has been a shady process from the start. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has found that almost 2 million fake comments were sent to the FCC supporting rollback of the Obama Administration’s net neutrality rules, which were designed to protect our equal access to the internet. Even worse, those fake comments were submitted under the names of real people, falsely using their identities without their consent.
I commend Attorney General Lisa Madigan for joining the multi-state lawsuit challenging today’s action, so we can protect Illinois consumers and fight back against this threat to our online freedom.
…Adding… Pat Quinn…
“The F.C.C.’s vote today to repeal net neutrality rules on a party-line vote is a blow to consumers everywhere. Today’s decision will allow broadband providers to decide what information people can access on the internet and how they are allowed to communicate with one another online.
“The internet is how families stay in touch with one another, how job searchers find opportunities, and how students learn about the world around them. Allowing big corporations to censor content they don’t want you to see or charge fees to access certain information hurts everyone in Illinois. I applaud Attorney General Lisa Madigan for her decision to appeal the F.C.C.’s action.”
…Adding… Sen. Kwame Raoul…
3 years ago, President Obama stated that “an open Internet is essential to the American economy, and increasingly to our very way of life.” Today’s ruling by Donald Trump’s FCC prioritized big corporations over every day Americans and will send shock waves throughout the American economy.
Without net neutrality internet service providers (ISPs) will be free to jack up prices, block content and slow down the internet for sites that they don’t want consumers to visit. This is wrong.
I stand with Attorney General Madigan and attorney generals from across the country who are appealing the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) action to eliminate existing net neutrality rules that prohibit internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminating among consumers and content providers.
…Adding… Sen. Daniel Biss…
“I am deeply disappointed by today’s vote by the FCC to repeal net neutrality laws. This is another example of how Donald Trump’s administration is prioritizing corporate profits over middle-class families and working people. The Internet should be free and open to all people and we should hold internet providers accountable to that standard. Our state regulations must align with that standard. That’s why I will use our state’s purchasing power to lead the fight for net neutrality in Illinois when I’m governor.”
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* Press release…
Two community organizations based in Chicago’s southwest and northwest sides, the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council and Logan Square Neighborhood Association, have filed a lawsuit in circuit court alleging that the office of Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios conducts assessments that systematically and illegally shift residential property tax burdens from Whites to Hispanics and African-Americans and from the rich to the poor. The community organizations are represented by a team of lawyers from Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, and Miner, Barnhill & Galland.
According to the complaint, property owners in majority-Hispanic and majority-African-American neighborhoods are twice as likely to be over-assessed, by a rate of 20 percent or more above market value, when compared with majority-White neighborhoods. The complaint further alleges that as the percentage of White residents in a census tract increases, the ratio between the assessed values and actual market values decreases.
“It is fundamentally unfair that families in this community are required to pay artificially inflated taxes for their homes and bear a disproportionate share of the tax burden in Cook County,” says Patrick Brosnan of Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.
According to the complaint, 46 percent of residential properties that sold between 2011 and 2015 in Brighton Park were over-assessed by at least 20 percent; and 7 percent of residential properties were assessed at more than double their market value. Moreover, the Cook County Assessor’s office performs its assessments using methods that it refuses to disclose to the public, allowing the office to engage in “taxation without explanation.”
“What I find so dishonest and unfair is that if you’re a property owner just looking at your own tax bill, there’s no way to tell that you’re being under-charged or over-taxed based on the demographics of your neighborhood,” said Nancy Aardema of Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA). “That’s why this outrage has gone on for so long.”
Hermosa, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood served by LSNA, is the third most over-assessed neighborhood in the county. Data regarding homes sold between 2011-2015 shows that the Hermosa neighborhood properties were over-assessed by 24 percent on average and that even following individual homeowner appeals, the neighborhood was still over-assessed by 23.5 percent on average. In contrast, properties in the predominantly-White Lakeview neighborhood were 11 percent under-assessed on average before appeals and 15 percent under-assessed on average after appeals.
“What we see in this case is the perpetuation of a system that disproportionately impacts communities of color and continues to strip capital from already struggling neighborhoods,” said Aneel Chablani of Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.
“It’s the same type of institutional racism that gave rise to Chicago’s extreme housing segregation through racial steering, discriminatory zoning and restrictive covenants.”
The complaint asks the court to declare the Cook County Assessor’s assessment system unlawful, and to order Berrios’ office to adopt and implement a fair, accurate, transparent, lawful, and nondiscriminatory system. It also seeks the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the process. [Emphasis added.]
The lawsuit is here.
Chris Kennedy, among others, has been claiming this for a while now.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Kennedy campaign…
Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) and the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council had the courage to do what our elected officials and Democratic Party leaders refuse to do: condemn a system run by Joe Berrios that protects the wealthy and well-connected but hurts homeowners, communities of color and students. Political candidates and elected officials must follow the lead of these organizers and advocates and stop protecting our discriminatory, rigged property tax system.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Cook County Clerk David Orr…
An explosive lawsuit filed this morning in Cook County Circuit Court alleges, among other items, that Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios “systematically and illegally shifts residential property tax burdens in Cook County from property owners in majority-white neighborhoods to majority-Hispanic and majority African-American neighborhoods” as well as from the rich to the poor.
We saw this coming.
As Cook County Clerk, my office plays a major role in the calculation of Cook County property taxes. I remain frustrated at the blatant secrecy, lack of transparency and direction from the Assessor’s office regarding residential, commercial and industrial property tax assessments and why this ongoing issue has not yet been appropriately addressed.
Experts have already spent countless hours studying the assessment process and developing stronger models, so we know what the problems are. Three substantive studies have already been conducted: a 2011 study by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; a University of Chicago analysis commissioned by the Assessor in 2014 and funded by the MacArthur Foundation; and the Chicago Tribune investigation.
Berrios’s office acknowledged the problems several years ago, and in 2015, publicly touted a model he claimed would fix the regressivity issues.
We now know that was not true.
The new model was either partially or never implemented. No one outside of the Assessor’s office truly knows for sure because they have refused to tell the public what assessment model they are using.
Meanwhile, the Assessor has already completed all assessments for the 2017 tax year, subject only to review by the Board of Review, laying the foundation for the 2017 tax bills.
Assessment decisions lay the foundation for property taxes. The Clerk calculates tax rates for hundreds of taxing districts each year based on equalized assessments located within each district and the amount of revenue requested by those districts. The only key factor that is “fluid” is the assessment. Our calculations are transparent and mathematically precise.
As an elected official with a fiduciary duty to calculate tax rates and amounts included in tax bills issued by the Treasurer, it is difficult and painful to execute those duties based on flawed assessments.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Berrios campaign…
This lawsuit is politically motivated and coordinated with other efforts to support the candidacy of Assessor Berrios’ Wall Street-connected opponent. There are two sides to this story.
The main focus of today’s lawsuit stems only from claims in articles in the Chicago Tribune. Those claims are not based on any research or studies conducted by assessment, appraisal or real estate professionals. The Tribune articles were replete with errors, misleading comparisons and conclusions based on information the Tribune had but knowingly omitted.
Long before media attention turned to property assessment, the Berrios Administration has been proactive in improving the system to make assessments fairer. Cook County and the Assessor’s Office hired Tyler Technologies to work on identifying improvements in the property assessment system at every level — a process that is still ongoing, as improving any 40-year-old system cannot be accomplished overnight.
Fixing the 40-year-old system which Assessor Berrios inherited has been his top priority since taking office, after thirteen years of mismanagement by previous assessor Jim Houlihan, who allegedly violated the law and Cook County policies - resulting in a major lawsuit against the County which has dragged on for years.
Assessor Berrios has been proactive in addressing problems in the system which he did not create. He is cooperating fully with the current study of property assessment being conducted for Cook County by the Civic Consulting Alliance (CCA). He has committed to implementing whatever changes and improvements are recommended to make the system even fairer and more equitable.
Joseph Berrios continues to stand up for the taxpayers of Cook County. He has saved them tens of millions of dollars every year by completing the assessment cycle on time, billed more than $47 million in would-be lost revenue from erroneous exemptions and opened up the appeal process.
We are confident that when all facts ultimately come to light and all the technical aspects of this complicated matter are presented by actual assessment and appraisal experts in court and elsewhere, the Assessor’s Office will be found to have done a fair and equitable job.
*** UPDATE 4 *** Fritz Kaegi…
“The lawsuit filed today amplifies the many voices who see the tragic and unjust consequences of Joe Berrios’ shameful practices as Assessor. This lawsuit, filed by neighborhood and civil rights organizations, is yet another sign that Joe Berrios cannot be trusted to be our Assessor. The harmful effects are disproportionately felt in lower income neighborhoods and communities of color, and it is urgently necessary to fix this broken system. Joe Berrios and his cronies should not play politics with our homes–our most treasured and important investments.”
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* Brian Mackey has a story today about some local react to JB Pritzker’s wealth…
“I don’t begrudge people being millionaires,” [Linda Green] says [during the Sangamon County Young Democrats’ Obama-Simon Breakfast].
But there are those, like Daniel Coultas, who think Democrats ought to be led by someone a little closer to the working people who are supposed to be the party’s base.
“It seems like it’d be hard for that person to relate with the challenges that a lot of ordinary people face from day to day,” Coultas says.
But I ask him: Isn’t there a benefit to having a candidate who can support not only himself, but other Democrats, too?
“You could frame that as a benefit or maybe you could frame it as a problem,” Coultas says. “And too much power concentrated in one individual’s hands, I think that’s, you could argue, what we’ve seen on the Republican side.”
And therein lies the promise — and peril — of the J.B. Pritzker candidacy.
I would only caution people that personal anecdotes are not data. Remember all those Alabama US Senate campaign stories about how African-American voters weren’t enthused about the Democratic candidate and then they turned out in droves?
* Anyway, it appears that the Pritzker campaign is trying to turn this story a bit into how he’s using his money for the public good. Bernie…
Pritzker, a billionaire, is worth more than Rauner, who is at least a several-hundred millionaire. And the activity of their foundations reflects the holdings. The Rauner foundation made donations of more than $7.8 million from 2013 to 2015, tax records show. In the same period, the Pritzkers’ foundation gave away more than $50 million.
“J.B. and M.K. are proud to have supported numerous charities throughout Illinois and the United States,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman GALIA SLAYEN, “particularly those that focus on early childhood education, mental health, and expanding the availability of health care.” […]
— More than $2.7 million to the Jewish United Fund of Chicago, whose work includes a variety of social services for Jews and others in need, as well Jewish community building, advocating for Israel, and supporting Jewish life on campuses and elsewhere.
— Nearly $3.4 million to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
— More than $390,000 to the Erikson Institute in Chicago, which helped bring a program, created with designers of an organization called Calm Classroom, to Chicago Public Schools to better meet needs of children dealing with high levels of trauma and toxic stress, according to the Pritzker campaign.
The full list is here. It’s really long. Some, however, can certainly be seen as strengthening “elite” institutions, like the $2 million to the Latin School.
*** UPDATE 1 *** This was actually reported to the State Board of Elections on Tuesday night, but it’s become so commonplace that nobody wrote about it until today…
Billionaire Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker is up to $42.2 million in self-funding his campaign after his latest $7 million deposit was reported to the State Board of Elections.
Pritzker has made six contributions of $7 million each to his campaign — in April, June, August, October, last month and now Dec. 6, records show.
An heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, entrepreneur and investor, Pritzker broke the self-funding record for a Democratic candidate in Illinois with his Nov. 3 donation. That topped the $28.6 million that Blair Hull put into his failed 2004 Democratic primary bid for the U.S. Senate.
Rauner put $27.6 million of his wealth into his 2014 victory over Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. In December, he gave his re-election bid $50 million.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Biss…
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* I’ve seen the Pritzker campaign’s FOIA request and would suggest they amend it to include communications from the governor’s current chief legislative liaison Darlene Senger, the GOP comptroller candidate who sent an e-mail last night advising the administration to try to tie this Illinois Veterans’ Home scandal to US Sen. Tammy Duckworth…
Today, the Pritzker campaign announced that it will submit Freedom of Information Act requests to Governor Rauner’s office to seek details surrounding Rauner’s fatal mishandling of Legionnaires’ disease at the Quincy Veterans’ Home. JB Pritzker is also calling on the Rauner Administration to release all communications responsive to the FOIA request.
The FOIA requests will seek email correspondence between the Governor’s office, Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that reference the disease. It will also seek the public release of the $5 million contract to upgrade the Quincy facility’s water system, including the metrics required to show its successful completion, and all DVA and CDC reports, protocols and evaluations relating to the multiple outbreaks.
“While an independent investigation must be launched, Illinois families and those who lost loved ones deserve immediate answers and transparency from their governor on his mishandling of the Legionnaires outbreak in Quincy,” said JB Pritzker. “It shouldn’t take a FOIA request to get answers for this unconscionable negligence, so I’m calling on Bruce Rauner to immediately release all requested communication about the Legionnaires outbreak. Despite Rauner’s attempts to minimize the severity of this crisis, brave heroes lost their lives year after year and it is time for those responsible to be held accountable.”
…Adding… DGA…
Yesterday, WBEZ/NPR released a heartbreaking story about the death of 13 people at the Quincy Veterans Home due to Legionnaires’ disease. WBEZ recounted how Governor Bruce Rauner’s administration was slow to notify the public about a major outbreak in 2015. Despite Rauner promising his administration has a handle on the disease, outbreaks have occurred the past three years in a row contributing to the death of someone this year.
This is not the first time Rauner’s failed the state’s veterans. In 2015, Rauner halted construction of residential veterans’ home in Chicago due to budget constraints. Brown of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the closest facility to Chicago has a three-month waiting list, a gap this building was supposed to bridge. Now, some 30 months later construction has not restarted.
In 2016, Rauner bragged that he had cut $800 million in “wasteful spending” from the budget. On that list? The Chicago veterans’ home.
“Bruce Rauner has it wrong – caring for veterans is not wasteful spending,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner’s misplaced priorities put political talking points ahead of fulfilling the pledge made by Illinois’ citizens to veterans. Rauner’s administration failed to care for Illinois’ veterans, but he’s too concerned with dodging responsibility than to show leadership on the issue. Now is the time for Rauner to step up.”
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* Hmm…
Biss/Kennedy joint statement about a “rigged” lottery in 3… 2… /s
*** UPDATE *** Here we go…
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* Biss campaign…
Daniel Biss released the following statement after a scathing investigative report by WBEZ revealed Bruce Rauner’s failure to address deadly outbreaks of the Legionnaires’ disease crisis at the state-run Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy, Illinois.
“This tragedy is the result of decades of disinvestments in the communities that need it most and a reflection of a broken system that fails to provide necessary care for Illinois’ most vulnerable residents. These brave men and women, who once answered the call to service, deserve to live the remainder of their lives with dignity and pride for the sacrifices they made for our country.
“Instead, Bruce Rauner has failed them by neglecting to address the outbreak of a wholly preventable disease in the Illinois Veterans Home. We need an immediate investigation into Rauner’s negligence and we must bring justice for these veterans and their families who are suffering as a result.”
* Pritzker campaign…
Following a tragic new report on Legionnaires’ disease deaths in Illinois Veterans’ homes, JB Pritzker called for an independent investigation into Bruce Rauner’s failure to prevent the deaths of our nation’s heroes.
At a press conference in front of the Thompson Center with Alderman Gilbert Villegas and members of the Chicago City Council’s Veterans Caucus, JB outlined three actions that must be taken immediately to begin to remedy the crisis and protect our Veterans. An independent investigator must be appointed to investigate the Legionnaires’ crisis and audit existing contracts; in consultation with their families, Veterans should be relocated from the Quincy Veterans’ home to keep them safe; and the construction of the new Chicago Veterans’ home that was stalled by Bruce Rauner’s budget crisis should be expedited and opened immediately.
“The obligation we have to these heroes and their families is sacred, and to have that obligation so thoroughly neglected is an unconscionable moral failing,” said JB Pritzker. “They served us, they defended us, they risked their lives for us. For them to come home expecting our support and care, and instead lose their lives to a preventable disease is appalling. These are real lives lost and families destroyed because of failures at the highest levels of our state government. When a governor does not take charge, people die. Bruce Rauner must be held accountable for this tragic failure of leadership.”
Alderman Gilbert Villegas said, “Legionnaires’ disease is totally and completely treatable, and it’s found in places like prisons and third world countries, but here we are talking about a Veterans’ Home in Illinois. Governor Rauner should be ashamed. Right here in Chicago, a Veterans’ Home has been sitting unfinished the entire time Bruce Rauner has been governor. Today, I am calling on Bruce Rauner to step up and do whatever it takes to serve our Veterans just like they have served him and all of us. Never allow another Veteran to die of Legionnaires. Never allow another vital building to go half finished. Governor Rauner, do what is right and serve our Veterans, just like they served us—you’re in charge.”
In support of these efforts, Veteran and Secretary of State Jesse White said, “There needs to be an investigation into the issues surrounding the Legionnaires disease outbreak in Quincy Veterans’ home and I urge the facility to be shut down until the source of the outbreak is known. As a Veteran, I find it especially frustrating that people who served our country should have to deal with this outrageous situation.”
* Press release…
State Senator Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) is calling for a full legislative audit into the mismanagement of the Quincy Veterans’ Home that has resulted in deaths of Illinois veterans.
“Our veterans have survived combat zones and foreign conflicts – the greatest dangers they now face should not be living their golden years in a state facility,” Cullerton said. “I’m calling on my colleagues on the Legislative Audit Commission to launch a full examination into the Quincy Veterans’ Home to give the General Assembly a clear picture of the problems we have on hand. The sooner we examine this atrocity, the more quickly we can remedy the situation.”
Cullerton will file legislation today to quickly begin the audit. He hopes for cooperation from the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission and sent a letter to Co-Chairmen State Senator Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) and Representative Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) to drive the audit. Cullerton serves on the bipartisan commission.
“I’m outraged veterans have died on the governor’s watch,” Cullerton said. “Our nation’s heroes have laid their lives on the line to protect our great nation. I cannot believe Governor Rauner’s administration has been thoughtless and ineffective in the care and services our veterans continue to receive.”
Cullerton describes this as another example from the governor’s administration of mismanagement and ineffective usage of state funds and resources.
“Governor Rauner needs to answer for this ongoing epidemic,” Cullerton said. “Governor Rauner has failed our veterans once again. My hope is this thorough examination will result in our nation’s heroes receiving better services and living conditions. They have given us their very best, now it is our duty to make sure they receive the same from us.”
Cullerton served in the Army from 1990 to 1993 as an infantryman and serves on as the Chairman of the Illinois Senate’s Veterans Affairs Committee.
He will be calling a hearing soon to address this issue and begin examining the care and services veterans receive at Quincy Veterans Home.
* Comptroller Mendoza…
I dunno. Did the governor order a cover-up? The WBEZ story doesn’t seem to show that. It looks like the state agency kept things quiet at first. But, again, I don’t know all the particulars yet.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Governor’s office…
Gov. Bruce Rauner issued the following statement regarding the Quincy Veterans’ Home:
“My administration is deeply concerned about the veterans at the Quincy Veterans’ Home. We are committed to ensuring the residents get the care and treatment they deserve in a safe living environment.
“When the first incidence of Legionella occurred in Quincy, six months into my administration, we quickly brought in the Centers for Disease Control and followed their recommendations. The state has implemented a robust and comprehensive water management plan including the construction of a new water management plant and routine testing of the water at the facility.
“The CDC in its most recent report said the remediation is ‘aligned with the best practices identified in CDC’s water management toolkit.’
“Legionella is a virus that is a growing concern in the U.S., not just in Illinois. That it has arisen in a place where our bravest and most cherished defenders reside is a tragedy, and we intend to keep working with the CDC at our side to protect our residents.”
Hmm. I wonder what he means by “six months into my administration, we quickly brought in the Centers for Disease Control.” If it’s the agency, then the decision not to tell the public is on it. If it’s Rauner’s office, then he didn’t inform the public (including family members of the afflicted) for weeks about the outbreak.
…Adding… Also, governor, it’s a bacteria, not a virus.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Rep. Jeanne Ives…
“This report is sickening. As a veteran, and the daughter and granddaughter of soldiers, it goes without saying that I understand the depth and significance of the sacrifice our men and women in uniform make. Today, my thoughts are with the families of the 13 people who died in the Illinois Veterans Home.
“Under Governor Rauner, state services have declined to a such degree that the maintenance of clean facilities to prevent outbreaks of bacterial maladies, like Legionnaires, has become grossly inadequate. In November, Rauner said at Hines VA Hospital, ‘One way we can support our veterans — keep a quality of life and achieve the American dream for themselves and their families — is to have high-quality health care services.’ Yet another betrayal at the hand of Benedict Rauner.
“Managing state agencies is one of the critical jobs of the Executive Office. Bruce Rauner promised to turn Illinois around. But on his watch, state services have deteriorated. If he can’t manage a 200-acre veterans home with 250 residents, how can he manage the state? Governor Rauner isn’t in charge, because he never took charge. And 13 veterans, or spouses of veterans, are now dead because of it.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Chris Kennedy…
“Taking care of our veterans should transcend campaign politics. Those who served our nation should receive the best quality care no matter what. Of course, there should be an investigation into the failure to protect these veterans. I am hopeful that Governor Rauner will join the call for an independent audit into why this happened and how we can ensure it will never happen again.”
*** UPDATE 4 *** Sen. Paul Schimpf…
“Our first and foremost priority must be to ensure our veterans receive the best care possible, and that they receive it in a healthy environment. While the state continues to look for the source of this outbreak and enact the recommendations provided by the Centers for Disease Control, it is my hope that we remain focused on treating our veterans who have been affected. Our veterans deserve better than partisan finger-pointing,” said Schimpf (R-58th District). “As the Minority Spokesman for the Illinois Senate Veteran’s Affairs Committee, I look forward to hearing from the Illinois Department of Veteran’s Affairs in a public forum on how to best to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
* Multiple members…
State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, state Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Smithton, and state Rep. Al Riley, D-Olympia Fields, are demanding a full investigation and legislative hearings into why Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration has not taken aggressive action to provide better care for veterans living in state-run veteran homes and to prevent them from dying from avoidable diseases.
“Reading the investigative report about the Quincy Veterans Home and the individuals who died from Legionnaires Disease there due to the inability of the Department of Veterans Affairs to address the outbreak is outrageous and shameful,” Chapa LaVia said. “The highest possible safety standards should exist in our veteran homes.”
Following an investigative report by WBEZ, the Illinois Veterans Home, located in Quincy, was discovered to have experienced three outbreaks of Legionnaires Disease spanning from July 2015 to the fall of this year. The disease led to the death of 13 veterans and infected another 61 other residents. Despite receiving more than $6 million in taxpayer money to update the home’s water supply and other safety standards to prevent this disease from spreading, the location continued to face outbreaks.
“It’s clear that the Rauner administration cannot take care of our most vulnerable Veterans. He should have taken personal responsibility to solve this serious problem back in 2015″ Marine Veteran Kifowit said. “This is another example of failure of the Rauner administration and shows that it is true, he hasn’t been in charge. I support a full investigation of the conditions of all our Veterans homes, and extensive legislative hearings detailing this failure of the administration”.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added that the Quincy facility’s plumbing system still poses risks to the health of residents and staff who live and work there. The CDC has noted that due to the building’s old age that completely eradicating Legionella is “very challenging.”
“As Americans, we owe so much to our veterans, and they deserve better than to fall victim to a preventable disease,” Riley said. “Clearly, the governor is not on top of this terrible situation, and he and the Department of Veterans Affairs need to answer for the lack of attention to this issue and explain to the families of the victims why this was allowed to happen.”
Chapa LaVia, Kifowit, Costello and Riley, all of whom are veterans, are demanding there to be a full investigation and legislative hearings to pass legislation that will demand the Governor to implement higher safety standards in veteran homes across Illinois in order to prevent more service men and women from dying from easily preventable diseases.
“As a veteran of the United States Army during Operation Desert Storm, I am disgusted to find out about the treatment of my fellow service members at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy,” Costello said. “It is time for us to take action and prevent another outbreak of Legionnaire’s Disease by modernizing the facility.”
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* Pensions & Investments…
Illinois has the highest pension burden among all 50 states, said Fitch Ratings’ 2017 state pension report released Tuesday.
According to the report, Illinois’ unfunded pension liabilities amounted to 22.8% of residents’ personal income at the end of fiscal year 2016, compared to a median 3.1% for all states and 1% for Florida, the least burdened state.
The median 3.1% for all states is higher than the approximately 2.9% reported in fiscal year 2015, which Fitch attributed in the report to weak asset performance, reduced discount rates, inadequate employer pension contributions, and “ongoing unfavorable demographic and actuarial trends.”
Douglas Offerman, senior director at Fitch Ratings, noted that a number of states with the highest pension burdens — Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey and Massachusetts — help cover the cost of local teachers’ pensions. Teachers make up one of the largest populations of public-sectors workers, Mr. Offerman said.
Under Fitch’s calculations, Illinois’ net pension liabilities totaled $151.5 billion at the end of fiscal year 2016; New Jersey, $91.8 billion; Massachusetts, $48.9 billion; and Kentucky, $32.8 billion. For this year’s report, Fitch used a 6% discount rate to calculate net pension liabilities, down from 7% last year.
Oy.
…Adding… Click here to see the payment ramp through 2045.
*** UPDATE *** I didn’t write this novella, I’m just posting it, so don’t blame me…
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published an article, Illinois Drives People Away, that said, “Fitch Ratings reported this week that Illinois’s unfunded pension liabilities equaled 22.8% of residents’ personal income last year, compared to a median of 3.1% across all states and 1% in Florida.” State Representative Jeanne Ives, a Republican Candidate for Governor, issued the following statement:
“In 2014, Governor Rauner ran on a reform agenda that would grow Illinois’ economy. The report in Wall Street Journal, one of the most reputable and well-respected newspapers in the nation, dramatically highlights Benedict Rauner’s betrayals on his fiscal promises.
“During the 2014 C-Span Gubernatorial Debate against Pat Quinn, Governor Rauner, in his closing statement said, ‘We need to grow our economy, which is the single most important thing we can do. And we are failing miserably under Pat Quinn to grow our economy and create jobs… I’ll drive that. I’ve been a business builder my whole career.’
“But, the WSJ reported, ‘The Prairie State lost a record $4.75 billion in adjusted gross income to other states in the 2015 tax year, according to recently IRS data released. That’s up from $3.4 billion in the prior year. Many of the migrants were retirees who often flock to balmier climes. But millennials accounted for more than a third of the net outflow in tax returns.’
‘While Florida with zero income tax was the top destination for Illinois expatriates, the Illinois Policy Institute notes that Illinois lost income and people on net to all of its neighbors—Wisconsin (6,000 people based on claimed exemptions), Indiana (8,200), Iowa (1,900), Missouri (2,000) and Kentucky (1,100).’
+++
“In 2014, Governor Rauner promised roll back the income tax rate to 3 percent over four years.
“Yet, the WSJ reports, ‘Illinois’ corporate tax rate is 9.5 percent, and pass-through business owners pay 6.45 percent.’ Additionally, Illinois’ personal income tax rate is at 4.95 percent, 32 percent higher than when Rauner took office.
+++
“In a 2014 campaign ad, Bruce Rauner blasted Pat Quinn for Illinois’ high property tax rates, which he claimed were the second highest in the nation. The ad said: ‘The second highest property taxes in America, and Pat Quinn wants to make his 67 percent tax increase permanent. Pat Quinn: He just doesn’t get it.’
“The ad debuted about a month after Rauner proposed a freeze on local property taxes with no increase allowed without voter approval.
“Today, according to the Wall Street Journal, ‘Property taxes in Cook County and Chicago’s “collar” counties are the highest in the country outside of California and the Northeast. The average homeowner who moves from Lake County, Illinois, across the border to Kenosha County, Wisconsin would receive an annual $3,200 annual property tax cut.’
+++
“In 2014, Governor Rauner repeatedly said he would replace traditional pensions for public workers with 401(k)-style retirement plans common in the private sector. This was a plan advocated by the Illinois Policy Institute that would have cut the state’s unfunded pension liability in half in 2014 and eliminated the state’s unfunded liability by 2045.
“According to the WSJ report, ‘Taxes may increase as Democrats scrounge for cash to pay for pensions. Fitch Ratings reported this week that Illinois’s unfunded pension liabilities equaled 22.8% of residents’ personal income last year, compared to a median of 3.1% across all states and 1% in Florida.’
+++
“In their 2014 endorsement of Governor Rauner, the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board said, ‘From the get-go, Rauner has campaigned on the urgent need to shatter the self-serving political power structure in state government and promote a dramatically different agenda to get Illinois growing again. He knows that the answer isn’t more tax increases. Unlike the ruling class in Springfield, he doesn’t see employers as enemies useful only to be milked. He wants government to be of a size taxpayers can afford… We believe a Gov. Rauner would explore changes made by governors of other states with balanced budgets, solid retirement systems and lower unemployment rates. He’s obviously competitive. He would strive to do what Quinn cannot: Make Illinois competitive again.’
“Yesterday, the WSJ reported, ‘Illinois’s economy has been stagnant, growing a meager 0.9% on an inflation-adjusted annual basis since 2012—the slowest in the Great Lakes and half as fast as the U.S. overall. This year nearly 100,000 individuals have left the Illinois labor force. The University of Illinois Flash Economic Index, which measures corporate earnings and investment as well as personal income, hit a five-year low in October. (See nearby for the recent labor force trend in Illinois and Wisconsin.)’
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* This bill was sent to the governor on November 9th…
I don’t see any of the bill’s sponsors in the photos. Curious.
* Press release from the bill’s chief sponsor…
A measure from Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) to reduce opioid abuse and “doctor shopping” was signed into law today.
Senate Bill 772 requires prescribers of controlled substances to check the Prescription Monitoring Program database to see if a patient has been prescribed a controlled substance by another doctor prior to writing an initial prescription. This would make it harder for individuals to obtain prescriptions from multiple doctors, a practice known as doctor shopping.
“As elected officials, we should be doing everything we can to prevent addiction and reduce opioid abuse,” Bush said. “Requiring doctors to check a patient’s prescription history before prescribing opioids is a simple way to ensure doctors aren’t overprescribing and patients aren’t doctor shopping.”
* Anyway, the place that “does God’s work” was seriously damaged by the impasse. From September of 2015…
Comprehensive Behavioral Health Center in southern Illinois relies on state money to run some of its addiction programs. But because the state still doesn’t have a budget, the East St. Louis organization hasn’t gotten funding.
So recently the center had to lay off staff and shut down two of its residential programs. About fifty people who had been living at the center and getting addiction treatment had to leave.
You should really listen to the audio portion of that report. Ugh.
…Adding… From the audio…
* This April, 2016 story also quoted Jumper saying “We have no money. I don’t know how we’re going to make payroll”…
Amelia Jumper, the executive director of Comprehensive Behavioral Health in East St. Louis, told St. Louis Public Radio she’s not sure how she’s going to make pay this month.
Jumper closed her agency’s inpatient drug treatment center and its halfway house last fall due to lack of funding from the state, but she recently reopened the inpatient center.
“Not because we received any money, but something had to be done,” Jumper said.
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Why hasn’t this problem been solved?
Wednesday, Dec 13, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WBEZ takes this chart and fleshes it out with stories about some of the 13 people who died at the Quincy Veterans Home from Legionnaires Disease and the outrage of those who are left behind…
* One of the stories…
When the state first made the dire situation at Quincy public in 2015, the story quickly got picked up.
Springfield resident Steve French was in his car when he got a phone call from his brother in Waukegan, who had heard a news report that the illness was spreading at the veterans’ home. Just a month earlier, their parents had become residents there.
Dolores French, a native Chicagoan and lifelong Cubs fan who was 79, had only one health malady: deafness. Otherwise, she was in good health and was allowed to move into the veterans’ home with her husband of 57 years, Richard French Sr., because he was a U.S. Army veteran who served during the Korean War.
She was assigned to an independent living unit at the facility, Steve French said, while her husband was placed in another residential building at Quincy because he needed care for his worsening Parkinson’s disease. Typically, French said, his mother would walk to her husband’s room and spend eight hours a day with him.
When the phone call about Legionnaires’ at Quincy arrived, Steve French said he immediately wanted to check on his parents’ well-being and tried calling his mother, who had a device that translates phone calls into text. He got no response. He tried the desk in her building and also got nothing. The next call went to the facility’s administrative offices.
“I said, ‘This is Steve French. I heard the news. I’m just checking on my dad and mom,’” he recalled. “And she just said that they’re OK, that if something happens, we’ll get a call.”
That was Friday, Aug. 28, 2015.
But it wasn’t until the next morning, as French was contemplating making the drive to Quincy from Springfield to check on her, that he was notified by the home that his mother’s neighbors had reported her missing, and staff wanted permission to enter her room, he said.
Within 10 minutes, as the Frenches sat in their basement, another call came from Quincy to report his mother had been found on the floor in her apartment, dead.
As the news began to sink in, yet another call arrived, this time from the Adams County Coroner’s Office. French’s wife, Deann, took the phone.
“He said, ‘We found Mrs. French, and this is going to be difficult for me to tell you, but she has been dead for a significant amount of time,’” Deann French remembered. “So I’m processing that, and I said, ‘Do we know what happened to her? What happened?’ At this point, I’m not thinking Legionnaires’. I just wasn’t. And he said, ‘No, she was found on the floor in front of her recliner, pretty badly decomposed.’”
Within another hour or two, the coroner called back with confirmation that he suspected Legionnaires’, and that state law required an autopsy because an outbreak had been declared at the home. Bewildered, Steve French said he asked that his father not be informed so that he could go tell him face to face the next day.
* Conclusion…
“You know what he should do?” Deann French said of Gov. Rauner. “He should go back over there and he should drink some of the water. Or maybe he should take a shower. Or maybe he should eat off of one of those plates coming out of that kitchen. Maybe that would make an impact on him.”
Bottom line, Steve French said, someone has to answer for what happened — and is continuing to happen — at the Quincy veterans’ home.
“People are dying. Something’s killing them. Granted, it’s a water-treatment problem. But it’s killing people,” he said. “Shouldn’t somebody be held accountable?”
Take some time during a break, or your lunch hour or tonight and go read the whole thing.
…Adding… Pritzker campaign…
“Illinois veterans, who bravely served this country overseas are dying in our veterans’ homes and Bruce Rauner is failing to fight for them,” said JB Pritzker. “This is unconscionable negligence that has already taken the lives of 13 of our nation’s heroes. Our veterans should be living in dignity and instead they are losing their lives because of Bruce Rauner’s incompetence and inability to effectively lead our state. My thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their loved ones to this tragedy. You deserved better and our state deserves a real leader.”
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Apples and oranges?
Wednesday, Dec 13, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From yesterday…
* Here’s the story…
“He rips toilets out a mansion he buys, and he saves himself $230,000, thanks to Berrios,” Rauner said. “They’re totally in bed with each other and it’s wrong.”
But, has Rauner appealed his taxes, as well?
“We have not!” the governor said.
CBS 2 Political Reporter Derrick Blakley says Rauner did not, but the condo association for his Lakefront high-rise certainly did. Thus, Rauner benefited from the same system he has been known to call “corrupt,” by receiving hefty assessment reductions on his downtown penthouse.
In 2008, his assessment of $244,833 was cut by $94,745; 38 percent
In 2012, his assessment of $300,791 was cut by $22,776; 7.5 percent
In 2015, his assessment of $350,409 was cut by $65,854; an almost 19 percent reduction
Rauner’s reductions didn’t come from Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios; instead, they came from the Cook County Board of Review. […]
Often, taxes can increase even though as assessment is reduced. Therefore, it is hard to determine whether Rauner’s taxes actually went down. The point being — some of the same candidates who are criticizing the property tax system, also took advantage of it when they had the opportunity.
Thoughts?
…Adding… From the video…
Irika: “So the Governor, could he have chosen to opt-out of the property tax break for that condo?”
Derrick: “According to the Board of Review, he did have that ability to opt out of the appeal, but apparently chose not to do that.”
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* Mark Maxwell at WCIA…
Governor Rauner swatted down questions on Tuesday about the abrupt and unceremonious exit of his longtime legal adviser Dennis Murashko.
Security guards led Murashko out of the James R. Thompson Center just days after he penned a now-leaked memo which contained warnings against mixing politics and official state business. [This article has been updated to clarify that sources who witnessed Murashko’s exit from the Thompson Center initially described it as a security guard escort, but pressed for specifics, later recanted and acknowledged they could have been administration officials.] […]
At least one complaint was filed against Murashko with the Office of the Executive Inspector General, according to sources in the Governor’s office who saw the complaint. However, there is no available evidence to suggest that complaint ever triggered an official investigation. OEIG General Counsel Daniel Hurtado says thousands of complaints are filed with that office every year, but very few of them ever become full blown investigations. As a rule, the OEIG does not disclose any information about ongoing investigations or unresolved complaints. […]
Two sources tell WCIA they shared concerns about Murashko’s behavior in office with senior members of the administration before his departure, but on Tuesday, Rauner denied having any knowledge of personal ethical breaches involving Murashko.
“Not that I know of,” he said, “And you’re asking all kinds of questions based on rumor. Let me be clear. There is a lot of baloney rumors going around. You [reporters] are helping perpetuate them, and that’s wrong. You guys should not do that,” he scolded.
The anonymous complaint to the OEIG that I’ve seen claims Murashko engaged in “retaliation, intimidation, abuse of power and inappropriate office behavior.” As Maxwell notes, there’s no evidence yet that the complaint triggered an actual investigation.
I showed the anonymous complaint to Murashko the other day and he said: “The claims are ridiculous, false, and defamatory. They do not merit a further response. It’s sad that certain individuals turn political agendas into vicious personal attacks to distract from their own shortcomings. This is what discourages good people from serving in state government.”
Be that as it may, the anonymous complaint lists “Governor Bruce Rauner” on its “cc” list. But, of course, that’s not solid proof that the governor actually received it, or saw it or was told about it.
* Meanwhile, the governor confirmed that the Murashko memo I published last week was authentic. I already knew that, but here you go…
Before he stepped down, Murashko penned an internal memo that laid out a series of guidelines about how the governor’s office should separate government work from work being done by Rauner’s campaign team.
On Tuesday, Rauner said that memo was “created at my urging,” calling it a matter of “good management.”
“In my administration, we have the highest expectation, the highest ethical standards. We have zero tolerance for bad behavior, zero tolerance for unethical behavior,” Rauner said.
* Back to Maxwell…
WCIA has separately learned Deputy Governor Trey Childress was the subject of an investigation filed within the last six months, according to state employees who were called in for interviews with the OEIG. The findings and status of that investigation remain unknown, although at least one witness testified in his defense.
The problem with that investigation, I’m told, is that two people allegedly saw the same thing and then described it very differently to the investigators.
Keep in mind that an investigation doesn’t automatically make somebody guilty.
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* Sun-Times…
Gov. Bruce Rauner should look in the mirror before demanding the resignation of Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios for presiding over a corrupt and failing property tax system, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday.
“My basic point to Gov. Rauner [is], you’ve never passed a budget, let alone submitted one, that’s ever been balanced in three years. Don’t be throwing stones. … People in glass houses shouldn’t be throwing stones,” the mayor said while standing in front of a mountain of salt at Grand and Rockwell to highlight the city’s winter preparedness.
“Second, the voters decide whether somebody should stay or go. That’s what elections are about.”
* But it’s not just Rauner…
Prizker’s Dem rival, Chris Kennedy, has already called for Berrios to resign, blasting Pritzker in the process.
“J.B. has been a tax cheat as well,” Kennedy said. “You look at what he did on Astor Street. If that’s not tax cheating, I don’t know what is.”
Prizker managed to wrangle a nearly $250,000 tax break from Berrios’ office by leaving his Astor Street Gold Coast mansion in disrepair.
…Adding… Twitters…
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Biss crows about straw poll result
Tuesday, Dec 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The forum was held over the weekend, but they released the results last night…
* From Mary Ann’s story…
Biss spokesman Thomas Elliott says “These results show that Democratic primary voters are looking for a middle-class progressive with government experience to lead our state forward, and Daniel Biss is that candidate.
“And while the Democratic establishment would like to coronate an inexperienced billionaire and ’shut down’ this competitive primary, we’re taking our case directly to the voters. We’re building a grassroots movement of people across the state who want someone they trust to represent them, not the status quo.”
Elliott added that he believes Illinois residents are responding to Biss’s message about building a state government that “works for them, not the wealthy and well-connected.”
The coronation line is probably right, but it doesn’t look like they’re trying to physically shut down Biss’ campaign. Starve it of money, yes. But if I was the Pritzker campaign, I’d want Biss (and everyone else) to stay in the race to split the coronation opposition vote with Kennedy.
I mean, heck, nobody even challenged Terry Getz’s petitions by yesterday’s deadline, even though he told me not long ago he didn’t file a single signature and then never convinced anyone to be his running mate.
…Adding… Apparently, nobody had to do anything…
* Related…
* Biss: Time to think bigger on revenue options: That’s why we need to think bigger than J.B. We can implement a financial transaction tax, which would place a fraction-of-a-penny fee on every transaction on LaSalle Street. We can close the carried interest loophole to prevent the wealthiest Illinoisans from evading taxes. I’ve worked toward both of these policies in the Senate, and will continue fighting for them as governor.
48 Comments
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