* I figure there will be several of these, so I opened up a new thread. Our first is from attorney general candidate and former vice president of the Chicago Board of Education Jesse Ruiz…
It is unfortunate that it had to come to this, but I believe that Forrest Claypool, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools, has chosen to do the right thing in resigning his position.
It is time for Chicago to follow the lead of major cities around the country and move to an elected Board of Education. I believe an elected school board will increase transparency and accountability in the leadership of our public school system.
* Chris Kennedy campaign…
Today’s resignation by Forrest Claypool is just another example of how our broken political system is failing our children. Our city and our state have been operating without a moral framework for far too long. The inspector general’s report shows irresponsible and self-serving leadership by Forrest Claypool at the expense of the more than 350,000 students who attend Chicago Public Schools.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel appointed Barbara Byrd-Bennett, a school chief who is in prison, and Forrest Claypool, another school chief who attempted to skirt ethics laws. Emanuel’s track record proves where his loyalties lie: to his peers who benefit from a discriminatory public education system that works to rob our students of opportunity.
We need an elected school board to bring accountability, transparency and trust to the city’s public schools.
A Republican lawmaker challenged GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner Thursday to prove his claim that the Democratic House speaker improperly influenced an autonomous agency’s decision to cancel a state consulting contract.
Rep. David McSweeney said Rauner made a “really serious charge” when he alleged his political nemesis, Speaker Michael Madigan, pressured the state’s independent monitor to end the $12.5 million contract dealing with Medicaid services.
“I’ve seen no proof. I’d like to see proof, or the governor needs to apologize,” the Barrington Hills Republican said. […]
The chief procurement officer, Ellen Daley, who is appointed by the independent Executive Ethics Commission, found no evidence of that. She nullified the pact on Tuesday, finding it should have been offered to the lowest and best bidder.
Asked if he thought the procurement officer who’d voided the contract was controlled by the speaker, Rauner said he thought Madigan had “heavy influence.”
* Well, guess what? In March of 2015, Gov. Rauner’s chief legal counsel Jason Barclay sent a letter to the Executive Ethics Commission’s executive director Chad Fornoff recommending that Ellen Daley be hired as Chief Procurement Officer, along with two others for top procurement jobs…
Chad, as we discussed, we would like to offer our own recommendations of individuals for the three open CPO spots… We can give these individuals high marks and recommendations, and would like for the newly constituted board on July 1 to have an opportunity to consider them since they will be the ones working with them going forward.
The letter (with some privacy redactions) is here.
* Rep. McSweeney’s react…
Governor Rauner made very serious charges against Ellen Daley on Wednesday when he said that Speaker Madigan has “heavy influence” over Daley in a feeble attempt to take the focus off his Administration’s no bid $12.5 contract with McKinsey that was rightly voided. Now it turns out that Daley was recommended by the Rauner Administration. Governor Rauner needs to immediately apologize to Ellen Daley, members of the General Assembly and most importantly the people of this state for not telling the truth.
Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth endorsed JB Pritzker for governor at a campaign event in Chicago. The two endorsements come as support for JB Pritzker continues to grow throughout the state with endorsements from Secretary of State Jesse White, Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Treasurer Mike Frerichs, the Illinois AFL-CIO, and over 30 individual unions.
As the Senior Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin has served in the U.S. Senate since 1997, and is currently the Democratic Whip. He is a tireless advocate for our state, fighting to strengthen the economy through infrastructure funding and standing up for immigrant families and Dreamers. Senator Tammy Duckworth was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016 after representing Illinois’ Eighth Congressional District for two terms. She is an Iraq War Veteran, a purple heart recipient, and one of the first Army women to fly combat missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom. She has been a relentless advocate for working families and Veterans during her time in public service.
“Senator Duckworth and Senator Durbin are fighting for our values every single day,” said JB Pritzker. “But they can’t do it alone. They need all of us. I’ve introduced bold plans to move our state forward and I will continue to do so throughout this campaign and as governor of this state. We’re going to have to unite and turn our energy and ideas into victories. With Senator Durbin and Senator Duckworth on our side, with over 30 individual unions and the 900,000 members of the statewide AFL-CIO, with elected leaders and issue advocates speaking out on behalf of this campaign, and with the support of hundreds of thousands of working families across this state, we are united and ready for the fight.”
“I’m proud to endorse JB Pritzker for governor because he will be a strong partner and an effective leader for our state,” said Senator Durbin. “I’ve spoken with all the Democratic candidates and heard their visions for our state, and JB has emerged as the clear choice for governor. JB has traveled across Illinois, hearing from people in Rockford and Cairo, Macomb and Danville, and everywhere in between. He has thoughtful and comprehensive policy plans on the issues that matter to Illinoisans. He has shown continued support for immigrants and the Dream Act, protecting health care for all, and creating new and good paying jobs in Illinois — all things that will make Illinois stronger.”
“I’m proud to endorse JB because I know he is ready to fight for working families in Springfield,” said Senator Duckworth. “With JB, I know I’ll have a partner in the governor’s office who will work to create good jobs, help give Veterans the support and opportunity they deserve, and make sure every child gets a quality education. JB understands that pitting Illinois communities against each other is no way to govern, and I’m confident he will work for every Illinoisan as governor. I know JB can bring Democrats together to beat Bruce Rauner and win up and down the ticket, across the state.”
It’s been one day since the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois published their investigative story about our rigged property tax system that benefits the well-connected and political insiders at the expense of homeowners, communities of color and working families, and my opponents have yet to join in the call for Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios to resign.
This is a clear signal that a JB Pritzker administration will do nothing more than protect the political establishment while the rest of Illinois residents are left navigating a system that is working against them. Will JB help end the racket and adopt my proposed reforms, including banning elected officials from holding outside jobs as property tax appeals attorneys?
I just don’t see how the government can legally block tax appeals attorneys from holding elected office, but whatever.
* In case you missed it, this is Pritzker’s comment yesterday…
As I’ve stated, we need to reform our flawed and inequitable property tax system. But I’m not here to score political points by attacking other Democrats. That’s what my opponents are doing when we should be focused on defeating Bruce Rauner. The voters will ultimately decide if Mr. Berrios deserves another term.
* Thursday, August 24th Rauner administration press release…
General Counsel Dennis Murashko will leave the Administration at the end of August to pursue opportunities in the private sector. As part of the legal team’s succession planning, Kenton Skarin will assume the role of Acting General Counsel to the Governor.
That press release was issued not long after Gov. Rauner told reporters there would be no more major departures.
But Murashko’s departure didn’t happen at the end of August, which would’ve been a week later. It happened the very next day.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s top attorney – whose end of August departure was announced Thursday – was escorted out of the governor’s office at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago on Friday [August 25th], according to published reports, nearly a week ahead of his planned exit.
What happened? It’s been the object of much speculation.
But Murashko also authored a memo to the governor raising the question of whether the administration was properly keeping politics out of the office, sources with knowledge of that memo say.
That didn’t turn out to be totally true.
* I obtained a copy of the memo this morning. Click here to read it. It’s addressed to Gov. Rauner and his then-chief of staff Kristina Rasmussen as a response to their request for info on “best practices for interactions between employees of the Office of the Governor (including the Governor) (collectively, ‘Governor’s Office employees’) and members of the Governor’s 2018 reelection campaign.”
I’m told that the governor did not react well to these proposed restrictions, some of which were pretty strict.
I support Representative Ives call for an EOIG investigation of the overall Murashko situation. The EOIG needs to also immediately respond to the press report about an existing or closed potential investigation of Murashko alleging that he “abused the powers of his office.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the governor’s office…
You appear to have an internal document prepared for internal use — one of dozens of legal memos prepared to provide advice to the office on various topics.
As to Mr. Murashko, he resigned from our office. (see attached.)
“Bruce Rauner fired a senior advisor, spent months trying to hide the Murashko memo, and he refuses to answer any questions on the subject,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “As questions about potential ethics violations mount, it is time for Bruce Rauner to come clean to voters about why Dennis Murashko was fired.”
* Running way behind this morning, so chew on this one for awhile…
It is ok kids to lie to authorities. Go ahead do it multiple times. Even try to get other people to lie for you. However after you are caught admit it. We will support you. #CPS#ClaypoolLessonPlanpic.twitter.com/zoQlZJik58
Claypool: Lies in an ethics investigation. Berrios: Rigs tax system to favor the wealthy and lawyers Preckwinkle: Relies on regressive soda tax to solve budget crisis. Emanuel: Fails to address police misconduct. How are those Democrat policies working out Chicago voters?#twill
Embattled Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool plans to resign Friday, sources familiar with his decision said.
Sources said CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson, who has long been seen as the heir apparent to the district’s top office, is expected to be named as interim CEO.
The Chicago Public Schools’ inspector general is urging the Chicago Board of Education to fire schools chief Forrest Claypool, a longtime friend of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, for lying during an ethics investigation, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday.
Inspector General Nicholas Schuler recommended Claypool’s firing in a lengthy, still-secret memo he gave to Board of Ed members late Tuesday, the sources said.
In the memo, Schuler reported his findings from a 16-month ethics investigation of CPS’ top attorney that he found Claypool tried to block, according to the sources.
“Forrest made a mistake,” Emanuel said in a written statement Wednesday night. “There’s no question about that, and I take that very seriously. But he was also big enough to stand up, admit his mistake and publicly apologize for it. That says a lot about who Forrest is, and that’s the Forrest I know.
“These are serious allegations, and I know the board is reviewing them with the scrutiny they merit — but Forrest himself has already acknowledged the lapse in judgment and apologized for it. And I think we should all take a deep breath before making snap judgments about a man with a sterling reputation and a sterling record of public service.”
* Press release…
After a 16-month CPS Inspector General’s investigation and news reports of disturbing ethics infractions, Attorney General candidate Jesse Ruiz is calling on Forrest Claypool, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools, to resign immediately.
“I am calling on Forrest to do the right thing and resign from his post as CEO of Chicago’s Public Schools,” said Ruiz, who served for more than four years as Vice President of the Chicago Board of Education and also served as Interim CEO of Chicago Public Schools. “Repeatedly misleading the Inspector General is unacceptable, especially at a time when trust in our government is at an all-time low. The people of Chicago expect our leaders to always set an example of integrity and not violate the public trust. Forrest has failed this test.
“From day one, I blew the whistle on the conflicts of interest that led to this investigation,” Ruiz added. “At every point, Mr. Claypool has stonewalled the Inspector General’s investigation, and his actions must have consequences. He should resign immediately.”
The CPS investigation has centered on whether Claypool acted improperly in urging the Board of Education to retain a law firm, even though the CPS general counsel’s ongoing financial relationship with the firm violated the school system’s conflict of interest policy.
When CPS ethics officers attempted to intervene, Claypool overruled them. Since then, the CPS Inspector General has repeatedly criticized Claypool for setting up roadblocks to interfere with the ongoing ethics investigation and for making repeated misstatements in interviews with investigators. Claypool has since apologized for those misstatements.
*** UPDATE *** From Forrest Claypool…
“I made a mistake. I can’t put my mind back in that high pressure place–when we were negotiating with the CTU and fighting to keep schools funded and open in the final days of the legislative session. But I look at the facts today and see that I misread the situation, and made mistakes in judgment, and I apologize for this.
“I pursued the goal of keeping schools open with the same single-mindedness with which I pursued every public position I’ve held over nearly 30 years. Like anyone else, I’m embarrassed by my mistakes, but remain proud of how we’ve moved this system forward despite seemingly insurmountable financial hurdles.
“However, let’s be clear about what this situation is and what it isn’t.
“This is not a case of anyone profiting off of CPS; no one in this story gained a dollar. This is not a case of anyone taking anything from children; this is a case of fighting to get more resources for children. In fact, the only ones who profited from this pursuit of justice were our students, who have another $450 million of funding from the state due to the efforts our team.
“To put this in perspective: This situation is about how I zealously tried to get Chicago students their fair share of state education dollars, after years and years racial discrimination, and getting those kids the best possible legal representation.
“While I continue to have a strong disagreement with Mr. Schuler’s interpretation of the Board policy – which I believe was written to prevent profiteering off the schools – I have already acknowledged that in my desire to ensure the best possible legal representation, and keep public attention focused squarely and solely on the civil rights injustice against CPS kids, that I mishandled some matters.
“I have fully acknowledged my mistakes in judgment and apologized. I apologize again today. But I do not regret the passion for justice that led to that mistake. I will always fight hard to ensure that CPS children, regardless of race or income, receive the educations they deserve.
“With apologies for errors I made along the way, I stand proud of the work I’ve done at CPS and throughout my career in service to the City of Chicago, to give its residents better parks, better trains and buses, and, most importantly, the best schools.”
Chris Kennedy, Democratic candidate for Governor, called on Joe Berrios to step down from his position as Cook County Assessor following another Chicago Tribune investigative piece on how the Cook County property tax assessment system is rigged against Cook County taxpayers. Kennedy released the following statement:
“The property tax racket run by Joe Berrios and political insiders needs to end and it needs to end today. Berrios has used the property tax system that is defunding our public schools, defunding our social safety net, and defunding efforts to end gun violence as means to keep the political machine in power and enrich the entitled, politically connected few at everyone else’s expense. We will never change the status quo and restore opportunity to our state as long as political insiders like Joe Berrios remain in office.
We can no longer rely on the traditional democratic process because Berrios uses his position as the Cook County Democratic Party Chairman to intimidate anyone who opposes this property tax racket. And, we cannot trust the state party to step in and fix a broken property tax system, as the state Democratic Party Chairman is a property tax appeals lawyer whose personal finances are dependent on the status quo.
All of this means the voters get sidelined and the machine and the status quo system back a wealthy self-funding candidate who will continue to support the racket with impunity. We need radical change and we need it today. Because, if we don’t move away from property taxes and reform the broken system, we won’t embrace a progressive tax. If we don’t embrace a progressive income tax, we will never fund schools properly or restore community safety or rid our cities and towns of the scourge of violence. If we don’t fund schools properly, we will never educate our kids to be economically self-sufficient.
Keeping leaders like Joe Berrios in office puts the very future of our state and our country at risk. We need integrity in our institutions and we need accountability from our elected politicians. We have people in in the city, the county and in Springfield doing their jobs who’ve suffered no consequence for failing to live up to their responsibilities. That ends now.
Joe Berrios should step down and if he won’t, the voters should remove him from office this March.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the Joe Berrios campaign…
We strongly advise Chris Kennedy to focus on his failing campaign instead of throwing temper tantrums while claiming as “unfair” the system he has directly benefited from.
In 2016 and 2017, Kennedy appealed the assessed value of his property at Wolf Point. He has also appealed on his residence. In fact, going back decades and starting with the Merchandise Mart, the Kennedy family has used the appeal system to receive many reductions in assessed value.
If Kennedy truly feels the system is “unfair,” I call on him to return to taxpayers the millions of dollars in tax savings resulting from those reductions.
We find it hypocritical that Kennedy remains silent about James Houlihan, the previous assessor whose mismanagement of the office and violations of Cook County policies resulted in a major lawsuit against the County which has dragged on for years. Houlihan is now a key advisor to candidate Kennedy.
Assessor Berrios has focused on improving the assessment system he inherited by making it fair and equitable for every Cook County resident. He is providing all information, data and other cooperation requested in the County’s review of the property assessment system being conducted by the Civic Consulting Alliance.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Biss campaign…
“Chris Kennedy is biting the hand that fed him in asking Joe Berrios to resign, and he misses the point entirely,” said Biss campaign manager Abby Witt. “The problem is larger than any single person in one elected office. It’s that the wealthy and well-connected have benefitted from a rigged system they created decades ago to avoid paying their fair share in property taxes. And now our schools and social services, and the people who rely on them are struggling.
“Instead of spouting empty threats, there are two real solutions this problem. The first is to pass legislation, like the HOME Act, which Daniel Biss introduced this summer that fixes Illinois’ broken property tax valuation, assessment, and appeals system. The second is to let voters pick someone else on election day.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Oppo dump hurled over the transom…
KENNEDY ACCEPTED $10,000 FROM FORMER ASSESSOR JAMES HOULIHAN, WHO KNOWINGLY SENT OUT INACCURATE PROPERTY VALUATIONS & UNDER-ASSESSED COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES ACCORDING TO A TRIBUNE REPORT
James Houlihan Donated $10,000 To Kennedy For Illinois. [Kennedy for Illinois Q3 D2, Illinois State Board Of Elections, filed 10/16/17]
James Houlihan, Who Donated $10,000 To Kennedy, Was Cook County Assessor From 1997 To 2010. “James Houlihan – Assessor From: 1997-2010.” [Cook County Assessor’s Office, 10/16/17]
As Cook County Assessor, James Houlihan Knowingly Sent Out Inaccurate Property Valuations. “As assessor, James Houlihan knowingly sent out inaccurate property valuations. The future consequences could be costly… For more than a decade, the Cook County assessor’s office hid a secret inside the massive computer programs used to calculate property tax assessments for single-family homes. It didn’t look like much — just a few snippets of code amid thousands of lines — but it created erroneous valuations for homes throughout the county, affecting the tax bills sent to more than 1 million residential property owners every year. What the code did was deceptively simple: It decreased every estimated home value in the county by about 40 percent, a troubling practice that ignored legal requirements set out in county ordinances. The artificially low values threw the property tax system so far out of whack that it may have violated provisions of the state constitution. But, shrouded by an opaque and convoluted assessment system, these widespread inaccuracies were invisible to the average homeowner. The Tribune already has revealed how the county’s assessment system under Joseph Berrios has been riddled with errors that punished the poor while providing breaks to the wealthy. Now the investigation shows that the assessor’s office knowingly produced inaccurate property assessments during the long tenure of his predecessor, James Houlihan, and even as far back as the 1980s. Houlihan removed the snippets of code in 2009, a year before he left office.” [Chicago Tribune, 6/10/17]
The Chicago Tribune Reported That Houlihan Knowingly Under assessed Commercial Properties While Assessor. “When Houlihan took charge of the assessor’s office in 1997, those with deep knowledge of the property tax system would have understood that the ongoing drastic undervaluation of residential homes left the county vulnerable to legal challenges. One way to fix that problem would have been to raise residential assessments to legal levels. But that would have increased many people’s taxes, and that is not what Houlihan chose to do. Instead, records show, the assessor’s office left the residential level where it was — at 10 percent — and began taking measures that reduced the levels for commercial and industrial properties. Over the next decade, the median commercial and industrial assessment levels in Cook County fell by more than a third. In 2007, the median level for commercial property was about 17 percent — less than half of what it was supposed to be, according to state studies. Internal studies unearthed in the O’Keefe lawsuits show the assessor’s office knew about the low valuations. One report, titled ‘The Effects of the Decline in Commercial Assessment,’ detailed a significant drop in commercial assessment levels between 2003 and 2004. [Chicago Tribune, 6/10/17]
PROPERTY TAX LAWYER TULLY HAS GIVEN TO CHRIS KENNEDY; THAT LAW FIRM HANDLED KENNEDY’S APPEALS & HEAD TOM TULLY IS A FORMER ASSESSOR
3/23/17: Mathew Tully, An Attorney At Tully & Associates, Donated $1,000 To Kennedy For Illinois. [Kennedy for Illinois Q2, Illinois State Board of Elections, filed 7/17/17]
Chris Kennedy Used Tully & Associates, A Firm That Has Donated At Least $60,000 To Property Tax Officials, To Appeal The Assessment On His Home And One Of The Buildings He Was Developing. “But even as Kennedy took to social media and forums to complain about a “rigged system,” he was actively pursuing a second property tax appeal of his own — asking for a 20 percent reduction for his personal home in the Chicago suburb of Kenilworth… It was penned by Kennedy’s attorneys, Tully & Associates, a firm has donated at least $60,000 to members of the board that considers such requests. The firm also represented Kennedy and business partners when they won a nearly 63 percent reduction in one of the buildings under development, according to Crain’s Chicago.” [Politico, 7/25/17]
Chris Kennedy Used The Law Firm Of Former Cook County Assessor Tom Tully. “Kennedy and associates appealed, using the law firm of former Cook County Assessor Tom Tully, and the final value ended up being set at $5.109 million, a cut of almost 63 percent.” [Crain’s Chicago Business, 5/23/17]
CHRIS KENNEDY WAS STILL APPEALING HIS PROPERTY TAXES UNTIL IT BECAME A POLITICAL ISSUE, THEN QUIETLY WITHDREW HIS REQUEST
Chris Kennedy Was Pursuing A Second Appeal Of His Property Assessment Until A Story On Opponent Pritzker’s Property Taxes Broke, After Which Kennedy Quietly Withdrew His Appeal. “But even as Kennedy took to social media and forums to complain about a ‘rigged system,’ he was actively pursuing a second property tax appeal of his own — asking for a 20 percent reduction for his personal home in the Chicago suburb of Kenilworth. Kennedy then quietly withdrew his appeal request, according to a letter obtained by POLITICO, seven days after a story surfaced that was critical of property tax reductions won by his chief primary opponent, billionaire J.B. Pritzker.” [Politico, 7/25/17]
As I’ve stated, we need to reform our flawed and inequitable property tax system. But I’m not here to score political points by attacking other Democrats. That’s what my opponents are doing when we should be focused on defeating Bruce Rauner. The voters will ultimately decide if Mr. Berrios deserves another term.
Chris @KennedyforIL joined @GovRauner in hammering @JBPritzker for his family trusts today on the @BennyJShow: "If there's a history of tax cheating, that's a disqualifier for public service."
We are celebrating one year of the Future Energy Jobs Act. As the Trump administration works to roll back environmental protections, Illinois is in a safer, stronger place thanks to the leadership of advocates who championed FEJA. We need to continue that leadership. #FEJAWeek
You're right. We must end this scourge. My bill requiring doctors to check the prescription monitoring program database before writing an opioid prescription is on your desk, ready for you to sign. https://t.co/eCXJW4XukI
The assessor’s office encourages property owners to file an appeal if they are dissatisfied with an assessment. In cases where officials did not change a property’s initial estimate from one reassessment to the next, the vast majority of the owners appealed, government records show.
Seventy-four percent of those owners won reductions from the assessor — only to see the values snap right back to the same number in the next reassessment.
“There is no rationale for having no change in these initial valuations,” said Richard Almy, former executive director of the International Association of Assessing Officers. “Especially if the assessor later agreed to a reduction; there’s no earthly reason for them to go back to the same value.”
The repetitive process feeds a property tax appeal industry that provides the bulk of Berrios’ campaign contributions. Inaccurate assessments also help drive business to political allies who are property tax attorneys, including Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, the longest-serving state house speaker in U.S. history, and Alderman Edward Burke, the longtime chair of the Chicago City Council’s finance committee.
The office’s deputy assessor for communications, Tom Shaer, did not explain why thousands of first-pass values were identical over multiple reassessments under Berrios. The other findings from ProPublica Illinois and the Tribune are misleading, he said, and do not “do justice to the complexity” of Cook County’s assessment system.
“The study includes five years of the real estate crash,” Shaer wrote in an emailed response. “The crash played havoc with figures in certain industry measures used for this story, making them unreliable when evaluating the assessor’s work.”
A ProPublica Illinois-Chicago Tribune analysis of appeals data from the Cook County assessor’s office found that the firm of Madigan & Getzendanner dominates the market for commercial and industrial appeals in Cook County. Between 2011 and 2016, the firm filed appeals on properties that were initially assessed at nearly $8.6 billion. That is nearly $1 billion more than the second-place firm, Crane and Norcross.
A ProPublica Illinois-Chicago Tribune analysis of appeals data found that Berrios granted appeals for more than 34,000 commercial and industrial parcels in the 2012 Chicago reassessment and for about the same number again in 2015.
By contrast, former Assessor Houlihan approved only 17,596 appeals in 2009 — and that was the largest number since at least 2003.
Under Berrios, the analysis found, more than 70 percent of all commercial and industrial appeals filed with the assessor’s office resulted in reductions between 2011 and 2015, compared with 48 percent during the previous five-year period.
Every property tax assessment system requires an appeal process to ensure fairness and accuracy, and many jurisdictions across the country saw an uptick in appeals following the financial crisis, experts said. But the number of appeals in Cook County is extraordinarily high, far exceeding the total in New York, for example.
These appeals support an industry that provides more than half of Berrios’ campaign funds.
The most common test of accuracy is the coefficient of dispersion, or COD. It is, essentially, an error rate. For income-producing properties, the International Association of Assessing Officers sets the acceptable level of COD at 20. That means assessments are off by an average of 20 percent.
Under Berrios, the scores for commercial and industrial first-pass valuations have been as high as 133, ProPublica Illinois and the Tribune found. Though experts often allow complex jurisdictions like Cook County some leeway, they said those results are unacceptable.
The errors also have a bias. With lower-priced commercial and industrial properties, the assessor’s estimates tend to come in too high. At higher price points, assessments are often too low.
Known as regressivity, this pattern means the property tax system is unfair to people who own lower-value properties. Those taxpayers end up paying more, relative to the value of their property, than others do.
…Adding… ILGOP…
“The corruption from Joe Berrios and Mike Madigan is absolutely disgusting. For years, they have taken money from middle class families and small businesses to help line their own pockets, all the while propping up their political careers. If you want to know why Illinois has serious problems, look no further than Joe Berrios and Mike Madigan and their shameful practices of robbing hard-working Illinoisans to make themselves richer.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Aaron DeGroot
…Adding… Press release…
Following is a statement from Fritz Kaegi, the progressive Democrat challenging incumbent Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios in the March 2018 primary election, in response to today’s Chicago Tribune/ProPublica investigative report on the corrupt practices of the current Assessor’s Office.
“The Chicago Tribune and ProPublica report again proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Assessor Joe Berrios has systematically and intentionally used his office to benefit the rich, powerful and politically connected, and has forced the Cook County residents who can least afford it to pay for the web of corruption in the form of massively inflated property tax bills.
“His brazen violation of the public trust is a disgrace, and the residents of Cook County are rightfully outraged.”
“As Assessor, I’ll get valuations right the first time. I’ll implement valuation models that are more uniform and that reflect current market conditions. I’ll be transparent in how valuations are reached. I’ll make available data and valuation standards to third parties, and hire a qualified, diverse workforce free from nepotism and favoritism. I will not accept donations from property tax appeals lawyers as a candidate or as assessor, and I am committed to the immediate separation of political influence from the assessment process.”
…Adding… Another press release…
Earlier this week, J.B. Pritzker was challenged on reporting relatively little income despite his $3.4 billion net worth. Given the Pritzker family history of avoiding taxes in offshore trusts, Pritzker’s multiple responses were vague at best.
Today, two of Pritzker’s chief backers, Speaker Mike Madigan and Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios, are the subject of a Chicago Tribune story investigating the corrupt racket surrounding property tax assessments.
From the Tribune report:
“The repetitive process feeds a property tax appeal industry that provides the bulk of Berrios’ campaign contributions. Inaccurate assessments also help drive business to political allies who are property tax attorneys, including Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.”
Pritzker has been intimately involved with this racket, securing a $230,000 tax break from Berrios on his Gold Coast mansion after having the toilets disconnected from a neighboring property so that it would be declared uninhabitable.
Between Pritzker’s history of gaming the tax system, his undisclosed offshore interests, and now today’s revelations surrounding Berrios and Madigan, how can Illinoisans trust another corrupt insider?
An Illinois official has canceled a $12 million contract she says should have been offered to the highest bidder by Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration.
Chief Procurement Officer Ellen Daley decreed Tuesday that the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services should have bid the contract with McKinsey & Co.
Gov. Rauner on Wednesday blamed House Speaker Michael Madigan for the cancellation of a $12.5 million state contract with management consulting company McKinsey & Co. […]
Ironically, the cancellation was made possible by new guidelines for how the state buys and sells services that Rauner signed into law earlier this year. The new law was one of the few items on Rauner’s original “turnaround agenda” that lawmakers granted him, though he said Wednesday that it hadn’t gone far enough.
“Procurement in Illinois is broken, it has been broken and it is still broken,” Rauner said when asked to explain what went wrong with the McKinsey contract. “We did pass a modest procurement reform bill. Didn’t go nearly far enough. It probably fixed about a third or a quarter of the problem.”
Then he pivoted to Madigan, saying the speaker “has resisted because he controls a lot of the procurement people through his patronage operation. He likes the current procurement system. That’s how he gets some of his political power that we have to defeat.”
Asked if he thought the procurement officer who’d voided the contract was controlled by the speaker, Rauner said he thought Madigan had “heavy influence.”
Oh, please. The no-bid contract was supposed to be about “anticipation of litigation” for the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. But as you can see if you click here, the CPO pointed out that lots of the actual contract had nothing to do with “anticipation of litigation.”
You can’t just blame Madigan for literally everything under the sun. I mean, yeah, he deserves blame for a lot, but this? C’mon, man. Daley has been CPO since July of 2015. Before that, she did procurement work for CMS and CPS.
The Illinois state comptroller has halted payment on a second contract that Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration signed last year because it’s similar to one a state regulator invalidated.
Comptroller Susana Mendoza notified the Department of Healthcare and Family Services Wednesday that she would not pay a $12.5 million contract with consultant McKinsey & Co. for Medicaid-program assistance. […]
Mendoza’s letter adds that there will be no further payments on $12.9 million contract with McKinsey signed last year because of its similarities to the one canceled. Mendoza spokesman Abdon Pallasch said the state has paid $6 million on that deal.
A Republican lawmaker is challenging Gov. Bruce Rauner over a claim that the Democratic House speaker influenced the cancellation of a $12.5 million no-bid contract the administration signed.
Barrington Hills GOP Rep. David McSweeney says Republican Rauner must provide proof or apologize.
You knew I was running for governor to get Illinois back on track, but you didn't know the best advice I've ever received or my favorite TV show – until now. Check it out! pic.twitter.com/37Q9wkYPeW
Whatever else you may think of Pritzker, I cannot imagine Gov. Rauner pulling off something like that.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
In response to JB Pritzker’s “Up Close & Personal with JB” video, Daniel Biss asked a question of his own, calling out Prtizker for the continued questions swirling around his usage of offshore tax havens to avoid paying his fair share of taxes.
JB Pritzker isn’t the only billionaire candidate running for governor in Illinois who has a history of using offshore accounts to shift their tax burden to working families. During his time as a chairman of private equity firm GTCR, Bruce Rauner had a stake in several Cayman Islands-based investment pools. He’s falsely claimed to have placed his assets into a “blind trust” but it’s been repeatedly demonstrated that isn’t the case.
The only way for both Pritzker and Rauner to earn the trust of Illinois voters is to release their full tax returns as Daniel Biss did more than 8 months ago.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Chris Kennedy, announced today that he has accepted four televised debates and one non-televised debate ahead of the March 20, 2018 Democratic Primary. As he originally proposed, three debates will be in the Chicago market and two will be outside the Chicago market. Most of the debates will be accessible statewide through online streaming or through broadcast TV.
Jan. 23, 2018 — NBC Chicago/Telemundo
Feb. 21, 2018 — State Journal-Register/WMAY-AM (Springfield-Decatur-Champaign)
March 2, 2018 — ABC 7 Chicago/Univision/League of Women Voters
March 5, 2018 — WCIA-TV (Springfield-Decatur-Champaign)
March 14, 2017 — WTTW-TV (Chicago)
“Democratic primary voters deserve numerous debates to hear directly from the candidates,” Kennedy said. “I hope my primary opponents join me in accepting these debates so voters can hear our plans for the future.”
The Kennedy campaign also committed to two all-candidate gubernatorial forums, including:
Jan. 30, 2018 — Daily Herald Media Group/Southern Illinois University
March 1, 2018 — WBEZ-FM/POLITICO/University of Chicago
Pritzker just sent out his own press release (click here) and he agreed to all the above except one: The March 5th WCIA TV debate. I haven’t yet heard from the Biss campaign.
…Adding… Biss’ campaign says the candidate is “looking forward to being at any debate, anywhere at any time.”
…Adding More… WCIA TV, I’m told, has debate carry agreements with WBBM, KMOV (St. Louis) and stations in Rockford, Quad Cities, Peoria-Bloomington, Carbondale and two Indiana border cities. This is, in other words, a statewide debate.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Press release…
Response from Rebecca Evans, Chris Kennedy’s spokeswoman:
In September, Chris Kennedy publicly committed to doing a series of televised debates leading up to the March 20, 2018 primary so that voters throughout Illinois have access to where we stand on issues that are critical to bringing opportunity back to Illinois. Our opponents all agreed.
Given the diversity and geography of our state, it’s important for voters to have access to televised debates. The fact that JB Pritzker has not committed to a single televised debate outside of the Chicago market, tells us where he stands in his commitment to Illinois voters. He has no problem spending millions of dollars on TV time so he can speak to voters in soundbites, but it appears as though he’s dodging an opportunity to have a robust conversation about issues that affect downstate voters.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Biss spokesman…
Don’t know why we’re even debating the debates. But @JBPritzker must think he has the election locked from his tower in Chicago to skip the @WCIA3 debate that will be televised in every media market in Illinois. @danielbiss will be at any debate, anywhere, at anytime. #ILGov18https://t.co/5Y8Z2b8CqD
A Chicago Public Schools plan to close four high schools on the city’s South Side has been met with an avalanche of criticism, including from students in the area.
“It makes me feel like I’m worthless,” Harper High School student Traivon O’Neil said.
O’Neil was one of several students who staged a sit-in at the high school on Friday. Harper is one of four in the neighborhood that CPS is planning on closing to make way for a privately-operated new $85 million charter school that is slated to open in the fall of 2019.
The plan has been criticized by the Chicago Teacher’s Union and elected officials, including State Representative Sonya Harper. […]
Harper, Hope, Robeson, and Team Englewood are all set to close in June as part of the plan, meaning that hundreds of students in those schools will have to transfer to different institutions for the 2018-19 school year.
* JB Pritzker tweeted out his support last night…
I stand with our students because public education needs investment, which will help bring stability to our communities. Juliana and I stand in opposition to school closures, which further destabilize communities that are most in need. https://t.co/WyFW0qSKBR
We strongly support a progressive income tax in our state to ensure that Illinois public schools are fully funded, so that every child gets a quality education no matter where they live.
Today, Daniel Biss will join members of the Chicago Teachers Union, and students and parents at a press conference and rally being held at 9:30 a.m. at Chicago Public Schools headquarters to speak out against Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to close more schools in mostly Black and Latinx neighborhoods.
“I stand in support of Chicago’s students, parents, and teachers,” said Daniel Biss. “Once again, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has targeted schools that serve mostly black and brown communities for closure — ripping the heart out of neighborhoods already weakened by years of disinvestment.
“We’re being sold a lie, that we can’t afford schools. But that’s only true in a system that doesn’t make the wealthy pay their fair share. It’s no wonder that when the wealthy and well-connected govern, their schools are funded without debate while black and brown working class families have to constantly fight to keep their schools open.
“I’m proud to stand united with the working families of Chicago to demand an end to school closures, a moratorium on charter school expansion, a repeal to private school vouchers, and a duly elected school board.”
* Kennedy campaign…
Five years ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed 50 Chicago Public Schools. Since 2013, we’ve seen 32,000 students leave CPS schools, which is enough to fill over 50 additional schools.
Now, the Mayor says it’s not enough. CPS has put out its School Action Plan that includes closing even more public schools — primarily impacting students in the black community.
“Closing schools is not a plan for building up communities and fostering economic growth,” said Chris Kennedy, Democratic candidate for governor. “It’s a recipe for more violence. It’s a plan to push people out. It’s a tool of strategic gentrification. We should be investing in our neighborhood schools by ending our reliance on the broken property tax system that is chronically underfunding our schools. Our public schools are the backbone of rebuilding our economy; they’re not line items in our budget that we can cut.”
Kennedy’s running mate, Ra Joy, spoke at a Chicago Teachers Union press conference this morning in front of CPS Headquarters in support of students whose schools are facing closure.
“What’s happening with our schools is a symbol of dysfunction, it’s a symbol of racism: the massive cuts, the massive layoffs, the massive school closings,” Joy said. “If politicians had half the courage that these student advocates have, Chicago would be a just and more vibrant city. We need a Chicago where equity is paramount.”
*** UPDATE *** Ra Joy spoke eloquently on this topic. Watch this video…
Three years into his first term after promising to “shake up Springfield,” Rauner continues to allow the most powerful man in Illinois politics — yes, it’s House Speaker Michael Madigan and let’s not feign surprise — to mess with his psyche. At a news conference Monday, Rauner offered a quirky assertion that even though he is governor, he is not “in charge” of state government. Madigan is. Rauner also suggested Madigan “rigged” the Democratic primary field, presumably clearing the path for gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker, who has picked up numerous endorsements from the Dems’ political elite — most of whom genuflect to you-know-whom. […]
With Madigan constantly in his sights, however, Rauner comes across as a perpetual victim. That posture only elevates the stature of Madigan, who is adept at getting under people’s skin. That’s what he does. Those people include former governors of both parties. Chicago mayors. Fellow Democrats statewide. Even his staunchest loyalists and, at times publicly, his daughter, who happens to be the attorney general.
Rather than partake in Madigan’s games, Rauner should be talking about his own record and what he would do with another four years. As a candidate in 2014, Rauner was John Wayne: “Mike Madigan has never negotiated with someone like me. He’s negotiated with career politicians who need money, who need favors, who owe special interest groups. I don’t owe anybody anything and I don’t need money and I don’t need a political career and I don’t need a job,” he said the month before he was elected. […]
Madigan shouldn’t be the focus of Rauner’s re-election campaign. Rauner should be the focus of Rauner’s campaign.
