* Before we close for the week, Mark Denzler asked that we mention this to those of you in the 217 this weekend…
Friends,
Our annual Kentucky Derby Party benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is coming up on Saturday, April 26 at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield. This is my final year as co-chair of the event and we’re hoping to make this the best yet!
It’s a fun night for an outstanding cause great food, awesome Derby fashion, and fantastic auction items. Our silent auction includes a case of Duckhorn wine, four tickets to the Jimmy Buffett concert in Chicago, Cards, Cubs & White Sox tickets, and even a very cool private tour of the vault at the Lincoln Presidential Library and more. Buy a raffle ticket for the chance to win 4 box tickets to the 2014 Kentucky Derby!
I’m hoping that you may consider joining us for the night.
Thanks for your consideration.
* It seems like everytime I close comments for the weekend there is a late, fairly significant press releasse distributed that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Between the Twitter feed below and the “Afternoon updates” post, that’s not going to happen this time.
Enjoy the weekend! It’s May in Illinois, which means long debates and even longer nights are ahead of us all. Rich will be back on Monday, so I will see you on the rail, or at the bar, or both. Here’s some Mouse…
Well fads they come and fads they go
And God I love that rock and roll
Well the point was fast but it was too blunt to miss.
Life handed us a paycheck, we said, “We worked harder than this!”
Both State’s Attorney Jerry Brady and Peoria Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard said nothing was done out of the ordinary last week when a handful of police officers searched a Peoria home in response to a complaint by the mayor over a fake Twitter account parodying him.
Many online and at a city council meeting earlier this week have blasted the search, saying it was heavy-handed and showed preferential treatment to Mayor Jim Ardis. But Brady and the chief said that wasn’t the case. Rather, they both said, due process was followed and everything was done to preserve the rights of those people who were behind the fake account, @peoriamayor.
We didn’t treat this any differently, but we, the law enforcement arm of Peoria, would not have done anything without getting the OK from the boss. Do they have to get an OK from the Mayor everytime they are going to execute a warrant or arrest?
More…
While upset that his investigation, which lasted about a month, resulted in no charges, he said he was also glad because it showed the process worked.
A MONTH?!
But, you see, it’s not their fault Peoria has become a national laughing stock…
Chief puts "embarrassment" of people involved in #peoriamayor case on media. PPD never named who was involved.
* If you’re counting on the state pension bill to survive the Constitutionality test, thi certainly doesn’t help…
In a case with implications for the upcoming legal battle over pension reform, an Illinois appellate court in Springfield ruled that constitutional protections prevent the state from reducing mandated payments to county treasurers.
The pension protection clause of the Illinois Constitution, which says that workers’ retirement benefits can’t be diminished, is at the heart of lawsuits challenging statewide pension changes enacted late last year.
While the county treasurers’ case relies on other language in the constitution, the appellate court’s decision yesterday is analogous, using the same legal arguments and precedents that teachers and other state workers are pressing in court against pension reform.
“It supports the arguments we have been making and will continue to make,” said John Fitzgerald, partner in Chicago law firm Tabet DiVito & Rothstein LLC, which represents retired teachers and school administrators, both active and retired, in a suit challenging the pension law.
Under Illinois law, county treasurers are supposed to get an annual $6,500 stipend from the state. The treasurers sued when their annual stipends were reduced to $4,196 in the year ended June 30, 2010.
The state even pointed to a shortage in the General Assembly’s appropriation, but that argument didn’t get them anywhere.
* A pension round-up…
* Sun-Times: Reject firefighter staffing bill: Why then, we can only wonder, is the Illinois Legislature seemingly so eager to get behind a bill that would give labor unions more say in how many firefighters and paramedics a town must hire? The bill would take hiring decisions, in part, out of the hands of those best positioned to decide right — elected officials, village managers and other professional staff. And the bill would drive up costs for dozens of already cash-strapped suburbs and towns. (Want to guess how often the firefighters union in a typical town thinks there are enough firefighters?) The bill in Springfield — already passed by 63-44 in the House and headed for Senate — would make firefighter staffing levels part of labor contract negotiations. The Senate should pour water all over this one. Drown it.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/04/24/study-firefighters-more-susceptible-to-cancer/
“In general, I don’t support term limits, and do support Rauner,” Kirk said. “I think he’s the right guy for the state.”
Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) and Illinois Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) have introduced a separate proposal to amend the state constitution to limit the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller, and treasurer to two terms in office.
But Kirk said if people want to fire their elected officials, they can vote them out of office.
“If you want to fire your legislator, just vote against them,” Kirk said.
Illinois residents think they live in the worst state in the country, according to a recent poll from Gallup.
Even though Midwesterners are generally more positive about their states, Illinois residents are the exception, with 25 percent declaring that it is “the worst possible state to live.”
The particularly grim outlook of Illinois residents could be attributed to factors like high-profile scandals and high taxes.
Other Gallup polls found that Illinois residents have the least trust in their state government and are one of the most resentful about how much they pay in state taxes.
While prospects for achieving a three-fifths vote of senators in the Democratic-controlled chamber are considered good, getting the same super-majority in the Democratic-led House is believed questionable at best. Earlier this week, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan said the proposed constitutional amendment was “significantly short” of the 71 votes needed to put it on the Nov. 4 ballot.
…
The House sponsor of the plan, Rep. Christian Mitchell, D-Chicago, said he couldn’t say whether he had the required support needed for passage “at the moment.” Vote counts, he said, “are dynamic and ever changing.” Harmon, however, said he was “confident I have the votes in the Senate.”
In an effort to make the proposal more politically palatable, Harmon and Mitchell have proposed separate state legislation that would replace the state’s current 5 percent personal income tax rate, which is set to revert to 3.75 percent in January, with a three-bracket income tax. The first $12,500 in income would be taxed at 2.9 percent, income on top of that to $180,000 would be taxed at 4.9 percent, and all income above $180,000 would be taxed at 6.9 percent.
* Speaking of taxes, take a look at these opposing guest editorials concerning the motor fuel tax. The first is from Doug Whitley…
User fees are a fair and practical funding source for transportation infrastructure. It ensures that those who drive more — and therefore place more wear on our infrastructure — would pay more. Thanks to greater fuel efficiency and no motor fuel tax increases, today’s motorists contribute much less to support highway construction than in prior decades.
We cannot let our transportation networks deteriorate and become our next crushing problem like pensions and education. We need a better way forward that assures a reliable, predictable and stable funding stream to support our mobility and prosperity. We must accept the responsibility to be good stewards of our present and future transportation needs, and that time is now.
Clearly, the state needs to maintain its infrastructure, but we need to get behind the wheel and stop this push for higher fuel taxes. Illinois Auditor General Bill Holland released a report in 2013 that found Illinois spent less than half of its dedicated road fund dollars directly on road construction costs in eight of the prior 10 fiscal years.
Taxpayers should be outraged. Gas station owners and convenience store retailers are opposed to any plan that would have Illinois drivers paying more to fill-up their gas tanks.
There have been no votes in the Illinois General Assembly on specific proposals to raise the motor fuel tax in 2014, but there is a concerning amount of conversation about the possibility.
That possibility has at least been raised over in the House where the Revenue & Finance and State Government Administration Committees have been working towards a package of tax code changes.
* And here is a budget and state government round-up. Notice the re-appearance of a few doom and gloom stories…
* Minimum wage workers, state lawmakers clash on fair pay, taxes: If the state were to adopt this structure lawmakers would set the new rates. That brings up concerns for opponents. “There’s no limit on that which means they can raise it to whatever level they want and it’s going to be middle class families that get hurt the most.” -says 35th District State Senator Dave Syverson.
* Illinois lawmakers suggest abandoning resort: In a hearing to discuss the Illinois Department of Natural Resources budget Thursday, state Rep. Kelly Burke, D-Evergreen Park, asked whether agency officials had considered giving up on the 25-year-old state-owned Eagle Creek Resort south of Findlay. “Why don’t we get rid of it?” Burke asked. Natural Resources Director Marc Miller did not dismiss the idea, telling a panel of lawmakers that the state faces challenges when it comes to making Eagle Creek financially viable. The 138-room lodge has been closed since 2009 because of an outbreak of mold. A Decatur company brought in to repair the damage in 2010 walked away from the job earlier this year because of a dispute with the agency.
Gov. Pat Quinn says he’d like to see private donations factor into funding a possible Barack Obama presidential library in Illinois.
The Chicago Democrat told reporters in Collinsville on Thursday that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library in Springfield has provided a major economic boost, particularly with tourism.
Gov. Pat Quinn is throwing his support behind a proposal to spend $100 million in state funds to sweeten Chicago’s bid for the Obama presidential library and museum.
The state is grappling with budget woes, but Quinn said Saturday the spending would be “an important investment.”
He pointed to the state’s financial support for the Lincoln library in Springfield, saying “it’s paid tremendous dividends in terms of tourism.”
Rauner’s campaign said Quinn’s visit was a campaign maneuver that featured a recycled idea. Rauner’s camp noted that Quinn launched a similar program, called Illinois Home Start, in 2009, and Quinn’s predecessor, Rod Blagojevich, launched a similar program called the I-Loan Mortgage in 2005.
Shortly after the Governor was wheels up in Marion after hosting a similar event there, Rauner hit him again for the Shakman suit…
“After claiming he would bring transparency to state government, Pat Quinn is blocking the public from learning the truth about his administration’s Blagojevich-style state job patronage scheme,” he said in an emailed statement.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner is calling on Gov. Pat Quinn to release documents related to a federal complaint alleging improper hiring in the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Rauner told The Associated Press Thursday that Quinn should keep promises of transparency by making public documents supposedly detailing hiring issues. He says Quinn is continuing Illinois’ history of corruption and cronyism.
Rauner tells AP he hasn’t hired friends, family or allies.
The Governor’s camp has yet to give a strong response to the hits he has taken from the Republican challenger over the last couple of days. In the absence of a response, the media is feeding on Rauner’s attacks and the Shakman case…
IDOT says it stopped hiring “staff assistants” after questions were raised last year, and 50 positions were reclassified as nonexempt after an audit of job responsibilities. “Moving forward, these re-classified positions will be hired through the Rutan process.”
That’s not good enough. Not even close.
Why should workers get to keep jobs that they obtained by clout, without regard for qualifications, and at the expense of those who applied through legal channels?
The bigger question: How many of them are there — not just at IDOT, but throughout state government?
The governor ought to be demanding some answers. Instead, it’s Shakman.
“Chicagoland” depicts the city we know, beautiful but with warts and broken places. And throughout, there is drama and conflict, from the painful closing of public schools to the senseless gang wars. There are heroes in it and there are failures.
There is even a death. The monitors beep at the county hospital, the doctors say “charge” and then “clear” and then nothing. You see bloody dressings on the floor at the surgeons’ feet. The camera bores in. You see a close-up of a man as he grows still.
But make no mistake: This is Rahm Emanuel’s story, his re-election campaign vehicle. This is the boss of Chicago selling his heroic narrative to American voters.
I’m in no position to judge the series. Whenever I have seen it listed in my cable guide, I click it only to find more MH370 coverage. That said, it wouldn’t totally surprise me if this were about politics. Coincidentally, or not depending on your cynicism levels, Supt. McCarthy played a central role in the Brick City miniseries that chronicled then-Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s struggle with that city’s murder rate.
Question:What is your take of the Chicagoland series? Did it accomplish anything for the good? What would you have done differently?
* This happened at the Lorimor household more than once over the past two weeks…
Sad…but true.
Welcome to the second Friday of this spring break, CapFaxers…
* Why Bill Daley’s New Hedge Fund Gig Surprises No One: In his new role, Daley will work to expand Argentiere’s U.S. business from his Chicago home base. The nascent fund, which boasts $500 million in assets, was launched in Switzerland last year by JPMorgan trading alums. (Daley has professional ties to the bank: He was JPMorgan’s Midwestern chairman from 2004 up through his Chief of Staff appointment.)
* NLRB grants Northwestern’s request for review of union decision: The union vote still takes place Friday but ballots will be impounded until the board issues a decision affirming, modifying or reversing the regional director’s decision, according to a NLRB statement. There are 76 players eligible to vote. A majority of the actual votes cast is required to authorize a union, said university spokesman Bob Rowley.
* Sun-Times: How to improve graduation rates: Systemwide, ninth-grade pass rates, or “on-track” to graduate rates, have skyrocketed, from 57 percent in 2007 to 82 percent 2013, suggesting that the surge in graduation rates won’t be limited to the 20 studied schools.
* Lawyers for men charged in NIU hazing death challenge law: “It contains no definition, no limits, no parameters, and doesn’t even cite examples of what (such acts) might be,” Donahue argued at a hearing Thursday before DeKalb County Associate Judge John McAdams. “We should all know what a crime is.”
* You Paid For It: Illinois State University President Residence Remodel: WMBD dug into records of how the university prepared to welcome Flanagan to Central Illinois, because you paid for it. Eleven thousand dollars for a fence, more than $1,000 for a microwave shelf, a master bedroom and bathroom remodel cost nearly $109,000, and $2,000 for four “private property” signs. This is how Illinois State University got ready for a new president to move into the university residence. “The Bowmans were there 10 years,” says ISU Chief of Staff Jay Groves. “He didn’t leave a lot, didn’t want a lot done when we were there. So, we saw this as an opportunity from May 15th to August 9th when Flanagan moved in to do a major remodeling project because it really needed it.” Groves says there are reasons why some of the costs we found are high. Our investigation shows workers were paid nearly $90 an hour to install and paint dry-wall.
* IDPH warns of rising STDs in Illinois: DPH officials say 20 million new sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including 50,000 HIV infections, occur in the United States each year. Nearly half of those cases are found in people between the ages of 15 and 24.
* Tollway’s $75 million bridge project will yield to fish
* Ride-sharing ordinance passes key hurdle: Under the ordinance, companies whose driver workforce averages more than 20 hours per person each week would face stronger oversight, including a requirement that all their drivers obtain chauffeur’s licenses. But the proposed ordinance targeting companies such as Uber X, Lyft and SideCar leaves it to the ride-share companies to police drivers in terms of how many work hours are logged.
* Ride Service May Pose Risk to Passengers: NBC5 Investigates went undercover, hiring UberX drivers to take us to some of Chicago’s most popular landmarks — and found not a single driver knew his way around the city. NBC5 then ran background checks on each of the drivers and discovered ticket after ticket — for speeding, illegal stops and running lights. One driver had 26 traffic tickets, yet still passed Uber’s background check.
* Ride-Sharing Regulations Passed By City Council Committee: Mayoral Policy Chief Michael Negron says the new administration proposal would create a transportation network provider license with tougher requirements for drivers working more than 20 hours a week. “Our goal is not to protect any one company or any one industry from competition. Our focus is on protecting consumers,” said Negron.
* Downtown (Peoria) Caterpillar project being studied: “We’re continuing to study it. It’s not a small project. When we have more decided, there’ll be more communicated,” said Brad Halverson, the company’s chief financial officer and a group president.
* As you may recall from a story posted here earlier this week, Speaker Madigan says he does not yet have the votes to pass the income tax hike. The renewed attention the Governor has received as of late for the Flider, Gordon, and Smith hirings from four years ago certainly does not help.
Wurth said additional cuts to Medicaid would result in reductions or eliminations of services at hospitals, including trauma, obstetrics and mental health. Patients also could see longer waiting times at emergency rooms.
“We recognize this is a difficult vote,” Wurth said. “But we need lawmakers to make tough decisions for these tough times. The future of our state depends on it.”
Among special interest groups in Illinois, the hospital association was in the top 15 in terms of giving money to politicians in the 2012 election cycle.
In 2013, the organization contributed more than $420,000 to politicians, including significant sums to party leaders on both sides of the aisle in the General Assembly.
Democrats and Republicans should change the conversation. They should assume the law as written remains law, with income tax rates receding Jan. 1, and with no new Democratic tax hikes to replace that lost revenue. Changing the conversation would make politicians of both parties face an ultimatum: Tell us how Illinois should budget for that distinct possibility.
…
If your accusations are true, Republicans, prove them in a way all of us can see: Put a big table and some chairs on a shady patch of statehouse lawn. Politely invite agency heads and Quinn’s budgeteers to answer questions. Explain that this is just a conversation. You aren’t taking sworn testimony, you aren’t conducting inquisitions, you aren’t forming a shadow government. It’s a fact-gathering session, on a nice spring day, to help the people of Illinois see what the rollback will mean and how Springfield can, or can’t possibly, cut spending to absorb it.
…
But with or without fresh information from the Democrats, Rauner and GOP leaders ought to propose specific revenue and spending plans. They have to assure voters now hearing the Democrats’ doom and gloom that the tax rollback won’t send state government off a cliff.
This part made me chuckle a bit…
You, too, Mr. Rauner. Itching to, say, ask Julie Hamos, head of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, about further scrubbing ineligible recipients from the Medicaid rolls? Big potential savings there, as we’ve all seen. Talk it through with her. Serve iced tea. The media coverage would, we suspect, be lavish.
Subscribers and the Tribune board knows exactly why such a conversation would be so interesting to more than just the parties involved.
Related budget round-up…
* Journal Star: Help for those who need it, for a change?: It’s a wonder anyone can be found to work in a group home for adults who are profoundly disabled. They do jobs the vast majority of us don’t want, lifting fully grown people who often are wheelchair dependent, feeding them, bathing them, learning to communicate with the nonverbal, dealing with behavioral challenges that may include biting and hitting and other forms of frustration, sometimes becoming unrelated family — all so they can earn, on average, $9.35 an hour in Illinois. And so legislation has been introduced to improve that situation. It would gradually increase the minimum pay to $13 an hour for these direct support workers by 2016, starting with a $1-an-hour wage hike on Jan. 1. Gov. Pat Quinn is on board, putting aside some $30 million in his proposed 2015 budget. We trust most would agree these workers should earn more money, though you always have some who haven’t walked in those shoes and believe taxpayers should bear no responsibility for the struggles of others, to which we would say: You’re asking the impossible of many of these families, and “there but for the grace of God go I.”
As Rauner campaigned for governor during the Republican primary, he was often asked how he could win in November when so many of his party’s recent nominees had stumbled against the state’s Democratic tide rising from Cook County.
Their doubts were understandable, having watched Democrat Pat Quinn prevail in 2010 despite carrying just three of Illinois’ 102 counties.
Rauner’s answer: he would defeat Quinn by cutting into the Democrats’ usual Cook County advantage, even predicting he would receive 25 percent of the Chicago vote because of his business and civic ties here.
…
By asking city voters to call his campaign office if they want to help stop the property tax increase, Rauner seems to be trolling for disillusioned city Democrats to add to his database of potential anti-Quinn voters. They will join the names of the folks who signed Rauner’s term limits petitions for more personal attention later down the road.
It’s pretty smart politics really and probably more cost-effective than Rauner’s other strategy of just spreading his money around town to see how many people he can buy, which is standard Republican operating procedure except for Rauner having LOTS more money.
The whole column is really well done.
That “other strategy” is what Neil Steinberg was referring to last week in a now-somewhat infamous column.
You will recall Steinberg elaborated on a Sneedling that “Hermene Hartman, publisher of an obscure Chicago African-American periodical, N’DIGO, who pocketed $51,000 of Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner’s bottomless pail of money and then decided, my God, he’s the man to back, the billionaire with a heart of gold that beats in time to the hopes of the black community.” But it was the lead-in paragraph to that that is causing a stir now…
Let me be clear: As a general rule, individuals will sell out the interests of their groups in return for personal benefit. It isn’t just a black thing. Jews collaborated with the Nazis during World War II, helping them to round up their own people in the hopes they’d be the last to go. The Republican Party will deny global warming until the ocean laps at Pittsburgh simply because doing something about it crosses the immediate profit of the coal burners and oil companies and carbon spouters who write the checks. No tobacco company has any trouble finding people who, at a hefty salary, stare into the camera and say no, all that lung cancer stuff is just fiction.
Some in the Chicago Jewish community say that they were outraged by Quinn’s support of the Nazi rhetoric, which was disseminated over Passover, the holiday marking the ancient Jewish people’s release from slavery.
“Coming during Passover just a few days after the [anti-Semitic] shootings in Kansas, this kind of rhetoric was beyond outrageous,” said one local Jewish community insider. “Community leaders immediately contacted the governor’s office and urged retraction.”
Sources say that the heads of several major Jewish organizations personally registered their outrage with Quinn.
Can we all just agree right here and now that Henry Gibson and the Blues Brothers are the last to make an Illinois Nazi reference? All other analogies just seem to end so well…
“I’ve been slow to embrace term limits because voters do have the power to reject candidates and oust incumbents. However, given the condition of Illinois, I think the time has come to give voters a choice on limiting terms of office for its constitutional officers,” said Radogno. “Coupled with an effort to have voters decide on legislators’ term limits, this could lead to a meaningful change in Illinois government.”
Durkin agreed. “The power of incumbency is particularly strong for those holding top executive positions like the Governor. Term limits will bring fresh perspectives to these offices and will make elections for these offices more competitive,” said Durkin.
Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 69 (SJRCA 69) would not only limit Executive Branch officers to two terms in office, it also addresses circumstances where an individual is appointed to replace a Governor or Constitutional Officer, whether due to a death or another reason. In that situation, if the acting Governor or appointee serves for more than two years of their predecessor’s term, then they will be limited to one additional term in office; in this way, no Constitutional Officer will ever serve more than ten years in that capacity.
While this proposal, had it been enacted years ago, would have kept Pat Quinn from running this year, it also would have prevented a third gubernatorial term for Jim Thompson, and another go-around for Judy Baar Topinka, who was in her third term as state Treasurer when she represented her party in the 2006 campaign against RRB.
“I strongly support this term limits proposal. It is the perfect complement to our initiative for legislative term limits, and as governor, I’ll limit myself to two terms no matter what.
Despite his current opposition to both term limits efforts, I urge Pat Quinn to take on his Party’s legislative leaders and side with the people of Illinois who support term limits across the board.”
The Quinn campaign did not immediately respond to questions about the governor’s posture toward the Radogno-Durkin plan, but a top aide to Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, expressed little interest in the Republican legislation.
“Voters have the opportunity to deny terms in every election,” Cullerton spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“I led the charge to establish term limits for legislators through constitutional amendment in 1994; I successfully established recall for the office of governor through constitutional amendment in 2010; and I spearheaded the successful effort to reduce the size of the House by constitutional amendment in 1980,” the governor said.
“I hope voters have the chance to consider this constitutional amendment on the ballot,” Quinn said.
Cullerton has not budged. End of update.
Related Round-up…
* Illinois republicans split on Rauner term limit proposal: An aide to Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno - who opposed lawmaker term limits a few weeks ago - confirms that Radogno now supports them.
* RAUNER DITCHES GOP DINNER, FEARS LINK TO PASTOR’S CONSERVATIVE VIEWS: Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner has pulled out of Thursday’s Rock Island County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner citing fear of being linked to what his campaign calls “inflammatory” views of a local, African-American pastor. Rev. Don Johnson was initially scheduled to speak at the event but was dis-invited by Rock Island County GOP Chairman Bill Bloom in an effort to assuage Rauner’s concerns. However, the change failed to appease the campaign, which announced that Rauner would no longer keynote the event.
* Bernard Schoenburg: Barr borrowed late in sheriff campaign to keep ads flowing: Though first-quarter campaign reports were due April 15, Campbell’s report had not yet been filed as of early this week. That means the campaign could be assessed a fine, but State Board of Elections rules basically say such a civil penalty will be put on hold until there is a second offense. Campbell said the report was being prepared.
* DESPITE THE SPIN, STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE ELECTIONS FAIL TO VINDICATE PAT BRADY: Citing Pat Brady and AP’s Kerry Lester, the WaPo and other legacy media, concluded that the six members were “ousted” because of their opposition to gay marriage. But the facts don’t line up with the conjecture. Only two signatories of the letter - Angel Garcia and Jerry Clarke - were not re-elected last week. Two others - Mark Shaw and Bob Winchester - remain on the committee. And signers Bobbie Peterson, Gene Dawson and Jim Oberweis (who is running for U.S. Senate) did not pursue re-election. And in at least one case an incumbent SCC member may have lost re-election because of her support of Pat Brady’s actions with regards to gay marriage.
* There are a lot of big names on the Yes to Independent Maps’ list of donors. Former U.S. District Attorneys Patrick Collins and Patrick Fitzgerald, former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Illinois Manufacturers Association, the McCormick Foundation, Sam Zell, the Pritzkers, Tom Ricketts, Robin Steans of Advance Illinois, former Lt. Gov. Corine Wood, just to name a few.
But the one that jumps off the page at me: Ken and Anne Griffin, who have contributed at least $300,000 to the movement thus far.
House Speaker Mike Madigan said a popular effort to change how the state’s legislative maps are drawn is being driven only by politics.
The campaign, aimed at turning the state’s legislative redistricting process over to an independent body, is the result of Republican anger, the Chicago Democrat said Tuesday.
“The redistricting constitutional amendment is just pure Republican party politics,” Madigan said.
“There would be an adverse effect upon minorities,” Madigan said. “Put the Republicans in charge of something, and there’s going to be an adverse effect on minorities. Look at what happened on the immigration question. Look at what happened to the support for the Obama library in Chicago.”
Michael Kolenc, campaign manager for Yes for Independent Maps, called comments by House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, questioning the political motives of the effort “absurd.”
“It is no surprise that the status quo is upset that a bipartisan campaign has successfully worked over the last 2 ½ years to put in place an independent, transparent and fair redistricting system,” Kolenc said in a statement. “Speaker Madigan’s claim that we are just ‘Republican Party politics’ is absurd and has no basis in reality.”
…
Kolenc, who has worked on Democratic campaigns, said Madigan “insults Democrats, Republicans and Independents across the state with his campaign rhetoric and tries to distract from the problem of our broken redistricting system.”
Discuss in comments below.
* Recent national political conventions have been held in key battleground states, such as North Carolina, Florida, and Colorado. If that principle is followed, this may be nothing more than a light snack for the beast…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel opened the door on Tuesday for the city to bid for the 2016 Democratic convention, a switch from February, when City Hall was not interested.
“We will evaluate the opportunity this could provide and proceed accordingly,” Emanuel spokesman Sarah Hamilton told me.
It’s not clear what has changed or how serious Emanuel really is about pursuing the Democratic convention, which would come as he ramps up his 2015 re-election bid.
The cities under consideration are: Atlanta; Chicago; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Indianapolis; Las Vegas; Miami; Nashville; New York; Orlando; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City.
While the city is Obama’s hometown, the president’s lame-duck status makes a Chicago choice questionable as Democrats pick a nominee to succeed him. At the same time, political parties also factor in the political value of a potential host city — particularly when it might help to locate the event in a potential swing state such as Ohio, Pennsylvania or Florida.
A Chicago attorney who has long crusaded against patronage is asking a federal judge to investigate hiring under Gov. Pat Quinn, alleging the Democratic governor has continued to stack the Illinois Department of Transportation with political hires.
Michael Shakman argues that Quinn has violated rules that prevent certain employees from being hired for political reasons.
The attorney points to an investigation by the Better Government Association, a watchdog group that found Quinn has continued practices first put in place by impeached ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich that it says improperly classified non-political positions as ones that could be filled by political appointees.
The Governor’s campaign, according to the Daily Herald, is not commenting on the story, which is leading to the media to rehash Rauner’s attacks. Take a look at this full WGN News segment the Republican hopeful uploaded yesterday…
That’s more than three minutes of free airtime in Chicago, and none of it included remarks from the Quinn people.
Meanwhile, good government groups said even allegations of patronage hiring were cause for concern.
“It’s a slippery slope when we see this happen. It makes sense to look into it right now,” said Susan Garrett of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. “This can’t be a gray area.”
Fair warning: two more work days before the bearded one returns. I’ll let you decide in comments if that is a promise or a threat or a promising threat.
* No charges coming against creator of fake Mayor Ardis Twitter account: A review of state law indicates the account holders of now-shuttered Twitter account @peoriamayor didn’t break the law because the actual crime alleged, “false personation of a public official,” has to be done in person, not over the Internet or other electronic media, said State’s Attorney Jerry Brady…He wouldn’t comment on whether felony marijuana possession charges would remain in place against Jacob Elliott, 36, 1222 N. University St., after police found the drug inside the house last week. A search warrant had been issued for the crime of false personation and given that the Brady believes that section of state law didn’t apply, it could mean any evidence found at the home could be suppressed as there was no legal basis for the warrant. At issue is whether the drugs still can be used against Elliott if the warrant that allowed officers inside the house wasn’t firmly legally grounded. A quick read of the warrant gives no underlying evidence for the seizure of drugs, other than the mention of a tweet regarding a crack pipe.
* Ex-top aide to Stroger gets 6 1/2 years for theft, money laundering: Carla Oglesby, 44, who was convicted last summer of theft and money laundering charges, had nothing to say before Judge James Linn handed down the sentence that was just 6 months above the minimum punishment. Oglesby becomes the second former high-level Stroger aide to be sentenced to prison since last month. Eugene Mullins, Stroger’s friend since boyhood, was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months in prison for steering county contracts to cronies in return for $35,000 in kickbacks.
* Prosecutors cleared to use Rep. Smith’s admissions at bribery trial: Smith’s lawyers had tried to block his admissions from his corruption trial scheduled for late next month, arguing the statements were made during plea negotiations and off limits. Prosecutors said Smith spoke freely after waiving his right to remain silent.
* Thomson prison could open in 2016: The full activation of Thomson prison is expected to take two years at a cost of $25 million for upgrades and renovations and $170 million for equipment and staffing.
* Obama Library-Gate: 5 Developments in Debate Over $100 Million Grant Proposal: Illinois Senate President John Cullerton will do whatever it takes — even if that means offering more cash. In an interview with Crain’s, Cullerton says: “I don’t know if they need money. We will work to provide them with whatever incentive they need. It might be less [than $100 million]. It might be more. … We need to make sure they come and they stay here.”
* Rahm’s brother’s stake in ride-share firm raises uber questions: Back at Chicago’s City Hall, mayoral spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said there’s no connection between Rahm’s reaction to the company’s arrival here and his brother’s financial ties to Uber. “Chicago is proposing the most comprehensive ride-share regulations in the country,” Hamilton said. “Safety and customer service are the No. 1 priorities and to suggest otherwise is absurd.”
* 3 city schools handed to private group for ‘turnaround’: AUSL, which runs 29 other schools in the district, will then hire new staff for the schools and train them before reopening in the fall for the same group of students. AUSL is not a charter school, but is similar in that it is given autonomy by CPS over how to run its schools. AUSL schools hire teachers who are members of the Chicago Teachers Union.
* Despite pleas, CPS hands three schools to private operator: Their mantra was the same: If we had the same extra money CPS is about to give to the Academy for Urban School Leadership — an extra $300,000 in startup money plus $420 per student, per year for five years — you’d see results from us too.
* Chicagoans who register cars in suburbs could face stiffer fines: The proposal would raise the cost of tickets for vehicles kept in Chicago but registered outside the city from between $200 and $500 to between $300 and $1,000. City Clerk Susana Mendoza said the ordinance is used more frequently against businesses that keep fleets of trucks in Chicago while registering them in less expensive nearby municipalities than it is against individual residents. But she said the city also gets plenty of calls from people complaining about neighbors.
* Free Sunday parking could soon go away in parts of Chicago: The switch is being delivered by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in response to requests from four aldermen who called for the restoration of paid parking in areas where merchants have said free parking on Sundays makes it tougher for customers to find a space when visiting their stores and restaurants.
* Watchdog questions free parking for city workers: Nineteen of the employees get free parking at 366 W. Superior St. in a warehouse the city also uses to store two city vehicles, according to a report by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson. It’s a perk valued at $45,600 a year, based on an estimated cost of $200 a month per space, the report states. But the value of the property “may exceed $1 million, based on a recently sold property . . . one block away,” the report adds.
* Report: Growing number of homeless kids in DuPage: Meanwhile, the number of homeless students attending DuPage schools has climbed from 269 in 2006 to 1,287 last year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim Oberweis said he is against a provision in the measure that would give a pathway to citizenship for adult immigrants already in the country illegally, saying it amounts to “amnesty.”
Meanwhile, GOP governor candidate Bruce Rauner would not say if he backed the proposal, saying he hadn’t studied it and arguing that it’s up to Congress and President Barack Obama to negotiate the details.
Judy Baar Topinka…
Judy Baar Topinka: "This is the time to get after Congress and tell them to get off their you know whats." And pass immigration reform
He said 61 of the “Staff Assistant” positions once deemed by the administration to be exempt from state rules were submitted to the state’s personnel agency for review, and the agency determined at least 50 should not be exempt. Tridgell said going forward, those positions will be hired according to state rules that say a person’s qualifications take precedence.
“The hiring of Staff Assistants began in 2003 under the previous administration, and was suspended when new information came to light last year,” Tridgell said.
He also said that of the roughly 5,200 IDOT employees, about 4,900 are in positions in which political connections cannot be considered.
But Shakman says the Quinn administration is claiming an “inconceivable” number of employees may be hired based on their politics. He says the number is “far greater than justifiable under applicable law.”
“It should come as no surprise that someone who started his political career as a ghost payroller and patronage chief for Dan Walker is now carrying on the Rod Blagojevich practice of rewarding friends and allies with state jobs.”
The release goes on to cite newspaper articles and wire reports of instances where Quinn has been accused of using clout and ghost payrolling, such as with former state Reps. Careen Gordon and Mike Smith, Agriculture Director Bob Flider, David Vaught, the former OMB and DCEO director.
Chicago homeowners may have a familiar voice among their phone messages tonight: Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner. The Rauner campaign conducted thousands of robocalls today. The message? That Gov. Quinn is considering signing the recently passed Chicago pension reform bill which Rauner says would pave the way for higher property taxes.
“Bruce Rauner hasn’t even gotten to Springfield, and he’s already acting like a career politician who plays politics with people’s pensions and livelihood,” Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said late Tuesday. “This pension reform bill currently awaiting the governor’s signature will bring financial security to 60,000 hardworking people and provides more savings through reform than a plan proposed by Mr. Rauner just a few years ago.
The people of Chicago don’t need more rhetoric or gimmicks, they need a plan that will give our workers and retirees financial certainty and that will put our city finances in order for the long-term.”
“The robo-calls? It is what it is for this time of year,” the Western Springs Republican told the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board.
Durkin voted for the pension overhaul bill.
“I will respectfully disagree with Bruce Rauner’s position. When the city of Chicago came to me very desperate for some relief, I couldn’t ignore the multiple [bond rating] downgrades they’ve taken,” Durkin said. “How many more downgrades does the city of Chicago need to go before it hits junk status? To me, that’s not something I could accept under my watch in the House.
“I can’t speak for Bruce, but I thought it was the right thing to do,” Durkin said of his vote.
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont did not support the bill currently before Quinn, but she agreed that Rauner’s call for Quinn to veto the bill amounted to “political theatre.”
* Quinn Releases Tax Returns; Rauner’s Waiting: A spokesman says Rauner has filed for an extension. Rauner did release three prior years’ worth of returns in November. Those showed his salary in 2012 was about $52 million.
* Tax Returns Revealing … But Not Revealing Enough: “We really want to know where the sources of money that you have, that your spouse has, that might make it a conflict for you to vote on a measure, advocate for a measure,” (Sheila Simon) says.
The speaker, talking to reporters the day he was easily elected to a fifth term as Illinois Democratic Party chairman, said voting to keep the personal income tax rate at 5 percent instead of letting it fall to 3.75 percent on Jan. 1 will be a “difficult roll call.”
“Every person in the legislature is going to be called upon to make a budgetary decision — either a reduction budget or an as-is budget or a slight-increase budget,” Madigan said. “And they’ll be called upon to vote for the money to support the budget that they want.”
Madigan also said he is trying to round up votes to increase the state’s minimum wage from $8.25 an hour to $10 an hour or more. “Once we get to 60 (votes needed to pass), we’ll be prepared to call the bill,” Madigan said.
* American Idol Live (pop), 8 p.m. Aug. 8, $29/$34/$39/$49 (tickets on sale May 10). By the time the state fair rolls around, one of the remaining finalists will be the 2014 champion of “American Idol’s” annual talent search. The TV show airs on WRSP-TV (Channel 55, Comcast cable Channel 7 in Springfield).
* Pitbull (rap), 8 p.m. Aug. 9, $40-$65 (tickets on sale May 3). The Miami rapper had his first No. 1 single in 2012 with “Give Me Everything,” and returned to the top of the charts earlier this year with “Timber.” His other Top 10 singles include “Feel This Moment” and “I Know You Want Me.” Pitbull is a Latin Grammy Award winner for “Echa Pa’llá (Manos Pa’rriba).”
* Florida Georgia Line/Colt Ford (country), 8 p.m. Aug. 10, $30/$35/$40/$40/$55 (tickets on sale now). As Florida Georgia Line, the duo of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelly has hit the top of the Billboard magazine country music chart twice so far, with “Cruise” and “Stay.” Ford has recorded the hit country/hip-hop albums “Declaration of Independence,” “Every Chance I Get” and “Chicken & Biscuits.” All track seats, and seats in the lower levels of the Grandstand, for Florida Georgia Line have already been sold.
* Boston/Sweet/April Wine (rock), 8 p.m. Aug. 12, $17/$22/$27/$37 (tickets on sale now). Boston was big in the 1970s and ’80s with “Piece of Mind,” “Don’t Look Back” and “Amanda.” Sweet recorded the 1970s hits “Little Willy,” “Ballroom Blitz,” “Fox on the Run” and “Love Is Like Oxygen.” April Wine is best known for 1981’s “Just Between You and Me.”
* Hunter Hayes/Sam Hunt (country), Aug. 13, $29/$34/$39/$49 (tickets on sale May 3). Hayes has recorded the country hits “I Want Crazy,” “Invisible” and “Wanted.”
* Steely Dan (rock), Aug. 15, $29/$34/$39/$54 (tickets on sale May 3). Steely Dan, the longtime duo of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group’s hits include “Peg,” “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” and “Reeling in the Years.”
Question: What was the best Grandstand show you have seen at the Illinois State Fair or Du Quoin State Fair?
For bonus points: Who would you most like to see play at the Grandstand?
Jim Ardis said he doesn’t regret his attempt to protect his identity. Some City Council members and others regret Peoria has become a nationwide punchline.
Debate about the Peoria mayor’s legal pursuit of the creators of a Twitter account that parodied him reached dramatic tones before and during a council meeting that extended late into Tuesday night.
Ardis defended his actions, which led to search warrants, a police visit to a West Bluff residence and the arrest of one occupant on a marijuana-possession charge.
He said the profane tweets, on a Twitter account created by Peoria resident Jon Daniel, could not be tolerated. That was true even after the account was re-labeled as a parody and was deactivated.
“I still maintain my right to protect my identity is my right,” Ardis said in an interview with the Journal Star before the council meeting.
More…
Montelongo said the episode represented an abuse of Ardis’ authority, as well as the police department’s.
“There was too much power of force used on these pranksters,” said Montelongo, the 4th District councilman. “It made it look like the mayor received preferential treatment that other people don’t get or will never get.”
In his pre-meeting interview, Ardis said he believed his complaint was handled no differently than anybody else’s would be. He said he didn’t orchestrate the police investigation, nor the search-warrant process.
“That’s a heck of a lot more power than any mayor I know,” Ardis said.
Seriously?
It gets even better…
“You’re the ones responsible for getting full information, but not to spin it in the way you want to spin it,” Ardis said to a Journal Star reporter. “To make us look stupid.
“It’s your responsibility to put actual information out there and cover both sides. Not to opine. And that didn’t happen. Clearly, that didn’t happen.”
Among the some 50 tweets were vulgar references to sex and drug use and comparisons to erratic, reprobate Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Ardis says that “you couldn’t print the things it attributed to me in your paper,” that it was embarrassing to his family and that “there’s a line here that was not just crossed, but vaulted over.” We can appreciate how irritating that would be. It doesn’t say much for the adults who were responsible, who certainly invited scrutiny they may not have gotten otherwise. Ours is emphatically no defense of them.
* The DSCC re-elected Speaker Madigan chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. But it wasn’t without a little drama…
The Chicago Democrat received near unanimous support from the party’s state central committee during a meeting in Springfield on Tuesday. The only committeeman to oppose him was state Sen. Michael Noland of Elgin.
Noland says he “respectfully” voted against Madigan but declined to detail why. He says the two have a difference of opinion and spoke by phone about the issues in recent days.
He says it’s “nothing personal” and he plans to honor his commitment to Madigan to not talk about the disagreement.
Rep. Al Riley (D-Olympia Fields): “The question is shall Michael J. Madigan be Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois? All those in favor state by saying ‘aye.”
Democratic State Central Committee members: “Aye.”
Madigan said he’s open to opposition if it advances the progress of the party.
“Whenever I’ve had opposition in the legislature or the state Democratic Party, we’ve usually made converse of those problems because we want to work with the people and we want to move in the right direction,” Madigan said.
