The Republican candidate for Illinois governor isn’t saying whether he agrees with his running mate’s decision not to release his tax returns.
Bill Brady’s campaign for governor said in an e-mail Wednesday that he understands the tax decision was personal. But the campaign ignored the question of whether Brady thinks the decision was correct.
And Plummer has gone to ground…
Plummer’s campaign staff rejected interview requests from The Associated Press on Tuesday and Wednesday.
I believe transparency is the most effective solution to the campaign finance reform question…. If candidates and elected and appointed officials are held accountable to the media and the taxpayers, they will think twice about taking a questionable donation or entering into a dubious business relationship.
So, when the media tries to hold him “accountable” on his refusal to be as “transparent” as his running mate, he thumbs his nose and refuses to answer questions? This is the new politics? Really?
* Fox Chicago’s unceremonious dumping of political reporter Jack Conaty right before the holidays apparently didn’t sate the corporate appetite for weeding out strong journalists. Now they’ve gone and axed another one.
Lilia Chacon was a 21-year Fox Chicago veteran and is one heck of a reporter. She was on her way to accept her Peabody award - television’s Pulitzer - when she got a call asking to confirm the story…
On Friday she was told that her position was being eliminated and that her contract would not be renewed when it expires July 3. She’s the latest in a growing list of on-air veterans who’ve been purged from Fox Chicago News in recent months, including Jack Conaty, Lauren Cohn, Byron Harlan, Nancy Loo and David Viggiano. Close to two dozen technical staffers also are slated for unemployment in the coming weeks.
Chacon, 56, insisted that she has no hard feelings about the move, saying: “I’ve had a very good ride there — 21 years. That is extraordinary.” But she expressed sadness at the thought of leaving a job and a station she loves:
“I’m sad about it because I really am not sure what the future holds — especially for reporters like me. I have played it pretty much down the middle with my reporting. I’ve always wanted to be part of what was good about journalism. . . . You need to work for people who value the skill set you’ve spent a lifetime assembling.”
The elimination of Chacon’s position underscores what she called “a fundamental change in the way the Fox affiliates do news.” As the stations try simultaneously to cut their budgets and differentiate the formats of their newscasts from the competition, reporters are getting edged out. Instead, unpaid “experts” or free-lance pundits are hauled into the studio to comment on the stories of the day and fill air time — the cheaper the better — just as cable networks have been doing for years.
Chicago has long been known as a great TV news town. Yeah, you can nit and pick all you want, but try finding any comparable hard-news local coverage anywhere else in this country. You won’t.
It sickens me to see what the bean counters are doing to the news business. Silly on-air chit-chat with goofy “unpaid experts” cannot replace actual journalism, no matter how hard they try.
The one bright side here is that Fox has hired former CBS2 political reporter Mike Flannery. But why anybody would want to fire a quality worker like Chacon is beyond me. I wish her nothing but the best. Go get ‘em, Lilia.
…Adding… Walter Jacobson tosses in an eloquent two cents…
Select a subject, any subject, any time in Chicago television news, and it’d be darn-near impossible to find an ‘expert’ more of an expert than Lilia Chacon, or a reporter who can become an expert faster and better than Lilia Chacon…or a reporter or anchor in Chicago who can communicate on television better (if as well) as Lilia. Or a reporter or anchor who has more connections in the neighborhoods, more access to newsmakers, or more (if as much) persuasive power to get them on the air. Or who knows the streets and the hallways of political power as Lilia Chacon knows them. Or can tell a story as she does. Or is more capable of handling, live on the air, fast-breaking news…not to mention her being a minority, a woman, and beautiful.
For what possible, conceivable reason can Fox News be letting her go?? I cannot remember a time in my 50 years in the business that Robert Feder was wrong about what’s going on in Chicago television news. Maybe he imagined this Lilia story, or made it up??? What a stupid, stupid mistake that station is making. What a loss for Fox News, a loss for our profession, a loss for our community. Sometimes I can’t help being ashamed of us.
So I asked. My question, “Since Sheila Simon’s entry into the race, there’s been a curiosity as to whether Mrs. Brady shares her husband’s views or, like Mrs. Bush, holds her own views in contrast?” was answered by Brady campaign spokesman John Hoffman.
Now mind you, I’m a pro-life opinion journalist with whom Mr. Hoffman was familiar. His answer was a brick wall.
“Nancy Brady is focused in this campaign on helping to show Illinois voters that her husband will provide a clean break from the old politics and end the job-killing taxes and regulations of the Blagovjevich/Quinn administration,” Hoffman wrote.
Eaton strongly believes that she’s on solid ground here…
The Brady campaign’s avoidance of the issue prompted discussion with abortion opponents. Everyone I spoke with thought it was important to know where Mrs. Brady stood on the life issue.
And this is why…
They wondered if they would be surprised by Mrs. Brady speaking at an abortion rights rally or speaking on behalf of a Republican legislative candidate who opposes overturning Roe vs. Wade. And even though Mrs. Bush didn’t appear to have much effect on her husband’s public policy in opposition to abortion, the question can be asked: Could a spouse’s lack of support keep her husband from doing more to save unborn lives?
She eventually got ahold of Mrs. Brady, who tried to talk about jobs instead. But Mrs. Brady did finally tell Eaton this: “”We’re a solid Roman Catholic family… Our beliefs are important to us.” Eaton took that as a good sign, but not definitive. Her conclusion…
It’s just not knowing for sure where she stands and the campaign’s hesitation to ease that uncertainty that’s troubling now. And like Laura Bush, when we learn Mrs. Brady’s views, it’s likely to become headline news.
* The Question: Were Eaton’s questions reasonable or out of bounds? Explain.
CapitolFax’s Rich Miller’s “Question of the Day” today is whether or not the question your IR Editor asked about Mrs. Brady’s position on abortion is out-of-bounds. See “Mrs. Brady sidesteps the abortion question”
Sure, it’s okay for the big boys to demand to see Brady’s individual income tax returns that make public the details of Mrs. Brady’s income and her financial status as well as her husband’s, but I’m out of bounds to ask her position on abortion.
They’re kidding, right? And just where are those invisible bounds anyway?
I think the debate here has been pretty spirited with people coming down forcefully on both sides of this issue. A tad touchy, perhaps?
Also, I didn’t just ask if her questions were out of bounds. I also asked if they were reasonable. She ignored that part. Typical myopia.
Illinois legislators should return to Springfield and not leave again without delivering a “responsible state budget,” according to the Responsible Budget Coalition, a group of teachers, activists, health advocates and civic leaders. The group held news conferences Tuesday in East St. Louis and in seven other cities
But the resounding message delivered by nine people including social services workers from various agencies and retired professionals was emphatic - Illinois lawmakers need to return to Springfield and produce a more responsible state budget to keep social service agencies intact for the clients they serve.
The message was delivered in a mannerly fashion during a news conference by Southern Illinois members of the Responsible Budget Coalition.
* The solution the coalition wants is House Bill 174, the tax increase which passed the Senate last year. But even Senators who voted for that bill will tell you that there are flaws which need to be addressed before it becomes law. Nobody really thought that thing would pass the Senate, so it wasn’t as meticulously vetted as it otherwise would’ve been. Some House Democrats, for instance, derided some of the bill’s new service taxes, including on diaper services.
The coalition also doesn’t want any more big cuts. From an RBC press release…
Coalition members note that, when legislators left Springfield, they were considering slashing more resources from schools, health and human services, public-safety efforts and other critical priorities that already have suffered brutal cuts this year. These cuts would cost the state tens of thousands of local as well as state jobs – from teachers, police and firefighters to private-sector providers of mental health, care for seniors and the disabled, and other services that contract with the state.
Trouble is, even if 174 passed the House and was signed into law, it would still not fill that huge budget hole. Big cuts would still be necessary, and big cuts will almost all have to come from “slashing more resources from schools, health and human services, public-safety efforts and other critical priorities.”
The hard truth is that there are just no magic beans for anybody in this mess. Coalition members sometimes get all misty-eyed when talking about 174, as if it will solve everything. But if the coalition wants to avoid deep spending cuts, it’ll need a much bigger tax hike than 174. Much. Some, not all but some, of the coalition’s leaders are not being fully honest with their members about this point. Don’t assume your problems will disappear even if your magic solution somehow becomes a reality.
* In other magic beans news, a group of state Senators has called on the new University of Illinois president to refuse part of his huge salary and freeze tuition instead. From a press release…
Students, faculty, staff and Illinois legislators—Senators Rickey Hendon, Kimberly Lightford and Marty Sandoval—call on incoming University of Illinois President Michael Hogan to freeze tuition and forego his $170,000 salary increase.
With a current Illinois budget deficit of $12.8 billion, the University of Illinois is imposing furlough days and layoffs on employees across the university system. The University Board of Trustees is also contemplating an increase in student tuition that would put the U of I tuition among the highest in the nation.
President Hogan should accept the same $450,000 salary as former Illinois President B. Joseph White; as a gesture of goodwill in this difficult economy. “Our hard-working members are asked to take pay cuts through furlough days and even accept layoffs. Sacrifice should start at the top,” said Christine Boardman, President of SEIU Local 73.
* Meanwhile, I told subscribers about this group last week…
A group comprised mostly of suburban Democrats wants the governor to freeze millions worth of state contracts and explore other options rather than unilaterally cut spending if he expects their votes for a state budget plan.
The nearly dozen Democrats involved came together after budget plans pegged on borrowing were rejected by the Illinois House earlier this month. A teleconference Tuesday among the lawmakers was the latest action.
State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a Northbrook Democrat, said those involved are trying to come up with a “doable” plan that could be unveiled in the coming days. Lawmakers are expected back at the Capitol next week for another run at the state budget. […]
State Rep. Carol Sente, a Vernon Hills Democrat appointed to the House late last year, said the goal is to get enough members on board to block approval of existing budget plans until better alternatives are offered.
“We need to flip our own party,” Sente told the Daily Herald.
They will make some inroads, but don’t expect them to push this thing into overtime.
* Related and a roundup…
* Open season on teachers: You will be used as a cop-out, an excuse to explain how this rudderless state of ours was steered into financial ruin.
* Cabbies urging Gov. Quinn to block a raise in airport taxi tax
* Tim Davlin: Pension fix idea no help to taxpayers: While your editorial, “Pass a pension fix for police, firefighters,” is accurate in highlighting the urgent need for lawmakers to prioritize this critical issue, it fails to inform your readers of the significant tax burden they would be faced with if the state legislature passes House Bill 5873.
* We always figured that Rod Blagojevich was shifting legal bills away from his own office. Now, we have proof…
Illinois’ child-welfare agency and state police helped pay for ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s research on impeachment under his policy of charging his office’s legal costs to other departments, the state auditor said Tuesday.
Out of $7.2 million worth of legal work for Blagojevich, his office paid less than $22,000, according to a report by Auditor General William Holland. The rest was charged to an array of state agencies that had no apparent connection to the legal services.
Click here for the summary digest, and click here for the full auditor general’s report.
Bill Holland is the state’s Auditor General. He says the governor’s office paid for less than one percent of those bills over a two year period, while 18 other state agencies picked up the rest of the tab.
HOLLAND: It does two things: One, it distorts what is the level of the governor’s budget, and, two, it also distorts what those other agencies are. I am certain that those agencies did not budget for outside legal counsel for the governor’s office.
Holland says using the attorney general would have saved the state money.
A spokeswoman for Attorney General Lisa Madigan says it’s clear Blagojevich didn’t want to work with her office.
The former governor — who now faces federal corruption charges — also shifted the cost of legal research regarding his power to appoint a person to Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.
The report shows that state agencies that serve poor children and disabled people were charged for the cost of hiring attorneys to work on depositions of the governor’s inner circle.
The report also noted that in 13 of the contracts the state paid money for legal work performed by individuals who were not licensed to practice law, and sometimes for amounts higher than stated in the contracts.
$300,000 for legal work on impeachment memos and the governor’s ability to call special legislative sessions was divided among eight agencies, including the state police and Department of Children and Family Services.
“Impeachment memos?” Blagojevich spent DCFS and state police cash on lawyers back in the summer of 2008 to research Speaker Madigan’s memo to candidates on how best to discuss the possible impeachment of the governor? If you need your memory refreshed, click here to read that memo. It was quite the talk of the town back then. Here is one of the least remembered moments…
House Speaker Michael Madigan’s memo on possibly impeaching Gov. Rod Blagojevich is complicating efforts to reach an agreement on balancing the state budget, other top officials said Wednesday — including some who argue Madigan relishes the distraction.
The memo has the top Republican in the Illinois House questioning how serious Madigan is about fixing a budget Blagojevich says is $2 billion out of whack or about passing a massive public works program that backers say will create jobs in the state.
“Is he more serious about creating a political document to, to play games with a … pretty important issue?” GOP Leader Tom Cross said.
Cross wondered about the Speaker’s priorities as he headed into a meeting Wednesday with Blagojevich and other top legislative leaders that Madigan opted not to attend, sending surrogates instead.
* Related…
* Blagojevich Petitions U.S. Supreme Court: The petitions, sent by overnight mail, ask the court to order a halt in the proceedings until it rules on the so-called “Honest Services” statute, under which Blagojevich was charged. The first is a 20-page petition for a writ of certiorari, which would be considered by the full court. The second, a five-page emergency application for a stay of trial proceedings, would go directly to Justice John Paul Stevens, who is assigned to matters stemming from Chicago’s seventh judicial circuit.
* Let’s look at how Jason Plummer’s refusal to disclose his income tax returns was managed. Here’s Plummer’s statement…
“The voters of Illinois are fundamentally concerned with making a clean break in our state. As we have sadly seen all too often in Illinois, voters also need to know any potential conflicts that a public official might have. My campaign has committed to putting the names of every one of my donors online, going beyond what the law requires. I have also ensured that my Statement of Economic Interest fully reflects any potential conflicts as the law requires.
“As a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, I personally believe, like many other statewide candidates and public officials in Illinois, that the issue of releasing individual tax returns is often used to serve as a political distraction by those who can not answer the real issues that voters care about. I will continue to fully offer donor information and information on any potential conflicts, but I will not be providing individual tax return information.
“Right now, Illinois needs a sound budget more than anything else. We need a governor who will provide leadership, not more of the Blagovjevich/Quinn politics of the past. I stand with the voters of Illinois who demand leadership and real answers to the problems our great state is facing. That is what I will continue talking about in this campaign.”
John Hoffman, a spokesman for the Brady-Plummer campaign, said Plummer has filed his taxes and did not seek an extension. He would not say how much Plummer paid the government.
* The Pat Quinn campaign’s full response…
We have learned a lot about the Brady/Plummer ticket since April 15.
First, they had a chance to come clean and disclose their taxes and instead they chose to cover up and hide.
Second, Brady only agreed to disclose his returns after Gov Quinn pushed him to do so.
Third, Brady kept hiding, even as he disclosed. The public was not afforded the opportunity to view his returns and access was extremely controlled and limited.
Fourth, we learned that Senator Brady thinks taxes ought to be paid by someone else. As a wealthy business person who also draws a nice salary as a state senator, Senator Brady avoided paying income taxes. And we learned that he doesn’t pay payroll taxes on his campaign staff. While not paying taxes - he still made sizeable loans to his campaign.
Now Jason Plummer has refused to disclose his taxes to voters of the state. Is it possible that he didn’t pay any taxes, as well? Or is there something else? What is he hiding?
Governor Quinn and Sheila Simon have championed ethics reform and accountability in government. They understand that there are no degrees of transparency. After the last two scandal-plagued administrations, voters and taxpayers want to be sure of the openness
and honesty of their public officials. If Jason Plummer can’t meet that test — Illinois residents deserve to know why.
Many voters have come to expect full financial disclosure from political candidates, especially in the first election after Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment, said Cindi Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
“I think it’s unfortunate, because Mr. Plummer isn’t yet a widely known candidate,” Canary said. “In this election cycle in particular, voters have good reason to really want to scrutinize the candidates, both where they stand on the issues and how they conduct themselves personally.”
The Republican candidate for Illinois lieutenant governor says he won’t let voters see his tax returns.
Jason Plummer announced Tuesday that he has decided the tax information is off limits.
He says questions about releasing tax information are a distraction from real issues.
Bill Brady’s release went so well that one can only imagine what might be in Plummer’s returns that he would be so interested in keeping from us.
My head hurts.
…Adding… I wrote a column not long ago wondering whether the issue might’ve gone away if Brady had stonewalled the tax return demands. I guess Plummer’s gonna test the theory. But now that Brady has released his own returns, this won’t go over well at all.
Also, what else do we have to ask an LG candidate about anyway? How’s your heart and cholesterol? Now, he’s given us all a perfect opportunity to tee off on him for months. Good for us, bad for him.
Illinois Congressman Mark Kirk is predicting a primary loss for longtime Senator Arlen Specter. He says today’s primary could represent “a pretty big earthquake in Pennsylvania politics.” […]
When asked this morning if the anti-incumbent attitude of voters could hurt his campaign, Kirk deflected the question, instead taking the chance to attack his opponent.
KIRK: Well, Alexi Giannoulias was inside the Broadway Bank, made the risky decisions to bet on hot brokered money and loans to convicted felons and mob figures and was the insider of our treasurer’s office.
A few years back when state Sen. Gary Forby was (again) fighting for his political life, he was asked a question on live TV about some tricky campaign issue or another and he paused for a few seconds before saying “I’m pro life.” The reporter turned to the camera and said, somewhat dumbfounded, “There you have it, folks. Gary Forby is pro life.”
I called Forby and asked why he responded that way. “Well, Rich, I had to get my message out.”
He won.
* Sometimes, I just wanna tear my hair out. Check out this analysis of the news that Dock Walls will run for governor as an independent with Ed Scanlan as his running mate…
The addition of yet another Democrat turned “independent” is bad news for Quinn.
Maybe, but first Dock and Ed have to get on the freaking ballot. Walls dropped out of the Democratic governor’s primary in December right before he was about to be tossed off for lack of sufficient signatures. Scanlan was kicked off the ballot back then because he didn’t have enough signatures. The two men only needed 5,000 valid signatures to qualify for the primary, but now they need 25,000. So, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, please.
If you’re really looking for insurgent outsiders, I can think only of two who might qualify this year: Forrest Claypool for county assessor and Scott Lee Cohen for governor.
* Speaking of Facebook, Scott Lee Cohen just announced on his FB page that he wants to collect 100,000 signatures for his gubernatorial bid…
Petitions are ready! If each friend fills just one sheet, we will be almost half way to our goal of 100,000 signatures! If you are able to help out please go to www.scottleecohen.com to download a petition! Thanks so much for your support!
Cohen’s petitions have 15 signatures on each page. He has 2,073 Facebook friends. 2,073 times 15 equals 31,095. Not exactly half way to 100K, but he never claimed to be good at math.
Also, since many of his “friends” are just there to be entertained, are there to monitor his weirdness or may not even know they are his friends - Andy Shaw, the Illinois Chamber, the FAIR Map Coalition (and its arch nemesis Sen. Kwame Raoul), Jesse White, Robin Kelly, Ray Long, myself, Amanda Vinicky, Ben Bradley, Chuck Goudie, Chris Wills, Carol Marin, Illinois Review, Dan Proft, Sen. AJ Wilhelmi, Sen. John Millner, Rep. Connie Howard, Rep. Dan Burke, Rep. Will Burns, Miguel del Valle, Ald. Joe Moreno, Ald. Sandi Jackson, Todd Stroger, Sheriff Tom Dart, Dock Walls, Walter Dudycz, Congressman Bobby Rush, Chris Kennedy, Tom Cullen and our old pal Jerry Morrison from SEIU - I seriously doubt he has a chance at getting everybody on that list to circulate.
May 17, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn today named Deputy General Counsel John Schomberg as Acting General Counsel for the Office of the Governor effective May 21. Schomberg is replacing General Counsel Theodore T. Chung, who is returning to private practice.
“John Schomberg is an essential member of my office’s legal team, and I look forward to working with him as Acting General Counsel,” said Governor Quinn. “In addition, I want to thank Ted Chung for all he’s accomplished as General Counsel and wish him every success in the future.”
Schomberg has been with the Office of the Governor since 2009, when he was hired as Deputy General Counsel. During his tenure, Schomberg has been involved with the major issues the Governor’s legal team has managed and worked on.
Prior to joining the Office of the Governor, Schomberg, 37, was an Assistant Corporation Counsel at the City of Chicago Department of Law and an Associate at Chicago-based Mayer Brown LLP (Background Information).
Before being named General Counsel to Governor Quinn in February 2009, Chung, 43, served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, a Deputy Chief of Staff in the Chicago Mayor’s Office, the First Assistant Corporation Counsel in the City’s Law Department, and a partner at a private firm in Chicago.
The answer: Not a word from Chung.
Also, four days’ notice? Strange.
…Adding… From Bob Reed…
Ted gave at least five weeks notice to governor, not four days, to ensure a smooth transition.
Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk says oil companies need to have contingency plans and technology to cap a deep water well in place before they drill new exploratory wells. […]
Kirk says he isn’t concerned that liability connected to the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico could put British Petroleum out of business. […]
Kirk says a company that causes a tremendous liability should be responsible to pay for it.
BP employs a whole lot of people in Chicago, but that’s no reason to protect them from legal liability, as some have supported. It’s good to see Kirk is now on board for common sense rules, which too many (including Kirk) didn’t support before this horrific disaster.
* This also probably sounded like a common sense refrain from Kirk when he spoke out on the decision by Highland Park High School administrators to cancel a girls basketball trip to Arizona…
“We should leave politics off the court and let the girls play.”
But the school has a lot of Hispanics, and this explanation from an assistant superintendent appears prudent…
“Since undocumented students may be participating on any of our extracurricular teams, we need to ensure that all of our students can travel safely, especially in the United States,” Suzan Hebson, assistant superintendent, wrote in an e-mail Thursday.
Imagine the uproar if one of their players didn’t come home from the trip. Also, do your best to keep it toned down in comments. I hate posting anything having to deal with illegal immigrants because it brings out the crazy in people. I hate crazy. Keep in mind that I’ll just delete you. So, take a breath first. By the way, i’ve read the Arizona legislation, and it’s a crock. Allowing people to sue police departments because they think they aren’t arresting enough illegals is extreme in the least.
* At least Kirk is giving some answers. Check out this goofy video of Alexi Giannoulias trying desperately to dodge the Highland Park issue by saying we need immigration reforms, but won’t even say what those reforms would be…
The clock is starting to run out on Democrats who would like Illinois state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias out of his state’s Senate race in favor of a more electable candidate.
Given the sensitivity of such a scenario, it’s no wonder that Democrats don’t want to be anywhere near a discussion of a switch.
Translation: “I say Democrats want a switch, but I couldn’t get any Democrats to talk to me about it, but that’s natural because they wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it, so just trust me.”
Nobody I’ve seen has yet put any major Democrat on the record or even on background saying Giannoulias should get off the ticket. Until they do, they should stop speaking for these ghosts, which I’m not sure even exist. I, for one, haven’t found one bigtime Dem in Illinois to tell me this on or off the record, and I talk to most of them.
* Back to Kirk, who was in Quincy yesterday at an event that - glory be - was actually open to the media. Kirk talked about jobs, among other things…
Describing himself as a fiscal conservative and a social moderate, Kirk said his visit to Quincy is part of a listening tour to give people a chance to let him know their issues. He listed completion of the lock and dam upgrades, hydroelectric generation and the completion of a Chicago-to-Kansas City Expressway as important elements for this region.
I can’t help but wonder how many of those projects he actually voted for.
* In another sign of the campaign season kicking off early, and a new focus on “jobs” for Kirk, the candidate was endorsed by the Illinois Chamber today. From a press release…
“Congressman Kirk will use his knowledge and experience to work for policies that drive job growth and prosperity,” [Calvin Butler, chairman of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors] said. “This was a clear choice for the Chamber board, which is impressed by the Congressman’s depth of experience, his pro-business proposals, military experience and extensive knowledge about international issues.” […]
“Members of the Illinois Chamber recognize Congressman Kirk’s track record of bi-partisanship and we believe his body of work and preparation show that he’s able to better embrace the challenges facing the U.S. and Illinois than his opponent,” Butler said.
* OK, let’s revisit this blowup over the release of Edjuan Payne, who allegedly murdered a Peoria woman this month several weeks after he was let out of prison.
As you already know, Payne was initially released last October under the controversial “MGT Push” program. He was put back in prison by parole agents in January after he violated his terms of release, including failing an alcohol test and living with his mother, who was not on the approved list. The Prisoner Review Board sent him back to prison for 69 days. He got out in March and allegedly committed the murder in May.
The governor and the Department of Corrections have blamed the Prisoner Review Board, claiming that Payne was required to stay in prison until July. The Prisoner Review Board, in its defense, points to a recommendation by the Department of Corrections’ parole agent that Payne serve just two months. The Peoria Journal Star catches us up on the latest back and forth…
[Prisoner Review Board Chairman Jorge Montes] added that the board ultimately relies on parole agents for 99 percent of the decisions they make regarding early release and reiterated that the agent in Payne’s case explicitly recommended a two-month term.
[Department of Corrections spokesperson Sharyn Elman] fundamentally disagreed.
“That’s absolutely not true,” she said. “In many cases, they do not follow what the parole agent and (Department of Corrections) says - and they’re not required to.”
* Ms. Elman actually went much further than that in a statement she wrote for this blog last night. I’ve edited it slightly for style, but here is Elman’s statement…
The Prisoner Review Board bears the responsibility for the release of this inmate. The Department of Corrections did all that it could to make sure that this offender was in custody for as long as possible.
In fact, as a result of the Department of Corrections’ intensive compliance program, this offender was returned to custody. Although the PRB claims that DOC “recommended” that the offender be released after two months, there is no evidence in the record of the PRB’s decision that they considered this—or any other—information from the inmate’s parole violation report. In fact, there is good reason to believe that the PRB inexplicably disregarded significant information from DOC regarding this offender. For example, the PRB violation order finds that Payne violated only one of his parole conditions. According to DOC and to the PRB’s own administrative hearing officer, there was probable cause to find that Payne had three violations.
There are a variety of other discrepancies between the parole violation report and the PRB’s order that illustrate that the PRB, rather than relying on DOC “recommendations”, actually ignored significant and relevant facts from the parole violation report:
* The parole violation report notes that the offender had a violent history; the PRB’s order ignores that fact;
* The parole violation report recommends substance abuse counseling, if the PRB made a finding of guilt; the PRB order ignores that fact.
Moreover, it is disingenuous and inaccurate to characterize statements from a parole agent to a parole supervisor in the context of a parole violation report—an internal document—as official DOC “recommendations” to outside bodies like the Prisoner Review Board. In fact, the PRB’s own administrative rules suggest that internal reports from parole agents regarding the length of incarceration to supervisors are NOT admissible before the PRB as evidence—the administrative code clearly prohibits this. See Illinois Administrative Code Section 1610.40.
Even if the agent’s statement was a “recommendation” that was admissible before the PRB, the PRB was not legally authorized to implement the recommendation. Under the Illinois Administrative Code, Section 1610.160, the PRB has limited and specific choices in resolving parole violation cases after a finding of guilt. The Board may do one of three things for adult parole violators:
* Release the offender from custody to parole, with or without special condition;
* Parole the offender to a halfway house;
* Keep the inmate in custody for the remainder of the inmate’s period of mandatory supervised release, which would have had him behind bars until July 22, 2010.
The Board does not have the authority to craft a mix-and-match remedy. As a result, the idea that the PRB’s decision to release the inmate after 69 days in custody was prompted by a “recommendation” from DOC is simply false: the applicable regulations do not authorize that action.
In fact, PRB made the decision, unilaterally, to release this offender from custody, without any special conditions of any kind.
* Let’s take a look at some of Elman’s claims. For instance, Elman characterizes the parole agent’s report as “an internal document.” That appears to be poppycock. The parole agent’s report is what the Prisoner Review Board gets when it is handed the case. It is no “internal document” at all.
* Elman says that the administrative code “clearly prohibits” the use of the parole agent’s recommendations in the Prisoner Review Board’s decision. She cites Section 1610.40 of the code. Here it is…
Evidence. The Board is not bound by strict rules of evidence in the conduct of a parole release hearing and will consider all evidence presented, so long as the evidence is not cumulative, repetitive or inherently unreliable (as, for example, would be testimonials of Department of Corrections employees who are not authorized to make parole recommendations) and so long as it has some relevance to the parole release decision, as described in Section 1610.50.
The prohibition applies only to DoC employees who aren’t authorized to make parole recommendations. But the Department of Corrections’ Parole Violation Report form specifically asks the parole agent for a “Recommended time to be served.” So, Elman’s explanation falls flat.
* Elman claims the Prisoner Review Board can only parole or send the person back to prison for the full time and has no authority “to craft a mix-and-match remedy.” Absolutely untrue, says the PRB, pointing to this state statute…
(730 ILCS 5/3‑3‑10) (from Ch. 38, par. 1003‑3‑10)
Sec. 3‑3‑10. Eligibility after Revocation; Release under Supervision.
(a) A person whose parole or mandatory supervised release has been revoked may be reparoled or rereleased by the Board at any time to the full parole or mandatory supervised release term under Section 3‑3‑8, except that the time which the person shall remain subject to the Board shall not exceed (1) the imposed maximum term of imprisonment or confinement and the parole term for those sentenced under the law in effect prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1977 or (2) the term of imprisonment imposed by the court and the mandatory supervised release term for those sentenced under the law in effect on and after such effective date.
(b) If the Board sets no earlier release date…
The PRB certainly appears to have the right to set an “earlier release date” under state law.
* This is a fight to the death. No question. Losing this distasteful PR battle means Mike Randle, the director of DoC, could lose his job and Pat Quinn could lose the election. The DoC appears to be well aware of this fact and is fighting back on all fronts. The more they can throw at reporters, the more this becomes a “he said/she said” story with no blame assigned. And that’s exactly what they’re trying to do here.
The Prisoner Review Board has obviously been caught off guard by the attacks leveled at it by the governor and the DoC. They don’t appear to be itching for a political fight, but they are willing to defend themselves. The PRB chairman had this to say to the Peoria paper yesterday….
“The buck stops here. The board takes its part of the responsibility,” Montes said.
But Chairman Montes also indicated that the Department of Corrections ought to stand up and accept its portion of the blame. I seriously doubt that the department will ever do that. At least, not until there’s a change at the top, whether that “top” is the director or the governor, or both.
Since so many of DoC’s defenses and attacks have been successfully refuted, it seems clear to me who wins this one. We can argue all day whether the PRB should’ve let Payne out of prison before July, considering his 1988 conviction for murder. But there can be no argument at all that the Department of Corrections also needs to shoulder its own responsibility here and must immediately cease its unseemly buck-passing.
DALEY: This is the only program in the country like this. These are the forgotten souls who basically paid for the American dream. And we should not forget them.
“What can we do for the forgotten class? That’s you. You worked. You paid your taxes. . . .But, you don’t fit into all the poverty programs. And you don’t fit into all the rich programs. You’re like in limbo… . . . You’re very good workers. . . . Unfortunately, you were laid off. You’ve done everything right. [You’re saying], ‘Who’s gonna reach out to me? Where am I going? . . . What can I do? Who’s gonna hire me?’ ”
The answer, for the next six months at least, is City Hall.
Lake County was the first jail to use the fathering program. It teaches fathers how to nurture relationships with their children. Inmates write monthly letters to their kids as part of the program.
About half a dozen personnel from the Illinois Department of Corrections visited the jail Monday to observe the MD program and tour the facility.
CNA, Microsoft, Northern Trust Bank, the Joyce Foundation, the United Way and other groups are providing support and services. The state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is providing a $300,000 grant.
During the 42 month campaign, the organization spent $59.4 million. The remainder, $16.5 million, went to the bid’s legacy youth sports organization, World Sport Chicago.
Chicago 2016 also received $16.2 million in donated goods and services.
* Chicago 2016 paid six-figure compensation packages to executives on failed Olympic bid
A federal tax filing released Monday shows that Chicago 2016 spent $5.9 million on salaries and benefits in 2009, including $28-a-month health club subsidies for roughly 100 employees. The parade of six-figure executives was led by Chief Operating Officer David Bolger, with a $483,713-a-year package that includes salary, “retention” bonus and benefits and $7,871 in other compensation….Other top earners, with their salaries and benefits listed along with other compensation, included: Doug Arnot, senior vice-president of sport ($373,013 and $15,971); Chief Bid Officer John Murray ($364,482 and $24,256); Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Richard Ludwig ($342,158 and $24,256); President Lori Healy ($231,682 and $9,038) and Valerie Walker, director of marketing and communications ($226,727 and $6,542).
The list also includes: Chief Governmental Officer Kevann Cooke ($187,215 and $9,770); Olympic Village Development chief Cassandra Francis ($163,644 and $8,729) Director of Administration Patricia Rios ($150,863 and $5,366); Senior Manager of International and Government Affairs Deb Feddelke ($130,382 and $7,921); Director Robert Ctvrtlik ($120,000); Director of Events Lori Igleski ($111,047 and $18,125) and Director of Finance Mary Murphy ($102,035 and $8,089).
Robert Sorich, Mayor Daley’s former patronage chief, is expected to be released from prison today — and head to a Chicago halfway house. Sorich refused to cooperate with the feds and was sentenced to nearly four years in prison after he was found guilty of of rigging city hiring in 2006.
[Oak Lawn Mayor David] Heilmann is pointing to a two-month-old conversation between finance director Brian Hanigan and Burt Odelson in which Odelson allegedly revealed that two trustees - Bob Streit (3rd) and Tom Phelan (6th) “are out for blood” and that they wanted “Heilmann’s head on a platter.”
Hanigan said the language was never that blunt but couldn’t recall specifically what he told the mayor. He said he did relay to Heilmann that the village board’s approval of an inquiry was “an investigation with a purpose.”
After Rich Township District 227’s board denied the proposal for Southland College Prep Charter School February, the charter school team, led by Matteson School District 162 Supt. Blondean Davis, appealed the decision to the state board.
After months of review, the state board appears poised to make a decision on a school advertised as a college-prep alternative for parents frustrated with crime, low test scores and a growing dissension between members of the community and the District 227 school board.
* 5:02 pm - Bill Brady has now responded to the news that Gov. Quinn didn’t have his facts straight when he blamed the Prisoner Review Board for the early release of an inmate who went on to murder a grandmother…
The tragedy in Peoria was a horrible crime. My heart goes out to the victim and her family. I hope everyone will join me in praying for a full recovery for Ms. Davis’s granddaughter.
Governor Quinn owes the family and the people of Illinois some clear answers on what happened and what didn’t happen. Over the weekend, the governor blamed the Prisoner Review Board for the alleged attacker being on the streets. But today news reports say it was Quinn’s own Corrections Board that recommended Edjuan Payne be set free as early as he was.
The Governor must take responsibility for his own actions and for the actions of the officials he entrusted the public safety to. He has a responsibility to understand and accept what happened and to hold his appointees accountable.
A more than minor quibble. The PRB recommended a 69-day term for Edjuan Payne. Quinn’s Department of Corrections recommended a 60-day term. Payne served the 69 days recommended by PRB and got out in March.
Either way, Payne would’ve been out on the street this month, when he allegedly murdered that poor woman. The problem is Quinn claimed a few days ago that the Prisoner Review Board was supposed to keep Payne locked up until July, insisting that the July release was recommended by his own administration. That statement, however, is not true. DoC actually recommended an earlier release.
The problem here is not who is responsible for letting a guy out of prison so he could murder somebody. The problem is that the governor once again relied on either bungled or untrue information from the Department of Corrections.
The bottom line is the director needs to go. Period.
*** 5:07 pm *** Click here to read both the Prisoner Review Board’s order that Payne be held for 69 days and, on page three, the Department of Corrections’ Parole Violation Report which recommends that Payne be held for “two months.”
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says the Prisoner Review Board let a man later charged with murder go too early when he was released after a parole violation.
Quinn says the board should have held the parolee for six months when he was sent back in January for the violation.
But records reviewed by The Associated Press show Quinn’s own Corrections Department recommended Edjuan Payne only serve two months for violating parole by drinking alcohol. He served more than that before the prisoner board set him free.
Wow. Bad, bad news for Quinn and his embattled Department of Corrections.
In 1988, Payne was convicted of murder and was incarcerated by the DOC. He was paroled and 2003 and completed his parole in 2006.
In 2009, Payne was arrested and convicted of criminal damage to property. He was sentenced to two years is prison. But by the time he was sent to the DOC, he had already served six months and four days in county jail. The standard “day for day” credit means his sentence knocked one year off his sentence.
He was also eligible for “meritorious good time credit,” Elman said. Appellate court decisions state the DOC cannot take into account an inmate’s previous convictions when determining meritorious good time credit, therefore Payne qualified even though he was a previously convicted murderer, she added.
Payne was paroled from the DOC on Oct. 1, 2009, after serving only 14 days in the state prison system and slightly more then six months in a county jail.
Payne violated his parole in January. The Prisoner Review Board, which did not return my calls today, released him in March. Last week, Payne allegedly murdered a woman…
Orvette Davis would have left Peoria this weekend after a couple of hopeful weeks in town trying to land a job at the Caterpillar Inc. plant in Mossville.
Instead, a woman with no enemies - as her children described her Friday - traded her life for that of her granddaughter in a North Valley alley, where Davis’ body was found beaten and strangled Thursday morning by a child walking to school.
Lying in a puddle next to Davis with a fractured skull was the infant, 8-month-old Aaliyah Gaston. The baby had spent hours there in intermittent rain and survived.
“She put her life on the line to save my baby,” said Terrell Gaston, Davis’ son and the father of Aaliyah. “And my mom is going to live through my baby.”
The Illinois Prison Review Board made the wrong decision this year when it granted accused killer Edjuan Payne an early release, Gov. Pat Quinn said Saturday at an appearance at the Peoria YWCA.
The Illinois Department of Corrections believed Payne should have remained incarcerated until July 22, but he was paroled March 29 from a southern Illinois correctional center.
“The tragedy here is a separate state agency gave him an early release,” Quinn said, siding with the IDOC. “He should have been in jail.”
But now, according to the AP, we find out that the Prisoner Review Board actually held Payne longer than the Department of Corrections recommended. Quinn will either have to backtrack, go to ground, or fight back. Tossing Director Randle overboard has long been ruled out.
* New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has won national plaudits for budget-cutting, but the main component of his spending reduction plan is skipping the state’s $3 billion pension payment. He needed to cut $11 billion to balance the budget, but cut far less than that, and made schools, property tax payers and local governments take the brunt of it.
Up in Minnesota, Gov. Pawlenty and the Democratic legislature are working on a plan to “erase” its $3 billion budget deficit, according to the AP. But $2 billion - two-thirds of that so-called erasure - is actually a postponement of scheduled state education payments.
* The Alexi Giannoulias campaign has two recent polls for our perusal. Click here for the memo.
The first poll was conducted April 27th through the 29th by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the campaign…
Giannoulias 37
Kirk 43
The Giannoulias family bank was seized on April 23rd, so they gave the event some time to percolate and then ran their poll. Their result is pretty close to Rasmussen’s April 28th poll which had Kirk ahead of Giannoulias 46-38.
The Giannoulias campaign let things settle down a bit and went back into the field after running a few hundred thousand dollars in TV ads which attacked Mark Kirk and tied him to former President Bush. The ad started around May 4th…
The latest Giannoulias campaign poll was taken May 11th through the 13th - just after the ad buy concluded - and shows the race a tie…
Kirk 44
Giannoulias 44
We shouldn’t jump to too many conclusions until we see some independent polling, but there you go. From what I gather, the use of Bush in that ad pushed recalcitrant African-Americans and other Democrats towards Giannoulias. He’s been hovering at around 60 percent or so support there, but calling out Kirk as a “Bush Republican” apparently works enough to move numbers.
Quinn advised his fellow Democrats to stand up to the likes of Palin.
“We’re not going to let a bunch of right-wing reactionary politicians tear down our state, tear down our president, tear down our country for political gain,” he said.
* Whenever a magazine issues rankings, be wary. Usually, they’re just using a gimmick to peddle subscriptions. CEO Magazine has gotten a lot of publicity lately here for its ranking of Illinois as 46th in the nation for business friendliness…
For the second year in a row, Illinois nabbed spot No. 46 on Chief Executive magazine’s annual ranking of the best and worst states. The results, derived from a survey of 641 CEOs across the country, looked at issues like proximity to markets and resources, regulation, tax policies, workforce quality, educational resources, quality of living and infrastructure.
Where did Illinois fall short? CEO’s gave the state low marks for its overall business taxes, sales taxes and unemployment insurance tax.
So, Rod Blagojevich’s stewardship rocketed us ahead of Indiana, but Pat Quinn’s has us at the bottom of the barrel? Apparently, these CEO’s aren’t much for predictions if this state can fall so far so fast.
What’s really going on here?
I’ve been hearing a lot from business types the past year that what they desperately want from Illinois is some stability and predictability. If you’re gonna raise taxes, then do it already. If you’re gonna cut, then cut, for crying out loud. Get it over with and stop the confusion. The magazine’s publisher said pretty much exactly that last week…
“There’s no doubt that uncertainty is not good for business and making investments–CEO’s need to know there’s continuity and stability with the regulation laws, fees, taxes,” he said. “So when things are in flux, it makes it hard for businesses to invest heavily in an area.”
Again, while I generally scoff at rankings like this, I think this one may be a good indicator of how CEOs actually think. Let’s look at some history.
The 2005 and 2006 legislative sessions went fairly smoothly. Blagojevich was on his way to a relatively easy reelection based on a pledge not to raise taxes. As a result, Illinois ranked high on the list during both years (the first two years they published the rankings).
But then 2007 hit and all heck broke loose. Blagojevich unveiled his wildly unpopular Gross Receipts Tax plan and refused to back away. The session quickly devolved into a bare-knuckled brawl that dragged into infinity and, as a result, Illinois’ CEO Magazine ranking dropped from 8th all the way down to 40th in just one year.
It’s pretty clear that they value stability over almost all else, at least when it comes to Illinois. Unfortunately, they’re gonna have to wait.
* Meanwhile, you just knew it had to happen sooner or later. The hyperbolic wild men at the Chicago Tribune editorial board would compare Illinois to Greece…
Fortunately for the governor, enough Republican and Democratic legislators seem determined — thus far, at least — to keep Quinn from making Illinois the westernmost outpost of Greece.
It occurred to me not long ago that the best analogy for this year’s governor’s race would be if the Washington Generals played the Washington Generals.
The Washington Generals basketball team was formed in the 1950s specifically to play solely against the Harlem Globetrotters. The Generals lost over 13,000 games in the ensuing decades and won just a handful. All of those wins were mainly due to luck. If you ever saw them play, you know that the hapless team just couldn’t do anything right. They were comedic in their supreme ineptness.
A Washington Generals split squad game would surely be a sight to behold. Fortunately for us, we don’t have to imagine such a spectacle. We’ve got one right here in Illinois.
Last week, Gov. Pat Quinn spoke to throngs of angry union members at the site of a factory which is being retooled in part by out-of-state workers. Unions have been quite unhappy about the use of nonunion employees from other states and have been protesting for weeks.
“When there’s a job to be done,” Quinn told the union members, “look to Illinois workers because they are second to none.”
The very next day, Quinn finally announced the hiring of his new campaign manager - a young out-of-stater who has never run an Illinois campaign. His main claim to fame is that he works for the Wisconsin lieutenant governor. Before pursuing that guy, Quinn tried to hire someone from Kentucky, but was politely turned down.
If this “Factories should hire Illinois workers but I don’t have to” gaffe was an isolated case, then it would be no big deal. But Quinn has stumbled time and time again, to the point where he nearly lost his Democratic primary race after leading by more than 30 points. Like the Generals’ rare victories, Quinn lucked into his win.
And then there’s Bill Brady, who earlier this month challenged reporters to “find the tape” of him even once supporting a 10 percent across the board budget cut. Brady insisted he’d never said it. My intern Dan Weber found the tape quickly because Brady has made the across the board cut proposal literally dozens of times. Only a Washington General wannabe could make a goofy mistake like that. It almost looked like he did it on purpose, kinda like how the Generals stood around listlessly while the Globetrotters performed their awesome comedy routines.
Again, this is no isolated case. Brady, like Quinn, has a history of giving his opponent sweet little gifts, like introducing a puppy and kitty mass killing legalization bill right after he won his primary by 200-odd votes. A few months ago, Brady spoke in favor of a massive pension borrowing scheme. This month, he lobbied hard against a much smaller version supported by Gov. Quinn, claiming it was the wrong thing to do.
It’s no wonder that some top labor union officials have mulled the idea of backing Green Party nominee Rich Whitney this fall. Trouble is, Whitney can’t even manage to get himself into the Washington Generals split-squad game that’s playing out in front of our eyes. He’s that inept. Too often, people like him would rather “lose the good fight” than even consider the possibility of trying to actually win. Winning is so dirty and dishonorable. It’s not to be comprehended.
And that brings us to Scott Lee Cohen, he of the oh-so weird and allegedly violent, steroid-using past who announced an independent candidacy for governor this month. He then chose Baxter Swilley as his running mate. Swilley was Cohen’s spokesman during his post lieutenant governor primary meltdown. One can’t help but wonder whether Swilley will remain on Cohen’s payroll, and whether that would be the only way Cohen could ever persuade someone other than a total whack job to run with him. Cohen seems more intent on getting in on some of that Rod Blagojevich national clown show action now that Blagojevich’s trial is about to start, rather than actually winning this race.
The unmistakable conclusion from all this is that whichever candidate wins this November, we’re gonna have a goofball running this state for at least four years. God help us all.
* Enough with ’semantics’; give detailed plan: Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady should stop trying to explain away the “semantics” of when a call for a 10 percent across-the-board cut isn’t a call for a 10 percent across-the-board cut. Instead, the state senator from Bloomington should get specific — real specific — about where he thinks the 10 percent cut in state spending should be made.
* Debt settlement legislation close to becoming law: Legislation was passed by Springfield lawmakers that will keep these companies from charging fees for their services until they actually manage to negotiate lower debts for their customers. And when they do charge consumers, the amount cannot be more than 15 percent of what a person saved.
* For whatever reason, the local electric company cannot keep a steady supply of juice running to my house today. I had more reliable electrical service when I was in Iraq. So, I’m going to try and post a couple of stories, then I’m taking the rest of the morning off. Not feeling well anyway.
City Water, Light and Power officials say the storm is the likely cause of a power outage that started at 5:45 a.m. Monday and affected approximately 1,700 customers in the Lake Springfield area. Power was restored to most by 8:23 a.m.
Yeah, it went on again about that time. But then it went off again. Then on. Then off. Sheesh.
Chicago compensation expert Don Delves, head of the Delves Group, said most boards of directors of Midwestern companies have maintained their equilibrium, a characteristic typical of Midwestern companies known for conservative fiscal policies.
“We don’t have too many bad actors here,” Delves said.
Besides outlining the “blatantly illegal” advances Pagano took on vacation pay, the investigation also showed Pagano faced serious financial concerns, borrowing $839,000 against the value of a deferred compensation account and an insurance policy. Those concerns were not spelled out in the report.
* Hinz: Pagano plundered Metra for decades, special counsel reports; feds join probe
The most major violation was the one that initiated the probe, a $57,000 payment last year for 2010 vacation time that had not yet been earned. To get the money, Mr. Pagano “forged” Metra board Chairman Carole Doris’ name on the needed voucher, Mr. Sotos reported.
* Goudie: Protectors of Pagano’s Metra: The Way to Really Hide?
And that illustrates the vagueness of standards for elected officials to report such activities with business leaders, one watchdog group says.
“It really begs the question, when is a gift a gift, and when is business business?” said Cynthia Canary, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
Under city rules, trips paid for by private organizations like the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce — which is set to receive about $34,000 from the city this year for supporting “commercial area development” — are not gifts if costs are “reasonable,” said Steve Berlin, executive director of the city Ethics Board.
Commissioners pushed the hiring freeze after news reports that Stroger made several hires since losing his re-election bid in the February primary. Some of those positions dish out six-figure salaries.
