* I’ve been saying all along that the fall veto session was probably not the time that a gay marriage bill would pass…
Asked if organizers have added numbers to their “yes” count, [Illinois Unites for Marriage Campaign Manager John Kohlhepp] said, “I believe that we can say that we have.”
But supporters face a tough fight. Those that have switched to the “yes” column have yet to make their stances public, leaving them room to back out. Additionally, the veto session falls before election filing deadlines, increasing chances that lawmakers fearful of primary challenges will balk at voting on controversial bills.
Rick Garcia, policy advisor for The Civil Rights Agenda, said that reality is making him cautious about forecasts for the fall.
“I’m making no predictions because after what happened in May, I’m gun shy about doing that,” Garcia said.
And Garcia suggests another challenge— organizers have yet to secure even 60 votes, he said.
Besides the petition problem, an immediate effective date would require 71 votes, and they don’t even have 60 yet.
* And the Windy City Times’ roll call is more than a little optimistic. For instance…
Dist. 20, Michael McAuliffe (R): McAuliffe voted against civil unions in 2010 and has indicated he would do the same if marriage equality were brought to a vote. “I will not support the legalization of gay marriage in Illinois,” he said in a Daily Herald candidate questionnaire. But sources indicate that McAuliffe may not be more open to a “yes” vote than others.
Dist. 41, Darlene Senger (R): Senger voted “no” on civil unions two years ago, but supporters hope that LGBT people and their allies will press her to vote yes, regardless.
Dist. 60, Rita Mayfield (D): Mayfield’s stance has frustrated LGBT organizers and sponsors of the bill, but she remains a target. She said she wants to vote “yes,” on the bill but will not. She says that her district does not support the measure and that she will vote “present” so as not to betray the will of her constituents. Mayfield’s best friend is reportedly gay.
Senger could help herself in the fall congressional campaign with a “Yes” vote, but she is facing two conservatives in the primary, so I figure a pre-primary floor vote would likely produce a “No.”
Dist. 21, Silvana Tabares (D): This journalist-turned-lawmaker is new to office. She was not endorsed by Equality Illinois last year, and sources suggest her vote has been hard to pin down.
Dist. 56, Michelle Mussman (D): Mussman stated on a Chicago Sun-Times questionnaire, “I would not support legislation permitting gay marriage. I would support legislation permitting civil unions.” But a Windy City Times reader and 56th Dist. resident said she believes Mussman supports the bill now. Mussman has not returned requests for comment.
Dist. 77, Kathleen Willis (D): Willis’ stance is not widely known, but Equality Illinois endorsed her Republican challenger Skip Saviano over her last year.
Dist. 79, Katherine Cloonen (D): The Daily Journal reported in October that Cloonen was against gay marriage.
Dist. 84, Stephanie A. Kifowit (D): Asked in Oswego Patch candidate questionnaire about same-sex marriage, Kifowit said she believes everyone should enjoy the same rights, but added, “I believe the intent behind Illinois’ recently enacted civil unions law has done just that.” She was not endorsed by Equality Illinois.
Dist. 85, Emily McAsey (D): McAsey stated in her Chicago Sun-Times candidate questionnaire that gay marriage did not appear to be a priority for voters and that her focus was on other things.
Dist. 96, Sue Scherer (D): According to the State Journal-Register, Scherer wants to give civil unions more time to “work through the system” before passing marriage.
Dist. 98, Natalie Manley (D): Manley’s views on same-sex marriage have not been widely publicized, and she dodged the question on a Patch.com candidate questionnaire. Equality Illinois did not endorse her in 2012.
Tabares is listed because the 13th Ward’s alderman will be leading her defense if she has to run in another primary. No decision had been made about what to do there the last time I checked.
On the others, it’s a district by district thing, but Madigan’s people don’t want to have to spend money that they don’t need to spend. An “OK” by the campaign shop on some of the less risky targets would go a very long way toward passing this bill.
* Related…
* Mark Brown: Legislators’ foot dragging on same-sex marriage has life and death consequences
On Tuesday, David Hale, founder of the Rockford Tea Party, announced he is running in next March’s GOP primary against Kinzinger, who has been in Congress since 2011.
Over the past week, Kinzinger has made a number of national TV appearances backing President Barack Obama’s call for military action in Syria. The Air Force veteran said he has offered to help Obama make the case.
It was Kinzinger’s position on Syria that prompted Hale to enter the race. […]
He founded the Rockford Tea Party in 2009 and helped organize the petition drive for the Winnebago County Board to pass a concealed carry ordinance, collecting 11,000 signatures. The board ultimately rejected the ordinance.
Amanda Norris, president of the Sauk Valley Tea Party, said she welcomed opponents of Kinzinger, whom she called a “real disappointment.”
“He [Hale] is very passionate and strong-willed. Sometimes that works against you in the political sphere. He’s on the right side of issues,” Norris said.
As an incumbent with nearly $500,000 in his campaign coffers, Kinzinger is the favorite to win.
“The money is an advantage,” Hale said. “I don’t pretend that I’m a formidable candidate as far as publicity and money goes, When it comes to ideas and when it comes to how government works, I’m head and shoulders above Adam Kinzinger.”
* Meanwhile, Secretary of State Jesse White is announcing his reelection tomorrow…
…there is no sign of a Republican challenger on the horizon.
Jayme Odom, executive director of the Illinois Republican Party, said new party chief Jack Dorgan is attempting to draft a candidate.
“The chairman is still talking to multiple people,” Odom said Tuesday.
Republican observers say it’s pretty obvious why no one is jockeying for the position.
“I think you have to admit it would be a tough one to win,” state Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, said Tuesday.
…Adding… Please, make sure to consider the constraints he was under. He couldn’t blog from work, which limited the time he could spend on the site. I originally asked him to just do one post a day to keep y’all occupied, but he clearly went above and beyond.
* The Illinois Policy Institute and the Better Government Association both have people who “cover” the Statehouse and have applied for seats in the House and Senate press boxes. So far, neither group has received an approval from the two chambers.
Why? Because the groups directly lobby the Legislature. If they were given permission to sit in the press box, then why not AFSCME, or AARP, or the Illinois Chamber? All of those groups (and many, many more) produce extensive reports on the General Assembly’s doings.
* I’ve been thinking about doing a post on this for a while now. And a newspaper “column” by the BGA’s Andy Shaw, which recently appeared in the Sun-Times, reminded me why I should…
Some of the other Springfield legislators who deserve a shout-out for working with us in the last session, even if they didn’t always agree with our watchdog ways, include:
† Sen. Mike Jacobs, who acknowledged the importance of public safety and government accountability by sponsoring a bill to create a zero tolerance alcohol impairment policy for on-duty police officers;
† Sen. Dan Kotowski, who took on conflicts of interest by sponsoring a bill that tightened financial disclosure laws;
† Sen. Daniel Biss, who understood the need for accountability in the criminal justice system by sponsoring a bill requiring law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant to use information collected by drones;
† And the coalition of legislators — Sen. Kwame Raoul, Reps. Mike Zalewski and Scott Drury, and House Speaker Michael Madigan — who recognized the high cost of wrongful convictions, in financial and human terms, is an atrocity that can no longer be tolerated.
Look, it’s nice to see a goo-goo group occasionally congratulate individual legislators for the work they do, even legislators who aren’t exactly known as “reformers.” Usually, all we see is angry broadbrush criticism from those folks.
But you can’t register with the state, lobby for bills and then heap praise on your sponsors in a “column” and expect to get a seat in the press box. It doesn’t work that way.
There’s been some grumblings about a potential lawsuit, but the groups ought to stow their anger and just do what they do and quit trying to be something they clearly are not.
In the 1990s, Quinn pushed for a constitutional amendment to create term limits for legislators. But the Illinois Supreme Court threw out the proposal before it could go to the voters.
This past week, however, Quinn came out against a new plan to create term limits for lawmakers, a plan being pushed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner.
Rauner is circulating petitions to get the issues on the 2014 ballot. That includes making it harder to override a governor’s veto by changing the number of votes needed from three-fifths to two-thirds. He also wants to limit legislators to eight years in office, cut the size of the Senate from 59 members to 41 and expand the House from 118 to 123.
Quinn told reporters Wednesday there’s no need to change the three-fifths vote. […]
Quinn says it’s unnecessary to increase the number of House members.
* Quinn is right about that. Nobody cares about those two issues. In reality, the two proposals were simply a way to get term limits onto the ballot. Eric Zorn doesn’t think it’ll work…
The power of citizens to initiate amendments to the state constitution via petition drive was limited by the framers only “to structural and procedural subjects contained” in Article IV, the one that deals with the legislature [the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in 1994]. […]
So would term limits change the structure of the legislature?
No, the majority ruled in 1994. Even with term limits, “The General Assembly would remain a bicameral legislature consisting of a House and Senate with a total of 177 members, and would maintain the same organization.”
Would it change the procedures of the legislature?
Again, no. “The process by which the General Assembly adopts a law would remain unchanged” with the addition of term limits, said the majority opinion. […]
If, earlier this week when Rauner’s proposal was formally unveiled, you wondered why it included this pair of off-the-radar-screen ideas, now you know: It’s an effort to create a plausible reason for the Supreme Court to give the OK.
“These are three interrelated reforms,” said Mike Schrimpf, a spokesman for Rauner and the term-limits effort. “Taken all together, they make the legislature more responsive to the citizens and they make elections more competitive.”
But, so far anyway, Rauner is the only person offering up an actual plan. So being against a couple of smallish aspects of that plan means it can be spun by the pro-Rauner types (and the Illinois Policy Institute’s honchos are with Rauner) as being “against term limits.” So, advantage Rauner.
* Sen. Kirk Dillard took his opposition a step further…
When asked if term limits is a big issue in Illinois, Dillard said Rauner is “pulling a Pat Quinn.” He says Rauner is pandering to the public on a popular issue.
As for himself, Dillard supports term limits for legislative leaders. He voted for a recall, which he believes sends a better message than term limits. That way, if people want to get rid of an official like Rod Blagojevich, they can get rid of him right away, rather than having to impeach or wait until the next election.
Dillard said the legislative leaders are the problem.
* OK, but this constitutional amendment is already being sold as a way to get rid of Madigan and break the stranglehold of Chicago’s influence….
Rauner’s got a video out to promote his term-limits issue.
It blasts “career politicians” who stay too long in office. And whose pictures roll by on the screen when this discussion is taking place? Senate President John Cullerton, ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan, all Chicago Democrats.
Dillard is on the “wrong” side of this issue, as far as the public is concerned, so he’s gotta revert to name calling. Politically, anyway, this is, again, advantage Rauner.
* We’re getting close to a dozen state legislators who’ve announced that they’re not running for reelection or who have already resigned…
State Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, announced Tuesday night that she will not run for a seventh term in 2014.
And Michael Richards, a Champaign County Board member who managed Jakobsson’s last two campaigns, said he hopes to succeed her in the Illinois House. […]
Richards followed Jakobsson’s email with his own, saying that Jakobsson had asked him to run for the seat representing the 103rd District, which includes almost all of Champaign and Urbana.
“Representative Jakobsson has asked me to run for state representative,” said Richards, a county board member from Champaign and a legislative liaison to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. “Whomever wins this seat will have big shoes to fill.”
Other candidates in both parties are expected to announce as well.
There was a huge turnover in the first post remap election, but it appears that some legislators wanted to hold onto their respective seats for one more cycle before leaving.
After the Illinois House Republicans met late last month in Springfield to elect a new caucus leader, several members gathered at a local watering hole to toast their top dog, Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs.
Notably, several House Republicans who backed the candidacy of Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, showed up as well and heartily shared in the festivities.
And so, a leadership battle that for a while looked to be heading down a bitterly negative path ended with smiles all around.
Durkin managed to pull off the impossible.
After the failed 1991 ouster attempt of House GOP Leader Lee Daniels, 11 of the 13 coup plotters fled the House within 2 years, either for the Senate or for other jobs. They had no choice. Retribution was in the air.
When Daniels announced he would be stepping aside 10 years later, a months-long feud erupted between Reps. Tom Cross and Art Tenhouse, with the downstater Tenhouse coming out on the losing end.
The fight got personal and emotional, and lots of members were put in highly uncomfortable positions.
The memories of those fights are strong with those who were around back then, and veterans on both sides have tried to help steer this battle away from the abyss ever since Cross announced that he would be stepping aside and running for state treasurer.
Durkin had a reputation among some of his fellow House Republicans as being aloof and even kind of a jerk – his former Cook County prosecutor tendencies have never completely left him. But Durkin patiently traveled the state, meeting with anybody who would sit down with him, and eventually managed to assuage those fears. As a result, he walked into the caucus meeting with far more than the 24 votes he needed to win.
Poe gave what many members said was the speech of his life during the meeting. Poe passionately argued for peace and unity while putting Durkin’s name into nomination. Durkin was elected by acclamation.
Durkin had been a member of Tom Cross’ leadership team, but he’s much better known as being policy oriented. He’s also politically ambitious. He lost a U.S. Senate race in 2002 to Dick Durbin and chaired both of John McCain’s Illinois presidential campaigns.
Durkin was gearing up for an attorney general bid when Cross blindsided him with his own desire for the office. Durkin almost immediately switched gears and focused on the leadership job, which helped box Cross out and forced him to find another job after Lisa Madigan decided to stay put.
Durkin and his team have promised there will be no retribution. There’s a desperate need for unity in that caucus, and pretty much everybody gets it.
If he can suppress those prosecutorial attitude issues, work harder than he ever has, and stay focused and calm while Madigan rattles his cage, Durkin has what it takes to be an effective leader.
Time will tell, but, so far, this looks like a good move by the House GOP.
Gov. Pat Quinn has suspended funding for future renovations at the Capitol, a pricey project that’s already caused embarrassment for financially-shaky Illinois and raised questions about how it was allowed.
The Chicago Democrat told reporters Tuesday that he’s instructed his budget director to hold up appropriations for renovations that are yet to be done.
The state has already spent much of the appropriated $50 million for the west wing. That restoration of the Capitol has already drawn criticism along with finger-pointing. Sparking the outrage has been copper-plated wooden doors costing nearly $670,000 and more than $323,000 for chandeliers.
Quinn blamed Capitol architect J. Richard Alsop III and says he needs to be “reigned in” by the commission he reports to.
While Quinn’s Capital Development Board released funds for the nearly finished phase of Capitol construction, the governor said the state is on the hook for paying for work already completed since construction contracts have already been signed.
“If there are contractors who’d already completed work, we’d have legal obligations to pay those vouchers, or we’d wind up in the Court of Claims. But anything further or additional or what they’re planning for the next wing, I think, should be totally held up until we get this architect under control,” the governor said.
Controversy over the renovation work bubbled up in August when the Sun-Times detailed the project in a front page story and intensified earlier this month when Alsop confirmed that historically-accurate copper-clad doors for three entrances in the Capitol’s west wing cost more than $669,000 — the same price as a luxury executive home in the northwest suburbs.
On Sunday, the Chicago Sun-Times followed up with a report on a pair of maiden sculptures that each cost more than $78,000 and four 300-pound chandeliers hung in one senator’s office that cost another $323,000.
Quinn’s move is largely symbolic. Most of the $50 million earmarked for rehabilitation work on the west wing of the Statehouse, including sets of copper-plated doors costing nearly $700,000, already has been spent. The governor’s action could prevent shifting other money for planned work on other sections of the building. […]
Quinn maintained that his office does not have the ability to approve or block particular “ingredients” of the renovation. Those decisions, he said, are made by a panel that oversees the Capitol architect, a group appointed by the four Democratic and Republican legislative leaders. Quinn said the group needs to rein in the architect, J. Richard Alsop III. […]
There’s no money set aside for overhauling the Capitol’s north and east wings, but Quinn fears a pot of $250 million involving the Statehouse grounds could be shifted by a panel of lawmakers to finish the project.
So, by reading most of the coverage you’d think all spending was halted. But from the Tribune story, maybe not.
Daley said Quinn should have prevented the expenditure of nearly $670,000 for three sets of copper-plated double doors, $160,000 for sculptures replicating statues that were never in the original capitol building, and $323,000 for four chandeliers.
He said those costs are significant, even if a tiny fraction of the overall cost.
“Some people may scoff at it and say, ‘Well, $700,000 out of $50 million, or whatever the renovation is, big deal.’ You know, the average person says that is a big deal,” Daley said. “And until we’re sensitive to them, we’re just going to roll over and say, ‘Well, what the heck, it’s going to last 100 years these doors, and they’re beautiful, and they’re copper, and how could you be against them?’ That’s crazy.”
Daley said people are just numb to continuing expenditures by government officials spending other people’s money.
Voters can get their minds around $700,000 doors pretty easily, so this was an easy shot by Daley. But Quinn really couldn’t have stopped those doors from being installed.
* Republican Sen. Kirk Dillard, also a gubernatorial candidate, jumped into the fray…
Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard and his running mate State Representative Jil Tracy announced Tuesday they will introduce joint resolutions calling on the Illinois Auditor General to investigate expenditures of the Illinois State Capitol West Wing renovations and whether the expenditures were appropriate. This comes after news reports, including one on WMBD TV and Fox 43 that about $700,000 was spent on three pairs of new doors. Tracy says taxpayers need to know their tax dollars are spent wisely.
“Where were they supposed to buy the doors, and maidens and chandeliers?” he asked. “Walmart, Lowe’s?”
“The Capitol,” he said, “is the most significant building in the state of Illinois. . . . All they’re doing with the doors and the maidens is putting the Capitol back to what it was when it was constructed. . . . These items are part of a $50 million capital expenditure…as part of a health and safety renovation. . . . These are capital funds, not operating funds. They can’t be used for services, for example, for senior citizens or developmentally disabled young people.”
Thompson characterized the six-figure price tags as “not only historically correct,” but also, in the long run, a “bargain,” because “the chandeliers and the maidens and the doors will last over one hundred years.” He added, hyperbolically, “In every other state in the union, [public officials] go to great lengths to retain authenticity.”
I asked him if he was surprised that politicians, including Gov. Pat Quinn and the republican candidate striving to take Quinn’s job, State Treasurer Dan Rutherford, are publicly denouncing the expenditures. “No it’s typical,” he said in a weary tone. “The press writes these stories front page, . . . politicians react. I’ve seen it all before.”
* One of the major credit rating firms has declared Illinois is no longer in a recession, and has started to recover…
“The housing market is picking up in Chicago,” Cochrane says. “The large service- and finance-based economy in Chicago also seems to be picking a little bit, and hiring is improving.”
Much of the improvement in Illinois’ economy is pegged to Chicagoland, but he says Downstate manufacturers could also soon see an improvement in exports overseas.
* Only the Decatur metropolitan area remains in a recession. Earlier this year, Decatur became the Illinois metro with the highest unemployment rate. It has an unemployment rate of over 13 percent, and one of the area’s larger employers has been looking to move for quite a while. Moody’s analysis says Decatur has affordable housing, but that there has been a slowdown in home sales and the availability of high paying jobs.
Delaware remains at risk because of slow growth in the drivers of its economy, including banking, credit cards, pharmaceutical, chemical and business services, he said. Delaware, however, has taken issue with Moody’s assessment. “We believe Delaware’s future is more promising than Moody’s report would indicate,” says state Finance Secretary Tom Cook. He says employment will pick up this year as Bank of America has promised 500 new jobs over the next three years and Capital One has promised to hire 500 employees there by year’s end.
* CMS director Malcolm Weems testified last week before the Procurement Policy Board in response to a Lee Enterprises story that included figures showing emergency no-bid purchases are way up.
Of the 346 referenced emergencies for FY13, 164 were either extensions of existing contracts or below the small purchase threshold. if these two definitional changes were not made relative to the numbers prior to SB51, the actual count of emergencies would be 182 and would equate to FY11 numbers. The attention on this has not been an apple-to-apple comparison, and a constructive conversation on this topic needs to be effective.
a) Conditions for use. In accordance with standards set by rule, a purchasing agency may make emergency procurements without competitive sealed bidding or prior notice when there exists a threat to public health or public safety, or when immediate expenditure is necessary for repairs to State property in order to protect against further loss of or damage to State property, to prevent or minimize serious disruption in critical State services that affect health, safety, or collection of substantial State revenues, or to ensure the integrity of State records; provided, however, that the term of the emergency purchase shall be limited to the time reasonably needed for a competitive procurement, not to exceed 90 days. A contract may be extended beyond 90 days if the chief procurement officer determines additional time is necessary and that the contract scope and duration are limited to the emergency. Prior to execution of the extension, the chief procurement officer must hold a public hearing and provide written justification for all emergency contracts. Members of the public may present testimony. Emergency procurements shall be made with as much competition as is practicable under the circumstances. A written description of the basis for the emergency and reasons for the selection of the particular contractor shall be included in the contract file.
(b) Notice. Notice of all emergency procurements shall be provided to the Procurement Policy Board and published in the online electronic Bulletin no later than 3 business days after the contract is awarded. Notice of intent to extend an emergency contract shall be provided to the Procurement Policy Board and published in the online electronic Bulletin at least 14 days before the public hearing. Notice shall include at least a description of the need for the emergency purchase, the contractor, and if applicable, the date, time, and location of the public hearing. A copy of this notice and all documents provided at the hearing shall be included in the subsequent Procurement Bulletin.
As you can see, these changes in the statute do not expand on what qualifies as an emergency purchase. Rather, the changes involve how those contracts can be extended. The Governor’s Office says that is why the number appears to be so much higher.
* Rep. Brad Halbrook, Republican of Charleston, said yesterday he would not seek re-election to his seat. Halbrook was appointed in April 2012 after Roger Eddy left to take the helm of the Illinois Association of School Boards.
From our friends at BlueRoomStream…
Rep. Halbrook states he wants to spend more time with his family, including his 78-year-old father.
* Mayor Emanuel made an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. During the interview, he quickly dismissed any suggestion that he might miss being President Obama’s Chief of Staff. Being Mayor is the best job he’s had in the public sector, Emanuel said.
Riverboat casinos in Illinois want to remain open for business around the clock.
The Illinois Casino Gaming Association is asking state regulators for the OK to operate 24 hours a day. Currently, no casinos are open more than 22 hours.
The Illinois Gaming Board has scheduled a public hearing for Sept. 19 in Chicago to consider the request.
QUESTION: Do you support the Gaming Association’s request? Explain your answer in comments.
Me again. I know. You were expecting Rich. I was, too. He’s coming in later today than I thought. Apparently production of the soon-to-be released low-budget thriller “Godzilla v. Mothra v. Oscar” took longer than anticipated. We will go ahead and get things started…
* Mitchell: Former homeless man to be freed from prison in 2002 rape case: On Tuesday, Anita Alvarez will announce that the Chatman case is one of two cases that the State’s Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit will be dismissing Tuesday morning. The dismissal will pave the way for the 58-year-old man to be released from Dixon Correctional Center as early as Tuesday. Alvarez’s office would not provide specific details about why the Chatman case was being dismissed, but a spokesman confirmed that Alvarez will hold a news conference at 26th and California on Tuesday morning to announce the dismissals.
* Theresa Chatman never stopped believing in her brother
* Stroger aide goes on trial over alleged contractor kickbacks: Federal prosecutors alleged that Mullins used his position as a trusted member of Stroger’s staff to help himself, pocketing nearly $35,000 in kickbacks over a two-year period in return for steering county contracts to acquaintances. The so-called “24-9″ contracts — each worth less than $25,000 so they didn’t need County Board approval — were to promote awareness of the 2010 U.S. census, help residents affected by floods in 2008 and increase energy efficiency. But little or no work was done after the contracts were awarded, prosecutors alleged.
* Stroger pal depicted as sweet 7-year-old as trial opens in kickback scheme
* IDOT helicopter crashes, nobody hurt: Miller said the helicopter was not operational and en route to Nevada for maintenance at the request of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
* Topinka says Illinois’ financial situation driving business to surrounding states: “Why would any business executive seriously consider coming to Illinois, knowing that they would wind up inheriting these problems and having to help pay for them,” Topinka said. “It’s hard enough for a business to start up, and (Illinois government problems are) a lot of extra baggage for an aspiring company to take on,” she said.
* City Council Committee Approves Rewrite Of Gun Laws: The ordinance headed for a full City Council vote Wednesday brings City gun laws in line with the state’s law allowing carrying of concealed weapons.
* Chicago aldermen recommend repealing city gun registry: Although Ald. Ed Burke, 14th, the architect of many of the city’s gun control measures, and several of his colleagues accepted the changes like a dose of bad medicine, Todd Vandermyde, an Illinois lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, called them “a start.”
* Mayor Rahm Emanuel: Why I said ‘no’ to the Midway deal: There are five things we learned over the past six months that should guide any future public-private partnerships: first, a group of outside experts should be impaneled at the start of the process to monitor each step; second, there must be a minimum 30-day review by the City Council before the project is voted upon; third, there should be a clear set of standards so the public can judge a potential partnership when it is presented; fourth, the funds should be invested in infrastructure rather than used as a plug for short-term budget holes; fifth, a true public-private partnership requires that taxpayers maintain control of the asset and share in management decisions and financial profit.
* (McLean) County auditor, officials dispute paying bills: McLean County State’s Attorney Jason Chambers and county Emergency Management Agency Director Curt Hawk each asked the committee last week to approve bills that Auditor Michelle Anderson deemed insufficient for payment. The committee sided with Hawk and Chambers, sending the disputed bills to the full County Board for approval. In July, Hawk asked for reimbursement of $740 in travel and hotels for a conference in southern Illinois. He said the auditor objected to a hotel stay in Metropolis the night before the conference.
Now I’m debating whether to kill off Facebook too, a site I have used to post columns and TV stories I’ve done.
Hardly a decision to be taken lightly, I clearly was in need of a social media intervention.
And who better to call than the brilliant Dan Sinker, creator of @MayorEmanuel, the unauthorized, hilarious Twitter feed and running account of the Rahm-quest for mayor. Sinker ultimately turned it into a James Joycian-type book on the campaign. He now heads up Knight-Mozilla Open News project, a cutting-edge effort to combine open web innovation with journalism.
Sinker sees the journalist’s Facebook conundrum. “How can you do your job if you don’t ‘friend’ politicians to see what they’re saying? . . . [But] there are all sorts of ways to exploit these words — ‘friend,’ ‘like’ — that would imply that actual relationships exist where they don’t.”
Sinker reminds us that Facebook’s vocabulary was dreamed up by a college freshman who transformed Internet interactions into a kabillion dollar enterprise. “The idea that Facebook mimics reality,” he says, “is false.”
Only once in my reporting “career” did a campaign try to turn my interest into an endorsement, but Dillard and his people are smarter than that. You don’t get to this level without respecting that people interact with your profile just to see what you are posting. Heck, I “Like” and “Follow” tons of profiles I completely disagree with just to keep their posts in my news feeds. I’m glad she called them out on this one.
Former Illinois governors Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar have thrown their support behind gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard saying, “Dillard is the only Republican candidate who can win in November.”
Thompson and Edgar sent a joint letter to all GOP county chairmen, township chairmen and ward committeemen throughout the state.
* And so are all of the editorials written over the weekend by downstate editorial boards and columnists in favor of Bruce Rauner’s term limits, legislative cuts, and veto override proposals. Rather than take excerpts from them all, here is a list with embedded links…
* When Doug Whitley announced his retirement last week, some commenters speculated it could mean he would be named a lieutenant governor candidate. According to Bernie, the answer is no…
Whitley flirted with a run for governor as a Republican in the 2010 cycle, but says he’s not planning to seek elective office.
It’s no shocker. . . but watch for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White to formally announce his candidacy for a historic fifth term at a news conference in Chicago next Thursday after an introduction by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Last Friday morning, my hero, my best friend, my soulmate left this mortal coil behind and entered the realm of spirit while wrapped in my loving arms. God blessed us with almost an entire year since Don’s surgery to embrace life, love, family, and adventure, all while knowing that his time on this beautiful earth was drawing to a close. What a gift! What a joy to be entrusted with my magnificent man’s care for that precious time.
I love him more than life itself.
Thank you for all your messages of love and appreciation. You kept Don’s spirit alive in your hearts and we bless you for every thought. Your thoughts are prayers.
Just know that we had a lifetime of blessings together and one of the very best was sharing our thoughts,our family, our joys and sorrows with YOU, our radio family. You meant the world to us.
May God bless you and keep you safe.
With love and sorrow,
Roma, Hunter, Heather, and family
Hi, I’m former Capitol Fax intern Barton Lorimor. You may remember me from such posts as “Rich isn’t here right now,” and “You’re stuck with me until he gets back.”
* State sales tax collection jumps 11 percent: Illinois sales tax collections soared by more than 11 percent in August, likely fueled by a surge in automobile sales…”It’s a little surprising,” said Jim Muschinske, revenue manager for the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. “Certainly we’re above where we thought we would be. The caution is, however, that there’s still a lot of time for that to change.
* Sun-Times: Grounding Midway deal a smart move: Were Emanuel’s motivations pure? Did political considerations come into play? The possibilities are plentiful, including a potential rejection of any deal by a highly dubious City Council and the fact that Emanuel’s chief financial officer, who has been quarterbacking this process, is under scrutiny for recommending the city comptroller for his position.
* Behind the scenes as Midway privatization deal falls apart: “Usually, if someone is gonna withdraw, you pick up signs. They stop coming to meetings. Lawyers stop paying attention to documents. In IFM’s case, they were very engaged until the end. Then, quite suddenly, we had a process with only one bidder.”…But Ald. Pat O’Connor (40th), the mayor’s City Council floor leader, insisted that the Midway deal would have passed and that Scott’s political troubles had nothing to do with Emanuel’s decision.
Nor did Ferrovial-Macquarie’s decision to hire lobbyist William Filan, who works together on some projects with former Ald. Mark Fary (12th), husband of Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino. While the lobbying relationship might have created an appearance of a conflict, Andolino’s job — one of the lone holdovers from the Daley administration — is considered safe.
* Firm got city deals after hiring lobbyist linked to indicted Rahm aide’s deputy: Raussen and Colwell have ties going back more than a decade, Ohio campaign finance records show. Colwell was among the former Ohio legislator’s earliest political backers, contributing $1,500 to Raussen’s campaigns between 2000 and 2008. Raussen also got $4,153 in contributions from the Cincinnati Bell telephone company between 2000 and 2004, when Colwell was the company’s vice president of government relations.
As Raussen weighed whether Colwell’s client should be given more city insurance business over other companies vying for the work, it’s unclear whether he disclosed to Ahmad or other city officials that Colwell had given him campaign money, Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said. City ethics rules do not require him to do so, according to Hamilton.
* Cairo Residents Question New Tap Water Source: Officials at Illinois American Water apologize for the inconvenience of the water treatment plant repairs, but assure customers the water is safe. “It may be different than water from the Ohio River, but it is safe to drink,” says spokesperson Terry Mackin. “We made this decision because we wanted to ensure that Cairo had uninterrupted water services. We wanted to make sure the customers in Cairo turned on their tap and that water came out.”
* 5:58 p.m. Friday - Well, at least we had a five minute break before the next Friday news dump…
Governor Pat Quinn today made a number of key appointments to the state’s boards and commissions. Included in today’s action is the appointment of James Conway, Associate Chief of the Criminal Division for the United States Attorney’s Office, as the Chief Administrative Law Judge to the Illinois Independent Tax Tribunal. This announcement continues the Governor’s commitment to making Illinois government more accountable, transparent and effective.
…
Conway, of Wilmette, is currently the Associate Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. He has been a federal prosecutor for 29 years and a supervisor for the last 17 years. Prior to his position as an Assistant United States Attorney, Mr. Conway was a Revenue Agent with the Internal Revenue Service’s Examination Division in Chicago. In addition to being an attorney, he received a B.A. from Loyola University, a J.D. from The John Marshal Law School, an LL.M. in Taxation from DePaul University and he is a Certified Public Accountant.
More…
Commission on the Elimination of Poverty:
Gayle Nelson of Glenview has been an Arbitrator with Cook County Mandatory Arbitration for the past eight years and is a board member of The Harbour, Inc. She was formerly Executive Director of Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers. She holds a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin.
Commission on Environmental Justice:
Tamika Gibson of Chicago is Policy & Outreach Coordinator at the Illinois Environmental Council. She holds a B.S. in Geography & Environmental Resources from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Workforce Investment Board:
Justine Hood of Glenview is Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Centerpoint Properties Trust. She holds an MBA from Loyola University and a B.S. from James Madison University.
Thanks for putting up with me this week. I’ll be here for at least part of next as well, so stick around because the show will still go on.
I really enjoyed your “Session” playlist suggestions in yesterday’s question. I found this one while playing through some of them and thought it was too good to not add to our list.
Please be safe if you’re traveling this weekend.
It’s good to get high, and never come down
It’s good to be king of your own little town
* 4:35 p.m. Friday - Jack Lavin has reportedly left the Governor’s Office to accept a position in the private sector. Deputy COS Ryan Croke has been promoted…
Croke has served as deputy chief of staff to Governor Quinn since November 2009, where he spearheaded a variety of key public safety, economic development and government modernization efforts. In this role, he has served as a senior advisor to the Governor while managing and collaborating with the Governor’s cabinet officers. His responsibilities have included oversight of critical agencies from the Illinois State Police, Department of Corrections, Emergency Management Agency and Fire Marshal’s Office, to the Departments of Veterans’ and Military Affairs, Historic Preservation Agency, and Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture.
The Governor left for Japan this afternoon. I’ll try to have more details.
* 4:46 p.m. - From the Retail Merchants Association…
“The members of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association want to congratulate Ryan Croke on being appointed as Chief of Staff to Governor Pat Quinn.
“We’ve worked with Ryan since he was in the Lt. Governor’s office and we found him to be laser-focused on whatever responsibilities were assigned to him. We look forward to working with him in the administration of Governor Quinn to improve the jobs climate in Illinois.”
* 5:05 p.m. - The word I am getting is that Lavin played his departure pretty close to the chest. People who talked to him yesterday said they had no idea this was coming. Those that work with Lavin on a more regular basis have said they only knew he was headed to the private sector, which was the only clue included in the press release.
“We have enjoyed working with Ryan Croke on a number of issues and have found him to be a talented and dedicated person who always respects Illinois’ working men and women,” Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael T. Carrigan said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to working together with Ryan in his new role as we continue to help create jobs and build the middle class.”
Governor Pat Quinn today announced that Illinois has set an all-time record for tourism, breaking the 100 million visitor mark in 2012. International visitors rose 11.8 percent last year to set another new record and push the total to 101 million. Tourism in Illinois generated an estimated $33.5 billion and 298,700 jobs for the state’s economy, also new high marks for the state.
The record tourism numbers reflect Governor Quinn’s targeted efforts to showcase Illinois as a travel destination. In the past two years, Illinois has launched a new tourism marketing campaign; promoted Illinois tourism on trade missions to Canada, China, Mexico and Brazil; and worked closely with local convention and visitors bureaus across Illinois to trumpet the unique attributes of their regions.
Help is finally on the way for Illinois State Parks.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is starting to chip away at a $750 million maintenance backlog, as money from a new $2 surcharge on license plate renewals is starting to make its way out to the parks.
Despite unseasonably warm temperatures during much of the Du Quoin State Fair, officials say the 2013 event may set an attendance record…It’s already been reported that the Du Quoin State Fair had the largest opening day in its 91-year history on August 23rd when more than 50,000 people visited the fairgrounds. The fair ended on Labor Day.
* Laurence Msall of The Civic Federation (not to be confused with Ty Fahner’s Civic Committee) and Speaker Madigan spokesman Steve Brown were featured guests on Chicago Tonight earlier this week to discuss the west wing renovation. Go ahead and guess what part of that project took center stage…
When originally designed, the main entrance to the Capitol was from the east through a long set of 37 steps up to the second floor of the building. These were removed before the building was officially opened when Architect W.W. Boyington converted the Basement into the First Floor. While the first floor doors were oak on the outside and black walnut on the inside, they were heavily carved with bronze ornamentation. Bronze is a metal made primarily of copper. As the western exposure and elements took their toll on the doors, they simply became inoperable and were replaced with a much simpler, non-historic door. In this renovation, we took the cue from the bronze ornamentation from the original doors, and clad a new wood door in copper to give it protection for a time period that should well exceed a century. Aside from an historic standpoint, Copper was chosen for its longevity, natural beauty and because of its tendency to patina to a brown that is similar to a US10B finish, or oil rubbed bronze, the standard finish for the building.
* New doors are mentioned in this project description from two summers ago. You will notice it does not say how exactly they would reflect the building’s history. Beyond the doors, there are much more costly differences between this document, what was being talked about before construction began, and the work that is nearing completion. For example, this document still includes an eatery in the basement and the renovation, not removal, of the Mezzanine. Those doors alone did not boost the listed bids from $43 million to $50 million. As Brown mentioned in the interview, some of that involves the removal of asbestos, which is not cheap.
“The governor is concerned about the architect’s judgment and some of his decisions,” Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said, adding her boss was “surprised” at the doors’ extravagant look when he first saw them.
“Gov. Quinn believes any capital project must always be conducted in a prudent and cost-effective manner, and it’s important for the architect to sit down with those he reports to and review these decisions,” she said.
More…
“The governor heads the board that approved this wasteful expenditure, so if the governor is not in charge, then who is running this state?” Daley said.
“I think that type of expenditure by whoever and however they did that is inappropriate at this — perhaps at any time — but particularly at this time,” Rutherford said at a news appearance on Thursday. “As the treasurer I just happen to hold the keys to that office at the present. They designed it. I will not move into it until it’s done.”
“My understanding,” Rutherford joked, “is those doors are not to the office of the state treasurer.”
Rutherford’s staff hardly had a chance to get settled into the Treasurer’s executive office before it was relocated to an adjacent office suite in the north wing.
* For those interested, or haven’t seen some of the work that has been done over at the Capitol, I snapped this picture a few weeks ago while moving between meetings. This is the new Press Briefing Room…
* By now you have heard that Bob Schillerstrom has withdrawn his name from consideration for his party’s state Treasurer nomination. From a letter to supporters that became widely reported last night…
To that end, I recently had the opportunity to sit down with House Republican Leader Tom Cross to discuss the future of our state. During the course of that and subsequent conversations, it became clear that we share a vision for the Treasurer’s Office and a desire to hold the line on spending, safeguard family college savings and restore our state’s fiscal integrity.
Those goals will best be achieved through fiscally conservative Republican leadership – and the stakes are too high to lessen our chances with a costly and divisive Primary.
For that reason I have decided not to run for State Treasurer in 2014 and instead do what is in the best interest of our State and Party by unifying behind a candidate, Tom Cross. I hope you will join me in doing whatever is necessary to make his campaign successful.
Schillerstrom, an attorney from Naperville who headed the DuPage County Board from 1998 to 2010, launched his exploratory bid in June and had lined up 50 backers, including former U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and several state legislative and area county officials. Hastert has been a close Cross ally.
* As Rich noted previously, Schillerstrom was a no-show at the State Fair this year, which caused some at Republican Day to scratch their heads as to whether the former Du Page County Board chairman would continue to seek the office.
Schillerstrom has not filed a report with the Board of Elections since the June quarterly. However that report shows he has just under $40K in the bank, but outstanding loans valued at over $136K. That’s nowhere near what Cross reported in his quarterly, which is now outdated thanks to a number of other large donations he has received since.
* Rich has talked about potential running mates for Gov. Quinn with subscribers. NBC 5 contacted one of those candidates…
Some political sources say Quinn asked Chicago City Treasurer Stephanie Neeley to join up with his ticket but that she said “no.”
Neely declined to confirm that nugget, but her statement doesn’t appear to deny it either.
* In full transparency, I’m only here to show my wife and parents that my journalism degree wasn’t a waste of time and money. But my being here has allowed Rich to take some time off in order to…
I wasn’t suppose to say, but …
Rich, Tom Cross and I are on a Golf Weekend.
Whew! Keeping secrets is hard!
We may not have any Oscar pictures this Friday, but we can always count on Oswego Willy to have Tom Cross golfing material at the ready. As we’ll discuss in another post, Willy, you appear to have your work cutout for you this cycle.
* OK, enough of that for now. Let’s get to some headlines…
* No movement in IL pension reform: “What the pension committee has been trying to do all summer is patch a hole in the Titanic,” John Tillman, director of the Illinois Policy Institute, said. Tillman, who wants the state to adopt a 401k style system, said the committee is mired in the status quo.
“While they have met and talked and conversed they have not entertained a single proposal that would fix the structural problems with the current system,” Tillman said.
Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Dan Rutherford is not optimistic the conference committee process will produce pension reform, and predicts the issue will not go away any time soon.
“My sense is the next pressure point is going to be the election,” Rutherford said.
* Mayor Emanuel grounds Midway privatization plan: sources: With only two bidders remaining on the runway, one of the competitors “dropped out” this week, convinced the joint-venture would not be able to meet the mayor’s demands. Another source familiar with the negotiations identified the bidder that walked away as the team that includes Industry Funds Management of Australia and Manchester Airports Group.
That would have left the city with only one bidder for a transaction estimated at $2 billion. Emanuel was simply not willing to forge ahead under those circumstances.
The source refused to identify which of the joint ventures had dropped out of the competition a few weeks before formal bids were due.
Bloomberg news has identified the two bidding groups as Great Lakes Airport Alliance, a partnership between Spain’s Ferrovial and Macquarie Group that leased the Chicago Skyway for 99 years, and a team that includes Industry Funds Management of Australia and Manchester Airports Group
* Sun-Times: GIVE WISER PRISON POLICIES A CHANCE: We need political leaders of all stripes to support the idea of diverting nonviolent offenders to destinations other than prison. It’s an issue easy to demagogue because some people who leave prison inevitably again commit crimes, no matter how carefully the risks of release are assessed.
* Thomson prison funding may fall prey to budget battle: Congress must approve the funding and include it in a budget for the new fiscal year that starts October 1. But with another debt ceiling fight looming, funding for the prison could get caught up in the partisan crossfire….It’s unlikely the House and Senate will agree to a budget before October 1.
A temporary spending plan known as a continuing resolution will be enacted if a budget can’t be agreed and Sen. Durbin said that would put the Thomson project “on hold.”
* DuPage chief selects Metra appointee: Zediker, 41, a Naperville Republican, served on the County Board for three years but lost his seat in last year’s election.
* Metra attorneys say board member did not harm agency: Schaffer acknowledged that he gave Clifford a document prepared by the agency’s attorneys about three weeks before Clifford wrote a scathing memo alleging that two other board members engaged in political back-scratching. The accusations led to an $871,000 separation agreement with Clifford and spurred two ethics investigations and five board resignations.
But in a letter sent to board members this week, agency lawyers said Schaffer did not ignore his legal or ethical responsibilities when he sent Clifford information related to the CEO’s performance evaluation. Schaffer believed he was acting in Metra’s best interests by sharing the document, which Clifford would have access to anyway in his role as the agency’s highest-ranking employee, according to the legal opinion.
