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An item in today’s Morning Shorts is getting a lot of play today - â€œA highly touted music festival in Chicago Saturday and Sunday drew an estimated 2,000 fans. The cost to Illinois taxpayers: About $100 for each person who attended the inaugural Move! Chicago International House Music Festival.â€

A commenter pointed to this article in New City Chicago which sheds more light.

“This thing is going to bring so much money into this town it’s not even funny!” shouts State Representative Ken Dunkin emphatically into his cell phone. I can hear the rush-hour traffic outside his car as he evangelizes the inaugural MOVE! House Music Festival. “We’re going to see at least 60,000 people come in for this–at a minimum!” […]

[Thomas Mathes], Randy Crumpton and Frederick Dunson comprise the nonprofit organization CDM (Crumpton, Dunson, Mathes), founded to produce MOVE! The 2006 Chicago International House Music Festival. […]

In his third term, Dunkin became the Chair of Tourism and Conventions. He allocated $200,000 in seed money to Crumpton to launch the first state-sponsored house music festival. When pressed to elaborate, he says, “You know how it is. You from Chicago?” I tell him I’m not, but have an idea of how things work here, to which he replies, “Well there you have it!” He later expounds, “Now, we already discussed how this town works, so we don’t have to go through this. I chair the committee, I come up with a great idea, and you know: dot, dot, dot. We didn’t break any laws, but we made it happen! It’s the city that works, now!”

Apparently, Randy Crumpton is Rep. Dunkin’s campaign manager and attorney. It also appears from state records that Crumpton was Dunkin’s former campaign treasurer.

Dunkin requested the state grant as part of last year’s budget negotiations. At the time, he refused to release the names of the people who received the state cash.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 2:06 pm

Comments

Well, he was right about it not even being funny. Looks like only the taxpayers got housed this weekend.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 2:27 pm
I really think voters in Salem and Canton and Mt. Carrol and Harrisburg appreciate Dunkin’s leadership in promoting the grant and every Democrat legislators vote in support of it. Can’t wait to see Brandon Phelps spin this…

Comment by D as in Dumb Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 2:28 pm
I’ve always been one to give Ken the benefit of the doubt and defend him to people, including you Richa, but no more. He has seriously stepped in it here and I think he’s going to have some “splainin” to do . . .

Comment by Goodbye Napoleon Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 2:32 pm
“Canâ€™t wait to see Brandon Phelps spin thisâ€¦”

If you seriously think someone will hang Duncan’s folly on downstate Dems, your name really is apropos.

Comment by BuckTurgidson Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 2:33 pm
No, I think someone is going to wonder why Phelps voted for $200k for a Chicago House Music Festival, but couldn’t find the money to add frontline positions for DOC.

Comment by D as in Dumb Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 2:49 pm
Shame shame shame! I hope they didn’t use this event for their personal gain.

Comment by House music frees the mind, body and soul Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 2:56 pm
Don’t forget when Dunkin flipped the bird to the entire House …

http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050317/NEWS0109/503170332

Comment by DunkinWatch Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 3:02 pm
Yo, why you all hatin’? Haven’t y’all heard, it’s hard out here for me.

Comment by KDunk on the LoLo Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 3:09 pm
Dumb, did you bother to, you know, READ the article?

“Many critics lambasted it as exemplary of a larger problem of taxpayer dollars being apportioned without public debate or an adequately informed legislature. In the press, Dunkin refused to reveal who was getting the $200,000 because he “did not want them to be overly scrutinized.”

There seems only one legislator with any real respobsibility for these thumpin beats.

Comment by BuckTurgidson Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 3:23 pm
Buck-

I think “critics” refer to the 53 Republicans who voted against it. Not the 65 Dems who supported it. Unless, of course, you believe that Democrats were criticizing their own vote in support of spending $200k for the house music festival. That would be very Kerryesque.

Comment by D as in Dumb Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 3:28 pm
It is shameful that Dunkin is so ignorant as to repeatedly revel in his stupid moves. This is just the latest example. He better hope that there is not an audit of who got the fees and contracts on this deal.

When he was first elected, numerous people in the capitol said that he was on a fast track to an indictment. If he doesn’t wake up fast, he is going to prove them right. If not on this matter, then on something else.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 3:32 pm
omfg. i figured the house music festival flopped because no one listens to house any more and they didn’t promote it. it didn’t even dawn on me that it was a little mou project. this one of the best example of waste yet! sweet!

Comment by anon Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 3:35 pm
3:35pm

Correction. There are plenty of people that listen to house music. It has evolved tremendously. The SummerDance series last year attracted several thousands of people from all backgrounds. The reason it flopped was perhaps due to the high fees, weather, or lack of marketing. Regardless, it is a shame that there is a possibility that there are few that benefitted from this flop.

Comment by House music frees the mind, body and soul Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 3:41 pm
I’m blown away. I don’t care if it’s house music, country music, rap music, or my cousin’s garage band. The state just spent $200,000 on a concert, and a poorly attended one at that. I haven’t seen such blatantly juvenile waste and corruption since the student-run campus activities board in college.

Comment by QueenB Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 4:04 pm
It’s definitely disappointing and worth looking into. I’ve known Ken for many years and would hate to think he knowingly funnelled state money to a friend. I mean it’s so obvious that it’s a problem and so easy to find that I would be shocked if he is that oblivious to the appearances.

He’s a very emotional guy so I guess I’m not too surprised by the finger incident. Still, I really hope for more out of him and hope this story is less than meets the eye.

Comment by ChicagoCynic Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 4:06 pm
Dumb,

What I am saying is that to expect that every representative read every one of the hundreds of MOUs so that each one knew he or she was voting on a House Music festival or a film festival or a pig festival is folly.

Sure he voted for it. Just like the old GOP legislature voted for member initiatives like stained glass windows in parking garages in Naperville, statues of Benny Goodman, horse show rings and a host of other wasteful things.

These things rarely has the bite that activists think it will. But by all means, have fun.

Comment by BuckTurgidson Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 4:18 pm
Ken Dunkin has been a joke lately. First, the attack psychotherapists (comparing them to Nazis!) using the Thompson Center lobby for a exhibit from a loony organization, and now this. I have not been impressed with this light weight member of the Jesse White organization.

Comment by Niles Township Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 4:25 pm
Could it be there is no cause that needed the $200,000 in Ken’s district?

Comment by fightforjustice Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 4:58 pm
There are so many things wrong with this, it’s hard to figure out where to begin:

1. Yes, there are plenty of worthy causes in the 5th District. Education, parks, crime prevention, health care, public transportation - to name a few.

2. This flop of a concert was held on Northerly Island - which isn’t even in Dunkin’s district.

3. Were any state bidding or contracting rules that were required in this…or did Crumpton get a no bid deal that violated state law?

4. Why doesn’t any of Crumpton’s legal work show up on Dunkin’s D-2s?

5. What does a concert have to do with being a state legislator?

6. Did the Chicago Park District also subsidize this fiasco?

7. Is Lisa Madigan going to investigate a member of her father’s side of the House aisle?

The Democrats should be ashamed to have this disaster in their ranks.

Comment by Phocion Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 5:21 pm
The answer to your question, fightforjustice, is that there are lots of “causes” in Dunkin’s district that could be well served by $200,000. Unfortunately, I doubt his constituents will hold him accountable for this purely self-serving act.

Comment by Left Leaner Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 5:32 pm
Sheesh… This isn’t a Dem or Repub issue, it’s a political hack issue (both parties have ‘em: witness the most egregious of the bunch, Jack Abramoff and the many Repubs ensnared in those tentacles).

But a few serious inquiries: Can I have an 8-track convention in my backyard? Maybe Roskam can have an REO-vinylfest in his basement; he is in the state lege after all.

Comment by NW burbs Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 5:55 pm
Honestly, if it was a money-making idea, don’t you think they could have found an agency who did this for a living to put it on without the 200K? I think the fact that they had to pay someone to do it in the first place should have been a clue that it wouldn’t make much, if any, profit. I would have thought they could offer to rent the venue for a discounted or free price (that seems like enough seed to me) to a “professional” and see who was biting. That’s what I would have done…oh, but I work for the DOT, what do I know.

Comment by NoGiftsPlease Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 7:35 pm
I don’t necessarily support Ken Dunkin, but you have to remember that he is the Chair of Tourism, so the fact that this idea was aimed at benefiting tourism — and not specifically his district — actually shows that he’s doing his job as chairman. I dont know how I feel about $200,000 for a house festival, but then again I dont know how I feel about $1.3million for a statute of Lincoln in Springfield. The house festival can be characterized as a form of art/expression, and if there was clamouring for the festival, it was probably a good idea to have it. Dunkin was over reaching to think he could get 60,000 people to pay for anything in the first year.

Comment by NotaBlagoFan Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 8:47 pm
If this was somehow based on tourism, can anyone point to ANY efforts that were made to promote this to out of towners to bring them in for this train wreck?

No, you can’t. It’s a farce, that merits a primary challenge if not an indictment.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jul 25, 06 @ 9:44 pm
I guess Daley’s raver law pushed all the good promoters out of the city.

As probably the only person on this board who ever attended raves, maybe I can clue you in on something - no one wants to listen to goofy music and dance like a fool in the sun during the middle of a summer day. It makes it a lot harder to do illegal s*** too. Whoever thought that 60,000 people who should up was fooling theyself and the ‘jaded’ djs (see JimGreg Kotderogotis’ story in Tempo on Monday - An aside: I don’t know what is lamer, the fact that those two over-esteemed music critics write about the same bands every week or that the Trib still calls its hippest section ‘Tempo.’)were probably laughing all the way to the bank.

I think house festivals should best be pushed by the invisible hand of capitalism than by the glow-stick clutching hand of socialism. There are plenty of other good causes into which the government should cough up some cash …

Comment by p Wednesday, Jul 26, 06 @ 12:46 am
Rep. Dunkin is turning into as big of an embarassment as Sen. Hendon is. President Jones needs to slap these two nitwits around some…

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jul 26, 06 @ 10:00 am
Ken showed an amazing lack of good judgement on this. I don’t know if anything illegal happened, but he should have known better than to have this money controlled by his former campaign manager.

Comment by Minion Wednesday, Jul 26, 06 @ 2:19 pm
From my point of view, Mr. Jones is just as big an embarassment as Senator Hendon. It should be Mr. Madigan disciplining Rep. Dunkin.

Comment by Peaches Thursday, Jul 27, 06 @ 12:19 am
I am very disturbed and embarassed about what happened and I’m amazed that when Chicago gets such a great opprotunity to shine… the promoters fill up their pockets and run! Who was responsible for this? Please provide names and e-mail addresses!!
When we arrived on Saturday, I thought I was in House Music Heaven!! Beautiful cresent-shaped beach with people playing in the water, groups basking in the sun, and loud house music bumping. But inside was hellish… scattered peoples wandering about wondering “Why’d I spend $35?”…
I hope that this event returns and is handled in a much different way. If you think house music is dead in Chicago…. then visit the Petrillo Music Shell August 23…..

Comment by Sandeman Thursday, Jul 27, 06 @ 7:42 am
By appearances this should have been a tourist draw. The gay games were happening and the line up was fairly stacked with prominent members of the music community who are also gay. That’s where it ended as well. I am sure the gay games made money. Sadly, that money wasn’t spread around evenly enough and the amount of sharing and working together as a city (surprise) failed miserably.
You could smell bs the moment anyone says something is going to be an overwhelming success. The homework was put in the bag and that’s as far as it got. No one did it and studied the city other than what it represented to them PRE RAVE days. The homework that needed to be done was to pull in the rest of the city for one. Understand that the city has evolved and there are many new people who have come up since 1995. Look at how many DJ’s, producers, record labels, and supporters of the music exist today in the city of Chicago! Then to balance that. Look at how many Chicagoans there are who left the city to pursue their art, their music. Again, look at how many have stayed. Why weren’t these resources and potential costumer bases tapped? It the event was about bringing people together. Why didn’t it make that more apparent? It’s electronic music just the same and most of it is danceable too. If the city wants to celebrate its heritage and it self. It’s gotta bring in all its babies.

Comment by M@earth Thursday, Jul 27, 06 @ 10:25 am