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A very big thumbs up

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* Let’s return to the Tribune’s profile of Comptroller-to-be Leslie Munger. I talked with her about this topic yesterday, but didn’t include it in my subscriber-only story today because the Trib had it…

Munger is an active volunteer and former board member of the Lincolnshire-based Riverside Foundation, which provides assistance to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

She said her work with the foundation made her aware of the important role of the comptroller, who is responsible for paying the state’s bills. At one point years ago, the state was behind in payments to the foundation, forcing the foundation’s board to borrow to pay its bills, Munger said.

That changed when Topinka took over the office, she said.

“She started putting those kind of bills at the top,” Munger said. “So I really became aware of what a difference this office can make and how important it is to be fiscally responsible.” […]

Munger was named Lincolnshire’s Citizen of the Year in 2004 and the Riverside Foundation’s Auxiliary Volunteer of the Year in 2013.

Munger told me she plans to continue Topinka’s commitment to prioritizing payments for social service agencies. “They live paycheck to paycheck, so to speak,” she said.

* Upon reflection, I think I was most impressed yesterday with Munger’s insight into how the comptroller’s office can make a positive difference. The vast majority of Illinoisans don’t know what Topinka did for those vital social service providers, but JBT kept a whole lot of them afloat by making sure they got at least some of the money they were owed.

And with more budget cuts looming, and a possibly permanent and drastic reduction in state revenues on the horizon, we’re definitely gonna need a comptroller who understands the impact on our all-important providers and fervently sides with them.

* And speaking of social service providers, we talked briefly yesterday about the Munger caption contest from the other day. She was all dressed up to receive that afore-mentioned award from the Riverside Foundation. She cracked that she’d seen a pic of me online wearing a tuxedo at my birthday party. Yep. Here it is. I was all dressed up because we were raising money for Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (sign up for AmazonSmile and choose LSSI as your charity of choice by clicking here).

Anyway, she got a big kick out of the comments. No hard feelings, even when I told her to expect more.

Heh.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 9:30 am

Comments

Rich, prepare to continue to be impressed by Leslie. Having campaigned for her, I have never seen anyone work as hard, or be more focused, on what she was trying to accomplish. She’s the real deal.

Comment by Team America Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 9:36 am
Let me repeat myself. When the news first broke, I called her an excellent choice who would do an outstanding job in that position. I based that on my personal interactions with her.

I still stand by my comments. Those who disagree with me can bite me.😃

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 9:38 am
Not to take away from Topinka, but Hynes did the exact same thing as Comptroller.

Prioritizing payments is what a comptroller is supposed to do.

What Topinka brought to the table was a fierce and independent voice in favor of budget sanity from the GOP side of the aisle.

When she ran for governor in 2006, Topinka did not close the door on a tax increase.

As comptoller, she refused to back the pension reform plan backed by the Chicago Tribune, instead throwing her weight behind the Cullerton plan.

Running for re-election in 2014, she expressed open concern about the Rauner budget, in particular his plan to allow the income tax increase to expire immediately and then roll it back even further to 3%.

It is easy to be for paying nonprofit organizations and small businesses on the brink of collapse first.

Only time will tell if Munger has a shadow of Topinka’s political independence and courage.

For her party’s sake and the sake of the state, I hope so.

I’d note as well that Hynes played a similar role for Democrats. Championing the rainy day fund. Highlighting tax expenditures.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 9:45 am
Let’s hope Proft will be running her campaign in 2016, she will lose for sure.

Comment by William j Kelly Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 9:48 am
- Louis G. Atsaves -,

Noted.

Remember, setting expectations so high for someone based on your personal impression of her, as opposed to brubg able to point to specifics, you will, and did, get blowback.

Funny things about your “bite me”

Rich Miller, just talking to her had a better grasp about what … could… make her outstanding, and you couldn’t.

I know I am waiting for those links to Raunet and failure… Where are those - Louis G. Atsaves -?

Yeah, “bite you”.., for what puffery and bloviating?

Yikes.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 9:48 am
===Not to take away from Topinka, but Hynes did the exact same thing as Comptroller===

I don’t believe Hynes had to deal with the sort of backlogs that JBT did.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 9:52 am
Louis, how’s about those links from all those nasty media outlets predicting “massive failure,” as you put it, for Rauner in all things?

Comment by Wordslinger Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 9:52 am
She’s. got. class. That trumps everything.

Comment by A guy Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 9:59 am
===I don’t believe Hynes had to deal with the sort of backlogs that JBT did. ====
It kept getting worse for awhile under JBT but it was getting pretty bad while Hynes was there.
And while I agree with YDD that they both did the correct thing and paid these types of bills first its not necessarily something you want to tout. I have myself even helped get some non-profits to get bumped up on the list. Of course the Comed’s and AT&T’s of the world can stomach getting paid late (and they don’t mind because they get interest) some construction firms, contractors and other small businesses are also sometimes barely making ends meet. And they don’t like being pushed back even farther.

Comment by Been There Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 10:07 am
Not to be overly hopeful, but yet another good decision from our incoming governor. This at least portends well for some good leadership. Finger crossed; we have not had a good leader since 2003.

Comment by Ghost Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 10:30 am
==She’s.got.class. That trump’s everything.”==

Nice sentiment Guy.

Oh how I wish that were true across government.

A lot of classy people get eaten up or ignored. A lot of schmucks grab the spotlight and win. But the opposite can occur as well.

Comment by walker Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 10:31 am
If she really wants to follow in JBT foot steps she should do some outreach to the public employee unions. That would show independence and a hat tip to JBTs legacy.

Comment by Obama's Puppy Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 10:33 am
If she really wants to follow in JBT foot steps she should do some outreach to the public employee unions. That would show independence and a hat tip to JBTs legacy.

I agree.

Comment by Union Leader Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 10:40 am
First, kudos to her for volunteering. Always nice to see that.

Second, as Guy said, she’s shown class for staying above the scrum surrounding the special election, unlike Sandack and his goofy comments.

Having said the above, it’s much easier to volunteer when you don’t need to work two jobs to make ends meet.

Volunteering at a charitable venture in very well-off Lincolnshire is very convenient for her, but why not be efficient when you’re volunteering, right?

She does seem to know that one of the jobs of a comptroller is to prioritize the paying of the state’s bills when the state doesn’t have enough to pay them all on time. I know a lot of people who have to do that week to week.

She still got the position because of who she knew, not what she knows.

As an appointee, if she’d like to run for the job, she’s welcome to. If she loses, I know a couple of soup kitchens in uptown that could use some help feeding people who would otherwise be starving and freezing to death were it not for the kitchen’s existence. After they’ve received some sustenance and shelter, I’m sure they’d appreciate “Life Enrichment” from organizations like Riverside.

Lastly, I hope she does a good job as comptroller. The people of Illinois benefited when JBT was at the helm. She’s got some big shoes to fill. I would love to be pleasantly surprised.

Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 10:46 am
While she’s calling around, Leslie Unger ought to talk to Terry Cosgrove, and Greg Harris, and see if they have any common ground on personal values. That would be like JBT as well. One of the things that made her unbeatable statewide.

Comment by walker Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 10:51 am
===That would be like JBT as well===

Cosgrove had no love for JBT.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 10:55 am
===she should do some outreach to the public employee unions===

They should reach out to her. The unions were in lockstep with Sente last year.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 10:56 am
“Lockstop” undersells it. If it hadn’t been for the unions shoring up Sente, and Leslie’s refusal to get down in the gutter with Sente in her vicious ads, Leslie would have won that election.

Comment by Team America Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 11:14 am
Team America: campaign’s over. take a breath. time to celebrate that your favored candidate got a good job.

Comment by walker Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 11:20 am
===If it hadn’t been.., and ..,Leslie would have won that election.===

lol,

She lost. Move on. She got the nod now.

Geez Louise, you lose by 5 points it’s not just one thing or another thing.

I’m telling ya, this puffery isn’t helping..,

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 11:23 am
@Walker - Fear not, I am happy as a clam. However, if you had lived through that campaign like I did, you will still be resentful and appalled at how Sente conducted herself, and we still have to deal with her up here in the 59th District. But, I do find some poetic justice in the fact that Sente will have to look at Leslie’s signature on all her paychecks for the next few years.

Comment by Team America Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 11:47 am
===I do find some poetic justice in the fact that Sente will have to look at Leslie’s signature on all her paychecks for the next few years.===

Now that’s how to approach it!

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 11:55 am
“possibly permanent and drastic reduction in state revenues on the horizon”

What a scary prospect. How do we call ourselves fiscally responsible and then put ourselves in a worse position in regards to bill payment? Kudos to those who, like JBT did, do their best to pay the state’s bills.

Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 11:58 am
Promising words from the Comptroller-designate.

Comment by Norseman Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 12:11 pm
So Munger is a McKinsey & Co. alum. The tentacles deep in the veins of Rahm and Bruce have the same head.

Comment by Interested Observer Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 12:28 pm
Rich -

Not only did the backlog peak right around the time Hynes was leaving and Topinka came in thanks to Democrats’ passage of a tax hike, but if memory serves Topinka opposed bonding that would have provided instant relief to all of those nonprofits, even after the tax hike itself was a done deal.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 4:27 pm
===but if memory serves Topinka opposed bonding===

Your memory is correct and I vehemently disagreed with her. However, it would’ve died anyway.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 4:33 pm
I expect good things from Munger, even if I doubt her odds of being elected in 2016, despite two years in the office, despite a likely fundraising advantage.

I doubt we are doing her any favors in the long run comparing her to Topinka.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 6:52 pm
===I doubt we are doing her any favors in the long run comparing her to Topinka.===

Spot On.

Plus the Dopey “Outstanding” “Excellent” and “Great” as puffery…without backing it up.

Munger, with money, Nancy Kimme, Incumbency, Topinka Crew, and just time, has a good start.

If…they stop with the Hyperbole.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 6:57 pm