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* Most people remember how Rep. Ken Dunkin’s strategic absence helped kill the AFSCME bill override motion…
ILGov Bruce Rauner in WSJ says about Democrat Ken Dunkin, seeking to return to the legislature, about his absence on a failed Democrat-backed labor veto override: “Boy, did we work our tails off. We got one Democrat to stay in New York at the U.S. Open during the vote override.”
— Rick Pearson (@rap30) March 5, 2018
* But there was more to it than that…
There was a reason why state Rep. Esther Golar, D-Chicago, showed up late for the legislative session last Wednesday. She has been quite ill.
Unbeknownst to many of her colleagues, Golar was brought into the Statehouse Wednesday afternoon via wheelchair. With a weak and halting voice, Golar asked for assistance putting on a light jacket while chatting with a smattering of well-wishers before bravely walking to her seat on the House floor.
She told friends that she hadn’t eaten solid food in three weeks, although she didn’t say what had made her so ill. In desperate need of intravenous fluid, Golar eventually had to be taken to a Springfield hospital.
Golar had cancer, but in one of the gutsiest things I’ve ever seen a legislator do, she checked herself out of a Chicago hospital against her doctor’s advice mainly to vote on a measure to reverse Gov. Rauner’s massive cuts to the state’s childcare assistance program. Dunkin’s US Open absence killed that bill. Rep. Golar died a few weeks later.
So, when you see stories about how Speaker Madigan went after Ken Dunkin over AFSCME’s bill to force stalled contract negotiations into binding arbitration, keep Esther Golar in your thoughts. The simple fact is Madigan’s members wanted revenge for Esther, and they got it when Dunkin got creamed by Juliana Stratton.
And, man, did they ever go all out. They put together a huge oppo book and used part of the info for a “mugshot” mailer, had the President of the United States cut a TV/radio ad for Stratton and blanketed the district with precinct workers.
Rauner’s organization helped Dunkin fight back with huge amounts of money washed through various committees, including the Illinois Chamber’s.
* Multiple sources have said since Dunkin’s 2016 loss that the Rauner loyalist wanted a seat on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. In the meantime, Dunkin tried and failed to make a House comeback in the March primary, placing a distant third while receiving assistance yet again from the Illinois Chamber.
Dunkin ally Maze Jackson has been giving Gov. Rauner a bit of a rough time lately. Jackson is an opponent of the death penalty, even labeling Susana Mendoza as “hostile” to the black community for “voting to expand the death penalty.”
So, I suppose it’s possible that tamping down criticism of his amendatory veto played in to Rauner’s decision to finally put Dunkin on the MWRD…
A former House Democrat who spurned powerful Speaker Michael Madigan in favor of his nemesis, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, has been appointed by Rauner to a $70,000-a-year political post.
Secretary of State records released Friday indicate that Rauner tabbed Chicago Democrat Ken Dunkin for a vacant post on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. […]
Dunkin takes a post on the board that manages Chicago’s sewage and storm water runoff from David Walsh. Rauner appointed Walsh in March to fill a vacancy left by a board member’s December death. It was unclear Friday night why Walsh left.
“There’s no payback. There’s no such thing,” Dunkin told The Associated Press on Friday. “My history of serving speaks for itself. I wanted to serve as I have in the past and this is another opportunity.”
Walsh didn’t leave the MWRD, by the way. Walsh was appointed to the MWRD in 2015 when Patrick Daley Thompson left to join the Chicago City Council. He held that MWRD seat through December of 2016, when Rauner appointed Cynthia Santos to the Illinois Pollution Control Board and Walsh was moved over. Walsh then resigned the Santos seat before the primary and was appointed to the seat left vacant after Tim Bradford died last December. That appointment is now the subject of a lawsuit. Dunkin is getting the Santos seat, which means he can serve on the MWRD until this December.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, May 21, 18 @ 11:31 am
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Poor Dunkin. He had to wait how long for a 6 month gig that will pay him $35k?
Comment by Henry Francis Monday, May 21, 18 @ 11:38 am
Rauner must figure Dunkin is worth a few votes or else he’d never paid him back. Desperate move by someone that’s gonna lose..
Comment by Mouthy Monday, May 21, 18 @ 11:38 am
“My history of serving speaks for itself.”
To be fair, self-serving is a kind of serving.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Monday, May 21, 18 @ 11:39 am
MWRD is the agency responsible for handling raw sewage. Ken Dunkin is supremely qualified for that.
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, May 21, 18 @ 11:40 am
“Shakin’ up Springfield” alright. My main problem with this is that for his entire political career, the Governor has pretended to be above such politics, labeling many (even in his own party) as “corrupt,” with no evidence. He probably still thinks that he is above all the messiness of politics and so he is the worst kind of hypocrite: someone who honestly believes he is better than other people.
Comment by paddyrollingstone Monday, May 21, 18 @ 11:42 am
== “There’s no payback. There’s no such thing.” ==
When Quinn hired retiring legislators who voted for his temporary income tax hike, it was called a “quinncidence.” Dunkin’s appointment falls into the same category.
Comment by anon2 Monday, May 21, 18 @ 11:44 am
Another fun fact - Maze Jackson’s wife Kari Steele also serves on MWRD & just won re-election for another 6 year term.
Comment by Fax Machine Monday, May 21, 18 @ 11:44 am
Ken is 52 and had 14 years in Springfield.
Is there some pension loophole that would let him buy credits for the full 6 year Warer Rec term he is finishing, thereby giving him 20 years of elected official credit & getting a full pension when he turns 55?
Comment by Fax Machine Monday, May 21, 18 @ 11:48 am
did anyone ask Dunk about the staying in NY at the US Open as the guest of GovJunk? Who gets to be Dunk aide de camp at MWRD? Maze?
Comment by Annonin' Monday, May 21, 18 @ 11:52 am
–Dunkin: “My history of serving speaks for itself”–
Yeah, well, we’ve all got problems.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, May 21, 18 @ 12:01 pm
“My history of serving speaks for itself.” Absolutely right Ken, but I wouldn’t share this thought with anybody but yourself.
Comment by Stark Monday, May 21, 18 @ 12:03 pm
Thank you for writing this. I don’t think people recall the sacrifices made by Rep. Golar enough. It’s a shame we don’t have a facility or something named in her honor.
Comment by Ferris Bueller Monday, May 21, 18 @ 12:09 pm
I hope to one day love something or someone as much as Maze Jackson loves the sound of his own squeaky voice.
Comment by Onanism Monday, May 21, 18 @ 12:10 pm
What is Dunkin’s pension boost worth?
Comment by Just Me Monday, May 21, 18 @ 12:23 pm
When does the media call out both Rauner and Dunkin for being hypocrites? Why the media protection of Rauner and all the goofy things he has said and done?
Comment by Flynn's Mom Monday, May 21, 18 @ 12:30 pm
Dunkin must be desperate for a gig. That’s what happens when selling out in a district like Dunkin’s. He got his rear end kicked twice by voters. They know what’s up. What was accomplished by selling out, except for forwarding Rauner’s destructive anti-union agenda?
Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, May 21, 18 @ 12:34 pm
It just goes to show you how narrow-minded Ken Dunkin is. If the Governor owed me a favor, I would have ask him to get me hired at the investment banking firm Wasserstein Perella, like he did for another politico.
https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/hear-what-happened-when-bruce-rauner-met-rahm-emanuel-for-the-first-time/a652486f-ba13-47dc-9637-04db9915d209
Comment by Colin O'Scopy Monday, May 21, 18 @ 12:34 pm
As I recall, this is the seat Cam Davis won a write-in for in March. Has it been resolved yet that the gov only appoints Ken until December or is Rauner/Dunkin claiming the seat until 2020? Or is this still a contested issue?
Comment by Chicago Cynic Monday, May 21, 18 @ 12:50 pm
Chicago Cynic, Dunkin wasn’t appointed to that seat, Walsh was. It’s all in the post.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, May 21, 18 @ 1:01 pm
@- Flynn’s Mom - Monday, May 21, 18 @ 12:30 pm:
===When does the media call out both Rauner and Dunkin for being hypocrites? Why the media protection of Rauner and all the goofy things he has said and done?===
The millions of dollars of media ad purchases that Rauner bought and will buy. With another billionaire in the race, the media might take off the gloves.
Comment by DuPage Monday, May 21, 18 @ 1:01 pm
#TimesNotUp, huh Bruce?
Comment by One hand //ing Monday, May 21, 18 @ 1:10 pm
@DuPage….Here’s to hoping that will happen.
Comment by Flynn's Mom Monday, May 21, 18 @ 1:41 pm
Ah yes. Corruption at its finest, Alive and well in Illinois. I just finished my ethics test, and this don’t pass the smell test. Maybe our elected officials need to take one as well. Seems they have missed the mark on ethical behavior.
Comment by Generic Drone Monday, May 21, 18 @ 1:50 pm
Rauner continues his war on the Illinois Republicans by appointing a Democrat to a coveted spot. I wonder how many votes Dunkin will bring to the Governor in November.
Comment by north shore cynic Monday, May 21, 18 @ 3:08 pm
“My history of serving Rauner speaks for itself”
Fixed
Comment by Wensicia Monday, May 21, 18 @ 4:44 pm
The KD Fun Machine keeps on rollin
Comment by NorthsideNoMore Monday, May 21, 18 @ 11:41 pm