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* Pretty solid trolling here…
She’s taken down one of Mike Madigan’s longtime political operatives, questioned the powerful House speaker’s actions in a federal lawsuit that also alleged retaliation, and for months criticized the Southwest Side Democrat’s handling of sexual harassment claims.
And now political consultant Alaina Hampton is interested in taking a look at her “dream job:” the suddenly vacant post of executive director for the Democratic Party of Illinois, which Madigan controls.
In a dizzying and swift fall — and the closest the #MeToo movement has inched to Madigan — Tim Mapes last week announced his resignation as executive director of the party, chief-of-staff to Madigan and clerk of the Illinois House just hours after Sherri Garrett, a longtime speaker’s office employee, went public with what she called “harassment” and “bullying” allegations. […]
“Running DPI [the Democratic Party of Illinois] has been a dream of mine throughout my entire career,” Hampton told the Sun-Times.
* Meanwhile, Rep. Litesa Wallace (D-Rockford) told me she’s interested in Mapes’ party job as well. And a MoveOn petition has 466 signatures backing Sen. Daniel Biss’ former running mate’s hopes…
In the wake of the resignation of Tim Mapes as Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois, we need a replacement who not only has strong executive skills, but who has “experienced firsthand the pervasive culture of unchecked sexual harassment that disempowers and silences women, especially women of color.”
We need someone who has lived and worked for years knowing that the “Consequences for sexual harassment are few and far between in Springfield. But the political consequences for speaking out are almost guaranteed.”* Having someone who has experienced both the harassment and the retribution for speaking out would be ideal.
We need someone who can unite the disparate wings of the party. Someone who inspires. Someone who reflects our commitment to a strong statewide party and a better future for all.
We know that person is Representative Litesa Wallace. We urge you to select Rep. Wallace to be the next Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:34 am
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uhhh, didn’t Wallace get accused of retaliating against a staffer who complained about sexual harassment?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-litesa-wallace-harassment-payment-ethics-20180315-story.html
Comment by truth Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:38 am
That “story” is the retaliation she experienced
Comment by AngelFire Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:46 am
It may be “trolling” but I would assume any young, eager staffer who wants to stay in the business of politics would want to aspire to that level (or higher).
Comment by Exclamation Point Deleted Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:47 am
Madigan should of never had this Tim Mapes guy in so many roles in the Democratic party in the first place. He should of been chief of staff and that’s it. He didn’t need all the other roles because any allegations he gets accused of hurts the party worst the more roles he is in. Hopefully, Madigan learns from this mistake and limit the number of roles other people have in the Dem party. Madigan also needs to limit the number of roles he has. Be speaker and not the dem party chairmen at the same time.
Comment by Real Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:49 am
She spoke against the culture of harassment then suddenly a former staffer speaks against Wallace.
Comment by AngelFire Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:49 am
And if Hampton gets the post, she will drop the lawsuit against The Madigan committees?
Comment by Timmy Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:50 am
==She spoke against the culture of harassment then suddenly a former staffer speaks against Wallace.==
And the staffer did this by inventing a time machine and alleging retaliation in 2015? Wow, that Madigan machine is crafty.
Comment by truth Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:52 am
I think the compromise pick has to be Ken Duncan
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:53 am
===Hampton, Wallace say they want to be DPI executive director===
Yes, well, so do I.
I imagine the list of interested candidates is pretty long. The list of interested and qualified candidates is much, much shorter.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:53 am
How about going in a different direction and picking one of the following legislators: State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, Toi Hutchinson or State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia, Natalie Manley, Mike Zalewski Jr or Emanuel Chris Welch. Very diverse group and all capable of handling the job.
Comment by Honeybadger Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:56 am
–The list of interested and qualified candidates is much, much shorter.–
Correct.
Comment by King Louis XVI Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:59 am
Regarding Wallace…
This is not a vanity position, it’s a really serious opportunity to help Democrats keep the majority. The person coming in shouldn’t have their own agenda they are trying to push, because they need to be able to advocate for all Democrats with varying opinions.
To clarify, eradicating sexual harassment should be part of the party’s platform and a huge part of vetting candidates, and training, etc. What I mean is that there are Dems that are not pro-choice, and some dems didn’t vote for the ERA, but if this is your job you are going to have to help them win no matter your personal beliefs.
I hope the committee considers hard evidence & experience of winning races. I think Wallace was appointed and then lost her Lt Gov race?
There have got to be more women they can choose from with more impressive campaign type backgrounds. Right??
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:00 am
The reality is that Mapes did a lot of work as a “Volunteer”. Who is going to put in that much time and energy for the good of the party? Who really has that much dedication to the party of this generation? I believe that list is very small if not almost non-existent even if a paycheck is attached to the position.
Comment by Paul S Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:03 am
Geez, I hope it’s trolling, because if this is anyone’s “dream job” it’s time to set your goals a heck of a lot higher.
I suppose it could be reimagined, but it’s been an unglamorous, make-the-trains-run-on-time kind of gig. Unless managing the state party’s direct mail postal account really gets your blood pumping.
Comment by Roman Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:06 am
===The reality is that Mapes did a lot of work as a “Volunteer”===
I don’t think anyone can expect the next ED to work for peanuts. Time to pay up. He’s got the dough.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:07 am
I nominate 47
But if 47 is unable to serve, the committee should consider Dunkin, Drury or Patti Blago
Comment by I'm for him Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:08 am
==The list of interested and qualified candidates is much, much shorter.==
That being said, Hampton has relevant experience. Wallace, otoh, seems better suited for a “public face” role.
Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:11 am
Got dizzy just reading this. Twice. Even I am ready to back 47 for it.
Comment by A guy Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:12 am
please, please go with a professional whose name we don’t even hear in the public discussion. quiet, smart leadership needed to move through.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:13 am
“Then lost her Lt Gov race?”
She didn’t exactly run alone in that race.
Comment by NoName Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:13 am
It will be interesting to see what they plan to pay for this position. I think Mapes was only taking around 10 grand. They will obviously have to increase that if it goes full time.
The bigger question is the funding. Besides candidates funneling money through for postage most of it came from Madigan and his fundraising. I would think Madigan diverts most of his fundraising through himself now or through a new House Dem PAC.
But speaking of candidates I think Jacob Kaplan who is ED at the Cook Co Dems would be a great fit.
Comment by What do I know Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:15 am
This is all folly - it will be “meet the new boss, same as the old”, literally ! MJM will continue be in complete control of the DPI. The executive director will be a figure head who takes marching orders direct from MJM.
Comment by Texas Red Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:16 am
NoName, true. I like Wallace and think she has a lot to offer in a big role where she’d be able to use her perspective to advance policy etc. I think she’d absolutely hate this specific job and she’s not well prepared for it. It’s not the job for an advocate or someone trying to make a difference. It’s the job for a soldier.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:17 am
We could make this job symbolic all we want. Let’s just play politics, and redefine the role. /s
Historically it has been a detailed, behind-the-scenes, operations management role. Success at political operations management is the first qualification. Being pro-women, anti-harassment is a non-negotiable requirement, but not sufficient. Being a popular legislator is not a qualification for this role.
Comment by walker Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:17 am
===The executive director will be a figure head who takes marching orders direct from MJM===
Last I checked, he’s still the chairman and chairmen are above staff. You’re setting the bar impossibly high, in other words.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:18 am
Campaigns, and running campaigns is hard, tedious, unglamorous work. It’s herding cats. By no accident are the foot soldiers often young, unattached, and underpaid. Hampton likely understands this. Wallace, who as another commenters pointed out was appointed, would not.
Comment by Jen Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:30 am
Please enlighten me how Hampton is qualified to be the executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois?
Comment by Timmy Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:43 am
==This is all folly - it will be “meet the new boss, same as the old”, literally ! ==
That’s not what “literally” means. If it was, dems would announce that they are re-hiring Tim Mapes.
Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:51 am
47…47…47…
Has a nice ring to it.
Comment by Chicago Cynic Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 10:53 am
I’m pretty sure Alaina knows that Madigan, who she is suing, will not be naming her Executive Director. As Rich said, she’s trolling here. FWIW, I like Alaina, but this kind of statement from her is a bit much.
Comment by Graybeard Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 11:01 am
I don’t know who is advising Hampton these days but something tells me she is in a bubble with people saying every move she makes is correct. I hate to burst that bubble but this is not a good look for her and it’s good for the #MeToo movement. There are a lot of Democrats who want Madigan and company out so they can get more power. She’s in it for herself/This was about politics all along is not the right way to build credibility for her or other women who step forward.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 11:01 am
I don’t see why another politician would be the way to go.
Perhaps someone who can establish a post-Guttenberg communications and outreach program?
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 11:12 am
I have no idea if Hampton really wants the job or not. However she is fully qualified to run the operation that is after all about raising funds and running successful campaigns. Something she has done.
If they pick a more public face for DPI - that person should seriously look at hiring someone like Hampton if they want the trains to run on time.
Comment by Kyle Hillman Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 11:12 am
Yeah, to say Mapes was a “volunteer” for DPI is a joke. He just got paid more on the state side and now gets to benefit from that higher salary with a higher pension. Gross.
The only thing worse is having a spokesperson who is also a lobbyist.
Comment by Just Me Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 11:15 am
“a post-Guttenberg communications and outreach program”
now that right there is good
Comment by Flapdoodle Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 11:18 am
I love how people who aren’t from anywhere near Rockford and had no idea who Litesa is before she joined the Biss ticket are suddenly so well versed on the inner workings of her office and what her “agenda” that she’s “pushing” is.
As for the Lavern Sanders incident, I’ll say only this (because Rich has very well defined rules re: anything resembling sock puppetry, rabid commentary, acrimonious dialogue in general, etc). Rockford is a big enough city to have three of its own network affiliate news teams (the Fox and ABC affiliates are owned by the same company and share a joint news desk). Rockford has its own daily newspaper. Do you NOT think reporters and investigative journalists IN TOWN did their due diligence at the time the incident first happened? Do you honestly think there was absolutely NO leg work or heavy lifting done by anyone employed by a local news outlet? This was a non-story for three and a half years, and for good reason. There was no “there” there. This remained a non-story until the same newspaper that endorsed Gary Johnson for President with a straight face decided to make a story out of it. Oh, and they just happened to do that about a week before they publicly declared their intentions to certify as an official Union, and said half-truth based story just so happened to favor the party’s longest reigning Kingmaker RIGHT while he was dead in the middle of a #MeToo scandal. Make of that whatever you will.
As for Rockford, it might actually help if those of you downstate or in the City/Burbs area actually tried talking to us the next time one of our own is in the news, instead of just doing the usual thing where you just paint us as slack jawed yokels incapable of walking and chewing gum simultaneously. Believe me, we’d be perfectly happy to tell you whatever you would like to know about the inner workings of our fair town. Good day to all.
Comment by T-Dot-H-Dot Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 11:41 am
Rep Wallace would be a great pick in my opinion
As for Hampton, I am personally ignorant to her qualifications. Not saying she wouldn’t be good, just genuinely wondering if what her career path has been. Someone catch me up to speed.
Comment by Weems Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 11:42 am
==- AngelFire - Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 9:49 am:
She spoke against the culture of harassment then suddenly a former staffer speaks against Wallace.==
Wallace constantly Tweet and post that every women making a complaint should be believed, yet somehow Sanders shouldn’t be given that same respect and benefit of the doubt. Are you saying we should not believe LaVern Sanders because the allegation is against Wallace? To some the accusations she made are far worse than text messages or an unwanted hand on the back. What’s makes Denise Rothheimer, Hampton, MaryAnn and Sherri Garrett more credible than Sanders? I don’t think it’s right to pick and choose who to believe based on our own political agendas.
Comment by Befuddled Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 11:45 am
This position needs to pay a realistic salary. Bottom line. Its been a patronage position for way too long, and involves a ton of restructuring, foundation building and management, which quite frankly, no one in the state of Illinois on the short list has right now (By design- MJM’s control didn’t make actual experience and qualifications necessary).
An ED has a staff if you look to other successful state parties, it would be in the best interest to recruit someone who already knows how a state party functions to be apart of that staff.
Winning/Losing an election or being a victim of sexual harassment has little to do with eligibility of this position.
Comment by ILDemVoter Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 11:50 am
==Do you NOT think reporters and investigative journalists IN TOWN did their due diligence at the time the incident first happened?==
I’m kind of agnostic on the specific allegations against Wallace and I like her lot, but…yeah, I think it’s entirely possible that local news dropped the ball on any given story, including this one.
==Oh, and they just happened to do that about a week before they publicly declared their intentions to certify as an official Union, and said half-truth based story just so happened to favor the party’s longest reigning Kingmaker RIGHT while he was dead in the middle of a #MeToo scandal.==
So the Trib went to bat for…Mike Madigan? Are…you sure?
Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 11:59 am
===So the Trib went to bat for…Mike Madigan?===
Some people just don’t know when to quit.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 12:04 pm
I echo T-Dot-H-Dot. I’m not in Rockford but in it’s media market. I’ve read or seen reports on several high profile politicians involving scandals but never heard of this until Wallace spoke out about abuse. I hope both women, Wallace and Sanders, have overcome the impact of a reckless politically opportunistic reporting. I also can’t but wonder who else was included in the memo the trib says implicated Wallace, why haven’t they been revealed and who was harassing this woman? There seems like a lot of men are still bring protected.
Comment by AngelFire Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 12:11 pm
“Wallace constantly Tweet and post that every women making a complaint should be believed, yet somehow Sanders shouldn’t be given that same respect and benefit of the doubt. Are you saying we should not believe LaVern Sanders because the allegation is against Wallace? To some the accusations she made are far worse than text messages or an unwanted hand on the back. What’s makes Denise Rothheimer, Hampton, MaryAnn and Sherri Garrett more credible than Sanders? I don’t think it’s right to pick and choose who to believe based on our own political agendas.”
“I’m kind of agnostic on the specific allegations against Wallace and I like her lot, but…yeah, I think it’s entirely possible that local news dropped the ball on any given story, including this one.”
Yeah, but ALL of them? At the same time?
A little background for the uninitiated.
Toward the end of 2014 (around the time this all took place), Litesa was a newly minted state rep who was so new to the job, her was still passing out tchotchkes with (her predecessor) Chuck Jefferson’s letterhead on them. She’s a transplant from the south ‘burbs who even to this moment is still viewed by many locals as an outsider. She had next to no cache’ or (pardon the pun) capital at that moment. If there were ever a time where she was ripe to be made an example of by the media in town, this was it. People called around. People did their due diligence. Again, there was no “there” there. This was determined to be a non-story then. It remained a non-story for a long time thereafter. People DID take Lavern’s accusation seriously. They did the necessary investigative legwork. They did their jobs, people. This wasn’t swept under any rug. There.was.no.”there.”there.
“‘So the Trib went to bat for…Mike Madigan?’
Some people just don’t know when to quit.”
1) I didn’t say I’d bet my house on it. But stranger things have happened.
2) I see the guidelines Re: rabid commentary and gratuitous insults in here are enforced selectively. Cool beans, Richie. Your bully pulpit, your rules. I can work with this.
Comment by T-Dot-H-Dot Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 12:29 pm
“I echo T-Dot-H-Dot. I’m not in Rockford but in it’s media market. I’ve read or seen reports on several high profile politicians involving scandals but never heard of this until Wallace spoke out about abuse. I hope both women, Wallace and Sanders, have overcome the impact of a reckless politically opportunistic reporting. I also can’t but wonder who else was included in the memo the trib says implicated Wallace, why haven’t they been revealed and who was harassing this woman? There seems like a lot of men are still bring protected.”
The memo itself was actually filed about two months prior to Sanders’ termination. It was in response to a letter she received from a local Reverend who had been working with the 67th District office dating back into the Jefferson era. The eventual termination was unrelated. It had to do with unapproved spending on the office credit card during the campaign.
Comment by T-Dot-H-Dot Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 12:39 pm
The replacement of Mapes should have EXPERIENCE IN MANAGING CAMPAIGNS (and more than a few cycles). This replacement is an opportunity for DPI to reinvent itself into a stronger and better organization. The person appointed to this position should be highly qualified. I have yet to see the name of a qualified person be thrown into this “mix”.
Comment by Truly, Honestly Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 1:16 pm
The presents a real opportunity for the party. What will DPI be? Will it continue to be basically an extension of the House Dem Caucus or will it function on actually building the whole party in Illinois?
Comment by Precinct Captain Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 2:06 pm
I have a better chance to be selected DPI Executive Director than Hampton.
Comment by "Old Timer Dem" Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 2:12 pm
The smart pick is someone new, but knowledgeable of the way… Not sure either one of these names fit the bill.
Comment by Hello Me Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 2:58 pm
Wow, a lot of recommendations for individuals whose qualifications and experience are largely unknown for a position with an unknown job description and unknown pay.
Comment by Barrington Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 3:13 pm
This is like replacing Kerr on the way to the championship a seasoned veteran or an upstart
Comment by Rabid Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 3:26 pm
Decremer has a lot more experience than Hampton.
Comment by anon2 Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 4:06 pm
47 would be a big step up. We know he has a computer.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Jun 12, 18 @ 5:47 pm
Take a play from the GOP co-directors
Comment by Rabid Wednesday, Jun 13, 18 @ 2:53 am