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Pritzker, Rauner point fingers over cronyism

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Illinois

* Daily Herald…

Democratic candidate for governor J.B. Pritzker jumped into controversy surrounding the Illinois tollway over potential political patronage Saturday while campaigning in Lake County.

“We’ve got to make sure we rid the tollway and every agency of government of the corruption that we’ve seen from the past,” the Hyatt hotel heir said after rallying volunteers in Gurnee.

Last week, state senators held a hearing into tollway procurement policies after reports by the Daily Herald on contracts involving firms with political ties to Republicans or connections with tollway executives.

“We’ve got to make sure we’ve got rules against nepotism, rules against people handing out contracts to friends without disclosure,” Pritzker said. The governor appoints the tollway board.

* Later in the story…

Pritzker’s tour included Highland Park, Gurnee and the Lake County Fair in Grayslake. His rival Republican Bruce Rauner has also been dropping into the suburbs, visiting an Itasca manufacturer Thursday where he took some digs at Pritzker and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan on the same subject.

“They love corruption … they have their cronies and their patronage and they hire their brother-in-law,” Rauner said.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:04 am

Comments

From that same article:
“One tollway project that is roiling Lake County is whether to extend Route 53 north to Route 120. The agency is studying the extension which supporters say will reduce traffic gridlock and boost the economy. Opponents say it is too expensive, will cause pollution and destroy established neighborhoods.

Pritzker didn’t commit either way. “I haven’t followed the debate on both sides of it,” he said.

However, “it’s important once I get elected to focus on building infrastructure — our roads and bridges are all crumbling across the state,” he said. “We should be building-in infrastructure every single year in the budget.”

Pritzker missed an opportunity here in Lake County to prove he can take a stand on controversial issues. He and his team should have been better prepared for this question which was certain to be asked.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:13 am
11:13 AM comment was me.

Comment by Responsa Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:15 am
==“They love corruption … they have their cronies and their patronage and they hire their brother-in-law,” Rauner said.==

Which agency controlled by Pritzker hired Pritzker’s brother-in-law? I missed that somewhere.

Comment by Whatever Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:15 am
The campaign about nothing…continues and continues and continues….

The thing is neither of these guys is likely to have any out of character revelations between now and November so this is what we are going to experience every day. It’s like Groundhog Day without the ability to beat up the insurance salesman.

Comment by Archpundit Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:17 am
Yup GovJunk is crony free. That’s why he pick an an exec from subprime loan scammer who was part of the “biggest accounting fraud in the history of Northern Illinois” to run the racin’ board and folo up with a lobbyist who was a GovJunk lawyer. Yup no cronies to look at.

Comment by Annonin' Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:44 am
Hey Rauner, how would you classify Dunkin’s appointment to the MWRD?

Comment by Flynn's Mom Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:44 am
Ken Dunkin and Leslie Munger come to mind immediately as crony jobs.

Comment by The Wai I See It Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:50 am
==and they hire their brother-in-law,” Rauner said.==

This from the guy who was recently spotted sprinting away from Ahern when asked about giving a cushy job to Jim Durkin’s completely unqualified sister in law, the Interior-designer-turned-engineering-supervisor. Doth project too much, Baron von Carhartt.

Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 12:09 pm
I too am confused by the brother-in-law statement. Pritzker and Madigan have a common brother-in-law? Or they both hired two different brother-in-laws? Who are these brother-in-law/s and what was corrupt about their hiring?

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 12:46 pm
Once you’ve brought the Cellini Gang back into the business of leasing buildings to the state, maybe “cronyism” isn’t a good issue for you.

Comment by worslinger Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 1:23 pm
But word, they had the only empty warehouse in Springfield. CMS said so.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 2:34 pm
Cronyism happened after the election with superstar salary that produced the $500,000 cost savings from the turnaround agenda failure, saved that much from them leaving

Comment by Rabid Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 5:12 pm