Category: Illinois

For Honest Government, Oak Forest Must Keep Village Manager

May 1, 2010
ChicagolandEconomyEthicsIllinoisJobsLegal
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Oak Forest is insane for considering the elimination of the position of Village Manager. Steger has apparently already gone off the deep end, voting to eliminate the position of Village Administrator.

This is wrong – and dangerous – on so many levels.

Here’s the danger: Blagojevich, Blagojevich, Blagojevich. And I’ll throw in the name Ryan, too.

It’s not that elected officials are inherently evil or unethical. It’s that elected officials and hired staff are human. As such, they are, we all are, susceptible to temptation. Thus, I believe, the genius of that line in the Lord’s Prayer Christians pray, "…lead us not into temptation." Why is that such an important and beautiful prayer for human beings?

Because human beings are easily tempted.

The position of Village Manager isolates elected officials on the local level from power — and that is a good thing. That is a necessary thing. The Council-Manager form of government is one of the smartest ideas on the planet.

  • Elected officials set policy.
  • The Village Manager and staff implement policy, and handle the day-to-day operations of village government.

What’s this all about?

From the Southtown Star:

Oak Forest Mayor Hank Kuspa came up with a surprising suggestion Thursday night to help the city save money: Eliminate the city administrator job.

Kuspa painted a grim financial picture for the city at a meeting of the city council’s finance committee and called for creative ways to help resolve its budget crisis.

Then he came up with one – abolishing the key post of city administrator, held now by John Marquart at a salary of $155,000.

In a prepared statement to aldermen, Kuspa called cutting the position, which oversees the daily operation of city government, "perhaps the hardest decision of all." He did not say how city operations would be managed if the position were eliminated.

First, Oak Forest will be losing much, much more than they will gain by eliminating a $155,000 salary. Oak Forest’s elected officials will be putting themselves one step closer to the temptation of running Oak Forest the way Todd Stroger has run Cook County: government-by-patronage. And patronage is a horribly expensive way to run government.

Tax payers of Oak Forest, do you really want your elected officials dolling out jobs, giving jobs to friends, creating jobs for friends and family? You need to think long-term. 20 years from now, in the absence of a Great Recession, what will your elected officials be up to? What power will they have that they do not have now? How many of their relatives will they have hired for positions that do not now exist?

Mayor Hank Kuspa and the board are putting Oak Forest on a suicide course. Village Managers — and Village Administrators — are essential to keeping elected officials focused on policy as opposed to patronage.

The temptation is too great. Elected officials — present and future — need to isolate themselves from temptation.

Or they, and Oak Forest, won’t have a prayer.

Summer of Blagojevich Unfolds: Judge Will Not Subpoena Obama

April 30, 2010
Barack ObamaChicagoChicagolandCook CountyCrime and PunishmentDemocratic NewsIllinoisLegal
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From the Chicago Tribune :

The judge overseeing the corruption case against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich has denied a defense motion to issue a subpoena for the testimony of President Barack Obama.

U.S. District Judge James Zagel said he does not believe Obama’s testimony would be material to the charges.

The Trib promises that details will follow.

This is the correct decision. Blago wants a show. All the judge needs to do is guarantee justice.

Summer of Blagojevich Unfolds: Ex-Aide Lon Monk Pleads Guilty to Extortion

April 30, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandCook CountyCrime and PunishmentIllinois
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From the Chicago Sun Times:

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s onetime chief of staff and running buddy Lon Monk pleaded guilty today for a second time to crimes tied to the Blagojevich administration.

Monk, 51, admitted to attempting to extort a horse-racing businessman for a campaign contribution in exchange for getting a bill signed.

Monk has agreed to serve 24 month in prison and is cooperating with investigators.

The clock is ticking in Blagoland.

Dems Pick Sheila Simon to Run With Quinn; Does GOP Have a Candidate Yet?

March 28, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandConservativesCook CountyDemocratic NewsElectionsIllinoisRepublicans
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Sheila Simon will complete the ticket, and the Dems are ready for November in Illinois.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Shortly before Sheila Simon lost her bid for Carbondale mayor nearly three years ago, incumbent Republican Brad Cole predicted a defeat could end Simon’s political career.

But state Democratic officials jump-started that career Saturday, ratifying Gov. Pat Quinn’s request to make the daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon Quinn’s running mate for the Nov. 2 general election. Cole, meanwhile, lost his bid for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor in last month’s primary.

The vote of the Democratic State Central Committee selecting Simon over veteran state Rep. Art Turner of Chicago reflected the belief that she would bring a pedigree of ethics reform — as well as some geographic balance — to the Chicago-centric fall ticket. After the vote, Quinn hugged Simon, 49, a university law school professor and former Carbondale City Council member.

"I think anyone who’s encountered any of the Simons knows that that’s a family that does believe in the ethics of service, of public service, integrity (and) friendliness," Quinn said. "It’s an honor to be on the same ticket with Sheila Simon."

I’m looking forward to getting to know Sheila Simon.

The New York Times tells me the GOP has a candidate for governor in Illinois, but I really don’t know who he is.

As Bill Brady made his way through a crowded ballroom at the Hilton on Michigan Avenue the other evening, heads did not turn to glimpse a political big shot. The Republican nominee for governor of Illinois, at least for now, is an unfamiliar face in the city.

Mr. Brady, a state senator from Bloomington who won the primary without running a single advertisement in the Chicago market, thrust out his hand and introduced himself to anyone who cared to chat at the dinner for construction executives.

One of the bystanders, Bob Fiascone, could muster only a shrug about the candidate.

“Hey, I only just now met the guy,” Mr. Fiascone said.

And I’ve never met him, but, then, you already knew I was voting for Quinn.

Good luck to Brady and his bunch, but this year will be the year of the Dems.

State Retirement Age Moves To 67 As General Assembly Passes Pension Reform

March 24, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandCook CountyDemocratic NewsIllinoisRepublicans
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I really don’t have a problem with this, but then, I’m not a state worker.

From the Sun-Times:

A bipartisan Illinois General Assembly handed Gov. Pat Quinn a victory Wednesday, sending him an overhauled state pension system, cutting benefits for new city and state employees to save money for woefully underfunded retirement systems.

The measure requires future workers to work until age 67 to get full retirement benefits, sets a maximum salary on which pensions may be calculated and limits annual increases in payments. There would be no change in benefits for current employees.

Legislative Democrats said the changes would save more than $100 billion — although they didn’t have exact figures from experts — over several decades for 13 state and local pension systems covered by Illinois law, including state programs that are underfunded by $80 billion.

But it has labor unions that represent government employees angry. They point out that slicing future benefits does nothing to reduce the outstanding liability.

With a 92-17 House vote and a Senate tally of 48-6, the action reflected rare agreement between House Democrats and minority Republicans, who have sparred for years over what has become an $11 billion deficit, who is responsible and how to fix it.

"It’s very important to send the signal," said Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago. "It’s very important to save the money, billions of dollars that we won’t have to pay into the system in the future."

It’s a political and strategic triumph for Democrat Quinn, who unsuccessfully pursued such a two-tiered pension program last year to reduce the amount of money the state must contribute to retirement systems while it wrestles with a budget deficit.

A statement from Quinn praised the effort to "stabilize the system, protect current state employees and provide attractive pension benefits to future state workers."

Look, I have colleagues who are working happily past 70. Is it fair that the state lost fiscal discipline and hacked into pensions in the past to try to balance the budget? No, not at all. But we’re all living longer now, and work is not a horrible thing to do.

This is only the beginning of the cutbacks for Illinois, and does not close the $11 billion deficit right now. But it’s a start.

Relax, Mom: House Approves Landmark Bill to Extend Health Care to Millions (Video and Text)

March 21, 2010
AmericaBarack ObamaCivil RightsCongressConservativesConstitutionDemocratic NewsEconomyEthicsHealth CareHomelessnessIllinoisJobsLegalLiberalsPhilosophicalReligionRepublicansWhite House
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Yes, I cried a bit. Now my Mom and Dad don’t have to worry about losing their health insurance and not getting another policy because of pre-existing conditions. That’s what I thought of first.

From the New York Times:

Congress gave final approval on Sunday to legislation that would provide medical coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and remake the nation’s health care system along the lines proposed by President Obama.

By a vote of 219 to 212, the House passed the bill after a day of tumultuous debate that echoed the epic struggle of the last year. The action sent the bill to President Obama, whose crusade for such legislation has been a hallmark of his presidency.

Democrats hailed the vote as historic, comparable to the establishment of Medicare and Social Security and a long overdue step forward in social justice. “This is the civil rights act of the 21st century,” said Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Summoned to success by President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled Congress approved historic legislation Sunday night extending health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and cracking down on insurance company abuses, a climactic chapter in the century-long quest for near universal coverage.

Widely viewed as dead two months ago, the Senate-passed bill cleared the House on a 219-212 vote, with Republicans unanimous in opposition.

Congressional officials said they expected Obama to sign the bill as early as Tuesday.

A second measure — making changes in the first — was lined up for passage later in the evening. That measure would go to the Senate, where Democratic leaders said they had the votes to pass it.

Crowds of protesters outside the Capitol shouted "just vote no" in a futile attempt to stop the historic vote taking place inside a House packed with lawmakers and ringed with spectators in the galleries above.

Across hours of debate, House Democrats predicted the central bill, costing $940 billion over a decade, would rank with other great social legislation of recent decades.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Delivering a hard-fought victory in President Barack Obama’s year-long pursuit of a national healthcare overhaul, a divided House tonight narrowly voted to approve a Senate-passed healthcare bill which both supporters and opponents call historic in its sweep.

The 219-212 vote will deliver to the president’s desk an initiative for which he has fought on Capitol Hill and campaigned across the country: A healthcare bill that he finally can sign.

This was the first step of a two-part drama unfolding in the House this evening, with another late vote expected soon on a package that reconciles differences between this Senate-passed and now House-approved bill and another measure which the House approved in November.

Together, the two bills would present the president with a long-sought triumph for the signature domestic agenda of his presidency, a bid to offer health insurance to an estimated 32 million Americans who are uninsured and improve the coverage of those with insurance.

The second measure, also expected to pass the House tonight, will have to go to the Senate, where leaders hope to approve it by a simple majority vote under a process of "budget reconciliation.” Any changes made in the Senate, however, will return that legislation to the House before the president can sign the second bill.

"I know this bill is complicated, but it’s also very simple,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) during the final debate. "Illness and infirmity are universal, but we are stronger against them together than we are alone…. In that shared strength is our nation’s strength.”

"Tonight, we will make history for our country and progress for the American people,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in the leadership’s closing argument. Crediting Obama for his "unwavering commitment to healthcare for all Americans,” the speaker said "this legislation… if I had one word to describe it tonight, it would be opportunity.”

Gov. Pat Quinn Eyeing Suburban Sen. Susan Garrett as Potential Running Mate

March 18, 2010
Democratic NewsElectionsIllinoisRepublicans
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Susan Garrett

From the Chicago Tribune:

Veteran suburban lawmaker Sen. Susan Garrett has emerged as a leading choice of Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn to become his running mate, top party sources familiar with the discussions said today.

The 60-year-old from Lake Forest shares Quinn’s liberal views, and the governor believes she could help articulate his message as the lieutenant governor candidate in what’s already a contentious general election battle, said the sources, who asked not to be named so they don’t pre-empt Quinn.

Garrett acknowledged that she was contacted Sunday by the governor’s chief of staff, Jerry Stermer, about her interest in the post, then met privately with Quinn this week. Garrett said Thursday that she’s submitting an application to the Web site Democrats have set up for prospective lieutenant governor nominees.

The senator said she would bring an independence to the office, along with her promotion of ethics reforms at the Illinois Toll Highway Authority, clean water issues, health care and job creation.

Very interesting. The GOP would face an even steeper uphill battle, especially considering this:

Republican governor candidate Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington is a conservative who has opposed abortion rights and expanded health coverage for women. Those views are considered a potential liability, particularly among moderate women in the still heavily Republican suburbs.

Springfield About to Lighten-Up on ‘Sexting’ Teens

March 18, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandCook CountyDemocratic NewsIllinoisLegalRepublicans
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Some common sense from Springfield via the Chicago Trib:

Students under 18 who use computers or cell phones to share nude photos of their peers would earn little more than a scolding under a measure the Illinois Senate approved Thursday to address the “sexting” phenomenon.

Offenders would not face criminal charges, but would get juvenile court supervision that could result in counseling or community service. The bill doesn’t address youths who send or receive racy photos if they don’t distribute them.

“We’re not trying to prosecute them if they keep it between themselves,” said Rep. Darlene Senger, R-Naperville, who got a similar bill through the Illinois House last week. “It’s when the third party is involved. That’s when you get the situations where so-and-so committed suicide because the picture got up everywhere.”

No, I do not think it is wise at all for young people to send nude pictures of themselves to each other, regardless of the medium they use. But face it: kids are stupid sometimes. They make incredible mistakes as juveniles, and that’s why the law treats them differently until they reach the incredible old age of 17 in Illinois, and even then law enforcement and prosecutors have discretion. The current law is insane. No adolescent should be marked for life as a registered sex offender for sexting.

I hope after this law passes, there will be reconsideration for those lads and lasses who have been condemned to a life of humiliation because of their stupid, but typically youthful, indiscretions.

Coward Shoots 7-Year-Old Desiree Sanders on Chicago’s South Side (Video)

March 17, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandCook Countygun controlIllinoisViolence
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This is as sad as sad gets.

From ABC 7 News Chicago:

A 7-year-old girl is in critical condition after being shot on the city’s South Side.

It happened on the southeast corner of the intersection of 80th and Manistee.

Desiree Sanders was out playing on the sidewalk outside of her home when she was shot.

Police were combing the area Wednesday evening for evidence and trying to talk to any witnesses in the neighborhood.

She was not the intended target, police say.

Seven years old.

Sweet Justice: Measure Advances to Raise Retirement Age For Lawmakers, Judges

March 17, 2010
IllinoisLegal
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First, the scoop from Clout Street at the Chicago Trib:

Lawmakers and judges would have to wait longer to retire and their pension checks would be limited under a measure that got full support today in a House panel.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, D-Orland Park, would raise retirement age for full benefits from 55 to 67 for lawmakers and 60 to 67 for judges. They could retire before 67 under the new plan, but the benefits would be lower.

"The day of people retiring at 60 and living 10 years is over," McCarthy said. "There are people retiring in their 50s and dying in their mid-90s. The system just can’t function with those kind of parameters."

McCarthy’s bill also would limit annual pension payments at the same level as Social Security — currently $106,800. The rules would apply to lawmakers and judges employed by the state after July 1. Lawmakers estimated the state would save more than $1.5 billion over 35 years.

Under the current system, some officials are able to receive bigger pensions than their salaries. Former Gov. George Ryan, who last month was denied by the Illinois Supreme Court any future state pension payments, had received about $200,000 annually in pension until he was convicted in 2006 on political corruption charges. He retired as governor with a salary of $150,691.

Heard from a judge not too long ago who had been appointed to the bench. His honor told me he sought the appointment because of the great retirement he would have after one term. I had hoped to hear something about his love of justice. No, he wanted the bench for the retirement package.

I hope the legislature moves this forward quickly.