Proviso Probe

Proviso Township High Schools worst in Illinois in multiple categories

2010-11-17T21:11:00.005-06:00

In the most recent school year Proviso Township High Schools (District 209) had the lowest percent of students that meet or exceed standards on standardized tests in the state of Illinois. Results were obtained from the Illinois Interactive Report Card sponsored by Northern Illinois University.

Proviso scores went down absolutely (less students meet or exceed standards) and relative to other districts. Last year Proviso could at least claim to have more students meeting standards than Bloom.

~~District 209 has the lowest graduation rate in the state.~~ [Orion corrected in comments.]

District 209's dropout rate is tied with Odin (Marion, IL) for #1 in Illinois.

District 209 has the second highest rate of chronic truancy.

District 209 has more low income students than most districts. However, many districts have more low income students. And even in these poorer districts, more students meet or exceed standards.

And District 209 spends more per pupil than most districts.

Who is to blame?

The District 209 board of education, especially, board president Emanuel "Chris" Welch
The unions
The mayors
Karen Yarbrough, the Democratic Committeeman
Charles Flowers, the former Regional Superintendent of Education
Illinois State Board of Education
Cook County States Attorney
Superintendent Nettie Collins-Hart and her predecessors, especially Robert Libka
U.S. Attorney Northern Illinois District
board members of Proviso's elementary school districts
Gov. Pat Quinn
The voters

In different ways, all these people could have made a difference and improved D209 and the education received by D209 students. And all of these people did too little.

Flowers might be able to plead that he was simply a fuck-up and didn't really have the ability to make a difference. But let's be honest. When he got elected Regional Superintendent he was more focused on taking care of his people than making a difference in the quality of education received by students.

Quinn's influence is weak and extends through the Illinois State Board of Education. But I suspect if he lit a fire under the ass of the state superintendent of education, things could be made better.

Proviso property owners pay taxes for services. They don't like getting ripped-off, but they aren't mad enough about it to take effective action.

1	New Trier	90
2	Northfield	81
3	Elmwood Park	78
4	Lyons	75
5	Riverside-Brookfield	72
6	Township HSD 214	70
7	Lemont	69
8	Oak Park & River Forest	68
9	Con HSD 230	67
10	Maine	66
11	Township HSD 211	66
12	Homewood Flossmoor	63
13	Evanston	62
14	Niles	61
15	Reavis	59
16	Ridgewood	58
17	Evergreen Park	57
18	Oak Lawn	54
19	Bremen	53
20	Leyden	46
21	Argo	44
22	CHSD 218	39
23	Rich	37
24	Thornton Fractional	35
25	Thornton	30
26	Bloom	28
27	Proviso	25

is Proviso Probe for sale?

2010-10-19T21:25:00.002-05:00

A friend suggested I sell Proviso Probe, or at least discover what people are offering.

I could sell it to a buyer who would resume publishing.

Or I could sell it to one or more buyers who would take the content offline.

Or I could sell it to a buyer who removes some content, but leaves the rest. (There is some content that has been temporarily hidden that could be brought back too.)

If you are interested in making an offer, email me, RadioNyberg circled "a" Yah00 spot c0m.

I am blogging, just not here

2010-03-08T12:12:00.003-06:00

Proviso Probe has been suspended.

I (Carl Nyberg) am now blogging at Ellen of the Tenth and occasionally at Prairie State Blue.

Charles Flowers arrested

2010-01-14T14:50:00.003-06:00

Daily Southtown (Duaa ElDeib):

Regional Supt. Charles Flowers was charged today with theft by the Cook County state's attorney's office....

Flowers turned himself in about 1 p.m. to sheriff's police in Maywood. He was accompanied by his attorney, Tim Grace.

I linked to ElDeib's article first because he's been the most vigilant about covering Flowers at the Regional Office of Education.

The following media outlets also have coverage:

Chicago Breaking News Center (Matthew Walberg)
WBBM 780 AM
Chicago Public Radio (links to an interview with Flowers)

What to say?

Having dealt with Flowers and his staff, I can attest to the office being run in an unprofessional manner.

I did a small amount of work for the ROE making video recordings of meetings. While Flowers and his staff were accustomed to manufacturing thin excuses to eat and drink on the office credit card, it was difficult to get them to pay me relatively small amounts of money for recording meetings.

On one occasion I arrived to record a meeting which necessitated leaving another job early. I arrive to complaints from various people, including Flowers. I was accused of not returning phone calls. Apparently, one of Flowers' assistants had given him the wrong number for me.

Members of Flowers' staff claim the office has never had sufficient resources to fulfill its mandates without either going in to debt or getting subsidies from the Cook County Board. This is probably true, however, mismanagement and misprioritized spending were a problem.

Based on what I saw of putting meals on the credit card and an attempt to put a bar tab on the credit card, it seems credible that Flowers and his people got sloppy and crossed the line and spent taxpayer money on stuff that was clearly personal expenses.

Flowers has been abyssmal at handling the media. He has avoided taking questions from Duaa ElDeib and in one instance Flowers' sister called and left a snotty voicemail.

Mike Manzo's video advertisement

2009-12-10T23:00:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure why, but this ad caused me to laugh really hard.

Ascot makes the case for change

2009-11-24T20:19:00.001-06:00

If other candidates have a succinct message for Proviso voters, contact me, RadioNyberg circled "a" Yahoo spot com.

Lipinski weathers Tea Party activists

2009-11-23T23:01:00.003-06:00

Advocates of health care reform don't like the Tea Party activists who have been loud and obnoxious when members of Congress have held public meetings.

The pro-health care reform people shot video of a recent town hall meeting by U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski where Tea Party activists heckled a woman telling the story of her pregnant daughter-in-law dying after being denied the care she needed because she was uninsured.

h/t Jeff Wegerson (Prairie State Blue)

I would prefer the United States enact health care reform based on a deliberative discussion of what's wrong with the current system and how we can make it better.

But the Republican Party seeks to defeat any health care legislation because it perceives that the GOP will do better in the 2010 elections if they can say the Democrats have not accomplished anything on the Democrats top legislative priority.

Generally Americans want health care reform. And generally they want something similar to what the Democrats are proposing or something more radical, like single-payer health care. Since the Tea Party activists don't have the people on their side and they don't have good arguments for maintaining the status quo they yell louder, make extreme claims and are generally obnoxious.

Edgar endorses Sheahan for state rep

2009-11-23T22:40:00.002-06:00

If you care what former-Governor Jim Edgar thinks, he's supporting Brien Sheahan for the 41st Illinois House district. State Rep. Bob Biggins is retiring. See Daily Herald Animal Farm (John Patterson).

BTW, the blog entry mentions the professions of the other candidates, but not Mike Manzo. Doesn't it seem Manzo should be identified as an employee of Commissioner Tony Peraica? It seems at least as relevant as mentioning the professions and employers of the other candidates.

Who did ROLT endorse for GOP primaries?

2009-11-23T22:23:00.003-06:00

The Republican Organization of Lyons Township (ROLT), aka Team Tony, endorsed Patrick Hughes for U.S. Senate, Jason Plummer for Lt. Governor, Judy Baar Topinka for Comptroller and Mark Thompson over Liz Gorman for Cook County Board in the 17th district. See Illinois Review. More members voted for Dan Proft than the other governor candidates, but insufficient for the organization to endorse.

Jason Ervin caught doing political work during the day

2009-11-22T12:55:00.003-06:00

Fox Chicago busted Maywood Village Manager Jason Ervin checking John Conteduca's nominating petitions during working hours. Conteduca is challenging incumbent Karen Yarbrough in the election for Proviso Township Democratic Committeeman. Karen Yarbrough is the wife of Henderson Yarbrough, Maywood's village president.

"If I'm doing something that's not affiliated with the Village of Maywood, I will take myself off the clock," Ervin said.

Ervin is salaried, so if he's not taking a vacation day, there's no functional difference between him being "on the clock" and "off the clock".

Topix has a discussion in progress.

Ascot and Dixon respond to questions about running for Congress

2009-11-22T10:52:00.003-06:00

Jim Ascot (campaign website) and Ald. Sharon Denise Dixon (campaign website) are two (of eight) of the candidates running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Representative in Illinois Seventh Congressional District. The district is currently represented by Rep. Danny Davis.

I asked the following questions of all the candidates. So far, only Ascot and Dixon have responded. I spoke to Darlena Williams Burnett on Thursday and she expressed intent to respond, but indicated she's been inundated with questionnaires since filing to run.

* Are you withdrawing your name from the ballot? Will you be actively campaigning for election as U.S. Representative?
* What is your reaction to Davis' announcement?
* What are three things voters should know about you?
* Are you willing to answer a more detailed questionnaire in writing?
* Are you willing to respond to questions posed by Proviso Probe's audience?
* Will you give an interview on video tape to me (Carl Nyberg)? I will post the entire video on Google videos. I will post an excerpted version on You Tube.
* What is the phone number and email address I should use to contact your campaign? What is the URL for your website?

Ascot:

"Are you withdrawing your name from the ballot? Will you be actively campaigning for election as U.S. Representative?"

No, I'm not withdrawing my name from the ballot and we are actively campaigning for election. I announced my candidacy for this position months ago and my growing support is evidence of the urgency of this campaign.

"What is your reaction to Davis' announcement?"

I was disappointed by Danny Davis' announcement. A congressional seat should not be treated as an entitlement, something to fall back on when your other plans don't work out. Representation is a sacred trust, not a consolation prize. This kind of political game is evidence that my opponent is just another career politician. The people of the 7th District should expect more from their representative.

"What are three things voters should know about you?"

The three things I want voters to know about me: First, I'm not a career politician. I'm a small business owner who has benefited from this community and wants to give back. I believe I know what we need in a representative. We need someone who understands the problems our District faces and knows what needs to be done. Second, service to community is an important aspect of my life. From Rotary One of Chicago to the Chicago Composers Forum, serving as President of the Lane Tech High School Alumni Association to Chairing the Illinois Election Day Registration Commision, you can see that community service is an integral part of who I am. Third, the most important issue to me, the thing I will start working on the day I open my Washington office, is bringing jobs and financial security to the District. We must do this now by securing federal stimulus funding for the 7th District to build a viable economy.

"Are you willing to answer a more detailed questionnaire in writing?"

"Will you give an interview on video tape to me (Carl Nyberg)? I will post the entire video on Google videos. I will post an excerpted version on You Tube."

"What is the phone number and email address I should use to contact your campaign? What is the URL for your website?"

I would be happy to respond to any further questions, whether by uestionnaire or interview. Please contact me at ... jascot circled "a" ascotforcongress.com. Our campaign website iswww.ascotforcongress.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Dixon:

"Are you withdrawing your name from the ballot?"

No

"Will you be actively campaigning for election as U.S. Representative?"

Yes

"What is your reaction to Davis' announcement?"

Rep. Danny Davis has twice indicated that he would prefer to be President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners than U.S. Representative of the 7th Congressional District--the frst time when John Stroger resigned and now. he is also showing that he has lost interest in representing the 7th CDC by missing 71 votes so far in the 1st Session of the 111th Congress. I think it's time that the voters elect someon wh wants to represent the people of the 7th CD and that's what I want to do.

"What are three things voters should know about you?"

(a) I'm serious and a hard worker;
(b) I'm a fighter ans when I go to Congress I will be focused like a laser beam on legislation to create jobs; and
(c) In politics I've discovered that before voters care about what you know they want to know that you care--and I'm someone who cares deeply.

"Are you willing to answer a more detailed questionnaire in writing?"

Yes (See enclosed Q & As from various organizations.)

"Are you willing to respond to questions posed by Proviso Probe's audience?"

Yes, I'm even willing to come to Proviso Township and appear before your voters personally and to answer their questions and engage in dialogue.

"Will you give an interview on video tape to me (Carl Nyberg)? I will post the entire video on Google videos. I will post an excerpted version on You Tube."

Yes, at a time and place of mutual agreement.

The email for Dixon's campaign is DixonFourCongress circled "a" Gmail.

Taser, Inc. guidelines for speaking to media

2009-11-22T10:46:00.003-06:00

Zwoof (Daily Kos) wrote TASERS: How Police & TASER, Inc. Bamboozle The Press. Zwoof quotes the guidance Taser International, Inc. suggests police departments use to minimize civil suits over use of Taser stun guns.

2 B/R condo in Westchester for $179,000

2009-11-22T09:51:00.001-06:00

See the ad on Craigslist.

IVI-IPO endorsement sessions

2009-11-21T21:14:00.004-06:00

Today IVI-IPO held it's endorsement sessions for the following races: Lt. Governor, State Treasurer, State Comptroller, Cook County Assessor, President of the Cook County Board and MWRD commissioner.

IVI-IPO rules limit the committee interviewing the candidates to making recommendations to the IVI-IPO board if there aren't at least 100 members present (and at least 15% of the organization's members).

The one endorsement made by the committee which is binding upon the board was for President. The group endorsed Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (candidate questionnaire, pdf). Incumbent President Todd Stroger (questionnaire, pdf), Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown (questionnaire, pdf) and MWRD President Terry O'Brien (questionnaire, pdf).

Someone asked Stroger about why he missed the candidate forum at DePaul University. He responded that he was at the 90th anniversary celebration at his church. I asked why his campaign manager didn't know his whereabouts. Stroger took responsibility for not calling the organizers of the candidate forum to say that he wasn't attending. He offered no explanation for his campaign manager's ignorance.

An IVI-IPO member suggested Stroger went to church in the morning and preferred to stay with the friendly audience rather than deal with the hostile audience at DePaul. This sounds about right to me.

Stroger said his toughest opponents in the race are the Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune.

Brown had a large number of supporters at the event, but many of them were not voting members of IVI-IPO. Maywood Village President Henderson Yarbrough attended and indicated a preference IVI-IPO endorse Brown. Yarbrough works for the Clerk of the Circuit Court.

The committee recommended IVI-IPO endorse State Rep. Mike Boland (candidate questionnaire, pdf) for Lt. Governor. I spoke for Thomas Castillo (candidate questionnaire, pdf).

Castillo's presentation was organized the best. He had a clear agenda for the office and it seemed like a list of things on which he could make realistic progress (Castillo's issues page). The two issues that caused Castillo to trip up were abortion and the death penalty. Castillo said he was undecided about whether the law should require girls who are minors to notify their parents before getting abortions. And Castillo indicated he was open to resuming capital punishment because the system doesn't have the unfairness of Cdr. Jon Burge anymore.

Scott Lee Cohen (candidate questionnaire, pdf) and State Rep. Art Turner (candidate questionnaire, pdf) also appeared. When asked why he was running for lieutenant governor Turner responded, "Because my son wants to be state rep."

In the race for State Treasurer there is no incumbent, but Robin Kelly (candidate questionnaire, pdf) is the chief of staff for Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. Justin Oberman (candidate questionnaire, pdf) didn't make a strong case for change. The group recommended IVI-IPO endorse Kelly.

The group recommended Clint Krislov (candidate questionnaire, pdf) for Comptroller. Krislov is a former chair of IVI-IPO and is representing the organization in its lawsuit against the City of Chicago over the parking meter privatization. Current IVI-IPO chair Bob Bartell spoke in favor of endorsing Krislov. My take was that Krislov probably wouldn't have gotten recommended without this extra nudge.

Raja Krishnamoorthi (candidate questionnaire, pdf) gave the clearest, most organized presentation of what he's do if elected. State Rep. David E. Miller (candidate questionnaire, pdf) gave the best answer on the issue of regulating cemeteries. Miller favors shifting the responsibility from the comptroller to the agency that handles professional regulation.

The group also recommended IVI-IPO endorse Ray Figueroa (candidate questionnaire, pdf) over Joe Berrios (candidate questionnaire, pdf) for Cook County Assessor.

I was disappointed Melrose Park Village Clerk Mary Ann Paolantonio Salemi (candidate questionnaire, pdf) did not attend the endorsement session. She attended the IVI-IPO meet the candidate shindig on Thursday. She and I had a good talk. She said she had a proposal for reducing flooding in the west suburbs. I wanted to ask her more. But she didn't appear.

The group recommended IVI-IPO endorse Commissioner Barbara McGowan (candidate questionnaire, pdf), Commissioner Mariyana Spyropoulos (candidate questionnaire, pdf) and Todd Connor (candidate questionnaire, pdf). Even though Connor received the most votes in the straw poll of the group, after McGowan and Spyropoulos were recommended there was a push by a few, including Ald. Leslie Hairston to give the third endorsement to Kari Steele (candidate questionnaire, pdf).

Stella Black (candidate questionnaire, pdf) also appeared.

do you want to see the candidates in person?

2009-11-16T22:11:00.002-06:00

IVI-IPO is having a meet the candidates party on Thursday evening and endorsements this weekend. See Prairie State Blue for details.

Stroger's whereabouts unknown to campaign manager during candidate forum

2009-11-16T11:37:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, a coalition of Democratic groups hosted a forum for the Democratic candidates for President of the Cook County Board at DePaul University.

Todd Stroger failed to attend.

Sun-Times (Lisa Donovan):

Stroger's campaign manager, Vincent Williams, reached by phone after Sunday's political forum, didn't know why he missed the event: "I haven't spoken to the president today, so I don't have an answer."

Missing a major candidate forum without an explanation is not normal. Having the campaign manager clueless makes it hard for normal people to have confidence in the candidate's competence.

ABC7 is on the case.

After initially saying he was not actually confirmed to attend the debate, Stroger's campaign said Monday they knew of the debate, and pulled out after a Sun-Times report appeared in the paper Sunday alleging a conspiracy in the board race.

In the article Stroger attacks Dorothy Brown. I'm not really sure why Brown getting busted doing something underhanded (according to Sun-Times (Tim Novak) Brown's nominating petitions were in some cases circulated by the same people who circulated Terry O'Brien's) would keep Stroger from appearing.

Why do you think Stroger failed to attend?

jobs available

2009-11-16T11:23:00.002-06:00

In the last 24 hours I have been contacted about three job openings.

Nominating petitions

There's a judge candidate looking for people to circulate nominating petitions. The consultant is paying $1.50 per valid signature. Email me ASAP, RadioNyberg circled "a" Yah00 spot com, if interested. Sigs have to be notarized and submitted by Sunday morning.

Renting apartments

Andy Sokol of The Sokol Group is looking for agents to rent real estate. People can't buy homes so they gotta rent. The Sokol Group works with students and medical professionals among others.

Web Development Assistant

Web Trax Studio is looking for someone with the following:

• Intermediate CSS and XHTML skills
• Interested in learning or advancing skills in Joomla website-building software
• Interested in learning internet marketing strategies and tools
• Detail-oriented and responsible
• Self-directed and enjoys problem solving
• A laptop computer with internet capability
• A passion for social change and sustainable living
• Interested in a flexible long-term freelance relationship

See the full job listing.

Flowers, the ROE and the Illinois State Board of Education

2009-11-14T11:54:00.004-06:00

Have you been following the drama for Charles Flowers, Regional Superintendent Suburban Cook County Schools?

Flowers was investigated for various allegations of misuse of funds. Since then various entities have acted unsympathetically to the ROE (Regional Office of Education).

Cook County demanded repayment of a loan. The ROE didn't have the money. The ROE's landlord (Westchester elementary schools) demanded payment of back rent. The ROE didn't have the money. The ROE got an office in Broadview, but was shut down for lack of an occupancy permit. Now there is no office and the ROE functions aren't being done. See Daily Southtown (Duaa ElDeib).

If you're one of about 25,000 teachers or administrators in any of the 143 school districts needing the services of the Suburban Cook County Regional Office of Education, try back later.

Has Flowers made mistakes? Have his actions cast doubt on his competence?

Yes.

Would the Village of Broadview normally keep a government office from operating for 30 days for lack of an occupancy permit?

I doubt it. But Flowers has few friends. And life is harder when no one wants to help you and lots of people are looking to "throw you under the bus".

But I'd like to step back.

If the Illinois State Board of Education and other authorities in the bureaucracy are willing to let Flowers and the ROE twist in the wind, what's the say about the office?

It seems to me a major function of the ROEs across Illinois is to obfuscate accountability when the Illinois State Board of Education either incorrectly processes paperwork or takes a long time. The teacher or district submitting documents can't be sure if the ROE is responsible or the Illinois State Board of Education.

The ROEs are funded by state government (Illinois General Assembly and Governor). So, when something goes wrong at one ROE the recourse goes through Springfield. But the ROEs serve parts of the state.

If the President of the Cook County Board makes a mistake, s/he has to answer to the commissioners. Virtually every executive in the U.S. political system has to answer to a legislative body with the power of the purse and the legislative body serves the same group of voters as the executive.

One of the few (only?) exceptions is a ROE in Illinois. They don't have local legislative bodies to hold them accountable. So, someone who lacks the competence to do the job can get elected and it's not clear how to remove the person or hold her/him accountable.

The Flowers debacle shows the office should be eliminated as an elective office and be appointed by the governor or the state superintendent of education.

Team Flowers would probably argue the office doesn't have the funding to do the job it's expected to do. So, many of the financial problems of the Flowers administration originate with the office being underfunded. This is probably true, but....

Did the Flowers administration use the money it had wisely?

It seems clear that some money was either misspent or spent without the required documentation that it was spent properly.

Has Flowers handled the media well?

No.

Are other public officials, including elected officials, withholding money from the ROE that would probably go to the ROE if Flowers hadn't gotten himself into trouble?

Probably.

Even the most pro-Flowers interpretation of the situation is that he and his appointees made a mess. And Flowers lacks the skills to dig himself and the office out of the hole. And the Illinois State Board of Education seems content to allow the Suburban Cook County ROE to founder.

PS It does seem like Proviso's state legislators could do something to improve the situation. Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood) is on the Senate Education Committee and has been the chair in the past. Sen. Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst) is the senior Republican on that committee. Like Lightford and Cronin State Rep. Karen Yarbrough (D-Maywood) is on her chamber's Education Committee. Yarbrough is the Democratic Committeeman for Proviso Township. And she's the person who persuaded the Cook County Democratic Party to nominate Flowers. Although she and Flowers are not as tight as they were.

Green candidate for committeeman responds to Qs

2009-11-13T17:57:00.003-06:00

I posed a list of questions to all the candidates for committeeman (Democrats, Greens and Republicans).

Suzanne von Leuschner, the Green candidate answered first.

1. How will you organize members of your party in Proviso Township?

We are starting to organize Proviso Township as part of the West Side Greens. We currently hold monthly meetings on the second Sunday of the month. Our location changes. You will be notified of our next meeting place.

2. What candidates have you supported in the past?

My recent political support has been to the democratic party candidates.

3.How should constituents contact you?

Constituents will be seeing me throughout the community over the next few months. I am active in the Brookfield Riverside Rotary.

4.How would you characterize the performance of schools in Proviso Township? What should be done to improve the schools? Will you attend meetings of the board of education of Proviso Township High Schools?

The schools in Proviso Township require a tremendous amount of community support. Until you asked, I hadn't planned on attending Proviso Twp board of Education meetings as I am in another district.

5.What experience do you have organizing locally?

I am new to local organizing but am confident that we will build on on offering another choice to the spring election.

6.Are you active with any causes or advocacy organizations?

Am I active with any causes? Yes, I promote sustainable architecture.

7.In what ways does your party need to improve? How will you affect change within your party?

Our party is beginning to attract some attention. We are always looking for venues to get our messages out to the public.

8.Will you help constituents get jobs? Who will you help? How will you help them?

Job creation is a challenge. Local people need to look for ways they can research and meet people who work in many different industries to see what skills are required to get started in a new job. Asking questions and being polite can open doors.

9.What's your quick pitch for someone to be active with your party?

I ask people to look to at our ten key values-ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy, nonviolence, decentralization, community based economics, feminism (or equal rights), respect for diversity, personal and global responsibility, and a focus on the future to see if deep down they can believe that we are all in this together. There will be swings in power and some difficult times ahead but we each have the responsibility to do our best to figure out how to do more than watch from the sidelines.

10.What are the legal responsibilities of the committeeman?

As far as legal responsibilities of a township committeeman, parties develop a political program that defines their ideology and sets out the agenda they would pursue should they win elective office. A Committeeman verifies that local Green Party candidates represent the ideology of the party and agenda.

11.Why do you identify with your party?

I identify with the party because I agree with the ten key values.

Liz Gorman whines that village clerk is father of her opponent

2009-11-13T06:06:00.004-06:00

Kristen McQueary (Daily Southtown) has a column noting Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman (R-Orland Park) is complaining that the Village of Orland Park is an early voting site and the village clerk is the father of one of her Democratic opponents, Patrick Maher.

Gorman's husband ran a car dealership. Daimler-Benz had a dispute with Mr. Gorman over some money and took him to court. How did Gorman respond to the allegations about the money? He filed a motion saying that his point of contact at Daimler-Benz used derogatory terms to describe Black people.

Liz Gorman is throwing allegations against the wall. Guess what Commissioner G? A whole bunch of candidates run in elections where the village clerk isn't on their side. Deal with it.

[UPDATE: Victor Forys is also running in the Dem primary. Ray Hanania (OrlandParker.com) calls Forys the leading candidate. Gov. Pat Quinn just appointed Forys to the Illinois Board of Health.

[Forys did well in the Polish community when he ran for IL-05. Quinn supporting Forys allows him to give something to the Polish community and it forces Maher, who is kin of Dan Hynes, to run opposed in the Dem primary.]

Davis advisor pleads guilty to fraud

2009-11-12T15:16:00.003-06:00

Politico (Jonathan Allen):

A senior policy fellow for Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) has pleaded guilty to defrauding the government and private lenders of nearly $822,000 by using aliases to obtain student loans and more than 90 credit cards.

I had a friend blow-up at me yesterday over Danny Davis.

Apparently it's very hard for people who knew Davis during the Harold Washington era to reconcile who he has become.

People change. Being part of the system changes people.

By all accounts I've heard, Davis was a stalwart progressive and reformer... during the Harold Washington era. Now, he's a politician getting advice from a guy who rips off student loan programs.

Jim Ascot draws attention to Danny Davis' BS

2009-11-11T18:12:00.000-06:00

It's Veterans Day

2009-11-11T09:00:00.002-06:00

I received the following email from a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. I have not been able to verify the contents, but the New York Times and others has quoted a Michael Kern at Ft. Hood speaking critically of how he has been treated with respect to his mental health issues.

President Obama visited Fort Hood today. He dropped by Iraq Veteran Against the War (IVAW) [link added] Michael Kern's barracks. Michael handed President Obama a letter, saying, "Sir, IVAW has some concerns we'd like for you to address." Obama then dropped his hand and went on to speak to the next soldier. The secret service then took possession of Kern's letter:

President Obama:

In your recent comments on the Fort Hood tragedy, you stated "These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk and at times give their lives to protect the rest of us on a daily basis. It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil." Sir, we have been losing these brave Americans on American soil for years, due to the mental health problems that come after deployment, which include post-traumatic stress disorder, and often, suicide.

You also said that "We will continue to support the community with the full resources of the federal government". Sir, we appreciate that-but what we need is not more FBI or Homeland Security personnel swarming Fort Hood . What we need is full mental healthcare for all soldiers serving in the Army. What happened at Fort Hood has made it abundantly clear that the military mental health system, and our soldiers, are broken.

You said "We will make sure that we will get answers to every single question about this terrible incident." Sir, one of the answers is self evident: that a strained military cannot continue without better mental healthcare for all soldiers.

You stated that "As Commander-in-Chief, there's no greater honor but also no greater responsibility for me than to make sure that the extraordinary men and women in uniform are properly cared for." Sir, we urge you to carry out your promise and ensure that our servicemembers indeed have access to quality mental health care. The Army has only 408 psychiatrists — military, civilian and contractors — serving about 553,000 active-duty troops around the world. This is far too few, and the providers that exist are often not competent professionals, as this incident shows. Military wages cannot attract the quality psychiatrists we need to care for these returning soldiers.

We ask that:

1. Each soldier about to be deployed and returning from deployment be assigned a mental health provider who will reach out to them, rather than requiring them to initiate the search for help.
2. Ensure that the stigma of seeking care for mental health issues is removed for soldiers at all levels-from junior enlisted to senior enlisted and officers alike.
3. Ensure that if mental health care is not available from military facilities, soldiers can seek mental health care with civilian providers of their choice
4. Ensure that soldiers are prevented from deploying with mental health problems and issues.
5. Stop multiple redeployments of the same troops.
6. Ensure full background checks for all mental health providers and periodic check ups for them to decompress from the stresses they shoulder from the soldiers they counsel to the workload they endure.

Sir, we hope that you will make the decision not to deploy one single Fort Hood troop without ensuring that all have had access to fair and impartial mental health screening and treatment.

You have stated on a number of occasions, starting during your campaign, how important our military and veterans are to this nation. The best way to safeguard the soldiers of this nation is to provide ALL soldiers with immediate, personal and professional mental health resources.

- Iraq Veterans Against the War

Chuck Whelan of Valparaiso, IN wrote a letter to the Northwest Indiana Times.

Partial quote:

If you know a vet please take a few minutes to "thank" them no matter how you feel about the war.

And for those of you glad that our country did away with the draft or those of you who oppose this war, just remember it was the sacrifice of the vets that gave you the right to feel as you do.

I find the game of thanking veterans a bit odd. I don't remember it being done (at least not widely) before the Right Wing embraced it as part of the push to invade Iraq.

Notice Whelan makes no effort to hide his support for occupying other countries and his scorn for people who question these invasions and occupations. Which war is he talking about? The occupation of Iraq? of Afghanistan? The war formerly known as the "Global War on Terrorism"? He's not a details guy. As long as the military is oppressing and killing the right people Whelan is for it. What's the point of being in the most powerful country on Earth if your government's military doesn't kick some butt to put the inferior and undesirables in their place?

Jack Ryan was actually the first guy to thank me for my service.

My initial reaction was, if you paid your taxes then you've thanked me already.

I've modified my thinking somewhat.

One train of thinking about the U.S. military is that it exists as a goon squad to advance the economic interests of the United States as a whole or the interests of powerful corporations (and institutions) that are part of the United States. See Smedley Butler.

Another train of thinking is that the U.S. military exists to project our values, especially the values of human dignity around the world.

There are people, like Whelan, who claim to believe the U.S. military protects the freedom of individual U.S. citizens. I fail to see a connection between what the U.S. military does and protecting the freedom of individual citizens (in almost all cases).

How did invading Iraq protect the freedom of U.S. citizens?
How did bombing Yugoslavia protect the freedom of U.S. citizens?
How did bombing the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant protect the freedom of U.S. citizens?
The UN peacekeeping mission in Cambodia?
Providing relief to Somalia?
Repelling Iraq from Kuwait?
Invading Panama?
Bombing Libya?
How about the Vietnam War?

The U.S. government can deploy the military for missions that involve taking casualties if the mission is sufficiently covert or small that it will not garner media attention. If the mission is big enough it has to be sufficiently popular and dovetail with U.S. economic interests.

My position: the U.S. military does not protect the rights and freedoms we associate with U.S. society. Those rights and freedoms are maintained (and in good times expanded) by activism, the courts, journalism and personal courage.

The U.S. military is sometimes a tool for advancing U.S. values overseas.

If you want to do right by a veteran, treat him or her with respect. Saying "thank you" is often done to reduce the veteran to symbol. Veterans are human beings.

questions for IL-07 candidates for Congress

2009-11-10T13:18:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis announced he was running for re-election. You can read the statement that got forwarded to me at the bottom of this entry.

As of Tuesday, November 10 at 1 PM the following candidates are still list as active on the website of the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Mark M. Weiman (Republican)
Jim Ascot (D)
Darlena Williams-Burnett (D)
Marshall E. Hatch, Sr. (D)
Robert Dallas (D)
Danny K. Davis (D)
Joyce Washington (D)
Sharon Denise Dixon (D)
Clarence Desmond Clemons (D)
Kip Robbins (Green)

I have written a letter to each of these candidates asking the following questions.

Are you withdrawing your name from the ballot? Will you be actively campaigning for election as U.S. Representative?
What is your reaction to Davis' announcement?
What are three things voters should know about you?
Are you willing to answer a more detailed questionnaire in writing?
Are you willing to respond to questions posed by Proviso Probe's audience?
Will you give an interview on video tape to me (Carl Nyberg)? I will post the entire video on Google videos. I will post an excerpted version on You Tube.
What is the phone number and email address I should use to contact your campaign? What is the URL for your website?

I'm having technical difficulties with my printer, but I was able to email the letter to Ascot, Hatch, Davis, and Dixon because they have websites that allow you to contact the campaign.

Statement of Congressman Danny K. Davis Announcing his candidacy for Re-Election to Congress and withdrawing his candidacy for President of the Cook County Board Monday, November 9, 2009 For immediate Release: Contact: Tumia Romero 773-726-4479 tumia@dannykdavis.com Several months ago I announced the formation of a committee to explore the possibility of running for President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Several hundred people responded to the announcement and we were off and running. Around the same time Clerk of the Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown announced that she was running, Alderwoman Toni Preckwinkle had already announced and it was generally assumed that President Todd Stroger would run for re-election and shortly thereafter Terrence O’Brien of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District announced that he was a candidate. I immediately began to talk about unity and unification being the best and most effective way of assuring that a moderate, liberal or more progressive candidate had a good chance of winning. I immediately had a poll conducted. The results showed that I was in a good position to win. County slate making came around and all five of the candidates presented our credentials. The Cook County Democratic Party did not make an endorsement. I commissioned another poll and this time the results were essentially the same, with me being significantly ahead of all other candidates. Filing time came around and thanks to our excellent network of volunteers and coordinators we were able to file more than fifty thousand signatures to be placed on the ballot. Notwithstanding the fact that I have filed the most signatures, have the best standing in all of the polling data that I have seen, have the broadest base of support and have the largest network of volunteers, I am announcing today that I will not be a candidate for President of the Cook County Board and instead will run for re-election to represent the greatest Congressional District in America, the 7th District of Illinois. I know that some people will ask me why? (1) I like being a Congressman (2) I am good at it. I am pleased to be a part of the passage of the Health Reform Legislation that we passed out of the House on Saturday night which will revolutionize Health Care Delivery in the United States and along with my American community Renewal Act and new Markets Initiatives, my Second Chance Act, Sickle Cell prevention, Education Legislation, Suicide Prevention Bill, Postal Reform and Enhancement Act, Predominately Black Institutions and millions of dollars in appropriations and earmarks give me a foundation to go back to Congress to build upon. (3) I like representing the people of the 7th District, and; (4) I have always pushed the concept of unity and have always recognized that it would be politically dangerous for 4 candidates all from the same community and from the same political base to run for the same office, at the same time, with one (1) more conservative candidate in the race. Therefore, one could say that I am withdrawing from the County Board Race for the sake of Unity. I am a candidate for re-election to the United States House of Representatives and to volunteer or send a donation by internet at www.dannykdavis.com, call us at 773-638-1998 or visit us at 3333 W. Arthington Street, Chicago, Illinois. Again, I thank all of our volunteers and staff, Campaign Manager Tumia Romero, Coordinators Clarence Thomas, James Blasingame, Leo Webster, Jesse Davis, Kente Kizer, David Harvey, Jesse Brown, Gerard Moorer, James Flagg, Shawn Romero, Katy Hogan, Jesse Rios, Deandre Allen, Ina Cruz, and people from all over Cook County. Thank you very much and I shall be pleased to answer any questions. Office Address: 3333 W. Arthington, Suite 135, Chicago, IL 60624.

Feel free to comment on Davis' statement in the comments.

nominating petitions challenges

2009-11-09T17:57:00.002-06:00

You can check which nominating petitions have been challenged at the websites of the Illinois State Board of Elections and the Cook County Clerk.

Challenges can be for insufficient signatures or for some technicality. Many people who say they are registered aren't. And sometimes the signature provided doesn't match the one on file.

Some challenges that have relevance in Proviso Township....

Annazette Collins is being challenged on her state rep petitions.

Dionne Thompson of Chicago is challenging Sharon Denise Dixon (IL-07), Robert Dallas (IL-07), Clarence Desmond Clemons and Karen Yarbrough (State Central Committewoman, IL-07).

Ray Nice of Chicago is challenging the petitions of Jerry Pohlen and Rita Maniotis to be the Green State Central Committeeman and Committeewoman for IL-03.

David Ratowitz challenged his Republican rivals in IL-05 Ashvin Lad and Rosanna Pulido. And Jacob Borden and David Quinn, both of Chicago, challenged Ratowitz.

Maryann Hanson of Oak Park and Peter Fosco of Elmwood Park challenged Carrie M. Foris of Elmwood Park who is running for judge in the 11th Subcircuit.

Kevin Bartholomae of Lake Barrington challenged Thomas Castillo as well as two other lieutenant governor candidates.

Esther Collins of Chicago challenged Jeffrey Malinowski, a state rep candidate.

Chris Nybo challenged his GOP rival Mike Manzo.

The following candidate in Cook County 1st District were challenged: Mary Collins, Chris Harris and Oddis ("O.J.") Johnson.

Tony Peraica and Brian Sloan were challenged in the 16th District as were Richard Dalka (Green) and John Maher in the 17th.

Mary Ann Paolantonio Salemi of Melrose Park had petitions for MWRD challenged.

The following candidates for President of the Cook County Board had their petitions challenged: Dorothy Brown, Sean Burke (Green) and Todd Stroger.

Danny K. Davis drops run for President of the Cook County Board

2009-11-09T10:23:00.002-06:00

He is running for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives. See Capitol Fax Blog.

He declined to endorse one of the other candidates for President of the Cook County Board.

I asked the following question on Danny Davis' Facebook page.

Congressman Davis, what were you trying to accomplish by staying in both races (Prez of Cook County Board and U.S. Rep) as long as you did? Seriously, I'd like an explanation.

Who is running for the Cook County Board?

2009-11-09T08:59:00.002-06:00

Who is running for the Cook County Board of Commissioners in Proviso Township?

1st District (incumbent: Earlean Collins). District includes Maywood, Bellwood, Broadview and Forest Park.

Democrats

Mary Collins*, Chicago (North Austin)
Derrick Smith*, Chicago (East Garfield Park)
Earlean Collins*, Chicago (South Austin), Clout Wiki,
Adekunle "Ade" B. Onayemi*, Oak Park, campaign website (down on November 9), Facebook
Chris Harris*, Forest Park
Oddis ("O.J") Johnson, Chicago (South Austin)

Republicans

none

Greens

Ron Lawless, Chicago (South Austin) formerly of Oak Park, website

16th District (incumbent: Tony Peraica). District includes Melrose Park, Northlake, Stone Park, Hillside, Westchester, La Grange Park, Brookfield and Western Springs.

Democrats

Bill Russ*, Brookfield, website
Jeffrey R. Tobolski*, McCook
Eddy Garcia, Northlake

Republicans

Tony Peraica*, Riverside, campaign website
Brian Sloan, Westchester

Greens

Alejandro Reyes, Melrose Park
Alex Matos, Lyons

17th District (incumbent: Liz Gorman). In Proviso the district includes the precincts west of Wolf Road in Hillside, Berkeley and Westchester.

Democrats

Victor A. Forys*, Park Ridge, campaign website
Patrick Maher*, Orland Park, campaign website
John J. Maher, Palos Heights
Donna Sanders, Orland Hills

Republicans

Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman*, Orland Park, campaign website
Gerald F. Maher, Orland Park
Mark Thompson, Des Plaines, former campaign website

Greens

Richard Dalka, Des Plaines
Matthew J. Ogean, Orland Park

And, yes, Ray Hanania at OrlandParker.com already commented on the number of Mahers in the race.

what percent of non-low income students meet or exceed standards on the PSAE?

2009-11-08T23:34:00.003-06:00

Earlier I posted some data on Proviso Township High Schools (District 209).

Proviso ranked 26th of 27 districts in suburban Cook County in the percent of students who meet or exceed standards on the Prairie State Achievement Exam. And District 209 would have to make substantial improvement--go from 22.5% passing to 33.9% to tie #25 Thornton, which is 4.3% behind #24 Thornton Fractional.

District 209 looks pretty bad.

But the story is actually worse than it first appears.

Let's assume that all low income students fail to meet standards. What percent of non-low income students meet or exceed standards? How do districts rank?

1	Evanston	108%
2	Rich	98%
3	Argo	95%
4	New Trier	94%
5	Thornton	92%
6	Elmwood Park	90%
7	Maine	87%
8	Northfield	86%
9	Oak Park & River Forest	85%
10	Township HSD 211	83%
11	Niles	82%
12	Lyons	82%
13	Township HSD 214	80%
14	Riverside-Brookfield	79%
15	Bloom	77%
16	Oak Lawn	77%
17	Lemont	77%
18	Con HSD 230	76%
19	Evergreen Park	75%
20	Thornton Fractional	75%
21	Bremen	73%
22	Homewood Flossmoor	72%
23	Reavis	69%
24	CHSD 218	63%
25	Leyden	62%
26	Ridgewood	59%
27	Proviso	34%

If one assumes every low income student fails the PSAE, only 34% District 209 students who are not low income meet or exceed standards. The next lowest district is 59%.

This is appalling. The district is severely dysfunctional. Remember, District 209 spends $25,360 per student which ranks the district seventh in spending of the 27 districts.

I'm curious where District 209 would rank among Chicago Public Schools using the methodology of considering what percent of non-low income students pass.

Could it be that District 209 operates the three least effective schools in the state, while spending money in excess of Riverside-Brookfield, Lyons Township and Homewood-Flossmoor?

Who filed to run countywide?

2009-11-08T12:09:00.002-06:00

President of the Cook County Board (incumbent: Todd Stroger)

Democrats

Toni Preckwinkle*, Chicago (Hyde Park), Wikipedia, campaign site
Terrence J. O'Brien*, Chicago (Edgebrook), campaign website
Danny K. Davis*, Chicago (South Austin), Wikipedia, campaign website
Dorothy A. Brown*, Chicago (Calumet Heights), campaign website
Todd H. Stroger, Chicago (Marynook), Wikipedia, campaign website

Republican

John Garrido III*, Chicago (Norwood Park), campaign website
Roger A. Keats*, Wilmette, campaign website

Green

Tom Tresser, Chicago (Lincoln Park/Old Town Triangle), campaign website
Sean Burke, Westchester

Sheriff (incumbent: Tom Dart)

Democrats

Thomas J. Dart*, Chicago (Mount Greenwood), Wikipedia
Sylvester E. Baker, Jr., Chicago (Chatham), Facebook

Republican

Frederick Collins*, Chicago (East Garfield Park)

Green

Marshall P. Lewis, Chicago (Rosemoor)

Assessor (incumbent: Jim Houlihan, retiring)

Democrats

Joseph Berrios*, Chicago (Cragin), campaign website
Robert Shaw*, South Holland
Raymond A. Figueroa, Chicago (Avondale), campaign website
Eugene “Gene” Staples, River Forest

Republican

Sharon Strobeck-Eckersall*, Evanston, Facebook

Green

Robert C. Grota, Chicago (Logan Square)

* eligible for top ballot position lottery

What Will Danny Davis Do?

2009-11-08T10:47:00.002-06:00

According to The Capitol Fax Blog (Rich Miller), Congressman Danny K. Davis will announce his decision about in which elections he will run in February.

Cong. Davis will announce his election decision at a press conference on Monday, November 9, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., at 3333 W. Arthington, Chicago.

He has filed for three.

U.S. Representative (IL-07)
President of the Cook County Board
Democratic State Central Committeeman for IL-07

Going to Congress and being President of the Cook County Board are mutually exclusive. He can remove himself from the ballot for any and all, but he is required to either remove his name from the ballot for U.S. Representative or President of the Cook County Board.

President of the Cook County Board candidates forum

2009-11-07T20:27:00.003-06:00

On Thursday, November 5, HACIA (Hispanic American Construction Industry Association) hosted a forum for candidates for the President of the Cook County Board at Instuto Cervantes. The following candidates attended (in order they were seated on the stage, from left to right): Todd Stroger (D), Toni Preckwinkle (D), Terry O'Brien (D), Tom Tresser (G) and John Garrido (R). According to the moderator Danny K. Davis (D) had to be in Washington, DC for a health care vote and Dorothy Brown (D) sent her regrets.

According to the moderator WLS, WSNS and CBS-2 all had TV crews there to film the forum.

HACIA prides itself on improving the number of construction contracts awarded to MBE (minority business enterprise) and WBE (women business enterprise).

Biographically this is what the candidates said about themselves.

Stroger, who is the incumbent, hammered that he has improved diversity in Cook County government. He also said he'd lived in the same house for 40 of his 43 years, minus one three year period when he moved ten blocks away. In his opening Stroger said he'd served in three levels of government: state, city and county.

Preckwinkle mentioned the development that has happened in her ward since she'd been alderman. She also included examples things the City of Chicago has done while she's been in the city council.

O'Brien explained he's been a commissioner at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District for 21 years and has been president of that board for the last thirteen years. He contrasted the relatively smooth functioning of the MWRD with Cook County government.

Tresser founded the organization “No Games Chicago”, which opposed bringing the Olympics to Chicago in 2016. Tresser said that he started on led thirteen non-profit organizations in his life. He mentioned opposing Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics, but only once. Tresser teaches at IIT and DePaul. When Tresser referred to himself, he usually described himself as a “community organizer”.

Garrido is a lieutenant in the Chicago Police Department and a lawyer with a small practice. He serves in the 25th District (Northwest Side, Grand Central). Garrido characterized the district as 1/3 Black, 1/3 Hispanic and 1/3 “White”. Garrido's grandparents were from Mexico and Ireland. His wife is Polish.

MBE/WBE

Apparently, there was a 1990 court ruling (Richmond vs. J.A. Croson Co.) that changed how municipal government handled preferences for MBE and WBE. The City of Chicago, Cook County and the MWRD all responded differently. If I understood O'Brien correctly, the MWRD policies did not get challenged in court.

The city and county were challenged in court by the same plaintff. Preckwinkle explained that the city's post-Croson affirmative action withstood scrutiny because it was based on better documentation of inequities in city contracting in the absence of affirmative action. While noting that the problem predated Todd Stroger being in county government, she explained the county lost in court because it failed to assemble the documentation to justify a robust affirmative action program. Preckwinkle praised that the county is finally doing what is required by the courts to implement a strong affirmative action program.

When discussing her personal involvement in MBE and WBE programs, Preckwinkle indicated that she had consistently taken a leadership role in city council to ensure that MBE and WBE were included in city contracting.

Stroger said two things to burnish his credentials as a supporter of MBE and WBE. He told a story about an unnamed county official who wanted to avoid looking for a MBE or WBE vendor because there was an emergent need for services. Stroger refused to approve the vendor and told the county official s/he needed to look harder. Stroger said that since this incident he he hasn't had an official push to avoid looking for a MBE or WBE vendor.

Also, Stroger said Cook County had increased to 25% MBE and 10% WBE which exceeds the goals set.

Tresser expressed desire to increase MBE and WBE contracting levels to the percentages of minorities and women in Cook County. He said Cook County is 41% minorities and over 50% women.

Garrido drew attention to his Mexican heritage, but I didn't note that he ever said he supported affirmative action programs to diversify either the government workforce or vendors.

Sales tax

Preckwinkle reiterated her commitment to repeal the 1% sales tax increase over four years. She reasoned the incremental repeal would allow her administration to learn where waste existed in county government. She also expects that the county can secure more federal and philanthropic resources for health care expenses, which are approximately 1/3 of county spending.

O'Brien expressed a preference for cutting the sales tax completely from the beginning. He reasoned that if the sales tax continued the county would become dependent on the money. O'Brien emphasized the regressiveness of sales taxes. O'Brien said, “Difficult decisions will have to be made.... I'm not afraid to do it.” While he delivered the line with conviction, he did avoid naming specific cuts.

Tresser said, “We can't trust that we know the true financial picture [of Cook County government].” He said he's, “inclined to roll sales tax back as soon as possible.” He repeatedly emphasized that current accounting practices make it impossible to say if Cook County does or doesn't have enough revenue to fulfill its missions. Tresser said he'd do “forensic accounting... maybe a firm that goes after mob money.”

Garrido started with, “Collar counties have a great stimulus; it's called Cook County.” He claimed that 76% of residents don't shop in Cook County because of the higher taxes. Garrido called for roll back of the entire amount, immediately.

Stroger immediately jumped on the claim that 76% of residents don't shop in Cook County. He called it, “bunk”.

Stroger explained that Cook County only gets 17% of the sales tax revenue in Chicago. The State of Illinois gets 61% and the city gets 12%.

Stroger noted that Cook County hasn't raised property taxes in sixteen years. “We're not a business. We provide services.” Stroger broke down spending as 51% for public safety and 41% for public health. “The county is run well.”

There were some other moments when I thought candidates were effective.

Stroger gave an organized answer to the question about priorities. He said the most important thing is for county government to give services. Second is to make sure there's diversity. He wants, “Everybody gets their fair shake.” And he finished by saying that, “You can't believe everything you read in the newspaper.”

Stroger also made a valid point about the format which didn't allow rebuttals. He noted that almost all barbs and attacks were directed at him, so it was somewhat a four on one with the one guy not allowed to fight back.

Preckwinkle explained the legal aspect of MBE and WBE issues well. She also connected the need to diversify contracting to the need to get beyond giving jobs and contracts to people and companies connected to certain ward organizations.

Preckwinkle also handled the question about getting a fair treatment by the media gracefully. “I agree with Todd, he hasn't always gotten a fair shake.” She continued, “Part of the job is to manage the media.” Preckwinkle explained that being a leader in politics requires “not only doing the right thing but persuading people it is the right thing to do.”

O'Brien's most effective points were that MWRD has refunded $56 million to taxpayers it didn't need under his leadership and that MWRD maintains a AAA bond rating with all three bond-rating agencies. O'Brien was the only candidate to discuss measuring the percentage of vendors who were small businesses.

Tresser did something I liked in the first round of questions. The moderator had deviated from the format briefed. Tresser spoke after the three Democrats and asked about when the opening statements would be allowed. The moderator had forgotten and apologized. Opening statements went next.

Tresser had an effective close too. He read headlines about problems in city and county government, including mentioning Dorothy Brown and the headline gigging O'Brien for owning a business that did business with MWRD.

Garrido seems to have a knack for the one-liner. He said, he was “fed up” and “tired of being treated as an ATM” by politicians. He finished his opening statement by saying, “Unlike some this is not a birthright. I'm going to have to work for it.”

Generally Garrido wants to expand the inspector general's office and shrink the rest of Cook County government. He wants to reduce the workforce to 20,000. Garrido says the current workforce is 25,000. Stroger says it was 25,000, but has already been reduced to 23,000. Garrido also promised to reduce the Shakman exempt positions.

Weaknesses

Stroger raised the issue of his cousin in his opening statement, although he didn't mention Donna Dunnings (see Chicagoist (Chuck Sudo)) by name. Stroger defended himself by saying she was qualified. Stroger's defense seemed to be that as long as he wasn't violating regulations by hiring unqualified people he shouldn't be held accountable for making bad hiring decisions. He saved his opponents from having to use Dunnings to attack him because he used Dunnings to attack himself.

When asked what to do to minimize corruption and increase transparency Stroger responded that he's “done it already.” He stated the inspector general has the power to go into any office and investigate allegations of fraud, waste and abuse. The problem with Stroger saying the county is doing everything it should be doing both in delivering services and investigating corruption is that it's easy to infer that Stroger has done all the good he can imagine doing.

Stroger gave the number three as the number of Latinos he's put in leadership positions, but the number 29 for women in leadership positions. Unless his administration has significantly more women than men in leadership, it seems like there should be more Latinos in leadership. HACIA claimed that 24% of Cook County residents are Latino. If you assume women are slightly over half of Cook County then there should be almost half as many Latinos in leadership as women.

Preckwinkle squinted while on stage. Apparently she has real problems with the stage lights pointing in her face. She also had this problem at the Malcolm X College forum.

O'Brien delivered the line about not being afraid of difficult decisions just the way an actor or politician is supposed to deliver the line. I felt like he meant it. However, it would be more credible if it was packaged with something specific he was going to cut or do that was unpopular with some constituency.

I'm not sure how Tresser's claims about the Cook County budget will wear. Saying it's too FUBAR to evaluate allows Tresser to avoid answering questions specifically. However, Tresser might be right. When I discussed the budget with Commissioner Forrest Claypool's then chief of staff, he characterized the budget as being a tool to hide the truth more than a tool to manage what happens.

When answering the question about getting treated fairly by the media both Tresser and Garrido complained about being ignored.

After the forum some of Tresser's supporters were hassling the Stroger entourage about Stroger and company leaving in a huge SUV with municipal plates on it.

Candidate websites:

committeeman candidates and proposed list of questions

2009-11-05T10:45:00.002-06:00

The Cook County Clerk lists the following people as having filed to run for committeeman in Proviso Township.

Democratic Party

Karen Yarbrough*, Maywood, campaign website, Wikipedia
John Conteduca, Melrose Park

Republican Party

Michael Corrigan, La Grange Park
Fred Potter, Brookfield
Kerry Dodero Beswick, Westchester, a Prudential real estate agent
Joseph A. Benning, Berkeley

Green Party

Suzanne von Leuschner, Brookfield, architect, Facebook

Here's what I know off the top of my head. Yarbrough is the incumbent Democrat running for her second term. She's been a state representative since 2001.

Corrigan is the incumbent Republican and was elected as the Proviso Township Supervisor in 2009. Previously he was the Proviso Township Assessor.

Conteduca, a former Melrose Park trustee, was active in Jesse Martinez's campaign to unseat Ron Serpico as village president in Melrose Park in 2009.

Below is a draft list of questions I will ask each candidate for committeeman.

1.Why do you identify with your party?
2.How should constituents contact you?
3.What candidates have you supported in the past?
4.Are you active with any causes or advocacy organizations?
5.What's your quick pitch for someone to be active with your party?
6.In what ways does your party need to improve? How will you affect change within your party?
7.Will you help constituents get jobs? Who will you help? How will you help them?
8.How would you characterize the performance of schools in Proviso Township? What should be done to improve the schools? Will you attend meetings of the board of education of Proviso Township High Schools?

How would you modify the list of questions?

How does Proviso compare to other school districts? The numbers

2009-11-04T13:58:00.006-06:00

Here's some data comparing Proviso Township High Schools (District 209) to public high school districts serving other parts of suburban Cook County.

The first list ranks districts by the percentage of students who meet or exceed standards on the Prairie State Achievement Exam.

1	New Trier	92
2	Northfield	78.6
3	Lyons	74.3
4	Lemont	73.6
5	Riverside-Brookfield	72.9
6	Oak Park & River Forest	70.2
7	Con HSD 230	69.3
8	Maine	68.5
9	Township HSD 214	68
10	Township HSD 211	66.5
11	Evanston	66.1
12	Elmwood Park	64.2
13	Niles	64
14	Homewood Flossmoor	61.6
15	Oak Lawn	60.6
16	Reavis	57.8
17	Evergreen Park	55.6
18	Bremen	54.1
19	Ridgewood	52.7
20	Leyden	49.7
21	Argo	45.6
22	CHSD 218	42.1
23	Rich	40.1
24	Thornton Fractional	38.2
25	Thornton	33.9
26	Proviso	22.5
27	Bloom	21.6

Proviso and Bloom perform poorly compared to other districts. There's a big gap between #25, Thornton, at 33.9% and #26, Proviso, at 22.5%. And there's a significant gap between #24, Thornton Fractional, at 38.2% and Thornton.

Maybe the reason Proviso scores so low is the high number of low income students. Here's that ranking.

1	New Trier	2
2	Lemont	4
3	Riverside-Brookfield	8
4	Northfield	9
5	Lyons	9
6	Con HSD 230	9
7	Ridgewood	11
8	Homewood Flossmoor	14
9	Township HSD 214	15
10	Reavis	16
11	Oak Park & River Forest	17
12	Leyden	20
13	Township HSD 211	20
14	Maine	21
15	Oak Lawn	21
16	Niles	22
17	Bremen	26
18	Evergreen Park	26
19	Elmwood Park	29
20	CHSD 218	33
21	Proviso	33
22	Evanston	39
23	Thornton Fractional	49
24	Argo	52
25	Rich	59
26	Thornton	63
27	Bloom	72

Proviso has low income students, but other districts have far more low income students. And the districts that have about the same level of "low income students" as Proviso (Elmwood Park, CHSD 218 and Evanston) all perform better on tests. Elmwood Park and Evanston far exceed the state average.

And then there's the issue of spending. Below the districts are ranked by how much they spend per student.

1	Niles	$31,819
2	Evanston	$30,852
3	New Trier	$28,887
4	Northfield	$28,423
5	Oak Park & River Forest	$26,625
6	Maine	$25,815
7	Proviso	$25,360
8	Township HSD 214	$25,257
9	Riverside-Brookfield	$24,624
10	Lemont	$24,449
11	Leyden	$23,671
12	Lyons	$22,889
13	Township HSD 211	$22,315
14	Rich	$21,889
15	Bremen	$21,761
16	Ridgewood	$21,450
17	Bloom	$21,421
18	CHSD 218	$21,317
19	Homewood Flossmoor	$21,100
20	Argo	$20,966
21	Thornton	$20,541
22	Evergreen Park	$20,074
23	Con HSD 230	$19,270
24	Oak Lawn	$18,308
25	Thornton Fractional	$19,011
26	Reavis	$17,965
27	Elmwood Park	$16,962

Proviso may be among the few school districts in the country that is among the top 15 in spending for its state and in the bottom five in test scores.

And remember, the trend over the last ten years is for test scores to be going down in Proviso.

I obtained the data from the Interactive Illinois Report Card provided by Northern Illinois University. Feel free to check the numbers yourself.

test scores at D209 suck, again. And they are trending downward.

2009-11-04T09:05:00.003-06:00

Forest Park Review (Josh Adams) has a graph of the trend on test scores at the three Proviso Township High Schools. The Y-axis is the "Percentage of students meeting or exceeding benchmarks". From 2001 to 2009 scores trend downward. It's true at East. It's true at West. And it's true at PMSA.

What is appalling about District 209 is that it spends more per pupil than all but the most elite school districts and that it's test scores are either at the very bottom or in the bottom few for the entire region.

The district serves a Black and Latino population, but it's not like Proviso Township is the only community in Illinois serving Black and Latino students. And the households in Proviso are economically comfortable, if not affluent.

candidates for state legislature

2009-11-03T20:10:00.002-06:00

Who is running for the state legislature?

Sen. Louis Viverito (District 11), Sen. Dan Cronin (District 21) and Sen. Don Harmon (District 39) aren't up for election in 2010. After the 2010 Census, the map of districts will be redrawn to balance changes in population. All state senators will stand for election in the 2012 cycle. Sen. Kimberly Lightford is running for re-election in 2010. However, no candidates filed to run against her.

State representatives stand for election every two years. However, Rep. Karen Yarbrough (7th District), Rep. LaShawn Ford (8th District) and Rep. Deborah Graham (78th District) are running unopposed, like Lightford.

Rep. Michael Zalewski (21st District) represents a district that includes (in Proviso) much of Brookfield and some of La Grange Park. See the district map (pdf).

The following candidates filed:

Democrats

Terrence J. Collins*, Chicago (Garfield Ridge), no campaign website found, no Wikipedia entry
Michael Zalewski*, Chicago (Clearing), Facebook, Wikipedia

Republican

Jeffrey P. Malinowski, Chicago (Garfield Ridge), no campaign website found, no Wikipedia entry

Rep. Bob Biggins currently represents the 41st District (map (pdf)) and is retiring. The district includes at least some of Berkeley, Hillside, Westchester, La Grange Park and Brookfield.

The following candidates filed to represent this district.

Republican

Matt Burden*, La Grange Park, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Chris Nybo*, Elmhurst, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Rafael Rivadeneira*, Elmhurst, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Brien Sheahan*, Elmhurst, Facebook, no Wikipedia entry
Mike Manzo, Oak Brook, no campaign website found, no Wikipedia entry

Democrat

Brian J. Stephenson*, La Grange Park, no campaign website found, no Wikipedia entry

BTW, I'm not particularly inspired to cover the races for the constitutional officers (governor, sec of state, AG, lt gov, treasurer and comptroller). Feel free to make the case that it's important.

candidates for federal office

2009-11-03T07:37:00.011-06:00

The following individuals have filed as candidates for U.S. Senate:

Democrats

Alexander "Alexi" Giannoulias*, Chicago (Gold Coast), campaign website, Wikipedia entry
David Hoffman, Chicago*, Chicago (Wicker Park), campaign website, Wikipedia entry
Robert Marshall*, Burr Ridge, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Jacob J. Meister*, Chicago (Logan Square),campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Corey Dabney, Aurora, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Cheryle Jackson, Chicago (Jackson Park Highlands), campaign website, Wikipedia entry
Willie "Will" Boyd, Jr., Greenville, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry

Republicans

John Arrington*, Harvey, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Mark Steven Kirk*, Highland Park, campaign website, Wikipedia entry
Donald (Don) Lowery*, Golconda, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Andy Martin*, Chicago (River North), campaign website, Wikipedia entry
Kathleen Thomas*, Springfield, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Patrick J. Hughes, Hinsdale, campaign website, Wikipedia entry
Robert L. "Bob" Zadek, Rockford, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Thomas (Tom) Kuna, Jerseyville, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry

Greens

LeAlan M. Jones, Chicago (Englewood), campaign website, no Wikipedia entry

independents

None

* candidates marked will be in the lottery for the top ballot position

Because the Green Party candidate achieved at least 5% of the vote in the last election for governor, it is considered a major party in Illinois for ballot access matters. It has the same filing dates as the Democrats and Republicans.

Illinois has minor parties. These minor parties have to submit more signatures than major parties and they have different (later) filing deadlines.

Michael Labno of Oak Brook has expressed intent to qualify for the ballot as a Libertarian Party candidate. See his Facebook page.

Parts of Proviso Township are included in four Congressional districts. IL-07 is currently represented by Danny K. Davis, Chicago (Austin). IL-03 is currently represented by Dan Lipinski, Western Springs. IL-05 is currently represented by Mike Quigley, Chicago (Lakeview). IL-04 is currently represented by Luis Gutierrez, Chicago (Logan Square). All four members of Congress are Democrats.

The following candidates filed to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Candidates who intend to run under party labels aside from Democrat, Republican, Green or "independent" will file at a later date.

The IL-07 race is made more complicated because the incumbent, Danny K. Davis, has filed for two offices that are mutually exclusive, re-election to Congress and President of the Cook County Board. He has until ___ to withdraw from one of these contests (or both).

IL-07

Democrats

Jim Ascot*, Chicago (Fulton River District), campaign website, Wikipedia entry
Rickey R. Hendon*, Chicago (East Garfield Park), no campaign website found, Wikipedia entry
Darlena Williams-Burnett*, Chicago (United Center Park, aka Near West Side), campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Marshall E. Hatch, Sr., Chicago (Austin), campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Robert Dallas, Oak Park, no campaign website found, SourceWatch entry
Danny K. Davis, Chicago (Austin), campaign website, Wikipedia entry
Annazette R. Collins, Chicago (United Center Park, aka Near West Side), campaign website, Wikipedia entry
Joyce Washington, Chicago (New Eastside), no campaign website found, no Wikipedia entry
Sharon Denise Dixon, Chicago (Lawndale), campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Clarence Desmond Clemons, Chicago (South Loop), no campaign website found, no Wikipedia entry
Bob Fioretti, Chicago (West Loop), no campaign website found, Wikipedia entry

Green

Kip Robbins, Oak Park, no campaign website found, no Wikipedia entry

Republican

Mark M. Weiman, Chicago (New Eastside), no campaign website found, no Wikipedia entry

IL-03

Democrats

Daniel William Lipinski*, Western Springs, campaign website (domain ownership seems to have expired), Wikipedia entry
Jorge Mujica, Berwyn, campaign website, no Wikipedia entry

Green

Laurel Lambert Schmidt, Riverside, no campaign website found, no Wikipedia entry

Republican

Michael Bendas, Chicago (Bridgeport), no campaign website found, no Wikipedia entry

IL-05

Democrat

Mike Quigley, Chicago (Lakeview), campaign website down, Wikipedia entry

Green

Matthew Reichel, Chicago (Ravenswood), campaign website, Wikipedia entry
Andrew Williams, Chicago (Lakeview East), campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Terrence A. Gilhooly, Chicago (Edgebrook), campaign website, no Wikipedia entry

Republican

Ashvin Lad*, Chicago (Lakeview), campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
David Ratowitz*, Chicago (Avondale), campaign website, no Wikipedia entry
Rosanna Pulido, Chicago (Ravenswood), campaign website, Wikipedia entry

IL-04

Democrat

Luis Gutierrez, Chicago (Logan Square), no campaign website found, Wikipedia entry

Green

Robert J. Burns, Chicago (Wicker Park), no campaign website found, no Wikipedia entry

ask the D209 Financial Oversight Panel (FOP) what's wrong with Proviso Township High Schools

2009-09-28T16:45:00.003-05:00

Tonight, Monday, September 28, 2009, at 7 PM the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Financial Oversight Panel (FOP) assigned to Proviso Township High Schools, District 209 (D209) will take questions from the public at Proviso Math and Science Academy (PMSA) at First Ave and Roosevelt. Enter from the parking lot north of the building.

I recommend asking the following questions:

Questions for District 209 Financial Oversight Panel

1. All school districts in Illinois are graded on a 4.0 scale for their financial health and compliance. Districts under 3.0 are considered troubled. The most recent scoring for District 209 is 0.0. Were there any other 0.0 districts in Illinois? What does it mean that the district scored 0.0?

2.With proper management should a school district be able to keep itself from the financial watch list? Or is it just part of the cycle that school districts have to raise taxes periodically and if they don't raise taxes a district will find itself on the watch list?

3.To what extent will a Financial Oversight Panel assigned by the Illinois State Board of Education explain to citizens that specific decisions caused the financial crisis in a school district? Is the role of the FOP to tell the citizens what specific malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance caused their school district to become financially “in extremis”? Or is the role of the FOP focused on telling a district and its citizens what will need to be cut if a tax increase is not implemented?

4.How does D209 rank in Illinois and suburban Cook County in terms of per student spending?

5.How does D209 rank in Illinois and suburban Cook County in terms of taxable real estate per student?

6.If D209 spends more than all but a few districts, what caused the district to land on the financial watch list?

7.Is D209 “underfunded”? If D209 has adequate resources, what caused the district to become a financial watchlist district? Besides the board of education, the superintendent and the assistant superintendent for business services, who else is responsible for D209 landing on the financial watchlist? What are the top three causes of D209 being on the financial watchlist?

8.In what areas is D209 spending particularly high? Does the district spend an unusual amount of money servicing debt? Is the faculty collective bargaining agreement particularly generous? Is non-faculty staff spending unusual either based on the number of staff or the compensation levels? Are costs associated with the three school buildings unusually high? Does the district spend an inordinate amount on legal bills and court settlements? Where should the district look to cut expenses?

9.Does the FOP have the expertise and authority to evaluate whether D209 legal bills and court settlements were legal, appropriate and good deals for the district?

10.D209 has a number of personal relationships that could reasonably be considered conflicts of interest. For example, a number of D209 employees (Ron Anderson, Tommie Miller and Althea Busby) serve on the board of education for District 88. The president of the D209 BOE (Emanuel “Chris” Welch) has billed hundreds of thousands of dollars as the attorney for District 88. Welch has also dated Nikita Johnson, the D209 assistant superintendent for business services for a couple years. Johnson is also the niece of D209 board member Robin Foreman. Is the FOP authorized to make judgments that the conflicts of interest at D209, either individually or as a group, contributed to the financial problems of D209?

11.D209 has experienced a high level of stability of governance of the BOE. Welch has been president for almost a decade. During this time D209 has experienced a high level of instability in the superintendent position. Is there a correlation between problem districts and stability or instability in the superintendent position or in the board of education?

Ali ElSaffar is candidate for Cook County Assessor

2009-09-23T20:04:00.003-05:00

Oak Park Township Assessor Ali ElSaffar is running for Cook County Assessor. ElSaffar is also President of the Cook County Township Assessors Association. The current assessor is Jim Houlihan. The Cook County Democratic Party has endorsed Joe Berrios who is a member of the Board of Review and Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party.

ElSaffar's campaign is looking for people to gather signatures. If you're interested, sign up on the campaign website.

what happens if you wreck you car and become incapacitated?

2009-09-23T19:57:00.002-05:00

The Illinois Secretary of State is allowing people to register two phone numbers that emergency personnel can contact in the event an Illinois driver becomes incapacitated. See the Secretary of State website.

District 209 BOE meeting, September 21, 2009

2009-09-22T11:07:00.003-05:00

On Monday, September 21, the Proviso Township High Schools (District 209) board of education held its regular (monthly) meeting at Proviso East High School.

This was the first meeting I've attended in a significant period of time, and to me the meeting seemed different.

There were fewer people attending, but this may have been due to no parents or students being invited for the student and staff recognition portion of the meeting. Things seemed more sedate. No members of the community asked questions. The BOE has stopped hiring a cop to intimidate people who would criticize the BOE.

Board member Theresa Kelly made the comment to me after the meeting that between the district being financially strapped and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Financial Oversight Panel (FOP) there is less opportunity for the D209 BOE to engage in financial shenanigans.

In the past most board meetings had relatively low participation by board members. In the extreme, board president Emanuel “Chris” Welch would dutifully proceed through the agenda and Kelly would ask questions and the rest of the board members limited their participation to making motions to implement the agenda and voting.

At times the board seemed to be holding an actual conversation. Board member Kevin McDermott grilled Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Nikita Johnson on the monthly financial report. And then Board member Brian Cross also asked a question. When Kelly asked about the Alternate School Facility, she made a point and board member Robin Foreman supported her on the point.

Targeting Achievement through Governance (TAG)

Prior to the 7 PM board meeting, the school board held a committee of the whole presentation (minus board member Dan Adams who arrived fifteen minutes late to the regular meeting, missing the committee meeting entirely) by Steve Clark of the Illinois Association of School Boards. Clark was pitching a program called Targeting Achievement through Governance (TAG) (pdf) that would train D209 board members and work with the district to make the BOE more effective.

Clark made two claims that I noted. One, he claimed that at least one district that had done TAG had moved off the financial watch list before completing TAG.

Clark also claimed that an Iowa study correlated board effectiveness and school achievement. I'm curious how one measures the effectiveness of a BOE. Communities with their act together probably have effective school boards and effective schools. Proviso does not have its act together. And maybe the dysfunctional school results from the larger community being dysfunctional. Maybe District 209 can't be substantially improved without dealing with Proviso's issues.

Attendance

D209 claims to have increased the attendance rate to 88%. Credit was given the new busing program and generally making an effort to illicit better behavior in the hallways.

I have not checked with any independent sources if the discipline is better in the school.

Busing students seems to be a solid idea.

I did get annoyed at Welch's claim that, “We've all received phone calls [praising improved discipline at the schools].” There are two board members I seriously doubt get calls from any Proviso residents who aren't personally connected to them. My experience calling Foreman was that she said, “Don't call me at this number” and hung up without giving me another number to call her at. In years of watching D209 board meetings, I have yet to see any evidence Adams cares a whit about the students, taxpayers, staff or anything else.

Computer Science II

D209 has cut the computer science curriculum drastically as part of budget cuts. If I understood the situation correctly, Proviso East and Proviso West have cut all computer science classes and PMSA cut computer science II, leaving the magnet school with just one computer science class.

During her presentation to the BOE, McDermott asked Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction Cheryl Pruitt if there was plans to restore computer science II. Pruitt responded, “Yes,” and there was a long pause. After it became clear that was all the response Pruitt intended to give McDermott asked what those plans were. Pruitt responded that when the budget increased computer science II will be restored.

The exchange made Pruitt look unprofessional. And Pruitt is clueless if she thinks Proviso taxpayers are going to open their wallets for a tax increase. The school district spends plenty of money and delivers horrid results. That's reality. Taxpayers who are pinched because of the tight economy aren't going to vote D209 more money.

What to do with the leftover $1.2 million for PMSA?

McDermott grilled Assistant Superintendent Johnson on $1.2 million leftover from the construction of PMSA. After some ugly attempts to deflect the issue, the district's attorney Michael DeBartolo and board president Welch threw Johnson lifelines.

Johnson was briefing the district's monthly cash flow situation when McDermott asked about transfering the $1.2 million from the construction fund to operations and maintenance. McDermott pointed out this was not allowed.

(The transfer was suspended by the FOP pending review. I surmise McDermott learned that the move was illegal at that point.)

DeBartolo informed McDermott he had made a legal ruling that excess money could be moved this way. (I surmise he reasoned the money shouldn't just sit there.)

McDermott raised the issue that using the money for something other than the construction of PMSA required D209 to provide a tax abatement to Proviso taxpayers.

Johnson explained that the abatement would be in the future (two years) and that moving the money would allow it to be used now.

McDermott told Johnson that if she was recommending the BOE move money in a way that violated Illinois law that she should have explained the ramifications of her recommendation.

Johnson said she didn't discuss the tax abatement with the BOE because it “doesn't affect the current year.”

Johnson was clearly foundering at this point. DeBartolo threw the first lifeline. DeBartolo explained that currently school districts can only increase taxes at the rate of inflation. In the future they will be able to increase taxes at 5%. So, D209 can provide an abatement in the future, but it won't hurt the district because the district will be able to raise taxes sufficiently to cover the abatement. To me it sounded like DeBartolo was advocating the district ignore the law requiring the abatement, but I'm not an attorney.

DeBartolo also mentioned that he recommended completing the audit of the PMSA construction so D209 can certify the project really is complete.

At this point McDermott asked about the audit. Johnson said there was a draft audit from 1 ½ year ago. It was incomplete and that she doesn't intend to circulate it until it's complete. To me Johnson sounded like she was hiding something. D209 has changed accounting firms. This would account for the audit being incomplete, but not Johnson's reluctance to share the incomplete audit with the board.

Welch then threw Johnson her next lifeline. Welch noted that the board had already acted to move the money to the operations and maintenance fund. The FOP tabled the issue, so it was out of the purview of the BOE.

Welch's reasoning sounded persuasive at the time. But it's flawed. Johnson asked the BOE to do something illegal so she would have an extra $1.2 million to make her budget work. The BOE voted to move the money, but did so without full information. The BOE has the power to undo the illegal decision.

I would recommend that at the next board meeting the BOE take whatever action is necessary to bring D209 into compliance with Illinois law on this matter. I would further recommend that the BOE have a conversation with Superintendent Nettie Collins-Hart about Johnson. Senior staff recommending the BOE violate the law and withholding the fact that the recommended action violates the law is a bad thing. In fact, I imagine many organizations would fire a staff member for doing this.

Did Johnson make the recommendation because she doesn't know the law? Did Johnson and Collins-Hart conspire to dupe the BOE? Or was Johnson's illegal recommendation unauthorized?

Cross then asked how long D209 can go without issuing tax anticipation warrants? Apparently the Cook County Treasurer is behind on paying local taxing bodies. Johnson responded D209 has money to operate through late November, early December.

Employees terminated

Kelly asked if any of the employees terminated were asked to resign or were fired. The superintendent replied they weren't. (By tradition D209 BOE votes to approve employees that have quit. This has always seemed odd to me because the BOE has no power to “disapprove”.)

[More to be added later]

RIP Tom Dix

The meeting started with the acknowledgment that PMSA instructor Thomas Dix recently died. He was the faculty rep for the robotics team.

Stroger fires Commissioner Robert Steele's brother

2009-09-21T16:49:00.003-05:00

Cook Count Commissioner Robert Steele voted to repeal the Todd Stroger tax increase multiple times.

Last week Steele's brother Byron Steele was fired. See Sun-Times (Carol Marin and Lisa Donovan).

Called in by his boss, James D'Amico, Byron Steele said he was told, "This is a decision from the president, it comes from on high."

There's a scene in Apollo 13 where James Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) tells Ken Mattingly (played by Gary Sinise) that he's not going to be part of the mission because he's been exposed to German Measles.

Mattingly (Sinise) asks to appeal the decision of the flight surgeon. Lovell (Hanks) says it's his call and there's no appeal.

Of course, in the previous scene Lovell (Hanks) was arguing the flight surgeon on behalf of Mattingly.

Everyone knows Lovell is lying. Lovell knows it. Mattingly knows it. And the audience knows it.

But he is preserving the notion that as the commander/boss when he makes a call, it's his call.

In a professional organization, D'Amico wouldn't blame Stroger for the firing. But--here's the rub--in a professional organization Stroger wouldn't be tinkering with hiring and firing decisions except for his immediate lieutenants.

If Stroger knew what he was doing, he'd spend his time and mental energy managing the big picture and leave the hiring and firing decisions to the actual supervisors.

Further commentary: if Stroger felt strong, he'd wait until after the February 2 election to fire people. Once he's the Democratic nominee, he can fire his enemies' friends, relatives and allies with impunity. (This is also true if he loses to another candidate.)

By firing Steele now Stroger is threatening county employees. He's telling them to support Stroger's re-election or expect to be terminated.

Tavis Smiley gets rich making other Black folk poor

2009-09-21T09:51:00.004-05:00

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has brought a lawsuit against Wells Fargo for marketing disadvantageous loans targeted at the Black community.

Who was helping Wells Fargo sell these crappy loans to Black folks? Tavis Smiley.

See The Washington Independent (Mary Kane).

"Doc" Walls is running for governor

2009-09-21T09:38:00.003-05:00

Last night I listened to WVON's "Voice of the People With State Representative La Shawn Ford" and learned that William "Doc" Walls III is running for governor in the Democratic Primary. Gov. Pat Quinn is the incumbent and was endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party. Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, the son of Tom Hynes, former chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party is also running. State Rep. Jack Franks has raised money to run, but has not officially declared.

Wikipedia has a summary of the race that seems up-to-date with respect to which candidates are running.

Earlean Collins challenger has a web site

2009-09-20T20:55:00.002-05:00

Ade Onayemi is an architect and former member of the District 97 (Oak Park elementary schools) board of education (member for eight years, three of which he was president of the BOE).

Onayemi is running in the Democratic primary for the Cook County Board in the First District. The seat is currently held by Commissioner Earlean Collins (Wikipedia).

The First District includes the following Proviso communities: Bellwood, Broadview (north of Cermak), Forest Park (north of Roosevelt) and Maywood.

new Fred Hampton book

2009-09-20T20:45:00.001-05:00

Chicago Review Press is publishing The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther by Jeffrey Haas. It's scheduled to be released in November, 2009.

more Qs about Davis' commitment in President race

2009-09-19T17:26:00.004-05:00

I just got off the phone with Tumia Romero. Romero is the point of contact for U.S. Representative Danny K. Davis' campaign for President of the Cook County Board.

I was calling about the picture below which shows Davis' office in Rogers Park.

I started by asking if Davis had transferred the money from his federal account to a state/local account.

Davis is circulating nominating petitions for both re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives and President of the Cook County Board. He cannot run for both. Many people, including myself, think he is bluffing about running for President and will run for re-election.

When Davis campaigns, he claims he's running for President. He is asking for people to volunteer (and presumably contribute) to his race for President.

I started by asking about transferring the money from the federal campaign account because I had both emailed and called Romero before. After telling me she would call me back, she did not respond to either my voice mail or my text.

Romero's tone was about two parts hostile and one part defensive. She repeatedly asked rhetorical questions like, "Why don't people worry about health care? Poor people? Criminal justice?"

She went on to say, "Tell La Shawn Ford if he had enough balls he should ask himself. He's a punk."

In the interest of disclosure, I have been talking to Ford about running for Congress. I have indicated a willingness to help. Ford has never asked me to contact Davis' campaign. And I haven't offered to contact Davis' campaign to push the issue. I happen to think the race for President of the Cook County Board is important. Whether Davis is in the race or not is important.

I started blogging again to cover races like President of the Cook County Board, the IL-07 race (if it's seriously contested), Cook County Board First District, Proviso Democratic Committeeman (if it's seriously contested) and some local stuff in Proviso.

Back to what I originally called about. The photograph below was forwarded to me.

The picture was forwarded to me by someone skeptical of Davis' claim that he had opened five campaign offices as he has claimed. See Davis' campaign web site.

Davis said, “There are erroneous reports in the press that I am not a candidate for President of the Cook County Board. Nothing can be more erroneous or further from the truth. The truth is I have opened 5 campaign offices in different parts of the county, hired campaign staff, traveled from South Suburban Cook County to Northern Suburbs and the Western Suburban Cook County."

Romero said that the campaign offices were being paid for with money, not in-kind contributions. These contributions will be reported in the campaign disclosure statements although she didn't know the identity of the landlords or the rent amounts.

The picture clearly shows the office is labeled a constituent service office. When I asked about this, Romero asked me to define a "constituent service office". I explained that "constituent service offices" are funded by the taxpayers. Romero indicated this office was rented by the campaign.

Since I started writing this blog entry, Romero called me and had a contrite tone. She said she'd discussed things with the Davis and he offered to grant me an interview. She also that some of the things she said, "That was Tumia speaking for Tumia, not Congressman Davis."

I will interview Davis sometime about 3 PM tomorrow afternoon. Any suggestions what I should ask?

Davis not answering Q: has campaign money been moved from federal account to state account?

2009-09-11T16:40:00.003-05:00

On Monday, September 7, 2009, I sent the following email to Tumia Romero. Romero is a longtime member of Congressman Danny K. Davis and Davis' campaign website (for President of the Cook County Board) lists her as the point of contact for the campaign. Davis is also circulating nominating petitions to run for re-election to Congress. He cannot run for both offices in the same election cycle.

Dear Tumia Romero,

Has Congressman Davis closed his federal campaign committee? Does he have plans to?

If he's decided to run for President of the Cook County Board, why keep a federal campaign committee active?

How much money has Congressman Davis transferred to his committee paying for his campaign for President of the Cook County Board?

Sincerely,

Carl Nyberg

This is significant because Davis can file for either office, U.S. Representative or President of the Cook County Board. Many people speculate that Davis won't file for President of the Cook County Board. He asks people to support his candidacy for President, but he's keeping the option open of running for Congress. He discussed this at the Malcolm X College candidate forum.

Under state law, Davis can move an unlimited amount of money from his federal campaign committee to his committee for a state or local office. Under federal law he cannot transfer money in the other direction. (Many types of contributions allowed under Illinois law are not allowed under federal law.)

I made a follow-up call to Romero a little before 1 PM on Tuesday. I asked her if Davis had transferred the money from a federal campaign account to a state/local account. She said she didn't know, would check and would call me back.

I left another voicemail at 9 AM Wednesday morning.

Romero has neither responded to my email or returned my phone call.

IMO, the most reasonable inference is that Davis wants to have the option of running for re-election to Congress. I think Davis would like circumstances to clear a path for him to be the Democratic nominee for President of the Cook County Board. Davis probably wants powerful Democratic Party officials (like Michael Madigan, Richard M. Daley and Dick Durbin) and heavy hitters from the Black clergy (Rev. James Meeks, the COGIC bishops, etc.) to muscle Davis through the process.

For various reasons, the power brokers aren't going to muscle Davis through the process. Today the Cook County Democratic Committeemen (Chicago and suburbs) declined to endorse any of the five candidates (Dorothy Brown, Davis, Terry O'Brien, Toni Preckwinkle or Todd Stroger).

Thompson not guilty of homicide by reason of insanity

2009-09-11T06:28:00.003-05:00

Rather than being convicted of homicide, DuPage County Judge Peter Dockery ruled Hubert Thompson, formerly known as "Boo Boo", was legally insane (paranoid) when he killed James Malone. See Sun-Times (Dan Rozek).

Thompson was a star athlete at Proviso West. He played football at Michigan State University.

Personal accounts described him as being a particularly nice guy in high school. Looking back there were probably signs of his mental deterioration at MSU. In his brief time with the New Orleans Saints he got into a fight with another player over an exercise bicycle.

It would have been better for Thompson and Malone if Thompson got either effective mental health treatment or was placed in a supervised setting before he became so imbalanced that throwing his friend and neighbor off the balcony made sense to him.

does Davis wonder, "Could I have been a contender?"

2009-09-10T08:51:00.002-05:00

A source who had a conversation with Mayor Richard M. Daley said Daley is annoyed at Rep. Danny K. Davis. Daley claimed strings were pulled to get Davis on the House Ways and Means Committee. The committee is considered quite powerful because of the wide portfolio which includes taxation, Social Security unemployment and Medicare.

So, Davis is kinda a ungrateful schmuck if he walks away from the House Ways and Means Committee to run for President of the Cook County Board, right?

How's the situation look from Davis' perspective?

Davis is aware that he's served on committees of low import. The most important committee project Davis got was beating back Republican attempts to undercount Blacks, immigrants and poor people in the 2000 Census. And that wasn't the kind of “bring home the bacon” project that makes him a superstar with constituents.

I heard one story... and it was just a story, not an interview, so I'm a little sketchy on the details... A guy who claimed to be in the car with Davis and Dick Gephardt, who then led the House Democrats, claimed that Davis was promised improved committee assignments after the next election. Gephardt never delivered.

From the perspective of Democratic leadership, they don't like to give plum committee assignments to members who represent heavily Democratic districts. The theory is that the best committee assignments should go to members who are vulnerable to being defeated by Republicans. So, in theory, Melissa Bean, Debbie Halvorson and Bill Foster are more likely to get plum committee assignments than Mike Quigley, Jan Schakowsky and Dan Lipinski.

However, Lipinski did get a plum assignment from the beginning, the Transportation Committee. His father Bill Lipinski was chair of that committee.

If I may speculate, Davis probably sees the Ways and Means placement like this. Davis figures if Daley could get Davis the Ways and Means assignment now (and Dan Lipinski the Transportation Committee from the beginning), Daley was probably pulling strings to keep Davis from getting better committee assignments earlier in his career.

Now that Davis is pushing 70—and impotent to challenge Daley for Mayor—he gets a plum assignment. Gee thanks.

If Davis got a better committee assignment from the beginning, would this have elevated his profile? Could he have run for Mayor of Chicago? Did Daley make sure Davis got crap assignments to keep Davis down?

I expect every time someone reminds Davis of how good he has it on the Ways and Means Committee, he thinks about how Daley in a conspiracy aided by “White” Democrats in Congress—people Davis trusted, like Gephardt—kept Davis in shit jobs for over a decade.

From Davis' perspective he played the game by the rules and he got screwed. He was weak and ineffective in Congress because “White” people stacked the deck to keep him weak and ineffective. He trusted the Democratic leadership and they pretty much lied to him and screwed him. So he's not in the mood to be a party loyalist as one of the most junior people on an important committee.

U.S. health insurance is crap: reform it or scrap the system

2009-09-09T08:12:00.003-05:00

Talking Points Memo published an email from JB about her health insurance policy.

Her and her husband retired early and after shopping around they pay $1260 per month in premiums. Both husband and wife pay for the first $1,500 of medical expenses in a year and then the insurance company pays 70%, leaving them on the hook for the other 30%.

Many people get health insurance with their jobs. And the costs are onerous to employers.

But let's look at some scenarios.

Healthy year: $250 for physical, $250 for optometry, $250 for dental, plus $15,120 for insurance

$2,500 malady year would cost $15,120 (insurance) + $1,500 (base deductible) + $300 (deductible for expenses over $1,500) = $16,920 (customer share) + $700 (insurance company share)

$5,000 malady year would cost the customer $17,670 and the insurance company $2,450

$25,000 year would cost the customer $23,670 and the insurance company $16,450

$75,000 year comes to $38,670 (customer) and $41,450 (insurance)

So, you have to have a major medical condition before the insurance company is even paying as much as you are.

And here's part of the equation.

If you use an insurance company, you have to jump through their hoops before getting medical care. And you still get jerked around about the money afterward.

I went to the doctor because I was sick. He sent me for a chest x-ray because I had pneumonia. At every step along the way it said I was responsible for paying my deductible at the time of service.

A few weeks later, I got a bill telling me I still had to pay more money. I spent time on the phone trying to understand how I owed money if I was insured and paid my deductible at each step along the way. After getting explanations that didn't make sense I finally stopped trying to understand and ignored the bill.

Later, I learned on a blog that I was the victim of "balance billing". See Business Week (Chad Terhune). "Balance billing" is when health care providers have agreed to a rate for providing the medical service with the insurance company, but the health care provider would like to be paid more. So, the health care provider sends a bill to the insured patient and hopes that through trickery and scare tactics about credit scores the health care provider can get money from the patient.

How's does being uninsured work?

If you have money and don't get $25,000 sick, being uninsured is a good deal.

Say you have a problem that requires seeing a specialty physician. You don't have to waste time and energy with your primary care physician. You just make an appointment with the specialist and put your money or credit card on the table. It's rather simple.

To review how being insured works.

1. You get jerked around about getting care in the first place, especially if it's any kind of condition where the insurer can justify delaying care. For example, the insurance company gives a list of eight providers, none of whom are taking new patients.
2. There is an extra layer of bureaucracy because you have to deal with a primary care physician when you need a specialist.
3. The insurance company is making huge amounts of money from premiums and paying a sliver of that back in benefits.
4. And you get harassed about bills you have no obligation to pay.

President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party have agreed to allow insurance companies (who don't add value to the health care process) to continue to exist, and still they won't embrace reform that make health care universal, contains costs and allows people to have the option of buying health coverage through the government.

Why don't insurance companies want you to have the option of buying coverage through the government?

Is it because they know the policies insurance companies sell are crap? And their crappy policies that expend a big chunk of the money on overhead and profit are inefficient? And that the experience of getting health care while insured, unnecessary bureaucracy on the front end and harassing billing on the back end, sucks?

If we don't get health reform that's a good deal, I want Illinois legislature to regulate the insurance industry and the rest of the medical industrial complex so completely, they'll be begging for reform.

Fuck me? No, fuck you!

Berrios, Houlihan, Cook County Assessor and Sun-Times self-righteousness

2009-09-08T18:29:00.003-05:00

I saw this tut-tutting by the Sun-Times about Joe Berrios, currently chair of the Cook County Democratic Party and one of the three members of the Board of Review.

I'm not enamored with Berrios as Cook County Assessor, but the Board of Review is set-up for pay-to-play politics. The Board has the power to directly save money for property owners appealing their assessments. And Board members can ask for campaign contributions.

I have a hard time imagining a scenario where Berrios dismantles information systems installed by current Assessor James Houlihan.

I suppose it's possible Berrios could alter assessments within the process (it's supposed to rely on a super secret formula), but all the assessments are public. And assessments that are out-of-whack can be detected. If Berrios gets contributions that seem too large, it's possible to learn what properties that person owns and then look at the assessments for his/her properties.

It's harder to check this kind of mischief if Berrios gets the money from attorneys and then the attorneys' clients receive the benefits.

But Berrios already has this power on the Board of Review. So, I'm not getting the outrage about him going to an office where it will be harder to work the pay-to-play angle than in his current office.

(I think nominating Berrios could conceivably hurt other Democratic Party candidates by tainting the party, but that's a partisan argument against Berrios getting the nomination, not an ethical argument.)

IMO, Houlihan deserves more scorn than he's getting. Houlihan knew Berrios wanted the job. Russ Stewart:

Quite succinctly, [the Assessor's] looming problem is that property values are plummeting while government spending is increasing. Therefore, property taxes will not decrease.

"Try explaining that to property owners," observed one Northwest Side Democratic politician. "That's why Houlihan quit. Berrios was going to challenge him in the primary and blast him for not reducing property taxes. (Houlihan) would have lost. In 2014 Joe will have the same problem."

So, if Houlihan knew Berrios was going to run and Houlihan didn't want Berrios to get the job, shouldn't Houlihan have recruited a candidate to run against Berrios?

Cook County terminating Peraica's lease

2009-09-08T18:16:00.002-05:00

Chicago Tribune (Hal Dardick) reports that the Cook County board will cancel the lease of Commissioner Tony Peraica's district office at 10001 Roosevelt, Westchester, because Peraica's landlord made "in kind" contributions of space for political campaigns valued in excess of the $6,000 limit imposed by the ethics ordinance.

What is the significance in Proviso?

That office was the campaign office for both the outsider campaign for the Village of Melrose Park (Jesse Martinez and his slate sought to unseat village president Ron Serpico and his slate) and for Proviso Township (the slate led by Theresa Kelly opposed the establishment slate headed by Michael Corrigan).

grasshopper on ochra plant

2009-09-07T13:37:00.000-05:00

Rep. Ford interviews Todd Stroger on WVON

2009-09-06T23:13:00.002-05:00

Sunday, on his weekly WVON radio program State Rep. La Shawn Ford interviewed Cook County Board President Todd Stroger.

Ford's questions were a combination of obsequious and opening the door so Stroger could make the points he's making in his campaign for re-election. Ford made a big deal of Stroger's education based on being admitted to St. Ignatius College Prepatory School (competitive admission) and getting a BA in history from Xavier University in Louisiana. At one point Ford referred to Stroger being “crucified” in the media.

(Ford is a strong proponent of Catholic Schools, so it's not surprising he started by emphasizing Stroger's Catholic school roots.)

I called and asked three questions. Two callers made points about Kiddieland. Otherwise the callers were all Stroger supporters who spent time attacking either the media or Rep. Danny Davis for running against Stroger.

Stroger mostly left me thinking less of him after the interview than before.

Stroger mentioned that he started college as an engineering major, but decided to switch when he realized engineers sit at their desks all day. Stroger wanted to move around more.

I am 95+% sure Stroger is lying. Stroger quit his engineering major because he either couldn't do the course work or wasn't willing to make the effort to do the course work. Engineering is hard; history is easy. Stroger's line about engineers spending all their time at their desks is BS. Good engineers push to spend more time with the equipment and seeing how the operators handle the equipment in real life (as opposed to how they should be handling it according to designers). Good engineers spend time in design labs. The excuse Stroger provided for quitting engineering is designed to sound reasonable to someone who is ignorant, but it's simply not true.

In my first question I asked Stroger what he did as an investment banker. Stroger likes to mention his experience as an investment banker on the campaign trail. It sounds like a serious job.

Stroger connected taxing bodies who wanted to sell bonds to bond buyers. He was paid on commission. I'm sure there was some paperwork to do, but I suspect there is very little uncertainty associated with this work. The taxing body decides to borrow money. The rating agencies rate each taxing body. And then the bonds are sold to investors. Bonds are very conservative investments, so it's not like an investor needs to be convinced to take a risk.

Which taxing bodies did Stroger make commissions from? He listed a few, including City of Chicago, Chicago Park District, State of Illinois and District 152 (Harvey elementary schools).

One of the galling things Stroger said in the interview was that he didn't expect to go into politics, he saw himself in the private sector. What is the definition of “private sector” in Stroger's mind? Using political connections to get commissions on sale of bonds? If private sector means private investors raising capital and selling private goods and services to private (not government) customers, Stroger has never held a private sector job. Or, he hasn't mentioned it on the campaign trail.

I asked if Stroger bore increased responsibility for Donna Dunning not working-out as the CFO for Cook County government. Stroger fired his cousin, Dunning, as CFO because of her role in the Tony Cole scandal. See Eric Zorn (Chicago Tribune).

Stroger claimed hiring Dunning reflected positively on him. He said Dunning was successful because Cook County government is “in the black”. Stroger keeps hammering the message that Cook County government had a deficit (although Stroger used the word “debt”) of $ ½ billion when he assumed office and now has a surplus. Stroger's critics contend Stroger's 1% sales tax increase exceeded the needs of the county and that much of the excess taxation has gone to hiring people who aren't needed for Cook County to provide services.

In my final query I asked Stroger to explain the difference between good management and bad management. I asked this question because I suspect Stroger hasn't had experiences in well run organizations and poorly run organizations. He doesn't appreciate the difference; he doesn't know when to delegate issues and when to get involved personally. For example, he dictates who should be hired for low level positions (like when Tony Cole was hired). He doesn't understand that his job as President is to set a direction for county government and keep his lieutenants moving toward the goals he sets. Everything else should be delegated.

Stroger's answer to my query was, “Good management is when things go well; bad management is when they go poorly.” There are a few ways to take Stroger's answer. 1) He's an idiot; 2) He thinks the people listening are idiots; or 3) he just wanted to be disrespectful toward me.

Arlene Jones and then Chris from Edgewater called to encourage Cook County government to do something to keep Kiddieland operating. See Arlene Jones (Austin Weekly News). Both Jones and Chris wanted the Cook County Forest Preserve District to provide land. On this point Stroger balanced acknowledging the passion of Jones and Chris with the constraints on using FPD land for non-forest preserve purposes.

(BTW, I'm pretty sure the origin of making it all but impossible to shift the use of forest preserve land to non forest preserve purposes goes back to the building of Proviso East High School, which sits on land owned by the Forest Preserve District. Forest preserve advocates made the case that there wasn't a point to having a forest preserve if local politicians could raid the land for worthy projects easily.)

I was surprised that so many people called to criticize Rep. Danny Davis for running for President of the Cook County Board. Some said he's doing great in Congress and should stay there (or should have run for U.S. Senate). Others said Davis wasn't particularly productive in Congress. And some emphasized that Davis is just too old and should make way for younger voices. One caller was upset Davis got $160 million for "White folks".

At least one person, Eunice from the South Side, made the argument that Mayor Richard Daley has engaged in much mismanagement, insider deals and cronyism as Stroger. The media seems to accept Daley's misdeeds as part of the package while attacking Stroger for the same transgressions.

This is a strong enough argument that it should be discussed (as opposed to most of the arguments made by callers which were just silly). At a forum on TIFs (see (BobB) Prairie State Blue), Ben Joravsky made this argument on behalf of Stroger. Joravsky's position is not so much asking people to go easier on Stroger, but to ask, why the #%&* Chicagoans don't push to hold Daley accountable.

Dear Rep. Danny Davis, please run for Lieutenant Governor

2009-09-06T13:55:00.003-05:00

Dear Congressman Danny Davis,

Happy 68th birthday! I apologize that I'm not going to be able to attend your party, I have a scheduling conflict.

I'm sorry, but the only gift I have is to give you my two cents. Instead of running for either President of the Cook County Board or for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, you should run for Lieutenant Governor.

Your first reaction is probably that the idea of running for Lt. Gov. doesn't make sense. Conventional wisdom in politics holds that being in Congress is better than Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra seriously considered resigning as Lt. Gov. to be a radio talk show host, right?

I challenge you to put aside the attitudes of other people and think back to why you got involved in politics. The late Paul Wellstone said that politics is about improving people's lives. I aspire that my activism will make a difference, and despite any differences I have with you, I believe you began in politics for all the right reasons. You wanted to leverage the power of politics to uplift the people.

I'm going to call it like I see it. I apologize if I snub your ego. I think you've gotten frustrated with Congress. You feel like there's not much difference you can make there. You feel like you aren't getting the respect you deserve.

You got to Congress at an awkward time. The old warhorses of the Black Caucus were established. A bunch of new members were elected as a result of the remap based on the 1990 census. They were all senior to you. And the younger Black Caucus members, elected since you arrive in Congress in 1997, have more energy and ambition. If Cardiss Collins would have retired ten years earlier you'd be much more in the leadership of the Black Caucus and in Congress.

Why Lt. Gov?

I'm impressed with your interest and focus on ex-offender reentry. You've been the leader in Congress on the issue. And the system does have a number of barriers to getting employment that aren't officially part of sentencing and punishment.

The ex-offender bill you passed in Congress probably is about as far as Congress is willing to go at this point.

But you've raised valid points about the various professional licenses that are arbitrarily denied to ex-felons. However, licensing is a state issue.

Picture yourself devoting your time to getting all those laws repealed or modified.

I once asked someone knowledgeable about politics what job he'd like in politics. He said Vice President of the United States because you can do what you like and aren't really responsible for any problems. Lt. Gov. is the same way. If it's useful to be in Springfield, go to Springfield and do what needs to be done. Otherwise you can work out of a Chicago office.

I'd also like you to apply sustained pressure to Attorney General Lisa Madigan on the issue of Taser stun guns. Are cops using them gratuitously? Are police disproportionately using stun guns on African-Americans and Latinos? Poor people? Are some police departments using stun guns much more aggressively than other police departments?

The issues facing Cook County suck. They're big. They're intractable. The President supervises a vast number of people. And s/he interacts with lots and lots of people, including a whole bunch of elected officials. Some of those people are petty, self-absorbed assholes who you won't be able to fire. It's a demanding job.

In 2006, you told the Democratic Committeemen of Cook County you wanted the job because you didn't want to travel to DC every week. Congressman Davis, being President of the Cook County Board isn't like holding a seat on the Board of Review. It's not a job for a person looking to be home for dinner every day.

You're 68 years old. You'll be 69 ½ when you assume office as President. Most of your first term will be after your 70th birthday. Do you want to be fighting with the State's Attorney over budget issues? Dealing with Cook County jail? Managing the county's legislative interests in Springfield and DC? It's a huge job. Will you have the energy to do it right?

Back to Lt. Gov.... If you run for Lt. Gov. it will be a move that will be remembered, because you let go of the more prestigious job so that you could accomplish something that will make a difference in people's lives.

I don't want to be snotty or disrespectful, but your career in Congress has been lackluster. (I mostly attribute this to 1997 being a horrible time to start and that you would have done better if you were younger when you were first elected.) You haven't made any huge gaffes, but you haven't passed any big bills either.

Run for Lt. Gov. Use it as a platform to advance issues and pass legislation that removes barriers to ex-offenders re-entering society. The work on ex-offenders is where you've made your mark. If you cap your career with major legislation at the state level, you will be remembered as someone who made a difference in people's lives. Running for Lt. Gov. will show that you had the self-confidence to resist conventional wisdom, run for the lower prestige office because that's where you could accomplish something important.

Sincerely,

Carl Nyberg

my doubts about Quinn's reform agenda

2009-09-02T21:40:00.004-05:00

Since I just gigged a Republican candidate for governor for peddling feel-good BS, I am going to be bi-partisan and gig Governor Pat Quinn (Democrat).

Last night I attended the Northside DFA meeting because I was interested in the endorsement decision for President of the Cook County Board. The group overcame a couple suggestions to delay the decision process for longer. It then rejected endorsing Danny K. Davis and endorsed and "adopted" Toni Preckwinkle. "Adoption" means Northside DFA will encourage its member to work for the Preckwinkle campaign. To adopt a candidate s/he must have the support of at least 90% of the members.

Disclosure: I spoke in favor of Preckwinkle and against Davis.

The first speaker was Quinn's chief of staff, Jerome Stermer.

Stermer explained that Quinn identified three priority areas when he assumed the governorship.

1. Ethics reform
2. Economic recovery
3. Providing state services while dealing with the budget crisis

I doubt there would be much disagreement with those priorities. They make sense to me.

But then Stermer spoke about how to implement these priorities.

The first thing he addressed was recall.

Recall does nothing to address systemic corruption. In hindsight it seems like maybe Rod Blagojevich could have been recalled. However, recall takes time. The Illinois Constitution already has a tool for dealing with someone like Blagojevich, impeachment. It's just that Illinois legislators chose not to use it until the feds arrest Blagojevich.

But recall has a populist feel to it and it makes the little guy feel like he's got a tool for holding corrupt officials accountable.

And Quinn is all about tapping that populist emotion with policies that sound good, but have significant drawbacks in practice. Quinn championed the Cutback Amendment which reduced the number of members of the Illinois General Assembly, but also decreased the political and ideological diversity and consolidated power in the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate (aka "The Four Tops").

Ironically, Quinn is now advocating reforms to cut the power of the Four Tops. He wants to impose term limits on the leaders as part of his reform agenda.

1. This seems unlikely to pass, for obvious reasons.

2. If it did pass, it's not clear how it would work. What keeps a boss from relinquishing the title (say "Speaker of the House") and appointing some flunky?

Stermer did talk up the Accountability Portal, which is supposed to be one place to get information to monitor state government.

While I like the idea of reform, I'm disappointed by Quinn's agenda. Recall seems like political grandstanding. Term limits on legislative leaders seems impractical and a waste of energy.

And the real problems I see at the local level, conflict-of-interest problems, legal bills and excessive litigation aren't addressed at all.

There was one bright spot to the evening. Daniel Biss spoke to Northside DFA about running for state representative in Evanston, Glenview, that area.

Biss kept his initial pitch short but did particularly well in the Q&A. He told the story of a grandmother who invited him inside and served him root beer from a mug she kept in the freezer for her grandson, "in case he stopped by". He said that he did a poor job at differentiating himself from his Republican opponent in his campaign message.

And Biss said that he focused excessively on his campaign plan without allowing for flexibility. He quoted Stephen Colbert speaking about George W. Bush, "You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday, that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday." Biss said that he implemented the plan in August and then October without taking into account what happened in September.

I've known Biss as a fellow activist for a few years. This was the first time I saw him speak to a group. I was impressed how well he connected. I think he's got a bunch of promise because he's good at campaigning, smart on policy and ambitious. (He raised $430,000 for a state rep race to challenge an incumbent without help from the Illinois Democratic Party.)

beware of BS on property taxes

2009-09-02T21:29:00.002-05:00

Adam Andrzejewski, Republican candidate for governor, posted the following to his Facebook page. I responded but my response quickly “disappeared”.

Adam Andrzejewski thinks that Illinois property tax is our most opaque tax. Most citizens have difficulty coming to grips with the complex terms, methods of determination, and appeals process. Furthermore, since many taxing bodies are represented on the same property ...tax bill, there is a lack of fiscal accountability. My objective is to create understanding through simplification and instill accountability through financial caps.

Property taxes weren't always so high. Forty years ago we had higher income taxes (and inheritance taxes) and low property taxes. Now the United States has lower federal income taxes, but Illinois has higher property taxes.

The Republican agenda at the national level has been to cut the federal income tax and devolve services to state and local government in the name of “local control”.

(At least part of the “local control” movement has its origins in the racist “state's rights” movement. “State's rights” was the battle cry of the segregationists who objected to the federal government using its power to enforce civil rights for African-Americans.)

In this expanded format, I will acknowledge the Democratic Party didn't resist the push to cut federal income taxes (and the inheritance tax) significantly. The Democrats now hold strong majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and aren't pushing to undue the tax policies of the Republicans.

The property tax has problems. If you buy a bicycle for $250, it's pretty clear what one should pay if the sales tax is 11%. If you make $50,000, it's pretty clear what one should pay if the income tax is 3%.

But how much tax should one pay on a piece of property? The same house could sell for a wide range of prices on any given day depending on the eagerness of the buyer and seller.

Andrzejewski is absolutely correct that the system of determining property taxes lacks precision. The Cook County Assessor has a secret formula. Based on my experience preparing hundreds of property tax appeals, the formula is pretty good. But assigning values to properties that haven't sold recently... it's a best guess.

Andrzejewski's second objection is bullshit. So what if multiple taxing bodies are on the same bill?

If Andrzejewski has concerns/objections about lack of accountability in government spending money he should advocate for laws that end the practice of paying taxes to one unit of government and then having that unit of government give grants to other units of government. This practice undermines accountability far more than having multiple line items for elementary school district, high school district, county, village, etc. on one tax bill.

Andrzejewski wants to simplify property taxes. In most tax systems simplicity is in tension with fairness. There are various programs that make property taxes more complicated: the senior exemption, the senior freeze and the homeowner exemption. Also, commercial and residential properties are taxed differently. Is Andrzejewski advocating elimination of any of the special programs? Perhaps advocating residential and commercial property get taxed the same way?

Or maybe Andrzejewski wants to have a flat tax where every homeowner in a community pays the same tax rate?

Republicans get so used to peddling bullshit that sounds good, sometimes it seems they can't have serious discussions about policy.

Capping property taxes is one of those ideas that sounds good until you get into the details.

Local government needs more money to operate from year to year. While I haven't done an analysis, I'm pretty sure this is driven by a few factors.

1.Health care costs increase faster than the rate of inflation
2.Schools are expected to do more (smaller classes, more special needs obligations)
3.TIF districts diminish the tax base forcing the remaining tax base to pay more
4.Government uses tricks to raid future revenue to delay the need to raise taxes (The City of Chicago leasing parking meters for 50 cents on the dollar is an egregious example of getting the money now while raiding the revenue stream for 99 years.)

The system isn't set-up so that local units of government can make do with the same amount of money from year to year. The system forces local units of government to raise taxes periodically.

I've met Andrzejewski. He invited me to take a trip to Kankakee with him. He's a nice guy. And sincerely concerned about reducing corruption. But just because someone's heart is in the right place doesn't mean that the policies s/he's advocating will work or are good policies.

What would you like to see covered?

2009-09-02T15:34:00.001-05:00

As I explained when I started blogging on Proviso Probe again, this will only continue through the February, 2010 primary.

What stuff would you like to see covered between now and then?

Danny Davis won't buy a car from Whites, Latinos or Asians

2009-09-01T15:54:00.004-05:00

In this entry I will discuss what I observed about the racial politics of the candidate forum for the Black Democrats running for President of the Cook County Board. (Part 1, Part 2, Progress Illinois (Adam Doster) and Laura Washington (Sun-Times & Washington Report)).

First, I'm baffled that the media outlets that seem to relish in finding fault with current President Todd Stroger (Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times) didn't cover the event as news. Washington's coverage was an opinion piece. As far as I can tell, Chicago Defender and the other media outlets didn't cover it either. Cook County Board President is a first-tier race. It's a bunch of money, jobs and power. Why wouldn't media outlets send reporters? Seriously. According to Google Maps it's 4.3 miles by car, about eight minutes from the Tribune Building. Do the major media outlets think Malcolm X College has a “no White people allowed” rule?

Stroger's appeals for support because he's a Black man were the most in-your face.

In his concluding remarks Stroger said, “We let the major papers tear our leaders down.” He then told of shaking the hand of a Black boy at the Bud Billiken Day parade. Stroger said the boy could see, “This Black man is doing something powerful!... This is about Black people and how we are perceived.”

Stroger never called the Sun-Times or the Chicago Tribune the “White” media, but it seemed pretty strongly implied.

Dorothy Brown and Toni Preckwinkle both made appeals that on substance that would have been substantially the same in front of non-Black audiences. Brown emphasized her credentials and her success in getting $187 million out of the Illinois General Assembly. Preckwinkle emphasized her plan and generally being organized in how she presented her ideas. Preckwinkle explained what she has accomplished as alderman, but didn't come back to it. If Preckwinkle did emphasize one thing about her history it was her recognition by groups like IVI-IPO for her independence.

Stylistically, Brown and Preckwinkle differed. Brown's supporters were quite vocal. They were both loud partisans for her and willing to heckle Stroger. Brown's speaking style was also loud, indignant and in-your-face.

One of Laura Washington's commenters wrote the following of Preckwinkle.

Toni’s style definitely puts her at a disadvantage in this race. She’s trying to be the Barack Obama of Cook County. Obama’s style is why he lost to Bobby Rush in the congressional race in which they squared off. Back then, urban blacks could not relate to him, and this is part of Toni’s problem. In using “urban” I’m being polite, as there is another term that better describes the types of blacks who cheered on their candidates at Malcom X. To a lot of urban blacks Toni and Barack are “bougie.” Though, very few urban blacks would say this about barack today openly for fear of reprisals. Toni plays better with certain types of black people—they tend to be college educated and professional and want the blacks who represent them to be of the Harold Washington style.

And, instead of channeling Barack Obama, Toni needs to channel Harold Washington–before it’s too late (LOL!)!!!!!!!!!!

I disagree that Preckwinkle is trying to be Obama. I think her performance at Malcolm X was a natural continuation of her speaking style going back 20 years. (Perhaps as a new politician Obama imitated Preckwinkle. If you were an educated, light-skinned Black person looking to imitate someone successful in the Hyde Park area, who would you imitate?)

The issue of Black candidates splitting the Black vote was hammered home over and over. Cliff Kelley, the moderator, told the audience that Martin Luther King III (in Chicago to promote Olympics) said that Atlanta might elect a White mayor because four Black candidates were running. Davis referred to the split between Eugene Sawyer and Tim Evans. Davis mentioned that seven COGIC bishops were negotiating behind the scenes to get support for one Black candidate.

Danny K. Davis made one remark that I considered a bombshell. Cliff Kelley, the WVON moderator, asked about affirmative action in contracting. (Somebody from the audience shouted about companies fraudulently getting business because they have bogus owners to make them eligible for women and minority set asides. This issue wasn't addressed by any candidates.)

Kelley complained that government work in his neighborhood isn't being done by people who look like him and then asked, “How will you assure minority contracting?”

Preckwinkle gave a detailed answer of how she, aligned with other alderman including “Ike” Carothers, pushed to get set asides for minority and women owned businesses, as part of the negotiations with the International Olympic Committee.

Stroger told of the minority expo that occurred while he's been President and cited an increase from 25-34% of county contracts with minority owned businesses and an increase of from 10-16% of county contracts with women owned businesses. Stroger also attacked unnamed county officials trying to bypass minority contracting requirements by claiming “emergencies”.

Davis began with a general statement about affirmative action. Then Davis said, “If you ain't African-American don't expect to sell me no car.”

I ran this by some people who are neither Black nor White, people who like Davis, and they were taken aback.

Is Danny Davis really saying he wouldn't buy a car from an Asian or a Latino who lived in his district under any circumstances? Davis has gotten a bunch of votes in his life from people who aren't Black, and raised money from people who aren't Black. Presumably he wants to get voters from non-Blacks for whatever office he's seeking in 2010 (he's preparing for two mutually exclusive races).

What's the message Davis wanted the audience to take away from that statement? I think the message is that Black county employees will get promoted ahead of other county employees. And to the extent Davis influences who gets hired for county jobs, Blacks will get jobs ahead of others to the maximum extent allowed by the law.

There are a number of ways to talk about affirmative action and increasing opportunity for women and people who have historically been excluded. Normally liberals talk about diversity and fairness being for the benefit of everyone. The greater good of opening doors of opportunity justifies the relatively small inconvenience to people who have to wait for another opportunity.

Davis has been in in politics for decades. Even when Davis was an alderman, he didn't represent an all Black ward. There was the Island and the tres chic neighborhood on Race and Midway Park near West Suburban Hospital (where Davis lives). Since getting elected to the Cook County Board in 1990, Davis has had to appeal to a substantial number of voters who were not Black.

Davis knows how to discuss affirmative action delicately. But when asked about affirmative action, Davis reframed the discussion as one where only one salesman is going to get a commission. And Davis is going to give the commission to a Black salesman no matter how good the Latino, Asian, White or Arab salesman performs.

Is Davis losing his mental acuity? Has he always felt this way? Or was he making a cynical pitch for Black votes?

Davis boasted on his high approval ratings in suburban Cook County. It's not going to take a political whiz to take Davis saying he wouldn't buy from someone who isn't Black and create a TV ad that drives Davis' favorables down across Cook County.

Davis lamented the fracture of the Harold Washington coalition (Blacks and progressives). But Davis did his part to fracture the coalition. Progressives participate in the coalition because they want to see quality government services delivered to people who need them without a bunch of money skimmed for patronage and machine politics. What Davis seems to want is for Blacks to get the lion's share of the jobs and then Davis will float a plan to expand government services. If it passes that means more jobs for the Black political class. If it doesn't, Blacks got the jobs that were available. Poor people will just have to wait. After all, Jesus said, we'll always have poor folk.

you are invited to Congressman Davis' b-day bash!

2009-08-31T11:23:00.001-05:00

U.S. Representative Danny K. Davis has announced on Facebook he's having a birthday party and you're invited.

Danny K. Davis invites you to my Annual Birthday Party as I kick-off my campaign for President of the Cook County Board. Sunday September 6, 2009 from 4pm to 9pm ALL IS WELCOME everything is FREE!!!! 3333 w. Arthington Homan Square Garden SEE YOU THERE!!!

Bellwood has highest sales tax rate in Illinois

2009-08-31T10:23:00.001-05:00

See Chicago Tribune.

Prez of Cook County Board, candidate forum, part 2

2009-08-31T09:36:00.003-05:00

Earlier I gave a summary of what happened at the WVON forum for Black Democrats running for President of the Cook County Board.

Incumbent Todd Stroger repeatedly made appeals based on ethnic solidarity, being a victim of the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times and some attempts to invoke liberal populism.

Clerk of the Court Dorothy Brown emphasized her credentials and accomplishments in her current job. She used a passionate, somewhat indignant style to make her case.

Congressman Danny K. Davis had a folksy style. He spoke in general terms and sold the idea that he could create consensus amoung the seventeen commissioners and generally bring “hope” to the people.

Alderman Toni Preckwinkle had the fewest supporters in the audience, had trouble connecting with the audience, but she made the case that the Fourth Ward has become more desirable for homeowners and businesses for her having been alderman. She was also the only candidate to speak in specifics about what she would do if elected.

There were issues I felt should be covered more to do justice to want the candidates said. So, I wrote this entry and expect to write at least one more.

Moderator Cliff Kelley asked candidates who are their core voters.

Preckwinkle began by explaining her base in the Fourth Ward and on the South Side and moving outward. She mentioned aldermen she had worked with, especially the Latino caucus. She then mentioned progressives and and independent Whites and ended by mentioning women. Someone from the audience heckled Preckwinkle for not mentioning the West Side, the location of the forum.

Brown quoted a poll which had her leading with 34%, Davis with 30%, Preckwinkle with 10% and Stroger with 8%. Brown said the people were “interested in dollars and cents, not Black and White”. This resulted in heckling. Brown and Stroger supporters seemed the most organized in the audience, so I assume the heckling was from Stroger supporters. Brown finished by saying the election of Barack Obama proved that people vote across ethnic lines if the candidate is “qualified and can get the job done.”

After saying he had a strong base in the Seventh Congressional District Davis cited his own polling. Davis said he had 65-6 favorable to unfavorable rating across Cook County. Among South Side voters his favorables were 71-8; among West Side voters 65-8; in the south 'burbs 61-10. Davis said that the only politicians more popular than him were President Barack Obama and Senator Dick Durbin. Davis noted Mayor Richard Daley's popularity exceeded Davis in the city, but Davis beat Daley in suburban Cook.

Stroger began by saying, “My core voters are people who care about universal health care.... people who care about health and public safety.” He went on to draw attention to the City of Chicago's deficit ($ ½ billion) and the State of Illinois' defict ($7 billion). He emphasized, “The county is solid!”

Cliff Kelly quoted former Cook County Commissioner (now U.S. Representative) Mike Quigley saying that he was disappointed because there had not been any serious discussion of reform in the race.

Preckwinkle disagreed and said Quigley was in Congress and “has not been attentive.... [Quigley is] not as informed as he should be.”

Brown stated Quigley was “out of touch” because her campaign was about reform. Brown touted her support of citizen review commissions and noted, “Quigley did not support that idea.”

Davis said, “Reform is like beauty; it's in the eye of the beholder.” Davis then spoke about campaign financing. He advocated for limits on both contributions and spending, finally calling for publicly financed elections.

While none of the candidates praised Quigley, Stroger spoke with the most hostility. He explained Quigley's philosophy of reform as telling Stroger, “Those people you hired should be fired.” Stroger then said, “We've made change.” Stroger then equated change and reform. Stroger finished by saying of Quigley (and perhaps Commissioners Forrest Claypool and Larry Suffredin), “The only change they want? I want your job.”

Kelley asked Davis circulating why he is circulating two sets of nominating petitions (one to run for re-election as U.S. Representative and one for President of the Cook County board) if he's committed to running for President.

Davis said he had vowed not to be the candidate to split the Black vote as happened when Eugene Sawyer and Timothy Evans opposed each other for mayor. Davis said he believes he will be so far ahead in the polls the other Black candidates will drop from the contest and support him.

Stroger took the opportunity to praise Davis whom he called “a champion” of Cook County in Congress and “great counsel”. With Davis being on the Ways and Means Committee, “Now he can do even more.” This resulted in a standing ovation. “In conclusion,” Stroger said, “I support Congressman Danny Davis for the Seventh Congressional District.”

Brown drew attention to potential candidates for Congress being “disadvantaged” by Davis keeping the option of running for re-election. She also objected to Davis' polling, “I was not in his poll.” Brown said her name recognition was 80% in the city and 74% in the suburbs. She finished by saying, “A leader must be decisive.”

Davis reacted to the comment about other candidates by muttering something about how it shouldn't be a big deal for them to circulate nominating petitions for Congress if they are serious candidates.

In his concluding remarks, Davis made the following claim, “I ain't ever had a job that I didn't do better than the person before me.”

I'm going to write more on this forum later. There was a significant amount of racial politics, which I haven't wrote about yet. You can also read Laura Washington (Sun-Times) or Progress Illinois (Adam Doster).

Danny K. Davis addressed Northside DFA in early August

2009-08-30T15:40:00.004-05:00

[I apologize for not posting this earlier. I wrote the portion pertaining to U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis and was dragging my feet about writing the portion on Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin. Once Suffredin dropped from the race for President of the Cook County Board, it didn't seem as important what he had to say.]

Thursday, August 6, 2009, night U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis and Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin made presentations to Northside DFA (a local affiliate of Democracy for America) about their desires to replace Todd Stroger as President of the Cook County Board. Two months prior Alderman Toni Preckwinkle made her presentation.

Northside DFA rules require that the organization wait one month after hearing a candidate before endorsing. Northside DFA could have endorsed Preckwinkle last month, but some members wanted to hear from Davis and Suffredin. The vote to endorse Preckwinkle was 24-12, which failed to meet the 75% requirement for endorsement. There were some members who wanted to wait until next month when Davis and Suffredin would be ripe for endorsement.

One personal observation I will share is that the room was bristling with energy. People seemed genuinely enthusiastic to be there and to be participating. Davis, who presented after Suffredin, started by noting the enthusiasm in the room and ended with a genuine compliment (paraphrasing), even if he'd never run for office he would hope for meetings like this to happen because it was the essence of American democracy.

Davis started by saying county government was going in the “wrong direction”. He noted three areas of concern for him: health care, especially for the indigent, judicial/corrections and taxes.

Davis then boasted of his ability to pass bills, even when Bush was President and the Republicans controlled Congress. He noted that he has been pushing for single-payer health care on the Ways and Means Committee.

Davis' presentation was short leaving more time for questions.

Q1, Forest Preserve District. Davis discussed the Forest Preserve District as a place where the interests of labor and environmental activists conflict with each other.

Q2, health care. When asked about access to health care Davis extolled the virtues community health centers.

Q3, ethics. Davis had an evocative answer to the question of an ethical dilemma he faced. According to Davis, when he was alderman Davis was being courted by a developer who wanted a liquor license for a storefront just a little too close to a school. Eventually the developer brought a paper bag to a meeting. Davis said, “I thought is was a hot dog.” Davis said he made sure not an ounce of liquor was sold from that storefront.

Q4, advocating for single-payer health care in Congress. The next question asked who would replace Davis as an advocate of single-payer on the Ways and Means Committee. Davis said that's a decision the people will make. He then spoke of the 29th Ward People's Assembly, an organization that existed in the past. Davis did predict the state reps would not run for the IL-07 U.S. House seat. He did not mention them by name, but different places online claim that Rep. Karen Yarbrough, La Shawn Ford and Deborah Graham all have interest in running.

Q4. The next question lamented that Davis' expertise leaving DC. Davis responded, “I love being a member of Congress and I've been quite successful.” He spoke of “critical issues” and this being a “defining moment”.

Davis then went on to say that he would “get out the vote for Democrats... I'm afraid if some population groups aren't participating as effectively as they can we won't get Democrats elected governor and senator.”

Q5, environment. Next Davis was asked about environmental issues. He praised the technological innovations that went into making energy production and industry more environmentally friendly. This was one of the few times Davis has taken a question and sounded like he was clearly relying on BS.

Q6, why not accept the appointment to U.S. Senate? There was a question that asked why Davis was running for President of the Cook County Board if he declined appointment to the U.S. Senate because he was too busy working on expungement issues. Davis explained he declined appointment to the U.S. Senate by Gov. Rod Blagojevich because he thought that would be the end of his political career.

Q7, not a question. Then a particularly obnoxious Davis surrogate was recognized. Barbara started a speech about her credentials (being from the 1st Ward and being more conservative than liberal) and praising Davis. After awhile someone asked if she had a question. She said she did. But she never asked a question and finished her speech by saying, “This is the best man for the job.” Later Barbara interrupted others and said things like, “Toni Preckwinkle can't win; she doesn't have the experience.” Somewhere along the way Barbara expressed concerns there were too many Black candidates splitting the vote in the race for President of the Cook County Board.

Q8, county jail. Davis was asked about the Cook County jail. He made the point that the United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the people incarcerated around the world. He then said, “Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart already doing the things that need to be done. He would have been the toughest guy to beat [for President of the Cook County Board].” Davis went on to say that he is on the LSC for the school serving Cook County jail. He then went into listing all the professional licenses denied to convicted felons in Illinois, including barber, cosmetology, plumber, etc.

Q9, leadership. Next a question prompted Davis to address his leadership philosophy. He started generally by talking about the importance of inspiring and motivating to bring out the best in people. He then talked about his six years as a teacher in which he said he only missed two days, one for an Army physical and one to take a lady to the Lincoln Park Zoo. He also mentioned his leadership in medical clinics before he worked in politics. He also mentioned how Cook County government needs resources and he suggested applying for grants from state and federal government.

Q10, health care bill, public option. A person asked if Davis would commit to withholding his vote on the health care bill unless it contained a public option. Davis started his answer by mentioning some of the numerous caucuses to which he belongs in Congress, including the Asian Caucus and the Pan Hellenic Caucus. He then said that the Progressive Caucus discussed withholding their votes if the health care bill did not include a public option.

Davis said that he told the members of the Progressive Caucus that, “President Obama lives too close and is too popular [for Davis to vote against Obama's bill].” He then said he hopes the President “sticks to his guns.”

Davis then meandered into a story about taxes. He said that there was a proposal to pay for expanding health coverage by taxing pop (and similar sugary drinks) at ten cents per bottle. Davis explained that he is the co-chair of the Sugar Caucus. Davis along with his co-chair Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL10) and Rep. John Lewis (D-Atlanta; GA Coke is big there) fought to kill this proposal. Davis explained the point of the sugar caucus is to “keep the cost of sugar down”. This serves the interests of Chicago businesses that manufacture candy and other products that contain sugar.

Davis concluded by saying, “I would not support a plan without a public option.”

After the presentations Northside DFA endorsed Jeff Smith, a member, for the Illinois General Assembly. Smith is an attorney running for the seat being vacated by Rep. Julie Hamos, who is running for Congress.

should Cubs protect Black players from racial taunting?

2009-08-29T23:19:00.002-05:00

On Prairie State Blue I made the case that the Chicago Cubs do have an obligation to detect and eject fans engaged in racial taunting of Milton Bradley and other players.

candidate forum, Black Dems running for Prez of Cook County Board

2009-08-28T15:22:00.004-05:00

On Thursday, August 27, WVON hosted a forum for the four Black Democrats running for President of the Cook County Board at Malcolm X College (near West Side). Terry O'Brien, the non-Black Democratic candidate, was invited, but had a conflict. The crowd filled the seats and had people standing in the balcony. WVON's Cliff Kelley moderated.

Campaign message:

Dorothy Brown
Brown introduced herself and included the line, “We need new ideas, not new taxes.” She positioned herself as having relevant financial and management experience based on her education (JD, MBA and CPA) and her running the office of the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court (2,100 employees). Brown repeatedly mentioned that she has saved $187 million as clerk. Brown described the county as facing a crisis, financial and management.

Danny K. Davis
Davis started by saying he believed the county and state were in need and could be in crisis. He said he wants honest and open government. He acknowledged that people want to pay lower taxes. He explained the two “essential” functions of Cook County government as being health care and criminal justice. Davis offered himself as qualified to run the health care system because he ran a health care clinic before he was an elected official and because he was a leader in the National Association of Community Health Centers. On criminal justice, Davis expressed the goal of reducing crime and recidivism and to generally give hope. Davis emphasized the role the seventeen members of the county board play and said that he would be most able to bring the board together.

Toni Preckwinkle
Preckwinkle said government has two obligations: 1) to deliver quality service, and 2) to deliver services efficiently and effectively. Preckwinkle touted her experience as alderman improving the quality of life in the Fourth Ward as proof she has the energy and vision to be President of the Cook County Board. Preckwinkle said she'd do three things as President: 1) eliminate the 1% sales tax increase over four years which would make Cook County more competitive which would increase jobs; 2) continue the independent governing board for the Cook County health care system; and 3) reduce the jail population through increased substance abuse treatment.

Todd Stroger
Stroger emphasized having three balanced budgets multiple times during the presentation. He drew contrasts with city and state budgets that have large deficits. He complained the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times unfairly attacked him. Stroger said he was on the side of the people and the people were on his side. During the evening he injected positive information about Cook County government. Stroger's supporters were quite vocal, gave him standing ovations and frequently broke into chants of, “Four more years!”
In his concluding remarks Stroger said, “We let the major papers tear our leaders down.” He then told of shaking the hand of a Black boy at the Bud Billiken Day parade. Stroger said the boy could see, “This Black man is doing something powerful!... This is about Black people and how we are perceived.”

Style:

Brown
Dorothy Brown came across as passionate and energized. There was something not quite right about the modulation for me. Maybe it was too much, too much of the time. Her supporters were about as numerous and loud as Stroger's.

Davis
Davis appeared to be the elder statesman. The moderator, Kelley, helped by being most deferential to Davis. He could connect with the audience without theatrics. Davis was often smiling knowingly as other candidates spoke in a way that made Davis seem like he was watching little leaguers learn the game of politics.

Preckwinkle
While having her ideas organized and giving details was her strength, the style of her presentation was her weakness. Toward the end Preckwinkle's forehead was furrowed. It might have been the light pointing too directly at her face. But it was easy to get the impression she was scowling because she was frustrated. Was she frustrated with Kelly, who treated the male candidates better? Was she frustrated with the audience that seemed to be more interested in style than substance? Was she frustrated that her campaign didn't muster more people for the audience? Maybe it was just the light.

Stroger
Stroger has gotten more effective on the campaign trail than he was four years ago. Four years ago he appeared amiable, if a bit hapless. At the Malcolm X forum he was indignant at be treated disrespectfully by the major media outlets. Stroger used emotion and used details to make his case. Stroger failed to state a vision for the future, but when he said he was on the side of the people he said it with conviction.

Points about county government:

Cook County government spends about $3 billion per year, of which about $882 million go to the hospital, according to Preckwinkle.
Between 2005-07 Cook County forfeited $139 million of Medicaid payments for failing to apply in accordance with federal procedure according to Preckwinkle.
Dorothy Brown was the only candidate that drew attention to the patient intake system. Patients are expected to arrive at 5 AM; the hospital stops allowing patients to get in line at 7 AM. As Brown noted, this kinda sucks if you're sick and there is inclement weather.
Preckwinkle noted Cook County is “in trouble with the federal government for overcrowding” at the jail.

Criticisms of Stroger:

In response to complaining about media coverage, Preckwinkle noted that part of the president's job is to manage relations with the media.

Brown chided Stroger about the forums organized by Cook County government to advise homeowners about mortgage and foreclosure issues. Stroger said the program was an example of Cook County government serving its citizens. Brown countered that the county spent money on something that a foundation (she mentioned the name) would have done for free.
At this point, Kelley made it the clearest that some candidates were more equal than others. Kelley modified the format to allow Stroger to respond. Stroger denied spending money. Brown said he did. Stroger said it was federal money to deal with mortgage issues. Brown countered that the money could have been spent helping people if the forums would have been done for free.
I liked how Brown handled Kelley modifying the rules to help Stroger. Brown simply said her piece and kept talking when Kelly tried to give Stroger the last word. Brown didn't complain Kelly was putting his thumb on the scale, she just took control of the situation.

Other coverage:

Progress Illinois (Adam Doster)

I didn't see coverage in the Trib, Defender or Sun-Times.

[UPDATE: I asked the National Association of Community Health Centers about Davis' experience. This is the email response I received:

Rep. Davis was instrumental in helping to start the National Association of Community Health Centers and served as President before getting elected to Congress. He is also a former employee, board member and patient of two health centers and a long time friend of the Community Health Center Movement. Health centers were started as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty and today they serve 20 million people, nearly 40 percent of whom are uninsured. Congressman Davis has championed for their support and expansion as a Member of Congress, which is why he is a repeat winner of NACHC’s Health Center Champion Award.

[end UPDATE]

Pirate Pride: documentary on Provis East boys hoops program

2009-08-16T11:53:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I attended a screening of Pirate Pride at the Gene Siskel Film Center. The one-hour film Pirate Pride is about the glory years of the Proviso East basketball program and how Maywoodians have both made the program successful and gone on to success in the NBA.

The film was produced by David D. Grace and directed by Derek Grace. During the discussion of the film, the Grace's indicated they intend to incorporate more footage about Shannon Brown who was a point guard on the Los Angeles Lakers team that won the NBA championship in 2009.

Since the film is still a work in progress, I hope some of my criticisms will cause the filmmakers to reflect and improve the film.

One person who watched Pirate Pride described it as being like a Chamber of Commerce film. It is also repetitive without offering significant insights. To be successful in sports one needs pride, drive, talent, practice and a supporting school and community. OK. So what?

When speaking to the audience the filmmakers expressed their motivation as being to present a positive image of Maywood to counter the negative information about Maywood. Presenting all positive for an hour makes the film tedious.

The 1969 team won the state championship during a very tumultuous time. The story for this part of the film should probably look something like a documentary version of Remember the Titans. Instead one of the people interviewed characterizes Proviso as going through the same issues as every other school in the country during that period.

Really? I'm not an expert on that era, but it seems like Proviso was facing more issues than the typical suburban school or typical majority Black school.

This also ties into a another weakness of the film. The film seems to be made by Maywoodians and for Maywoodians. It's assumed that the audience knows who Fred Hampton was when he's mentioned (once). One person gives the boundaries on where Blacks were allowed to live in Maywood, but this isn't explained. When this information is given, the film should show a map of Maywood and area Blacks were constrained to.

During the discussion a bunch of time went into praising the movie and people saying how important it would be to show this film to elementary school students.

As a morality tale, a Spiderman cartoon would be better. None of the people being interviewed tell about an obstacle they've overcome. They don't discuss key decisions in their lives. They are presented as people who decided to be really good at basketball and they worked long hours and became really good at basketball.

Having spent some time with athletes, chess players and competing in math competitions myself, there's a disconnect with reality. To become the best, one has to work really hard. But for 99+% of people becoming a great basketball player is not an option. Far less than one in a thousand has the potential to become a grand master chess player no matter how much drive and practice.

The movie also has the Maywood problem of obsessively looking backward. Attendance at Proviso East hoops games is down, a detail that the movie mentions but doesn't discuss.

Question: Proviso East graduates have been on the team that won the NBA championship for three straight years (Michael Finley, 2007, San Antonio; Glenn “Doc” Rivers, 2008, Boston; Brown, 2009, LA), if Proviso East is so imbued with pride, why is attendance down at hoops games?

The movie would be more effective if it tackled Maywood's problems and Proviso East's problems directly. The community has a crime problem. Students at Proviso East do poorly on standardized tests.

Without explaining the problems the community and the school face, the movie treats its audience as children that need to be shielded from the truth. No amount of extolling the Golden Age of Maywood will bring those circumstances back. Communities who have a positive future take stock of their situation and make a decision to make the best decisions going forward. Maywood obsessively looks backward and tries to reclaim the past. This has caused the community to slip backward consistently since about the time the Pirates won their first state hoops championship (1969).

Davis circulating petitions for two offices?

2009-08-12T22:34:00.006-05:00

I received a phone call tonight from someone who had previously said Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL07) was only circulating nominating petitions for Cook County Board President. S/he said that a minor paper (unknown which one) reported Davis is circulating nominating petitions for both President and U.S. Representative (Congress).

S/he followed the information with a question about whether I would still blog through February. I responded that I would. Besides the IL-07 race, I am interested in the race for the Cook County Board's First District, currently represented by Earlean Collins. I am also interested in the race for President of the Cook County Board and potentially Proviso Township Committeeman.

BTW, I was discussing various candidates for President of the Cook County Board.

Comments:

Brown ran against Mayor Richard M. Daley and she's still in politics. If Brown doesn't get on board with supporting Stroger, what further punishment is she going to incur? Brown is probably annoyed at various Black ministers who are aligned with the Democratic Machine. She figures if they backed Daley against her; she can mess-up their situation by splitting the Black vote against Stroger.

Brown also has a winning move in that she can wait until it becomes clear who is the strongest candidate and throw her support behind him/her.

I expect Davis to either file for re-election to Congress or to fold his tent completely and retire from elected politics. According to people in the meeting of the Cook County Democrats in 2006 (when the party needed a candidate to replace John Stroger on the ballot) Davis made a pitch that he was tired of commuting to Washington, DC.

I don't think "I'm tired of commuting to DC" is the pitch that inspires people to stick out their necks for you. "Don't make no waves; don't back no losers," still applies in Chicago. I don't see committeemen taking a risk with someone who doesn't want to work hard. Politics may not reward virtue, but the game doesn't reward sloth and resting on yesteryear's accomplishments.

Davis is running to reconnect with people he met during his 1991 campaign for Mayor of Chicago. He gets to be in the media. And he gets to be important when he endorses Preckwinkle.

O'Brien is hoping that multiple Black candidates stay in the race and he wins based on consolidating the "White" vote. The Democratic Party presumably doesn't want an overly Irish ticket. So there are big picture factors that work against O'Brien.

Preckwinkle has made the greatest inroads into the activist community and has impressive fundraising. Being from Hyde Park is sexier than it was before Obama.

Stroger will have the support of some of the Machine and some Black voters. But the Machine values some level of competency. Stroger may reliably defend the perks and privileges of the Machine, he brings more trouble than he's worth. County government will get more scrutiny with Stroger at the helm.

Suffredin will switch to either running for re-election to the County Board or running for Cook County Assessor against Joe Berrios. Suffredin may know more about county government than the other candidates. But he doesn't connect with voters well on the campaign trail compared to more formidable politicians.

[UPDATE: A reader sent a link to the Pioneer Press (Patrick Butler) article on Davis.

"He is definitely running" for Todd Stroger's spot and will also be getting petition signatures for a race for a seventh Congressional term.

"While he can't run for both jobs at the same time, he has until Oct. 26 -- the last day for filing petitions -- to decide" which office he'll go for, [campaign spokesperson Tumia] Romero said.

[This is typical of Danny Davis. He's obviously slinging bullshit and he thinks that because he's a member of Congress we're supposed to ignore it's bullshit.

[The one angle that sorta makes sense is if Davis is trying to bluff candidates out of the IL-07 race. By circulating petitions Davis is making it difficult for most candidates to organize and raise money. Jim Ascot is the one candidate that will plow ahead whether Davis is running or not.]

Forest Park poised to politicize village administrator position

2009-08-10T09:31:00.004-05:00

The Village of Forest Park has been without a village administrator since Mike Sturino departed in January, 2009.

Proviso Township Trustee (and former Forest Park Commissioner) Tim Gillian has emerged as one of the finalists for the position. See Forest Park Review (Josh Adams).

Steve Bachman of Citizens United in Forest Park created the following video to show how the four commissioners were united on getting a village administrator hired. Commissioner Mark Hosty called for someone "non-political". Commissioner Rory Hoskins agreed with Hosty and called for it to be done expeditiously. Commissioner Mike Curry also agreed and emphasized the village would work better with the position filled. Commissioner Marty Tellalian called for filling the position to have significant expertise.

In a later meeting Mayor Anthony Calderone said the candidate should, "The individual selected would not be an expert in any one capacity and has a heeping amount of good old common sense and diplomacy." [emphasis added]

Here's a anecdote about Gillian that shows his version of common sense.

I covered a Village of Forest Park meeting shortly after the April, 2003 elections which seated Patrick Doolin, Gillian, Hosty and Theresa Steinbach and Anthony Calderone as Mayor.

Hosty relayed a complaint from a constituent about the intake of overnight parking requests. The constituent complained that when she called the number to request overnight parking for her mother the message said if it was before 8 PM to call the police department instead. The police department told her to call after 8 PM.

The message made more work for the person requesting the overnight parking and the police department with no value added.

Calderone called the overnight parking number to test this (it was still before 8 PM). And the message did say what Hosty reported.

Calderone and all the commissioners were fine with changing the message, except Gillian. Gillian argued that if the message was changed constituents would just find something else to complain about.

I was a new reporter and didn't know any of these people (except for meeting Calderone briefly at a party once). So I approached Gillian during a break in the meeting to see if he'd softened his position. Sometimes people say stupid stuff and then rethink it. But Gillian stuck to his guns. He was opposed to changing the message because he was opposed to giving complainers what they wanted.

I talked with Hosty after the meeting. Hosty agreed that Gillian's statements on the issue were odd and he said of Gillian, "I don't know who peed in his Wheaties this morning."

"Common sense" is of course a bogus quality in this situation. What Calderone means when he talks about "common sense" is people doing what Calderone wants done. What Calderone wants is "common sense" and people who have concerns and objections are interlopers and the over educated.

And Gillian will do what Calderone wants, partly because they are friends and political allies. Also because Calderone is giving Gillian an exceedingly generous paycheck for a job that Gillian isn't qualified for (per the job posting). And a big part of the reason Gillian will allow Calderone to call the shots at the village is that Gillian is just lazy. He didn't prepare for meetings by reading materials when he was a village trustee. Calderone wants to be able to call department heads to tell them what to do and then hide behind the village administrator when stuff goes badly. Gillian won't mind taking the fall because he's not a professional municipal official looking to get another job someplace else.

Mike Sturino did the job with sufficient professionalism he could credibly apply for a job in some other unit of government. Gillian won't feel constrained this way.

Ron Lawless to run for Cook County Board?

2009-08-09T17:27:00.004-05:00

Is Ron Lawless running for the Cook County Board? There's a Facebook group, a website and a fundraising page on Act Blue.

At a party yesterday that include Green Party members, members of NWCPJ and maybe some people from OPCTJ, at least one person expects Lawless to run as a Green Party candidate.

Since the Act Blue site mentions outreach to the West Side, I assume this means Lawless is considering a run for the seat now held by Earlean Collins. Ade Onayemi has already announced his intent to run in the Democratic primary.

Lawless ran in 1998 in the 4th Senate District (Dem primary) when Collins vacated that position unexpectedly. Kimberly Lightford, who was then a Maywood trustee, won the multi-candidate race.

Forest Park village email case Calderone gets off

2009-08-07T17:22:00.002-05:00

Forest Park Mayor Anthony Calderone has succeeded in getting himself removed as a defendant in former-commissioner Theresa Steinbach's lawsuit about pilfered emails. See Forest Park Review (Josh Adams).

"It's hard to feel vindicated in any sense because I've always felt from day one that this was some kind of ridiculous lawsuit," Calderone said of the ruling.

Doesn't everyone think the mayor should have access to the emails of his political opposition?

Oak Park school board vet to run for Cook County board

2009-08-07T15:22:00.002-05:00

Wednesday Journal (Terry Dean):

Former District 97 school board member Ade Onayemi is looking to replace incumbent Commissioner Earlean Collins on the Cook County board next year.

Are there other potential candidates?

This is a race I want to give some extra attention.

Ali ElSaffar, Oak Park Township Assessor, probable candidate for Cook County Assessor

2009-08-07T15:18:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, Jim Houlihan announced he will not run for Cook County Assessor.

Ali ElSaffar, the president of the association of township assessors in suburban Cook County, has expressed interest in running. See Prairie State Blue.

nominating petitions open thread

2009-08-05T15:51:00.003-05:00

Monday, August 4, was the first day to gather nominating petitions for the February, 2010 primary.

A number of candidates are sending out emails and holding meetings about when they are mustering their signature gathering crews. Some of these campaigns pay money.

If you want to leave info about your campaign or a candidate you support, use the comments in this thread.

Proviso Probe will operate until February, 2010 primaries

2009-08-05T13:51:00.003-05:00

Tonight I'm going to a committee meeting of IVI-IPO to discuss how to improve the candidate endorsement process. Two nights ago I attended a meeting with a political organization (Tenth Dems) about how to improve the organization's use of social networking.

I did get sick of blogging on stuff Proviso for awhile, but I care about some of this stuff. I would like to see Proviso elect good representatives in the February, 2010 election. After that, this blog will go away away unless some way to make it substantially more lucrative than it has been emerges.

What stories interest you? What's on your mind?

Scavo convicted; where's it gonna lead?

2009-06-01T19:19:00.002-05:00

Vito Scavo, the former Melrose Park chief of police, was convicted of 22 of 22 counts of corruption today. Also convicted were Gary Montino, Scavo's deputy chief, and Michael Wynn. Scavo faces up to 20 years in prison. See Proviso Herald (Jolie Lee), Chicago Tribune (Mike Robinson, AP), ABC7 (Chuck Goudie) or CBS2 (STNG).

What can I add?

Some people involved in Proviso politics like Jesse Martinez and Mike Manzo (both of whom have run against Ron Serpico for village president of Melrose Park) see Ron Serpico as being the central figure in bad (if not corrupt) government in in Proviso Township.

In the indictment against Scavo some of the malfeasance goes back to 1996. August Taddeo was village president until at least 1998.

So, it seems possible that Scavo was "the big fish" and Serpico was Scavo's guy. The Melrose Park police force provided the base of power in the Village of Melrose Park. Scavo picked Serpico to be his candidate for village president because he knew Serpico wouldn't interfere with the criminal schemes Scavo was running in the police department.

Serpico didn't have an intention of reforming things, but the corruption was there before he arrived.

What are the pieces of the puzzle?

Scavo was convicted and will now be looking to cut a deal. With whom did Scavo have interactions with?

Serpico
District 209 (Scavo's security company was paid to guard the PMSA building)
Who else?

Anthony Bruno has been charged with tax evasion. With whom did Bruno have interactions?

Ric Cervone, a former board member at District 89 (Maywood and Melrose Park elementary schools), was charged in the same indictment that convicted Scavo. With whom did Cervone interact?

Who else is in the mix?

forum: Bellwood and Maywood candidates for village president

2009-03-20T11:15:00.005-05:00

Last night West Suburban Journal sponsored a forum for Bellwood and Maywood candidates for village president (popularly called "mayor"). Neighborhood United Methodist Church hosted the forum. From Bellwood Jeanette Johnson had the stage to herself because incumbent Frank Pasquale declined to participate.

From Maywood all three candidates participated. Seated from left to right on the stage was Grady Rivers (Proviso Township Clerk and president of the board of education District 89), Demetrius Davis, Henderson Yarbrough.

Before the forum began Davis, Rivers and Yarbrough responded to the following questions in writing.

What is your vision for the village?
What are three things you will attempt to do if elected?
What is the probability each will succeed?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the village?
What are the opportunities and threats?

Below are the answers provided. (~~It's going to take me a little time to type Rivers' response because he sent it by fax. The others were emailed.~~)

The candidates also offered to respond to questions that did not get included in the forum in writing. If you have questions you can email them to me at RadioNyberg circled "a" Yah00 spot C0M or greatdebate circled "a" westsuburbanjournal spot C0M.

Davis:

What is your vision for the village?

My vision is to transform Maywood into the "pace-setting" community of the western suburbs. The Maywood of tomorrow will be a diverse community of residents expressing deep love for both their neighbors and neighborhood. 5th Avenue will once again be the vibrant downtown section that it once was. Unique boutiques, shops, and eateries will line both sides of the street. The "Town Center" (1st/Eisenhower) will serve as our retail and entertain complex. This area will house big box retailers as well as entertainment venues such as a bowling alley, skating rink, video arcade, and a fine arts theater. Finally, my vision for Maywood includes weeding out the criminal elements infecting the town to provide a safe environment for families and businesses to thrive.

What are three things you will attempt to do if elected?
1.) Provide Safe Streets by increasing the number of police on patrol, and by launching a full assault on gangs and drugs

2.) Provide New Jobs by hiring seasonal employees within public works, providing summer jobs for youth, and requiring 5th Ave road improvement contractors to hire a certain percentage of Maywoodians.

3.) Attract New Businesses by using our available resources to attract businesses through incentives.

What is the probability each will succeed?

There is a high probability each will succeed, but it will be a collaborative effort between government and citizens. The community must be supportive of their mayor abandoning the status quo and calling the entire village to a higher standard.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the village?

Strengths:

Location
Resilient Residents
Rich Tradition
Diversity

Weaknesses:

Crime
Poor Leadership
Politically Divided
High Number of Foreclosures
High Property Taxes
Poor Schools
Lack of Businesses
High Unemployment

What are the opportunities and threats?

Opportunities:

The Most Vacant Land in Western Suburbs
TIF and Empowerment Zone
Residents Ready for Change
Attractive Location

Threats:

Low Employee Morale
Poor Reputation
High Unemployment
High Drug Abuse
Political Division
Poor Educational System

Yarbrough:

What is your vision for the village?

In the last four years the village of Maywood has reshaped its image from a community primarily known for crime, poor service and lack of professionalism to a village that is proactively addressing issues of public safety, service and 21st Century professional management. Moving forward, my vision of Maywood is a West Cook leader for developers looking for business prospects. Additionally, my vision of Maywood is as a destination tourists want to come to for its unique history, its showcase homes and what will be an economic development boon that will draw shoppers from throughout the Chicago-land area and beyond. Also in that vision is a hope of improved public education, which is a major factor in how families choose where to live.

What are three things you will attempt to do if re-elected?

My administration will continue its efforts to improve public safety, develop our next phase of economic development, and further accelerate our efforts to deal with infrastructure needs.

What are the probabilities each will succeed?

In the area of public safety, I look to a continuation of reduced crime and increased arrests and convictions. The 77 security cameras, the tightening of our ordinances dealing with graffiti and prostitution, the stepped up vigilance and visibility of our police officers and our efforts to patrol in collaboration with our county, state, other villages and Cease-Fire partners all result in a safer community. Maywood will continue to increase public safety.

We are very satisfied with the first phase of our economic development plan—finalizing our Comprehensive Plan and updating our zoning to reflect contemporary Maywood realities. Additionally, we have “shopped” our villages through numerous conferences and seminars and have developed solid relationships with proven developers who await a brighter economy before being able to finalize a development. Most importantly, we have gained control of a significant amount of land, which gives us leverage in dealing directly with developers without having to deal with property owners. Therefore, our economic development planning will result in many new businesses opening in Maywood.

Our on-going relationships with elected officials on the federal and state level have resulted in significant grant monies for infrastructure. This year’s ambitious capital improvement plan will yield $15 million for projects in key Maywood roadways—5th Avenue; Lake Street; Madison Avenue; Roosevelt Road; 9th Avenue and others. Those projects include roadway improvements, sidewalks, gutters, curbs and lighting. We will be getting funds to fix some long-standing water main problems and drainage problems which are exacerbated every time it rains. I am proud to say for the first time in recent history we have allocated dollars to pave alleys and will look for additional funds to pave more alleys.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the village?

I have already talked a lot about Maywood’s strengths; in short, Maywood is the equal to any West Cook village. If Maywood has a weakness, it is the perception that Maywood is inferior to its neighbors and will never get better. There are nay-sayers and stone-throwers who would rather criticize from afar than get involved in continuing our efforts to move Maywood forward. I applaud the 100 or so commissioners who serve our village as volunteers in many capacities. I applaud our special events committee, which has helped Maywood build a new community spirit by their involvement in our movie nights, our family fests, and our holiday special events. I have experienced the wonder of our new senior club, which every Friday provides fun and fellowship for our most treasured citizens. I am very pleased that our M.A.P.S. program of community-police engagement continues to grow and help all of us become crime fighters. To those who find comfort in hurling insults from sidelines, I challenge you to come on the playing field and help make Maywood better.

What are the opportunities and threats?

As Maywood continues to progress in all ways, the opportunities are limitless. We can be the economic engine for the West Cook suburbs; we can be the model community that illustrates diversity can work; we can continue to hold the line on taxes yet operate in the black while delivering professional, efficient services to all our residents; if public education in the district is reformed, we can advertise our village as a model community within which to raise a family. There are only two threats—an economy that presents infinite challenges both now and for the immediate future; and a gnawing yet happily reduced number of nay-sayers who don’t believe that Maywood can truly take its place as a community leader. I am both an optimist and a realist. I believe in Maywood and look forward to leading my village to a new and brighter future.

Rivers:

What is your vision for the village?

My vision for Maywood is for it to be a community that all residents can be proud of because it is sage and a great place to raise a family in. I envision a town with robust economic development, and good recreational facilities for our children. In order to do this we must get a handle on crime so my focus will be on working with our local police department as well as state and federal agencies in order to battle the gangs and drug dealers that plaque (sic) our community.

What are three things you will attempt to do if elected?

1.When elected I will work to change the image of the village, because as long as we are viewed in a negative light it makes it difficult to move forward in a positive manner.
2. I will fully implement the park district referendum that was overwhelmingly approved a couple of years ago. This is how we improve recreational opportunities in Maywood and our parks should be under one entity the Maywood park district because all they deal with is recreation, if you look at the successful park districts in our area for example veterans park district in Melrose park (sic) and memorial park district in Bellwood all they deal with is recreation. The current situation in Maywood where you have the village recreation department which levies a tax and then you get taxed again by the Maywood park district is unfair and has been proven to be unsuccessful.
3. I will establish a better business bureau in town in order to promote Maywood as a viable business destination, and help current business be successful.

What is the probability each will succeed?

I don't see any reason why these goals can't be accomplished with strong leadership.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the village?

One of our greatest strengths is the location of our village, people want to be close to the city. The north south dividing line for Chicago is Madison st. (sic) which runs right through the center of our town. We have the railroad that runs along st. charles rd. and the Eisenhower expressway on the south end of town. Also most maywoodians take great pride in our community, anyone who has lived here the last few decades remembers what a nice place Maywood used to be and realizes our great potential.

One of our biggest weaknesses I believe is the image people have of Maywood because of our high crime rate. It has led some people to give up on our village and has contributed to business not wanting to invest here.

There also seems to be a lack of faith in our political leaders. We need strong leadership in order to succeed.

What are the opportunities and threats?

Opportunities are numerous the Roosevelt road corridor needs to be developed. Loyola hospital needs restaurants, and a hotel. Loyola is our areas biggest employer yet they are hardly mentioned in Maywoods comprehensive plan. We need a full service grocery store, the downtown area (5th ave) stands mostly abandoned. Our biggest parcel of open space, the old comed property at 1st ave. and the Eisenhower must be developed these are great opportunities that must be taken advantage of.

The biggest threats to Maywood are the high unemployment rate, high taxes, gangs and drugs all are tough problems but with bold leadership they can be overcome.

Is it St. Patrick's Day?

2009-03-17T08:30:00.002-05:00

Remember, the Irish lived under a brutal oppression by the English. Before there was English oppressing Africans in Rhodesia and South Africa, before English oppression of Indigenous Australians, before the English subjugated Hindus and Muslims on the Subcontinent, the English were practicing how to control a foreign people in Ireland.

The greatest grievance of the Irish against the English was the Great Famine, aka the Irish Potato Famine, 1845-52.

When the Civil War began in 1861, the United States conscripted large numbers of Irish to fight against the Confederacy. In 1863, people opposed to conscription held demonstrations that turned into the New York Draft Riots which...

the protests degraded into "a virtual racial pogrom, with uncounted numbers of blacks murdered on the streets". The conditions in the city were such that Major General John E. Wool stated on July 16, "Martial law ought to be proclaimed, but I have not a sufficient force to enforce it." The military suppressed the mob using artillery and fixed bayonets, but not before numerous buildings were ransacked or destroyed, including many homes and an orphanage for black children.

David Kincaid

Here's some more Irish music for St. Patrick's Day.

Those videos are from The Pogues.

Sunday, I went to the South Side Irish Parade. My girlfriend and I left early and went for a bite and drinks at North Eye's Bar, 2701 W. 87th, Chicago. A local had told us it was an Irish bar frequented by cops and firefighters. The bar is decorated with the posters that portray a romanticized version of Ireland. (Malachy McCourt, the brother of Frank McCourt, has been very critical of Irish-Americans who neglect the real issues facing Ireland by romanticizing Ireland excessively.) The bar also had a sign about the kitchen, "Help Wanted, No Irish Need Apply".

The bar had the South Side parade on the television (ABC-7). The announcer mentioned that President Barack Obama has Irish ancestry. One of the guys at the bar chimes in that Obama is from "the County of Coon". This guy further expounded that if the government didn't force neighborhoods to change there wouldn't be any hate crimes. I didn't engage him on the details of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919. This guy was no old-times, he looked to be in his early 20s.

Yarbrough excludes media from D209 candidate forum

2009-02-28T10:23:00.003-06:00

On Tuesday, February 24, 2009, Proviso Township Democratic Organization (PTDO), the political organization of Karen Yarbrough, who is both a state representative and the Democratic Committeeman for Proviso Township, invited me by email to attend the Saturday meeting at 10:00 AM on February 28, 2009.

The invitation listed four candidates for the board of education, Proviso Township High Schools (District 209): E. Chris Welch, Reatha Sue Henry, Dan Adams and Brian Cross. These four are all incumbents and all part of one slate. (See more of the invite below.)

Welch ran against Yarbrough for state representative in 2006. The defining ideology of Yarbrough's political organization seemed to be opposition to former Proviso Democratic Committeeman Eugene Moore and hatred of Welch, who has a knack for making enemies.

Friday, February 27, at 9:59 PM Yarbrough sent me a text, "no endorsements for schools and no media tomorrow." I responded within 10 minutes, "What's that mean for me?" Yarbrough did not respond.

On Saturday, February 28, I arrived about 10 minutes early for the 10 AM meeting. I entered behind Rory Hoskins, a Forest Park commissioner and president of PTDO, and helped myself to a doughnut.

When Yarbrough arrived she didn't greet me, but referred to her text from the night before.

I asked, "Are you asking me to leave?"

Yarbrough responded, "I told you not to come."

Along the way she mentioned Josh Adams, editor of the Forest Park Review also requested to attend the meeting. Yarbrough allying with Welch shakes up the political factions in local politics.

Text of PTDO invitation sent to me:

PROVISO TOWNSHIP DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZATION
REMINDER
from President Rory Hoskins

Proviso Township Democratic Organization's Saturday Meeting
DATE: Saturday, February 28th, 2009

TIME: 10:00 AM

LOCATION: 2301 W. Roosevelt Road

Broadview, IL 60155

Phone: 708-344-7062

Agenda Items:

* Meet District 209 Incumbent Candidates

E. Chris Welch

Reatha Sue Henry

Dan Adams

Brian Cross

PTDO Mission Statement
The Proviso Township Democratic Org., in coordination with the state and national Democratic Party, is committed to the principles of honest, open and progressive government and to increasing voter participation in the electoral process. PTDO is open to all persons, regardless of their race, age, gender, creed, religion, sexual orientation or economic status. [emphasis added]

Message from Karen:

It's been a busy time for all of us however we must do our due diligence in making selections for endorsement. The next few meetings will be spent hearing from candidates who's name will appear on the April 7th election. In the case of local elections, those who are members of the organization will be able to present their candidacy to the group.

Please note that all of these elections are
NON-PARTISAN. (meaning neither Democrat or Republican)

See you there!

PS: Only paid up dues members will be eligible to vote.

Karen A. Yarbrough
Commiteeman

Karen Yarbrough wants you to meet the candidates

2009-02-24T17:46:00.002-06:00

Proviso Township Democratic Organization, the political organization of Democratic Committeeman Karen Yarbrough, has invited members to meet four candidates for the Proviso Township High Schools (District 209) board of education.

When? 10:00 AM, Saturday, February 28, 2009
Where? 2301 W. Roosevelt Road, Broadview, IL

The candidates:

Emanuel "Chris" Welch
Reatha "Sue" Henry
Dan Adams
Brian Cross

To participate in the meeting, call Readith Ester, 708-344-7062.

IL-05 Dems on military issues and executive power

2009-02-21T23:42:00.003-06:00

In the special election for IL-05 (which includes Northlake and most of Melrose Park in Proviso Township) there will be a candidate forum Sunday, February 22, 1:30 - 4:00 PM at VFW Post 1284, 6940 W Diversey Ave, Chicago. I don't know which candidates will be there.

When I spoke to Jan Donatelli last week she made the point that the different forums tend to ask the same questions over and over. The field of candidates have been asked about the stimulus bill at every forum.

I do think that people organizing and moderating the questions at these forums should research the stuff that's been asked before. Much (most?) of it is available online.

I'm hoping the VFW forum will focus on matters of the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs and the State Department.

In preparation for the forum I pulled the Democratic answers from the IVI-IPO candidate questionnaires.

7.Do you agree with the current proposed level of funding for the military?

Carlos Monteagudo:

No. At a cost of 20 billion dollars a week, the moneys spent on executing the war in Iraq could be better used on activisties that would dramatically increase our heath, economic and global security.... (click here and scroll to #7 for the complete answer)

Mike Quigley (answer):

No. I believe there are savings tat can be found at the Pentagon that would probably be better spent on things like energy research and diplomacy, both issues that also promote our national security.

Charlie Wheelan (answer):

No. I believe we need a well-funded military, however, the Pentagon budget must reflect the priorities and needs of the wars we are currently fighting. I'd like to see some of the funds shifted to the Department of Veterans Affairs to support those who have served already and for funds to be added to the Department of State for additional diplomatic activity. We need to significantly improve the funding for the State Department and other non-military international activities.

Frank Annunzio:

No. Military spending has more than doubled since 2001 and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost 170 billion dollars this year alone. I believe we should cut military spending in half over the next 5 years and utilize the money to buy down our debt, ensure that we never again have homeless veterans, and implementation of a single payer health care system.

Paul Bryar (answer):

No. President Obama has not yet proposed his military funding level. I believe that it should be different from the latest funding by the last administration. It should take into account re-shaping our military to deal with the threats of the 21st century.

Sara Feigenholtz (answer):

No. We need to direct more resources to provide assistance for return veterans and their families and work to expand access to health care services, including treatment for mental illnesses like PTSD.

Victor Forys:

Yes. I woul like to see the military spend more money on veterans services like traumatic brain injury, mental illness and PTSD which are currently not getting fully funded. I'd also like to see pay for enlisted personnel increased.

John Fritchey (answer):

No. As we withdraw from Iraq we must lower appropriations both to the overall Defense budget and the Global War on Terror supplement. President Obama plans to reduce Defense spending by 10%, and I believe we must continue to eliminate waste from the Department's operations, particularly in long-term weapon systems purchasing where costs continuously overrun projections. In general, a refocus on diplomacy should be accompanied by an increase in funding for State Department and particularly USAID programs, and a decrease in disproportionate military spending. One of our first priorities, however, must be to ensure our troops are fully and properly equipped to face whatever missions they are assigned.

Tom Geoghegan (answer):

No. We need to draw down our deployment levels in countries that are stable democracies like those in western Europe. These funds can be better deployed converting our energy systems to renewable sources and away from fossil fuels.

With the possible exception of Bryar, it seems like all the candidates favor reprogramming money now spent on the military (Department of Defense) to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of State and energy research. I give Annunzio props for significantly cutting the DOD and using the money for converting to a single-payer health care system.

But if the Democrats agree that military spending should be cut, why hasn't it happened? In Democratic Congresses and under Democratic presidents military spending has increased. Why will it be different now?

Since there is little difference between the candidates on the military budget question, I'm going to include other questions about executive branch power.

10.Would you support congressional investigations into government contractors that have participated in Human Rights violations such as the rendition/torture flights?
Yes: Annunzio, Bryar, Feigenholtz, Forys, Fritchey, Geoghegan, Monteagudo, Quigley
No: Wheelan
Quigley expanded:

If violations of the law are clear, then we must have accountability.

11. Would you support legislation banning such activities in the question above?
Yes: Annunzio, Bryar, Feigenholtz, Forys, Fritchey, Geoghegan, Monteagudo, Wheelan
No: none
Declined yes/no answer: Quigley
Quigley:

I'm unsure as to the question. If there were human rights violations, they are already covered by US law.

12. Will you support legislation guaranteeing the protections of the Geneva Conventions and the US Constitution to “enemy combatants” or others similarly detained by the US Government anywhere in the world?
Yes: Annunzio, Bryar, Feigenholtz, Forys, Fritchey, Geoghegan, Monteagudo, Wheelan
No: none
Declined yes/no answer: Quigley

Quigley:

The constitution provides a means by which to legally address enemy combatants through international treaties. I think it is time to revisit the Geneva Conventions now that international, stateless enemies exist.

65.Would you support Congressional investigations of wrong-doing under the Bush administration?
Yes: Annunzio, Bryar, Feigenholtz, Forys, Fritchey, Geoghegan, Monteagudo
No: Wheelan
Declined yes/no answer: Quigley

Forys expanded answer:

We are a country of laws not of me. We will not know where we are, unless we know where we came from. The statute of limitations has not passed on the crimes that were committed by the Bush Administration.

I graduated from UIC with a degree in Criminal Justice. Societies that do not provide justice to all their individuals can never be stable or free.

Monteagudo expanded answer:

Yes but not at the expense of getting things done in Congress moving forward. We must not get mired down in a criminal investigation or hearing that would take years to prosecute and could lead to viscous partisan bickering and government paralysis. I would rather see something like a truth and reconciliation commission created.

Quigley:

I believe we must move forward, but in instances of clear wrong-doing, we have to hold people accountable.

103. Do you support changes to the Military Commissions Act?
Yes: Annunzio, Bryar, Feigenholtz, Forys, Fritchey, Geoghegan, Monteagudo, Quigley
No: Wheelan

107/108. Would you support legislation authorizing or prohibiting secret military tribunals?

Annunzio:

I do not support any type of military tribunal. This is unfair on many levels. We must ensure civil liberties for all.

Bryar:

I believe that secret military tribunals should be prohibited.

Feigenholtz:

I have always been a fierce supporter of the due proces for all individuals detained by American law enforcement. A secret military tribunal does not allow for this.

Forys:

I would support legislation prohibiting secret military tribunals.

Fritchey:

I would support legislation prohibiting secret military tribunals. As President Obama has said, we must reject the false choice between our ideals and our security. The secret military tribunals haphazardly fashioned by the Bush administration do not provide internationally accepted due process to prisoners in the war on terror, and have incited our enemies while alienating our allies. I was encouraged by President Obama's rapid steps to begin closing the Guantanamo Bay prison facility and I support a continued redesign of our anti-terrorism programs.

Geoghegan:

I do not support Secret Military Tribunals.

Monteagudo's answer began,

“Secret military tribunals are a dangerous affront to international rules of conduct....” Click link and scroll to #108 for the complete answer.

Quigley:

There are instances where trials must be conducted in secret to protect classified information, but they should be reviewed by Congress so that there is somebodyy accountable to the people involved.

Wheelan:

Our justice system is predicated on fair and open trials. Defendants in even the most terrible of crimes are entitled certain rights. Secret military tribunals would violate those basic rights.

109. Do you support legislation banning torture and inhumane treatment of detainees under US control?
Yes: Annunzio, Bryar, Feigenholtz, Forys, Fritchey, Geoghegan, Monteagudo, Quigley, Wheelan
No: none

Illinois issuing Obama license plates

2009-02-21T23:26:00.003-06:00

Where there's a Will, there's a way posted a pic Illinois' Obama license plates.

Part of me thinks it's cool.

But part of me sees this as being more the same than different when politicians plaster there names on stuff, like Rod Blagojevich putting his name on the toll plazas.

I would prefer that this commemoration wait until after Obama has served as President of the United States.

Here's an idea: Illinois can sell customized license plates made by our celebrity political criminals, George Ryan, Tony Rezko, Dan Rostenkowski, Mel Reynolds, etc. The plates could be serialized. What would you bid for "George Ryan #1"?

BREAKING: Proviso Dem Committeeman thinks Roland Burris should resign!

2009-02-18T08:20:00.002-06:00

In the last few days evidence has emerged that Sen. Roland Burris made misleading, untrue and false statements to the Illinois House impeachment committee that considered charges against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The Chicago Tribune has called for Blagojevich to resign. Cook County Clerk David Orr, Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley (also a Dem candidate for Congress in IL-05) and State Rep. Susana Mendoza have all called for Burris to resign.

Last night I texted the question, "Should Roland Burris resign as U.S. Senator?" to Rep. Karen Yarbrough who is also the Democratic Committeeman for Proviso Township. Proviso Township has the second most Democratic voters of any ward or township in Cook County.

This morning at 8:03 AM, Yarbrough responded, "Yes".

IL05 Dems on Social Security

2009-02-18T07:56:00.003-06:00

Once again I've taken candidate responses to the IVI-IPO candidate questionnaire. I'm trying to pull out the issues that are the most important from the 140+ questions.

47. What changes, if any, do you support regarding Social Security?

Victor Forys:

I oppose privatizing Social Security. I do not believe we need to make changes at this time. I support a bipartisan commission that will make long term recommendations that will ensure the solvency of Social Security. Social Security is solvent for decades to come and we must continue to ensure its long term viability by getting our financial house in order, regulating financial institutions and keeping the economy strong.

John Fritchey:

To fully fund Social Security I favor a modest raise in the cap on payroll taxes for higher income Americans....

Tom Geoghegan:

I want to expand Social Security, our public pension system, to replace, not overnight but in stages, the private pension system which has collapsed. Social Security now pays 38 to 39 percent of your working income. In other developed countries, it averages 65 percent....

Carlos Monteagudo is skeptical of claims there is a shortfall that threatens Social Security benefits. His advocates studying the issue. His first response will be to see if small adjustments to the “cost of living allowance” (COLA) will address any shortfall.

Mike Quigley:

We have to deal with Medicare first. Social Security is solvent for decades and it is the most successful government program in history. We need to maintain this program, especially now in economically difficult times.

Charlie Wheelan:

The tools for restoring the long-term health of Social Security are straightforward well known.... We must enact some combination of the following four policies to ensure social security's long-term solvency:

1.Reduce benefits of future retirees (most likely by raising the retirement age, or by taxing the benefits of higher income retirees)....

2.Increase the payroll tax, either by raising the tax rate (currently 12.4% split between employers and employees) or raising the cap so that the tax is levied beyond the current cap of $102,000.

3.Allow more young immigrants into the U.S., so they can begin paying taxes into the system.

4.Increase worker productivity so existing tax rates can generate enough new revenue to fund the extra burden of an aging population. This is a lovely solution but we have no direct control over productivity.

I would likely support some combination of these measures. The most logical would be to increase the retirement age (since life expectancy has grown far beyond what it was when the program was designed) and raising the cap so the payroll tax is collected on a higher proportion of the incomes of wealthy Americans.

Wheelan went on to raise concerns about Medicare.

Frank Annunzio:

I would change the taxable income to a much higher level of $500,000 and from $125,000 to $500,000 would be taxed at a 1.5% higher rate.

Paul Bryar:

I believe our Social Security system should remain public. I oppose privatization of Social Security....

Sara Feigenholtz:

Jumpstarting the economy to create jobs will mean more workers paying into the system, which is exactly what Social Security needs right now.

Providing strong protections against any moves to privatize social security is also an immediate priority....

Currently the wages subject to the Social Security tax are capped at approximately the first $100,000 of income. As part of keeping Social Security solvent in the long-term, Congress might consider lifting or adjusting that cap.

While protecting Social Security, we must seek to help Americans save more for retirement. I support proposals to promote employer-sponsored savings plans, such as 401(k)s, as well as tax credits to encourage working families to put more of their income into savings plans.

If you want a more robust Social Security retirement program, Geoghegan is your candidate.

The concensus among the other candidates seems to be that to the extent there is a shortfall it should be covered by raising the cap on FICA withholdings. Currently Americans pay FICA taxes on the first $102,000 of salary, wages and other non-investment compensation. By raising this amount to $202,000 the government would collect an extra $12,400 from each person making $202,000 per year or more. This is arguably a stiff tax increase for people making $150-250,000 per year.

Forys' call for a bipartisan commission is a teachable moment. The Republican Party—the hardcore Republican activists—were opposed to Social Security when it was created and favor dismantling the program. At one event Republican activists were chanting, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Social Security has to go!” (You can watch it on You Tube.) Part of the GOP opposition is ideological; part of it is practical. Successful government programs make citizens feel more comfortable seeking government solutions to other problems. As Quigley noted, Social Security is the most successful government program in history. If the GOP can radically reduce Social Security than no government program is safe.

So Forys is being naïve about having a bipartisan commission on Social Security. The current Republicans didn't negotiate in good faith when they were in the majority. The aren't negotiating in good faith now that they are in the minority. So, why should anyone expect the GOP to negotiate in good faith as part of a bipartisan commission on Social Security?

Quigley and Wheelan are correct to identify Medicare as being a more imminent problem than Social Security. To the extent Social Security will be a problem the problem will arrive in 30-40 years. Medicare taxes will be insufficient to pay guaranteed benefits in the near future.

Wheelan's response is textbook. You can learn from reading his answer. His comments about productivity reflect his ideological perspective.

Wheelan beliefs in the supply-demand paradigm so completely that he thinks people are paid based on how productive they are. I disagree. U.S. society produces a certain amount of goods and services. And the remuneration for these goods and services are distributed according to a system that values assholes who write bad loans and doesn't value women who care for children.

If we had a system that didn't compensate high-end professionals quite so lavishly we could afford to pay regular folk better.

For another example, unionized auto workers working for American companies get paid more than non-unionized workers working for Japanese companies in the South. If the federal government made it easier for workers to unionize they would make more money. On paper they would seem more productive to people like Wheelan because they would make more money.

So, passsing laws that make it easier to unionize would pushback (or eliminate) the date of reckoning for Social Security. But Wheelan is so committed to his supply-demand ideology that people are paid according to their productivity that he doesn't even consider raising the pay of regular folk.

I'm a little surprised that Feigenholtz favors encouraging employer-sponsored savings plans with tax credits. Low-income families don't pay federal income taxes, so the idea that low-income families can be encouraged to save through tax credits reflects ignorance of the federal tax code or that Feigenholtz has the most facile understanding of policy. Unfortunately, Feigenholtz seems to avoid policy specifics. Her comments about employer-sponsored savings plans make me suspect that Feigenholtz's vague answers on other policy matters means that she just doesn't know much about policy issues.

Oak Park boots homeless veteran from ballot

2009-02-12T13:52:00.004-06:00

This morning the Village of Oak Park's electoral board voted to removed Daniel Fore, a U.S. military veteran, from the ballot for village trustee because he is homeless. He is registered to vote at a relative's home in Oak Park. See Wednesday Journal for background.

I heard about this case through someone. My initial reaction was, what's the harm if a homeless person runs for office? If s/he's high enough functioning to get the votes, why should voters be deprived of a quality candidate?

I had a friend who worked in a nursing home caring for the developmentally disabled in western New York. One of the residents regularly ran for elected office. He did the paperwork and got his name on the ballot. My friend thought he got a kick from seeing his name on the ballot when he went to vote.

Is Oak Park's democracy so fragile that Daniel Fore being on the ballot will damage the village?

When I researched the story, I realized I've met Daniel Fore. He was getting signatures to oppose the village closing Eddy Garcia's restaurant. While I wasn't so impressed with the guy that I'd campaign for him, he wouldn't be the biggest idiot elected to local government in the western suburbs either.

While I know and respect all the members of the electoral board, Village President David Pope, Village Clerk Sandra Sokol and Trustee Ray Johnson, I think the right outcome is to let Fore run for office. However, Pope, Sokol and Johnson may have felt Illinois law tied their hands and punted the issue to federal court. Recently, a federal court has overturned the requirement that one must be a registered voter to circulate nominating petitions. Allowing homeless people to run for office from their address where they are registered to vote seems a logical extension of this thinking. Arbitrary rules should not keep people from participating in the political process.