Proviso has made a national top twenty list!

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) (organization website) has named Congressman Dan Lipinski as one of the twenty most corrupt members of Congress in 2008 (write-up). Lipinski represents the following Proviso communities: Brookfield, LaGrange Park, North Riverside and the southern portions of Forest Park and Westchester.

Rep. Dan Lipinski is a second-term member of Congress representing Illinois’ 3rd congressional district. Rep. Lipinski’s ethics issues stem from the outside employment of a top Washington D.C. congressional aide.

Jerome R. Hurckes

In January 2005, after serving as district director for former Rep. William Lipinski, Jerome “Jerry” Hurckes became chief of staff in the district office of Rep. Dan Lipinski, who replaced his father.

Since 1999, Mr. Hurckes has served as an elected member of the Village of Oak Lawn Board of Trustees. In that capacity he ran a state campaign account called Friends of Jerry Hurckes. Both former Rep. William Lipinski’s state PAC and the Dan Lipinski for Congress Committee have donated to Friends of Jerry Hurckes. Rep. Dan Lipinski serves on the House Transportation Committee, and companies with business in front of the committee, have donated to Mr. Hurckes’ campaign committee.

In his capacity as a local elected official, Mr. Hurckes has claimed responsibility for bringing federal funds to Oak Lawn. During an Oak Lawn board meeting in March 2008, Mr. Hurckes claimed that the village did not need to hire a lobbyist because he served as a de facto lobbyist. Mr. Hurckes said that he was "responsible for helping secure over $4 million for the Village of Oak Lawn ... responsible for helping obtain the funding for the Oak Lawn Children Museum ... [and] responsible for funding for emergency light systems," but Mr. Hurckes is not a registered federal lobbyist.

Given that Mr. Hurckes is the most highly paid staff member in Rep. Lipinski’s office, that his position is a full-time job and is generally considered a “senior staff” position, the fact that Mr. Hurckes’ salary is just under the figure that would make him “senior staff” suggests that Rep. Lipinski is paying Mr. Hurckes a salary under this limit precisely so that he can earn a substantial outside income. As a result, the House Ethics committee ought to investigate whether Rep. Lipinski and Mr. Hurckes are attempting to end-run the outside income restrictions.

By serving as a member of the Village of Oak Lawn Board of Trustees and admitting that he has been the Board’s “defacto lobbyist,” Mr. Hurckes is violating the prohibition against congressional staff serving as lobbyists. Mr. Hurckes also likely violated the prohibition against using House resources to perform the duties of his local office. And, by telling the Board of Oak Lawn that it did not need to hire a lobbyist because he was handling the city’s congressional issues and by stating that he had helped secure funding for projects in Oak Lawn, Mr. Hurckes clearly used his position in the House to provide special treatment to his constituents and encouraged the notion that his constituents would receive preferential treatment from Rep. Lipinski’s congressional office. Finally, by accepting money for his local electoral campaign from companies with interests before Rep. Lipinski, Mr. Hurckes is using his position as a congressional staff member to accept benefits under circumstances which might be construed by reasonable persons as influencing the performance of official duties in violation of House rules.

Lipinski has two opponents on the ballot in November: Michael Hawkins (Republican) and Jerome Pohlen (Green).

Jerry Hurckes is not a nice person.

Lipinski chief of staff tells citizen journalist to "talk to the hand"

On Friday, Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-Western Springs) hosted his annual senior fair at a recreation center in Berwyn. The fair brought together a number of government agencies and some businesses who provide services for seniors. Lipinski took three or so questions from the audience, but largely constituents got access to Lipinski by approaching him and talking to him.

This woman* asked Lipinski a question about his vote for the Bush-supported FISA bill in July. Wikipedia has background on the July vote.

Rita Maniotis is an activist with Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice and a Green Party candidate for state representative. Maniotis was video recording Lipinski at the senior fair.

Jerry Hurckes, Lipinski's chief of staff, was trying to keep Maniotis from getting good footage of Lipinski.

In the video clip you can see Hurckes using his hand to block Maniotis' view of Lipinski. When I saw Hurckes doing this, I turned my camera on and began filming. The clearest view of Hurckes harassing Maniotis is at about 15-17 seconds into the view I posted. Assuming it took me a few seconds to get my camera set up, Hurckes was behaving like a poorly socialized third grader for 20-30 seconds before Lipinski told him to behave.

I owe a huge thanks to Steve Backman of Citizens United in Forest Park for help making this video tape. He loaned me the camera and transfered it to a digital format that could be posted on You Tube.

• What is Hurckes thinking when he is harassing Maniotis?
• What should people infer about Lipinski based on Hurckes' behavior?
• Should Lipinski fire Hurckes over this incident?

BTW, show some love to Proviso Probe advertisers. If you are buying or selling property, contact Patrick Doolin.











Also, the candidates running against Lipinski in the Democratic primary are: Jerry Bennett, Jim Capperelli and Mark Pera. Jerry Pohlen of Berwyn is circulating nominating petitions to run for the seat as a Green Party candidate.

*I assumed she was with Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice, but Rita Maniotis didn't know her name. Maniotis is the secretary for Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice. [UPDATE: EK wrote down the woman's name as "Loretta Luizzi". I will check to verify this.]

[UPDATE: In a May 7, 2007 article in Daily Southtown, two Hurckes political rivals expressed suspicion that Hurckes used a village inspector to retaliate against and individual who challenged Hurckes in the village elections. On election night Hurckes made a quote that foreshadowed Hurckes getting even.

"If you battle the king, you better kill him, or he's going to come back and haunt you," Hurckes said on Election Day as he ribbed the rival Unity Party and alluded to a challenge for the mayoral seat in 2009.

[Suspicion about Hurckes using the village to retaliate against his political opponent was probably re-enforced by a March 4, 2007 Kristen McQueary column (Daily Southtown) that tells the story of Hurckes calling the police to see how they handled a flimsy complaint against his opponent about improperly shoveling snow.]