It is safe to say that the BGA isn't exactly a huge fan of Governor Blagojevich. I'm pretty confident that he is not part of the BGA fan club.
Recently, the BGA successfully complete two years of Freedom of Information Act litigation with the Governor in which we forced him to release federal grand jury subpoenas issued to his office in the first half of 2006.
After winning at the trial court level in early 2008, we sent in a second Freedom of Information Act request asking for a broader range of subpoenas. Although we were denied at the time, after winning an appeal related to the litigation we reminded the administration early in January of this year that our second request was outstanding.
We made it clear that if our second request wasn't complied with by the close of business on January 23, 2009 we would sue them again and the result would be the same. Thankfully the Blagojevich administration decided a second beat down in court wasn't in their interest and gave us copies of more subpoenas.
However, before giving us the documents on the 23rd the administration helpfully gave the records many media outlets before giving them to us. In an even more generous gesture, they gave the media an even broader range of subpoenas than they gave to us (our early 2008 request only asked for subpoenas through served on the administration through January 4, 2007).
I can't really claim to be too upset. We have been very critical of the administration and beat them in court. It is probably a bit much to expect them to extend us a courtesy. Besides, in a few days we will be rid of the Governor and that is far more important than his tweaking the BGA.
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From the Sun-Times:
Daley turned into an amateur psychiatrist Friday when asked about the governor’s claim that the state Senate’s upcoming impeachment trial is a plot to get Blagojevich out of the way to pave the wave for a massive tax increase.
“I’ve said, ‘cuckoo’ once. I’ll say it again: ‘Cuckoo,’ ” the mayor said of the governor’s claim.
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With all the horrible news coming out of our state Mayor Daley has decided, perhaps unintentionally, to give everyone a quick laugh.
Recently the City decided that it has to close a number of mental health centers. That of course is not funny at all, many people rely on the centers for help with their problems and they will now have to find different centers.
However, in trying to make clear that the decision was not his fault, the Mayor pointed out that the funding for the centers came from the state and due to funding cuts from Springfield some centers had to close.
Trying to drive his point home as who was to blame produced this comedy gem, "That is state money. Underline that. S-A-T-E [sic] money. It’s called state money. Let’s get the facts. These facts are not correct, so you have to correct people."
Thanks for the laugh Mayor (it really did make me laugh). It is unclear if Jackie Heard corrected the Mayor's spelling afterwards.
I look forward to Governor Quinn delivering the SATE of the SATE address in a few weeks.
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Apparently, among the first acts of the Obama Administration is an order to all federal agencies to err on the side of openness when dealing with Freedom of Information Act requests.
In announcing the order, President Obama stated "For a long time now, there's been too much secrecy in this City."
I hope state and local government here in Illinois follow suit. Making Illinois' Freedom of Information Act stronger is very important, but changing the attitude of many government officials, especially local government officials, in regard to transparency is just as important.
Florida is regarded as the "best" Freedom of Information Act state in the country by many openness advocates and the press. However, the language of the law itself isn't particularly spectacular, it certainly isn't the toughest law on the books. Nevertheless, there is a culture of transparency in Florida which leads to compliance with the spirit of openness laws, namely that information will be handed out unless there is a very good reason to withhold disclosure.
As Illinois moves forward to revamp its laws in light of the Blagojevich scandal, revising and strengthening the Illinois Freedom of Information Act has to be part of that effort. In addition, to meet citizens' demands for a more responsive and responsible government our state and local officials have to change their mindset from opposition to transparency to an embrace of transparency.
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Today the Illinois Reform Commission, established by Lt. Governor Pat Quinn to recommend ways to clean up state government, announced its full membership. The following is the roster:
Chairman, Patrick Collins, Partner at Perkins Coie, LLC (and a BGA Board Member)
Anita Alvarez, Cook County States Attorney
Pamela Davis, President and CEO of Edward Hospital
Pat Fitzgerald, Head Football Coach, Northwestern University
Hanke Gratteau, Former Chicago Tribune Managing Editor
Tasha Green, Executive Director of High Jump
David Hoffman, City of Chicago Inspector General
Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, President, DePaul University
Douglas L. Johnson, M.D., Neurosurgeon, DuPage Neurosurgery
Kate Maehr, Executive Director of the Greater Chicago Food Depository
Brad McMillen, Executive Director of the Institute for Principled Leadership
N. Duane Noland, President and CEO of the Association of Electric Cooperatives
Lawrence Oliver, Chief Counsel, Boeing
Sheila Simon, Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Southern Illinois University School of Law
Rev. Scott Willis
The Commission certainly has its work cut out for it, but it is clear that our state needs reform beyond simply removing Rod Blagojevich from office. I look forward to its recommendations.
Your thoughts on the Commission?
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Today Governor Blagojevich will swear-in the new state Senate.
It is the same body that will shortly be removing him from office.
Just the latest chapter in the tragicomedy known as Illinois state government.
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Here is how efforts to impose good government standards in Illinois usually work:
1) Changes to ethics laws, campaign finance laws, transparency laws, etc. are proposed by good government groups and a few brave legislators;
2) Powers that be stifle any fundamental reform, usually arguing since there is no major crisis there is no need to change the law.
3) Well known problems that good government groups and the few brave legislators have been warning about finally explode in spectacular fashion via federal indictment;
4) Everyone, including the powers that be, get mad at the individual named in the indictment;
5) Powers that be then madly scramble to argue there are no systemic problems, just a few bad apples.
6) Any reforms passed are watered down to the maximum extent possible, especially anything dealing with campaign finance reform.
Let's hope this time around the response is different. Not every reform that has been or will be put forward will be adopted, the legislative process simply doesn't work that way. However, I'd hope our leaders would take note of what happened in Connecticut a few years ago. Connecticut was rocked by a scandal that ultimately resulted in their Governor going to jail on public corruption charges.
Of greater interest is what happened next, the entire political establishment of Connecticut realized that their existing ethics and good government laws were inadequate and enacted wholesale reforms. Although the reforms, including campaign finance reform and strengthening ethics laws, did require negotiations and hard bargaining, nobody bought for a moment the argument that minor reforms and tiresome refrains to enforce the laws already on the books would suffice.
I hope that the politicians of our state, rather than seeing the coming reform push as a threat, see it as an opportunity to fundamentally rethink our state's good government laws in a fashion that benefits the public and helps rebuild state government's tattered reputation and integrity.
The six step process outlined above will simply pave the way for the next Rod Blagojevich or George Ryan.
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As I write this post the House of the General Assembly is debating a resolution to impeach Governor Blagojevich. It is crystal clear that they will vote to impeach.
The House is on the verge of doing its part in ridding our state of Rod Blagojevich. It is imperative that the Senate finish the task.
The Senate should move forward in a fair and reasonable manner. However, every day that Rod Blagojevich remains Governor is another day for him to disgrace that office and our state.
Senate, everyone knows what the right thing to do is in this situation. End the farce known as Governor Blagojevich and allow Illinois to move on without him.
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With all the outlandish statements and actions coming from Governor Blagojevich, it takes a lot to make us shake our head in disbelief. In another example of his ability to confound, Governor Blagojevich has risen to the challenge yet again.
Faced with political death, the Governor and his minions are striving to take his critics down with them. Accordingly, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is fair game because he opposes the seating of any Blagojevich appointee, including Roland Burris, in the U.S. Senate to fill out the rest of President-Elect Obama's senatorial term.
Today the Sun-Times is reporting that Senator Reid called Governor Blagojevich before he was arrested and discussed possible appointments to the Senate. Roland Burris was not among Reid's suggested candidates. In the article the Governor's spokesman Lucio Guerrero suggests the call may constitute a conflict of interest, "The governor thinks it does show that Reid has candidates in mind and Burris wasn't one of them, which may cause a conflict." The article doesn't indicate how many times it took Lucio to make the statement without laughing.
So, Team Blagojevich thinks Reid may have a conflict of interest because Reid failed to include Roland Burris on his list of suggested candidates. However, I haven't heard Lucio or anyone else who works for the Governor suggest the Governor may have a conflict of interest because HE WAS ARRESTED IN PART FOR TRYING TO SELL THE SENATE SEAT.
If you really think Reid's call rises to a conflict of interest but the Governor's conduct is unremarkable, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.
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Normally, during the holiday season things slow down on the scandal front. Once again Governor Blagojevich has shown us that we are not living in normal times.
Arrest, impeachment proceedings, Senate appointment, Jesse White and Harry Reid refusing to play along, Fitzgerald seeking an extension, Burris going to court, etc. Just when you think things can't get any stranger they do.
The sobering reality is that once the soap opera known as Rod Blagojevich as Governor is over, the State of Illinois is facing a serious budgetary and financial crisis. With Blagojevich holding office those problems won't even begin to be dealt with. However, when Lt. Governor Pat Quinn becomes Governor those problems will not magically disappear with Blagojevich's exit from the scene.
The coming crisis in state government won't have the same outlandish aspects of Governor Blagojevich's travails, but the impact it will have on the public will be severe and long lasting. Already the state is well behind in paying its bills.
I don't claim to know what will happen, but the days of incremental change are behind us. To borrow a phrase from Rod Blagojevich, the crisis is going to "rock the system."
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