There is a similar story at the Fisk Generating Station in Pilsen.

The smell is acrid at times. Plumes of smoke rise in to the air depositing black ash onto car doors and window sills.

Photo/Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization's Website

The two facilities burn coal directly into the atmosphere.

But aside from the more obvious symptoms, it’s the invisible particulate matter released into the air that causes real concern. Generally a term referring to a wide range of particles suspended in the air, particulate matter — in the case of the coal plants — refers to emissions such as mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and soot.

It’s, in part, the approximate 2.8 million pounds of soot jettisoned into the atmosphere, per year, that has given Chicago some of the worst asthma statistics nationwide. The Crawford and Fisk plants, two of Illinois’s six coal plants, are the single largest sources of particulate-forming air pollution in the city.

According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, the two plants combined contributed to 41 deaths, 550 emergency room visits and 2,800 asthma attacks each year. Together they put out enough carbon dioxide for every resident of the city to have a share of around two metric tons each.

“When it comes to the pollution in the atmosphere, you can’t really see it, and when you can’t see it you don’t realize how much it affects until it’s too late,” said Ian Viteri, clean power campaign organizer for the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.

At less than six miles apart the two coal plants together are unique in that they are located in heavily populated residential areas; they are, in fact, the top two nationwide. Originally built in 1903, the Fisk Generating Station is located within 3 miles of approximately 314,000 people; likewise, the Crawford plant, built in 1924, is within 3-miles of nearly 375,000 city residents.

Once heavily populated by Czech and Irish immigrants, both Pilsen and Little Village have since become important entry points for Mexican immigrants. To this day the area is roughly 86 to 96 percent Hispanic, largely lower-income and culturally vibrant.

“This is what we call environmental injustice,” said Dorian Breuer of the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization. “We’re talking about people that are struggling and yet they have one of the highest pollution rates.”

Within a few blocks of the Crawford Generating Plant sit Meyer Steel Drum; a waste disposal site, MRC Polymers and Prima Plastics. This high concentration of toxic-emitting sources—which can be seen in a “toxic tour” offered at request through LVEJO—is locally referred to as the ‘cloud factory’.

It’s the law

Because of their age, the two plants have been ‘grandfathered’ in; and are therefore exempt from most federal regulations requiring generating plants to use cleaner and safer, modern technologies.

In the case of Chicago’s two coal plants, the grandfather clause is used to skirt regulations such as the Clean Air Act, which, among other things, would force the plants to employ scrubbers—large towers that use an aqueous limestone mixture to absorb significant amounts of sulfur dioxide from emissions.

Instead the Crawford and Fisk plants emit freely into the atmosphere.

Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of Edison International, owns six of the state’s 22 coal-generating stations, which, in all contribute to nearly half of Illinois’ electricity.

Ald. Joe Moore (49th) said Midwest Generation is, “treating the plants like an old jalopy.”

The corporation is also being sued.

In July of 2009, five environmental and public health groups announced a Clean Air Act lawsuit against Midwest Generation. A month later the Environmental Protection Agency, along with the Illinois Attorney General filed a similar lawsuit against the corporation.

Though the two coal plants are exempt from many modern restrictions outlined in the Clean Air Act, the EPA has issued a notice against Midwest Generation accusing the company of frequently violating air safety standards.

Opponents of the coal plants hope to force Midwest Generation into compliance with higher air safety restrictions.

“The coal plants are largely operating legally,” said Breuer. “That’s why we have to change the law.”

Clean Power

Regulations that would force both the Crawford and Fisk plants to clean up their act were proposed by Moore last April, a proposal which Midwest Generation, owner of the two plants, has expressed no interest in supporting.

The Chicago Clean Power Ordinance acknowledged that coal-fired power plants have a “devastating impact on public health” and would, in effect, impose significant restrictions on Chicago’s coal plants despite their grandfathered status.

If enacted the Ordinance would impose fines of $1,000 for every pound of mercury over 4 pounds, annually. Likewise, any offender would be fined $1,000 for every extra ton of sulfur dioxide over 500 tons and every extra ton of nitrous oxide over 1,000 tons, annually.

The two combined plants, according to 2004 data obtained by P.E.R.R.O, emit 230 pounds of mercury and nearly 18,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide a year.

Despite the negative health affects suffered by Chicago residents, especially those living in closer proximity to the plants, none of the power generated at Crawford and Fisk is sold explicitly to Illinois companies. Midwest Generation sells its power to the highest bidder, not necessarily to the community which it pollutes through production.

This is more than corporate business strategy; it is also Chicago politics.

The Chicago Clean Power Ordinance is currently logging time in the Rules Committee, chaired by Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), a place widely considered the graveyard for doomed proposals. It will take the support of 26 Alderman to resuscitate the Ordinance, which, at the time of this article, remains 14 short of a resurrection.

According to Moore, the Ordinance is “still very much alive”; Mell, however has yet to show as much optimism.

No Conflict of Interest?

The number of aldermanic supporters of the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance is a scattered group including wards from all over the city, now, announced August 3, with the addition of Pilsen’s own Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd).

“He had a change of heart,” said Moore.

This is an important change, seen by many local environmental organizations as a sign of hope. With the addition of Munoz, more Aldermen are expected to end the blockade and sign on.

The two Aldermen, of the city’s two wards where the coal plants are located, have according to the Illinois Board of Elections, taken a total of approximately $75,000 in campaign contributions from Midwest Generation over the last 9 years — since 2001 Midwest Generation has contributed nearly $1.34 million to various Chicago political campaigns.

Ald. Daniel Solis (25th) whose ward contains Little Village’s Fisk Generating plant and who has yet to lend his support to the Ordinance, according to the Illinois Board of Elections website, has taken nearly $49,000 in campaign contributions from Midwest Generation since 2002, the most recent in the amount being $1,500 in April of this year.

The same month, coincidentally, in which the Ordinance was introduced by Moore.

“There is no conflict of interest,” said Maya Solis, the alderman’s spokesperson and daughter.

According to Kristie Menas, an assistant at Solis’s office in charge of reviewing the Ordinance, the alderman, “does not currently have a position, but is currently doing research (on the issue).”

Though the support of Solis would go a long way toward breaking resistance to the Clean Power Ordinance, the support of Munoz directs a renewed attention to Chicago’s public health.

“The increasing number of Aldermanic support reflects pressure from constituents concerned about their health, the health of their kids and the health of the planet,” said Moore. “Cleaning the plants would be a meaningful impact.”

So, “Where is Alderman Solis?”

A Cook County judge handed down guilty verdicts in the bench trial of two political workers for Ald. Berny Stone on charges that they had allegedly tampered with absentee ballots stemming from the 2007 aldermanic race in Chicago’a 50^th Ward.

Anish Eapen, the former ward Streets and Sanitation superintendent, and Armando Ramos, a paid campaign worker for Stone’s political campaign committee, were both found guilty of multiple Class A misdemeanor counts of attempted mutilation of voting materials and attempted absentee ballot violations.

Ald. Berny Stone (50th Ward) in 2008, with Hillary Rodham Clinton, Devon Commissioner Majia Mustafa, and former Ward Superintendent Anish Eapen.

Both men were facing more serious felony charges that they had engineered absentee ballots of mostly immigrant voters in the 50th Ward favoring Stone. Stone was not charged with any wrongdoing.

“There is a difference between law and justice,” Judge Marcus Salone said. “Sometimes we ruin lives and sometimes we punish.”

Thursday’s verdicts conclude a long and often complicated trial that began in November, for an election that took place almost four years ago.

Ramos was found guilty on 20 different counts, including one count of attempted mutilation of voting materials and 19 counts of attempted absentee ballot violations.

Eapen was found guilty on nine different counts, including one count of attempted mutilation of voting materials and eight counts of attempted absentee ballot violation.

Salone said there was no doubt in his mind that Eapen had attempted to influence voters in the 50^th Ward.

Both men were ordered to have their affairs in order for their sentencing on Aug. 4. Their attorneys also have the option of requesting a new trial at that time.

Eapen and Ramos face up to one year of jail time, two years of probation, fines or a combination of all three.

Lead prosecutor Lynn McCarthy for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said she was happy with the outcome.

“I’m happy that they were both found guilty,” she said.

Former alderman Isaac “Ike” Carothers, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges earlier this year, was sentenced today to 28 months in federal prison. Carothers has been ordered to report August 23 to begin serving his sentence. While which prison he serves time at ultimately rests with the Bureau of Prisons, the recommendation from the presiding judge was Yankton, South Dakota. Carothers admitted to one count each of accepting a bribe and filing a false federal income tax return. As part of his deal, four wire and mail fraud charges were dropped. Calvin Boender, the developer charged with bribing Carothers, was found guilty in March. Carothers, who served the 29th ward, was replaced by state Rep. Deborah Graham.

At a meeting at Blackie’s Restaurant on May 4, around 20 Tea Partiers gathered to organize, socialize and talk about the issues. Most Tea Party members describe themselves as normal, everyday citizens who have become increasingly worried with the direction the country has taken. Almost all call themselves conservative.

“Liberals are activists. Conservatives are busy raising families and running businesses. We’re out here, though, and that shows how angry we are,” said Margaret Lindsay, 58, a former economics professor who lives in Chicago.

Group members took turns voicing their disgust with Obama’s agenda. They say they want to show that even in the president’s hometown, not everyone agrees with his policies.

Surprisingly, the Tea Party movement has its roots in Chicago. Last February, CNBC’s Rick Santelli gave his now-infamous rant on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange against the Obama Administration’s plan to help homeowners facing foreclosure.

“Do we really want to subsidize the losers’ mortgages?” he said. “This is America! How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor’s mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can’t pay their bills?”

He suggested that he would organize a Chicago Tea Party in July, where capitalists would dump “some derivative securities into Lake Michigan.” The video was a huge hit on YouTube, and the Tea Party movement was born.

There has been extensive media coverage of this grassroots organization as it has quickly gained momentum over the past year. Many Tea Party members feel that this coverage has not been fair or accurate.

“They think we’re a bunch of stupid, racist, hillbilly extremists,” said Steve Stevlic, coordinator of the Chicago Tea Party Patriots. He joked at the recent meeting that the members had forgotten to bring their swastikas and pitchforks.

Not all of their media coverage has been negative. Many Fox News commentators have been supporters of the Tea Party, none more so than Glenn Beck. Beck is the host of his own show on Fox, in addition to a nationally syndicated radio show. A large number of Chicago Tea Party members get their information from Fox News and Beck, who is a self-proclaimed conservative.

“He’s an educator. He’s brilliant regarding history and the founding fathers,” said Jeremy Segal, a realtor and member of Chicago’s Tea Party since June. “The mainstream media isn’t reporting what’s going on,” he said, referring to CBS, NBC, ABC and CNN.

“I’ve learned so much from Glenn Beck. Stuff about General Mao, stuff he teaches on the founding fathers that they don’t teach you in school. [The Democrats], they don’t want you to know this stuff,” said Kristen Dawson, an oral hygienist who runs a 9/12 Liberty group in Wilmington, Ohio. The 9/12 Project was started by Glen Beck, and has nearly identical ideals as the Tea Party.

According to multiple Tea Party activists, being conservative and Republican is not the same thing.

“I’m a conservative,” Lindsay said. “We call the Republicans the stupid party. They have the right instincts, but no will power to fight. The left doesn’t bargain.”

Others don’t find it to be a partisan issue. “It’s not about the left or the right. It’s about saving this country!” one man said at the meeting. He declined to be named for this story.

Although the Tea Party doesn’t officially associate itself with the Republican Party, the two share many of the same principles and ideas. They both believe the free market shouldn’t be controlled or regulated.

“We should have done nothing,” said CJ Ford, 33, referring to the bailout. “If you fail, you go bankrupt. That might lead to a depression, but I’d rather have that than government tyranny.” Ford is a former investment analyst and Tea Party activist.

Republicans and Tea Partiers both think taxes should be lower. Many Tea Party groups support Republican candidates. They believe in spending for strong national defense, and not for environmental or social programs. The thing they have most in common is their opposition to President Obama.

“I knew he was a Marxist,” Ford said of the president. “Listen to his policies, his ideas. He said he wants to fundamentally change America. What? The greatest part of the American dream is that you can be rich.”

Other Tea Party activists agreed. “There is a Marxist in the White House.  The leftist media, they don’t understand him,” Lindsay said. “We are not a political party; we’re a pressure group. [Obama] is governing without our consent, without the will of the people.”

Most of these self-proclaimed patriots say Ronald Reagan was the best president this century and that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the worst. They say he started the path to socialism that this country is on with his New Deal and other social programs, including Social Security.

“Since the ’30s, the socialist left realized they wouldn’t win, so they went through and infiltrated the colleges and universities. That way they could teach the next generation [their agenda],” Lindsay said.

Many of Chicago’s Tea Party members say they want to save their country from what they see as Obama’s socialist plan. Some say they got involved when they heard about the administration’s stimulus package, others the health care bill.

Their meeting wasn’t all business, however. The group planned a cookout event this July where any “freedom loving” Americans could come eat, talk and possibly get involved.

“The best part of the Tea Party is the people,” Stevlic said.

The organization has big plans for November. Through donations, they plan to fund robo-calls to districts whose congressman voted for the health care bill. Volunteers will also be going door-to-door and informing people of their message.

This isn’t only happening in Chicago. Around the nation, hundreds of local Tea Party groups are taking action. The effects can already be seen. Last week, Tea Party activists in Utah removed Sen. Bob Bennett’s name from the ballot at a Republican convention. The reason: he wasn’t conservative enough.

by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

invasive carp from entering Lake Michigan. …

read more

Great Lakes Echo (www.greatlakesecho.org)

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Contact: greatlakesecho@gmail.com

Pedicab operator John Hawkins awaits passengers on Addison Street east of Ravenswood Avenue. Hawkins says he was once hired to haul six people, a weight in combination with the pedicab of more than 2,000 pounds. Photo by Patrick Boylan

“It’s a growing industry that needs regulation,” said Efrat Stein, spokeswoman for Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Norma Reyes. Stein said the ordinance would protect consumers and pedicab operators and owners.

Rob Tipton, the owner of Chicago Rickshaw LLC, owns 30 pedicabs in New York City and 20 in Chicago. He said the industry in New York fought against regulation, successfully negotiating an ordinance it could survive under.

But it is a different story in Chicago, where the industry is fragmented, he said. Tipton explained that the law would require him to provide workers’ compensation insurance to each of his operators. The operators, he said, are leasing the pedicabs from Chicago Rickshaw and other companies. “They are independent operators,” he said.

“It isn’t like a cab,” he explained. Rickshaw drivers are at the whim of the weather, the seasons and generally do not operate late at night or early in the morning. However, insurance companies are rating the operators like taxi cab drivers.

That insurance rating is too expensive, he said.

“We don’t want to put anyone out of business,” Bennett Lawson, Deputy Alderman to 44^th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney said. Lawson said the Pedicabs are offering a unique service to the ward and the city. But he noted that the vehicles are operating with passengers on city streets. The barriers to entry currently are very low, an owner-operator only needing a pedicab. For example, there are no requirements for lighting or safety inspections of the pedicabs he noted.

“We’re working to find an ordinance that works,” Lawson said. “There are very few businesses that operate without any regulation.” Lawson said the requirement for insurance coverage was created by the state. “We’re trying to work with the state and the industry” to find an accommodation Lawson said.

Tipton explained the peculiarities of the industry. His company leases the bikes to individual operators for a flat rate. The operators then cruise areas popular with tourists and others offering rides.

The rides are usually point-to-point service, not for sightseeing. Think of the difference between taking a taxi and taking a horse and carriage ride, according to Tipton. For example, around Wrigley Field, a passenger might ask for a ride to their car after the game.

Tipton said the proposal would restrict the use of the pedicabs from popular tourist sites such as Michigan Avenue and from hotels serving the central business district. “I just received a request to provide 20 pedicabs for a group staying at the Fairmont,” he said. Under the proposal, he’d have to turn that business down he said.

Operators do not post rates, operating under a verbal agreement with passengers. Among the provisions of the ordinance, rates would be posted and each vehicle would receive a city license.

Two different styles of pedicab stand on Addison Street east of Ravenswood Avenue. The red model in the foreground is owned by Chicago Rickshaw LLC and is based on a three-wheel design. The other, owned by John Hawkins, is an attachment to the seat post of a typical bicycle. Photo by Patrick Boylan

Lawson indicated there may be a misunderstanding as the proposed ordinance would create prohibited areas, not prescribed routes. Lawson hoped to negotiate a pilot program that could serve to pinpoint issues. “We want to see where we have problems,” Lawson said, “before legislating prohibitions.”

“This is unique in that you have many independent operators and owners,” Lawson said. Lawson said Tunney wanted an ordinance that would continue to allow very low barriers to entry for both operators and owners. Noting that Tunney too is an independent business owner, Lawson said Tunney supports moves that encourage economic development and entrepreneurial activity.

Yoni Downs, 24, of Ukrainian Village and John Hawkins, 30, of Lakeview, have been operating pedicabs for several years. It is physical work, they said; with some pedicabs holding three to six passengers and the heavy structure of the pedicab frame, the combined weight could exceed 2,000 pounds.

They said they sometimes offer free rides, depending on the tips from the fun enjoyed by the passenger for their compensation.

“Call your alderman,” they said. “Stop this ordinance.”

Messages were left for Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd). Ald. Reilly was unable to reply within the deadline of the submission.

With the announcement by the once on-the-ticket, then off-the-ticket Scott Lee Cohen, our guest editorial focuses on independent candidates and their impact on the coming election cycle. It is written by Greg Tejada and CHICAGO ARGUS.

Tejeda is a Chicago-area freelance writer who has reported on various political and legal beats. He is a South-Sider who has written Hispanic issues columns for United Press International, covered the statehouse scene in Springfield, Ill., and more. Here is Tejeda’s take on Scott Lee Cohen’s announcement and the state of independent candidates in Cook County today.

“I can think of one person who will be absolutely disgusted at the notion of Scott Lee Cohen trying to revamp his political reputation by running a candidacy for electoral office independent of the political parties.That person would be Forrest Claypool – who himself is running an independent campaign for electoral office come the Nov. 2 elections. …”

Continue reading: Are we Cook Co. voters in for the ‘Battle of the Independents’ this election cycle?.

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Scott Lee Cohen Going For Gov? (chicagoist.com)

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What’s Up With Scott Lee Cohen? (chicagoist.com)

Lionel Garcia, a 6th District state representative candidate  and political director of the National Hispanic Political Assembly, talked with ChicagoTalks on Thursday about the issue of race and his involvement with Chicago Tea Party.

The Illinois EPA proposed the bill to correct any contamination problems before they become a larger issue, said John Cross, the agency’s legislative liaison.

“Problems with these chemicals precipitated the concern,” said Cross. “We’re trying to get to the worst of the worst of carcinogens, the nasty of the nasty.”

Senate Bill 3070 would require that when carcinogens, or cancer-causing chemicals, are detected in the public water supply, suppliers, which are generally municipalities, would have to address the problem when it is at 50 percent of the unsafe level rather than waiting until the water is in violation and hits the maximum contaminant level.

It would be up to the regulated water supplier to be responsible for providing safe drinking water testing, and towns would have 45 days to come up with a corrective plan before a fine was issued.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Pamela Althoff (R-Crystal Lake) said she thought it would be a “wise situation” if a municipality could be aware of a potential problem and could notify the EPA so the agency could let residents know a plan is in place.

“The EPA has answers and can assure that the municipality is aware and they’re working together,” said Althoff. “Most residents assume that collaboration is in place. We’re putting in something that says it must be.”

Currently, Illinois law states that notification is not needed until the maximum contaminant level is exceeded, said Althoff.

“It’s beneficial to the community,” she said of the bill. “On record there has to be some sort of plan to remove those carcinogens.”

The impetus for SB3070, Althoff said, was the situation in Crestwood, Ill., where during a routine EPA inspection it was discovered that officials had been diluting Lake Michigan water with well-water contaminated with vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen unsafe at any level.

There is one other municipality in the state, Sauk Village, that currently has a vinyl chloride issue; the EPA is working with the attorney general’s office to devise an action plan. Cross said once a water supplier is in violation, they not only violate EPA standards but also the Federal Clean Water Act, which the EPA enforces. The violator then is sent a violation notice and has to come up with corrective action to reduce carcinogens.

“Everybody is required to meet these limits,” Cross said. “Rather than wait for a violation or worse, let’s address it preemptively. You want to get to it before you have the bigger problem of human health and safety, plus a bigger expense as it gets worse.”

Althoff said she anticipates SB3070 will go to a full Senate vote by the end of March. She said she’s working on the bill’s language with the Illinois Municipal League, who had concerns that if municipalities spent time and money on a plan, the EPA might make them change it.

“It’s still a work in progress,” said Althoff. “But everyone knows the global intent.”

Joe Schatteman, research information service coordinator with the Illinois Municipal League, which reports to municipalities throughout the state on all issues, said his group’s concern was that the EPA could rewrite an entire plan and the municipality would have to comply with it, no matter what the cost.

“That cost would trickle down to taxpayers,” said Schatteman, adding that he is working with Althoff and the EPA on a compromise.

Vice Mayor and 50th Ward Alderman Bernard L. Stone

An ongoing, well documented investigative series by the Chicago Tribune into various City Council expense accounts turned up numerous instances of city taxpayers’ largesse to the friends and family members of Chicago aldermen.

In November 2009, Lake Effect News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Chicago Office of Budget and Management inquiring into the expenditures of the Vice Mayor of Chicago, a position currently held by Ald. Bernard L. Stone of the 50^th Ward.

Although the original purpose for requesting these expenditures was not fulfilled, the information that Lake Effect News did receive revealed what may be another overlooked fund being used by Chicago aldermen further enrich friends and relatives already being paid for out of their aldermanic expense accounts as well as the city’s “regular payroll” and the recently-revealed Finance Committee chair-controlled expense account. (Better Government Associate Payroll Database).

The Vice Mayor of Chicago is an unpaid office established in state law following the death of Mayor Richard J. Daley in office in 1976. The vice mayor’s sole duty under law is to serve as interim mayor only long enough to chair a special City Council meeting to select an acting mayor.

While the vice mayor himself is unpaid and the office has no ongoing duties or programs, the Chicago City Council routinely appropriates $100,000 a year to the office of vice mayor. The line item in the city’s budget for the vice mayor’s expense account, coded “9701,” is described as follows:

“Contingent and other expenses for corporate purposes not otherwise provided for. To be expended under the direction of the Vice Mayor.”

City records obtained by Lake Effect News revealed at least eight persons being paid out of the vice mayor’s expense account that is being used entirely to pay individuals, and not for the purchase of office supplies or vendors’ services.

Allocations for the vice mayor’s office generally increase each year. Expenditures routinely exceeded annual allocations by 15 percent to 22 percent from 2002 through 2006. But overages increased sharply at the beginning of 2007 with a budget overrun 0f  86.4 percent, and in 2008, the vice mayor’s office had expenditures of $888,112 against an allocation of $108,792, a 713-percent budget overrun, according to Mayor Daley’s 2010 budget recommendation. [pdf page 57, budget page 49].

The records of 2009 expenditures from the vice mayor’s expense account, obtained through FOIA in late 2009, are incomplete, but show that the account is already over budget.

The sharp increase in expenditures by the vice mayor’s office was “due to bookkeeping issues in the City Comptroller office,” according to Peter Scales, spokesman for the Chicago Office of Budget and Management.

Known City Council accounts used for wages and salary, including the Finance Committee chair-controlled expenses, aldermanic allowances, aldermanic staff accounts or “regular payroll,”  and the vice mayor account, are established in the city operating budget within cost center “2005,” the City Council.

An examination of the beneficiaries of these four accounts reveal a distinct pattern of considerable overlap and frequent juggling of payees between accounts, including many instances of double, triple and even quadruple dipping among the payees.

The vice mayor’s expense account also demonstrates sharp increases in the number of payees in the second halves of 2007, 2008 and 2009. In many cases, a payee was apparently moved to the vice mayoral expense account in the second half of a calendar year, which corresponds to the city’s fiscal year.

Stone’s employees were the biggest beneficiaries of vice mayoral cash. Alan E. Crown received bi-monthly payments amounting to $73,991 in 2007, $70,943 in 2008, and $65,749 in 2009. Crown is also carried on the regular payroll of as a “legislative aide” at a monthly salary of $6,184 or $74,208 annually.

Ald. Fred Roti

Another beneficiary of the vice mayor’s expense account was Mary Ann Roti-Walz, the daughter of former 1^st Ward Ald. Fred Roti, who was convicted on charges of racketeering, extortion and bribery 1992.

Roti-Walz received bi-monthly payments amounting to $53, 904 in 2006; $59,134 in 2007; $59,931 in 2008; and $57,648 in 2009. Roti-Walz is also carried on the regular payroll as a “legislative aide” at a monthly salary of $5,224 or $62,688 annually.

Between Sept. 16, 2008 and Jan. 1, 2009, Stone employee Beligh Sraieb received eight payments totaling $9,656. Sraieb was also paid $9,886 out of Stone’s aldermanic expense account in 2008.

But starting in the second half of 2007, aldermens’ friends and families from the length and breadth of Chicago’s 50 wards found gainful employment, as well as a certain amount of concealment from the usual Freedom of Information Act requests, on the vice mayor’s staff. Select and far from exhaustive illustrative examples follow. Stone did not return calls for comment.

10^th Ward, Ald. John Pope: A Quadruple Dip

For example, the Chicago Tribune reported that Ald. John Pope (10^th) paid a former streets and sanitation worker, Thomas Sadzak, who resigned after allegations he sexually harassed a co-worker and banned from future employment by the City of Chicago, nearly $18,000 from January 2009 to July 2009. Sadzak was also allegedly placed on a “no hire” list.

According to city records obtained by Lake Effect News, Sadzak was paid $1,059 on Dec. 1 and Dec. 16, 2008, and Jan. 1, 2009, amounting to $3,177 out of the vice mayor’s expense account. Sadzak was also paid $11,289 out of the Finance Committee expense account, and earned $2,254 per month as a “legislative aide,” about $27,048 per year from the City Council pay roll.

The Tribune’s web application provided with its investigation into aldermanic expense accounts also show Sadzak being paid $3,177 out of Pope’s expense account in 2008. In total, city records show Sadzak earning $44,693 in 2008. Pope did not return calls seeking comment.

19^th Ward, Ald. Virginia Rugai: A Triple Dip

Ald. Virginia Rugai (19th)

In addition to paying 19^th Ward Democratic Committeeman Matthew J. O’Shea more than $43,000 over 2008 and early 2009 to work for Ald. Virginia Rugai, the Chicago Tribune reported, Rugai paid O’Shea from her separate aldermanic expense account.

An examination of the vice mayor’s fund shows O’Shea was paid $23,757 in six payments between Aug. 16, 2008 and Jan. 1, 2009, according to city records. In 2008, O’Shea was paid $13,940 out of the Finance Committee expense account, and $24,451 in 2008 out of Rugai’s aldermanic expense account. Considering funds from all sources known at this time, O’Shea earned $62,149 in 2008. Rugai did not return calls seeking comment.

18^th Ward, Ald. Lona Lane: A Triple Dip

In 2008, Rosalba Lopez was paid $17,852 out of the vice mayor’s expense account in regular, bi-monthly payments, city records show. Since at least Jan. 2, 2009, Rosalba Lopez has also worked for the Chicago City Council as “aldermanic aide,” currently earning $1,613 per month, or $19,356 per year (Better Government Association Payroll Database). In 2008, Lopez was also paid $18,130 out of the aldermanic expense account of Ald. Lona Lane (18^th).

20^th Ward Ald. Willie Cochran: A Triple Dip

On Aug. 18, 2008, Angela Moore was hired by the City Council as an “aldermanic aide” at an annual salary of $30,804. Between Sept. 1, 2008 and Jan. 2, 2009, aldermanic aide Angela Moore was paid $10,696 out of the vice mayor’s expense account in regular, bi-monthly payments. Moore was also paid $2,000 in 2008 out of the aldermanic expense account of Ald. Willie Cochran (20^th).

27^th Ward Ald. Walter Burnett: A Triple Dip

Ald. Water Burnett (27th)

In 2008, Dorothy Burnett was also paid $25,936 out of the Vice Mayor’s expense account in regular, bi-monthly payments. Since at least Jan. 2, 2008, Dorothy Burnett, the mother of Ald. Walter Burnett (27^th) has also worked for the Chicago City Council as a “legislative aide,” currently earning $2,344 per month/$28,008 per year (Better Government Association Payroll Database). Dorothy Burnett was also paid $19,692 out of Ald. Burnett’s aldermanic expense account in 2008, the Chicago Tribune reported. Considering funds from all sources known at this time, city records show Dorothy Burnett earned $73,637 in 2008. Ald. Burnett had no comment.

31^st Ward, Ald. Ray Suarez: A Double Dip

In 2008, Fernando Martinez was paid $12,749.98 out of the vice mayor’s expense account, and one penny more out of the expense account of Ald. Ray Suarez (31^st), city records show.

47^th Ward, Ald. Eugene Schulter: A Triple Dip

Monica A. Schulter, daughter of Ald. Eugene Schulter (47^th), was paid $31,216 out of the vice mayor’s budget in bi-monthly payments between July 1, 2008 and Dec. 1. 2008. According to city records, Monica Schulter is paid $40,368 per year out of the aldermanic staff account as a  “staff assistant to the alderman” (Better Government Association Payroll Database). In addition, Monica Schulter was paid $31,614 out of Schulter’s aldermanic expense account in 2008, according to city records obtained by the Chicago Tribune. Considering funds from all known sources, Monica Schulter earned $103,199 in 2008, nearly as much as her duly elected alderman father ($104,100 in 2008). Schulter did not return calls for comment.

49^th Ward, Ald. Joe Moore: Triple Dip With Side of Political Funds

Since at least Jan. 2, 2008, Wayne Frazier has worked as an “aldermanic aide” to Ald. Joe Moore (49^th) currently earning $36,840 per year (Better Government Association Payroll Database). In 2008, Frazier was paid $33,970 in regular, bi-monthly payments out of the vice mayor budget of Moore’s desk mate on the City Council, Ald. Berny Stone (50^th).  Frazier was also paid $34,500 in 2008 from Moore’s aldermanic expense account, according to city records obtained by the Chicago Tribune.

Frazier is also an employee also an employee of one of Moore’s political action committees, Citizens for Joe Moore (Illinois State Board of Elections Campaign Disclosure). Moore did not return calls for comment.

2008 Payees

City Council Amends Ethics Ordinance

The Chicago Ethics ordinance specifically exempts the personal staffs of aldermen from the prohibition against hiring relatives:

2-156-130. Employment of Relatives or Domestic Partners.

(a) No official or employee shall employ or advocate for employment, in any City agency in which said official or employee serves or over which he exercises authority, supervision, or control, any person (i) who is a relative or domestic partner of said official or employee, or (ii) in exchange for or in consideration of the employment of any of said official’s or employee’s relatives or his domestic partner by any other official or employee; provided that the prohibition in (i) applies to City Council Committee staff  but not to personal staff of an alderman. (Emphasis added.)

The Vice Mayor’s budget serves aldermen as a mechanism for adding relatives to the public payroll while avoiding the prohibition against hiring relatives into posts over which a city official has direct authority.

The Chicago City Council reacted to the Chicago Tribune’s investigative reports by passing an amendment to the city’s  ethics ordinance that purported to restrict the hiring of relatives of aldermen with expense account funds. Those already on the payroll can stay there.

Effective April, 2010, the above application clause is amended to:

… provided that the prohibition in (i) applies to city council committee staff and independent contractors who are paid from funds appropriated to the Alderman for contractual services, provided that those individuals who are relatives and are currently retained as contractors shall be allowed to continue to renew their service contract on an ongoing and annual basis: but not to personal staff of an alderman.

Chicago aldermen carefully preserved their right to hire relatives on their personal staffs by “grandfathering” relatives currently on expense account payrolls. Five aldermen, Beale (9^th), Lane (18^th) Cochran (20^th) , Suarez (31^st) and Stone (50^th) voted against the measure.

Issues

Unclear is whether this new language prohibits parking relatives of aldermen in the vice mayor’s budget: is the vice mayor’s budget fund appropriated to an alderman?

Also unclear is whether job descriptions, performance evaluations, or background checks exist to the extent the expense account payees are employees, and whether written contracts exist to the extent that expense account payees are independent contractors. To what extent taxpayers are picking up benefits, including health insurance, for these many expense account payees?

FOIA Compliance

The request to the City for information regarding expenditures from the vice mayor’s budget was filed Nov. 17 under the Illinois State Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140). The City did not comply until Dec. 21. The act mandates a response within seven working days (”A Guide to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan, September, 2004).

The four-term state representative will be one of seven elected Democratic Party officials who will interview and select who will represent the state’s 78th District, which includes some of the west suburbs and parts of Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, and be the Democratic nominee for that seat in the November general election.

Graham’s replacement must be named 30 days from the date she steps down from the General Assembly. Having a successor in place will be important as lawmakers could be preparing to cast votes on critical matters such as the state budget and a possible tax hike.

Graham is participating in the process as the committeeman from the 29th Ward. Other committeemen involved in the process are: Oak Park Township Committeeman Don Harmon, Proviso Township Committeeman Karen Yarbrough, River Forest Township Committeeman Thomas Cargie, 37th Ward Committeeman Emma Mitts, 28th Ward Committeeman Ed Smith and 36th Ward Committeeman William Banks.

The successor will be chosen based on a weighted vote determined by how many people cast ballots for her in the 2008 election in each ward and township in the 78th District, said Harmon, who will be the chairman of the selection committee.

Harmon said a process for selecting a successor would be set up once a vacancy had been created. He added that the committee also would look at how other legislative vacancies had been handled.

Harmon said they would make the process as open and transparent as possible.

Committee members said they would take applications from anyone who was interested. To serve as a member of the General Assembly, a person must be a U.S. citizen, be at least 21 years of age and reside in the district for two years, according to the Illinois Constitution.

The 29th Ward has been without an alderman since Feb. 1 when Isaac Carothers pleaded guilty to bribery and tax charges. Graham would have to stand for election in February 2011.

Graham, who Mayor Richard Daley named as Carothers’ successor last week, said she would continue her predecessor’s monthly community meetings and focus her attention on violence, crime, gangs, cleanliness and development in the 29th Ward.

The 43-year-old Graham, a native of Chicago’s West Side, said she was told that to join the City Council she would have to relinquish her seat in Springfield and cede her nomination for her fifth, two-year term. Graham will also step down as the coordinator of special projects for the city’s Department of Planning and Development, where she has worked since 2000.

Illinois is one of 18 states in which a legislator may not hold a second state level elected office but allows the legislator to hold a second county or municipal office if those offices are not “incompatible,” according to a study conducted in 2007 by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Holding dual offices would be “incompatible,” according to the Illinois Constitution, if a state legislator receives “compensation as a public officer or employee from any other governmental entity for time during which he is in attendance as a member of the General Assembly.”

The solution: bi-partisan effort to produce a smart budget — which hasn’t been the state’s forte in the past.

“If that funding is not produced, we will unquestionably all see 500 to 1,000 people losing access to drugs,” said John Peller, director of government relations for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

The projected funding needs for the Illinois AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which provides medication to nearly 4,200 low-income HIV patients monthly — a 32 percent rise since 2007 — grew this year by more than $10 million, reports the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

But in Gov. Pat Quinn’s FY2011 budget, no additional funding was given to the Department of Public Health, from which AIDS and HIV support draws its funding. The department must now choose between preventative services for the future or helping those affected now.

“On the one hand, a cut wasn’t proposed; but at the same time, the need for new funding grew 36 percent this current fiscal year,” said Peller, who projects the need will grow an additional 25 percent by next fiscal year.

That means for FY2011, the state needs to produce $29.5 million to satisfy the requested needs of the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Currently, Illinois gives it $19 million.

Last year, the Department of Public Health was forced to transfer over $4 million from other HIV services, including prevention and medical care, to meet the need for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. But Peller said prevention is important to stopping the spread of HIV and to diagnose and treat patients early, which could save the state money in the future.

In response to the increased need, Rep. Harry Osterman (D-Chicago) has introduced House Bill 6173, which would claim the state’s estimated part, $29.5 million, for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program and restore $14.5 million to the AIDS and HIV services that have been hurt.

“Our ultimate goal is before the legislators adjourn (May 31) … our funding levels are where they need to be,” Osterman said.

While Quinn’s budget proposal provides the same amount of funding for the Department of Public Health as last year, legislators like Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), a co-sponsor of the bill, still see that as a threat to HIV services.

“He (Quinn) proposed flat funding of the HIV line item, but that’s prospective because the demand has skyrocketed so high,” said Harris.

The bill already has 11 co-sponsors, including 10 Democrats and one Republican, but its need must be compelling enough to convince those lawmakers agonizing over the state’s $26 billion budget, which has a $13 billion deficit.

Because Quinn’s proposed 1 percent (from 3 to 4 percent) income tax increase for FY2011 was said to fill budget gaps in education, it’s likely that other departments won’t see increased funding. Peller said to restore lost funds to AIDS and HIV, it’ll be necessary to support an even higher tax increase, but pundits say Illinois might not see any movement until after the November elections.

House Bill 5720 would require drug offenders to stay out of the driver’s seat for a period of six months for the first offense and one year for additional offenses, whether or not their arrest involved the use of a vehicle. The bill passed the House Vehicles and Safety Committee 4-3 last month and is currently awaiting a vote in the House.

Pointing to similar laws in 32 states, advocates of the bill argue that it would make roads safer by preventing known drug users from getting behind the wheel. But opponents say the rule is unnecessarily harsh and would make it harder for drug offenders to get their lives back on track.

The bill would mostly affect those convicted of minor drug crimes who would be punished with fines, probation or short jail sentences, as those receiving lengthier jail time would already see their licenses revoked during their sentences.

Rep. Sidney Mathias (R-Arlington Heights), who introduced the bill, said he hopes to deter young people from doing drugs by taking away something they truly value – their car keys.

“This hopefully will send a message that if you do take drugs, not only will you suffer criminal penalties but driving privileges,” Mathias said. “To some people, the driving privileges are even more important.”

Mathias said the driving force behind the bill was Thomas Glasgow, a trustee of the Village of Arlington Heights and lawyer who says he has been involved as both prosecutor and defender in some 10,000 DUI cases.

“The legislature has determined that we shouldn’t be doing drugs. Period. The legislature has determined that impaired driving is a hazard. Period,” Glasgow said. “This (bill) is the next logical step.”

Glasgow recalls defending a woman arrested for marijuana possession; two weeks later she ran a stop sign, costing the man she collided with his leg. The woman was not visibly intoxicated, Glasgow said, but blood tests showed she had marijuana in her system.

Such incidents are common, Glasgow said, because drugs can stay in a person’s body for up to 90 days – long after the person has ceased to be visibly inebriated.

But that logic is flawed, said Kathy Kane-Willis, director of the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy at Roosevelt University. While drugs may be stored in a person’s fat cells and urine for weeks after use, she said, this does not affect a person’s motor skills.

The law would also wreak havoc on offenders’ lives, Kane-Willis said. Without a drivers’ license, a drug offender could lose their job and be unable to access treatment, health care or social services.

“This could make the situation much more complicated for people who have drug disorders,” she said. “This is harmful legislation.”

An early version of the bill included a provision for offenders to use a court-issued drivers’ permit to attend treatment or work, but that provision was removed in an amendment.

The issue is further complicated if the offender is not himself a drug user, noted Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, a fair sentencing advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

“If you’re under the influence of drugs and you get into a serious accident, it’s reasonable that you might lose your license,” he said. “But if you’re convicted of selling low-level drugs but you yourself are not a drug user, it shouldn’t be mandatory any more than if you committed larceny.”

At the Vehicles and Safety Committee hearing, Stephen Baker, an attorney at the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, warned the committee that a similar law was recently challenged and was heard before the Illinois Supreme Court. He urged the committee to postpone action until the results of that trial were available.

“Criminal acts have to have some nexus, some connection,” Baker told the committee. “(There has to be) some use of the vehicle to warrant (license) suspension.”

Under current Illinois law, a person found with drugs in their car can have their drivers’ license revoked. And under a new, 2-year-old law, minors under the age of 21 who are convicted of underage drinking have their licenses suspended for six months.

State Rep. Thomas Holbrook (D-Bellville) introduced a bill, HB5114, that would create stiffer penalties for offenders who target the homeless, veterans, active duty members and reservists of the Armed Forces. Instead of facing up to a year in jail, first-time offenders could spend one to three years in prison, while repeat offenders could receive three to seven.

If passed, Illinois would be the first state to protect veterans under its hate crime law and be one of a handful of states including Maine, Maryland and Washington, D.C., to include the homeless, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and National Coalition for the Homeless.

Shelters, job training and financial aid are not enough to help the homeless and veterans who are being victimized in Illinois every day, proponents say. They argue the bill would encourage victims to come out of hiding and report these crimes. But opponents contend the bill isn’t needed because perpetrators are already prosecuted under current law, and no victims should receive special treatment.

It’s thrill-seeking teenagers who increasingly target the homeless, said Michael Stoops, community organizer for the National Coalition for the Homeless. Between 1998 and 2008, 43 percent of the 880 hate crimes committed against the homeless in the U.S. were committed by 13- to 19-year-olds.

Twenty-two percent of all homeless are veterans, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs. In Chicago, approximately 1,000 veterans are homeless on any given night.

Ed Shurna, executive director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, said he supports the bill and believes it’s necessary to address the violence perpetrated against people without homes. Last year in Chicago, 74,000 people were without a place to live, Shurna said.

“Someone is lying there defenseless and has no protection,” said Shurna. “The police will not write up the cases and tell them they shouldn’t be there in the first place. They’re blaming the victim.”

The Chicago Police Department did not return calls seeking comment.

By and large homeless are victims, not perpetrators, said Shurna. He describes the types of crimes committed against the homeless as being particularly violent and dehumanizing.

“Homeless people are set on fire and spray painted,” said Shurna. “A lot of people who are homeless try to hide and squirrel because they’ll be targeted.”

David Rittgers, spokesman for the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., a public policy research center based on libertarian principles, disagrees the bill is needed because Illinois has laws on the books criminalizing assault and battery.

“There’s overlap here,” said Rittgers. “While the homeless might be a target, it’s already illegal to assault them.”

Rittgers said the bill is not good policy and is discriminatory towards certain offenses.

“We’re supposed to punish crime equally amongst all persons,” Rittgers said.

Johanna Dalton, executive director of Goldie’s Place, a support center for the homeless, said she supports initiatives protecting the homeless against these types of crimes, but it is just one piece of a larger, complex puzzle.

Goldie’s Place serves approximately 1,000 people each year, providing employment training and supportive services. Dalton said 60 percent of their clients are chronically homeless, meaning they’ve been without a home for at the least the last 12 months. Housing opportunities are limited and restrictive and the road to self-sufficiency is long, said Dalton.

“These are the people most in need; for them it’s not a sprint but a marathon,”said Dalton. “And we try to provide a sense of hope, but there are so many gaps in the system.”

Youth Protesters Talk About Immigration Reform

Eight undocumented young people are taking their fight to Washington after “coming out of the shadows” last week in Chicago’s Federal Plaza.

The Immigrant Youth Justice League and nearly 6,000 Illinois supporters will join thousands from around the country in Washington, D.C. on Sunday to demand that President Barack Obama uphold his promise to support comprehensive immigration reform.

“We want to bring the message to the president that immigration reform is urgent and affects a lot people, not only immigrants but also citizens in regards to the economy and keeping families together,” said Catherine Salgado, a member of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. “We are asking the president to use leadership in moving immigration reform forward.”

The trip to Washington follows last Wednesday’s march for immigration reform where hundreds of supporters joined the Immigrant Youth Justice League in Chicago’s Union Park; protesters marched through downtown before assembling at a rally in Federal Plaza.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“We are here to say that we are undocumented and unafraid,” said one young person as supporters took up the chant.

At the risk of possible deportation, members of the League declared their immigration status to the crowd gathered below Sen. Dick Durbin’s office in a move meant to “turn up the heat “ on the senator, an advocate of comprehensive immigration reform.

Several phone calls were made to Sen. Durbin during the rally, but the calls were redirected to his voice mail.

Among the issues addressed at the rally were education, social services and human rights as well as deportations, which are reported to have increased under the Obama administration.

While there are several ways to gain access to the country, many undocumented immigrants are brought to the U.S. as children only to find, typically upon graduating high school, that services guaranteed to their peers are denied them despite years of growing up in this country. A student may graduate high school to find that they are ineligible for the financial aid that could pay for college.

“[I] received a $20,000 scholarship from a great university,” said Uriel Sanchez, a member of the League. “One week before I was supposed to start school I received a call from an administrator asking for my social security number … I didn’t have one, and I had to pass on the scholarship and on going to a four-year university.”

Though it isn’t against the law for undocumented students to attend college in the U.S., stories of undocumented students held from college educations are common. The DREAM act, supported by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, would alleviate this situation by proposing that undocumented youth be eligible for a conditional path to citizenship in exchange for completion of a college degree or two years of military service.

As the U.S. continues to struggle over how to best deal with immigration, stories of deferred educations, separated families, workplace raids and back-logged legalization processes serve as narratives on the state of our national undocumented population.

Under the present law, any of the nearly 11 million individuals in the U.S. illegally are subject to arrest, detainment or deportation.

According to a written statement from Gail Montenegro, spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Illinois, “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) respects the fundamental right of individuals to advocate for reform of our nation’s immigration laws. ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that places priority first on those dangerous criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities.”

To contact Sen. Dick Durbin’s office with your comments, call (312) 353-4952 or click here.

The state’s public rail and bus systems have so far made it largely unscathed through the difficult budget process, in which Quinn is trying to steer the state out of a $13 billion deficit.

“(Downstate agencies) actually have experienced an increase in operating funding over the last couple of years,” said Laura Calderon, executive director of the Illinois Public Transit Association, adding that the allocations in the draft budget was “about what’s expected.”

Under Quinn’s proposed $27 billion budget, presented last week to a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly, downstate transit agencies are slated to see a 10 percent increase in grant money from the state. For MSW Projects, a small transit agency in Henry, Ill., that means a bump from $252,000 this year to $277,000 in 2011.

The increase is welcome news for the rural agency, which offers senior rides and runs fixed routes through Henry County with minivans and a 15-person van. But MSW faces a bigger problem, Calderon said – reimbursements from the state are being sent months after they are due and apprehensive banks are refusing to dole out loans to ailing agencies.

As a result, MSW Projects recently put all its employees on a four-day work schedule to avoid having to take more drastic measures.

“That is enough to keep them afloat right now,” Calderon said.

The picture is slightly different for transit in the Chicago area. The Regional Transit Authority, which includes the CTA, Metra and Pace, saw its state grants drop slightly in Quinn’s budget proposal, from $292 million this year to $285 million next. And that’s down from $302 million in FY 2009.

But Brian Imus, spokesman for the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy group, said he too is more concerned that the state is late in paying nearly $250 million for transit service in the Chicago area.

“The delay, if it isn’t fixed, could have a disastrous effect on commuters,” Imus wrote in an e-mail. “The governor’s budget proposal this week doesn’t make me any more confident the state is going to be able to address this shortfall.”

Ed Heflin, manager of the Illinois Rural Transit Assistance Center, said that investing in public transit during a recession is wise because it leads to greater economic development. Every $1 spent on public transit brings a $3 return to the area, he said, and in some cases the return is as much as $8.

Public transit may be the least of lawmakers’ worries this week. Education took the brunt of the damage in Quinn’s 475-page draft budget, shouldering $1.3 billion in proposed cuts. Lawmakers now find themselves entrenched in a battle over Quinn’s suggested fix – a temporary 33 percent income tax hike to fund schools. Health, human services and local governments are also facing a loss of about $300 million apiece.

Quinn’s budget must be approved by both houses of the legislature before it can take effect for the fiscal year that begins July 1. But with lawmakers’ concerns over the November election getting in the way, some expect that serious budget reform will not take place until a special legislative session after the election.

sarah.ostman@loop.colum.edu

State Rep. Deb Mell (D-Chicago) introduced a bill last month that would force chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway and Potbelly to disclose on their menu boards the number of calories contained in each meal.

“I found my idea from last summer when I took a short trip to New York City. I saw that restaurants have to disclose information,” said Mell.

Mell, a first-term lawmaker and daughter of longtime Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), said she found the information useful because she was counting calories using an application on her iPhone.

“I am amazed how [many restaurants in Illinois] we have, and we don’t know what the ingredients are [in each entree]. Sure, there are nutritional fact sheets, but nobody will pay attention when ordering,” she said.

Mell said the new measure would not cost a lot of money because chains already calculate the calories, and they would only have to pay for reprinting the menus.

Jeff Cronin, communications director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a national advocacy group for healthier eating, applauded the new bill.

“Labeling on menu boards really helps to control consumers’ weight and health,” Cronin said.

Cronin said his group has been working with New York City officials since that city’s legislation was enforced in 2008. Since that time, there has been a big impact on public perceptions.

According to an online survey reported by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, after consumers learned the calorie count of menu items, 71 percent of the people said they wanted to order lower-calorie options. Also, 51 percent said they would no longer order certain items.

The survey was conducted in early 2009, nearly a year after the law had taken effect, among 755 consumers who live in the five New York City boroughs.

“A new law could be a powerful tool to provide information, but we don’t know if consumers would change their habits,” said Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietician and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

Blatner said focusing on fast-food restaurants is a good start because two out of every three people in the county are overweight and fast-food restaurants offer food that is high in calories.

Some would like to extend the idea of posting calories counts to more restaurants.

Denise Wilson, a communications officer for Burger King, said the fast-food chain is fully compliant with current local regulations to post calories on restaurant menu boards.

However, Wilson said the company supports the Labeling Education and Nutrition Act (LEAN Act) introduced last year in the U.S. Congress because it would create a standard for the industry in all 50 states.

Besides Illinois, a dozen other states have introduced labeling laws, but only four have signed them into law. California will be the first one to enforce its law in January 2011. Maine, New Jersey and Oregon will follow suit a short time later.

“Currently, there is a growing patchwork of inconsistent state and local laws governing menu labeling. We will roll out consistent nutritional in-restaurant menu labeling once a federal standard is enacted,” said Wilson.

The National Restaurant Association also said the industry needs a national approach.

“Unfortunately, the current legislation is not the right approach for consumers to get the right information,” said spokeswoman Sue Hensley.

She said the association wants to develop a label that could be similar to the nutrition facts that can be found on food packages.

To fight this growing problem, Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) introduced House Bill 4672, which would require teachers, principals, guidance counselors and all personnel who work with students in grades 7 through 12 to be trained in suicide prevention two hours each year.

Harris joined forces with the Jason Foundation, which was founded by Clark Flatt after his son, Jason, committed suicide at 16. Harris said youth suicide is preventable — if teachers and school officials know what to look out for.

“When it comes to our schools, youth organizations and various programs, suicide just isn’t on the radar as something that a 12-year-old could be planning,” Harris said. “Ninety percent of the time, these kids are reaching out. We just don’t know how to recognize it.”

In the case of 10-year-old Aquan Lewis, the Evanston student who hanged himself by his shirt collar on a hook in an Oakton Elementary School restroom stall on Feb. 2, 2009, officials said the fifth-grader had made threats about killing himself.

Dr. Ron Davidson, professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago, agreed that there are almost always warning signs leading up to a suicide. In the case of Lewis, Davidson said he had serious concerns.

“It seemed this was a situation that could have been avoided. The boy made some kind of statement announcing his plans and how he was feeling, and it either wasn’t listened to or he wasn’t taken seriously,” he said.

Relatives of Lewis have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school district alleging that Evanston-Skokie School District 65 was negligent. Attorney Todd Smith, who is representing the family, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Oakton Elementary school officials also couldn’t be reached for comment.

If passed, Illinois would be the fifth state to pass legislation requiring in-service training for all school officials. In 2007, Tennessee became the first state to pass the Jason Flatt Act, followed by Louisiana, Mississippi and California. The Jason Foundation has trained 117,000 teachers so far and is currently working with five other states to pass legislation.

“It is not the only thing any state should do, but it is the single most important thing any state should do,” said Clark Flatt, chief executive officer of the Jason Flatt Foundation. “The single most important aspect of suicide prevention is training and specifically training the teachers and school officials to be able to recognize at-risk behavior.”

Davidson said he “whole-heartedly” agrees that the bill should be passed.

“It is absolutely necessary,” he said.

Flatt said the Jason Foundation, along with all organizations involved with suicide prevention, would provide free training to all school personnel.

Mary Kay Dawson, a legislative volunteer for the Jason Foundation who is working with state legislators to get the bill passed, said suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people and “is a real problem.”

“There has been great support in Illinois,” she said. “Everyone agrees with the bill in theory. We are just working on language so when we bring the bill to the table everyone is in agreement. We want this to be a team effort.”

Davidson said he is concerned when he hears any kind of objection to this type of bill.

“Lay the body of a dead child next to the issues people have against this bill, and I am certain the body of a dead child trumps any sort of irresponsible response to not taking immediate action,” he said.

Harris said he hopes there will be vote on the bill next month.

“Typically, these are organizations that are in competition against each other for limited state dollars, but instead we are banding together to say there is not enough state money,” said Daniel Schwick, assistant to the president of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois.

The Responsible Budget Coalition, with 40 buses of supporters in tow, went to Springfield Feb. 16, where they held a press conference at the state Capitol, followed by a rally in support of House Bill 174 on Feb. 17.

“It’s hard; people don’t understand that this is really about them,” said John Bouman, leader of the Responsible Budget Coalition and president of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. “If we don’t get this done the right way, we will see everything from teacher layoffs to whole institutions closing.”

House Bill 174 would raise the state personal and corporate income tax from 3 to 5 percent and expand the state sales tax to certain consumer services. It would also provide tax relief by raising the personal exemption from $2,000 to $3,000, doubling the state property tax credit and tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit, which targets low-income families.

This increase would fall only on those who can afford it, said Rev. Alexander Sharp, executive director of Protestants for the Common Good, because the bill will include tax credits for those who cannot afford to pay more.

Instead of a progressive income tax that applies a greater share of the burden to wealthier taxpayers, Illinois is currently one of only six states to have a fixed income tax. So the state’s poorest residents pay 3 percent of their income in state tax, as do Illinois’ wealthiest citizens.

The bill was passed through the Senate last May, and is now waiting on an approval from the House.

Sharp said citizens are fighting against tax increases because they aren’t aware of the services they will lose due to a lack of funding.

“I think there is a mentality that is really unwilling to pay for services that we expect to be provided for us. We have to rise above that and realize the needs of our state,” Sharp said.

Kathy Ryg, president of Voices for Illinois Children, said it is crucial the bill is approved before the Nov. 2 general election, which is why the coalition has started the “We Can’t Wait” campaign.

“We feel very strongly that any delay on having a responsible budget will be very costly to the state as far as programs and services and successful initiatives go. They will either be gone, or their funding will be inadequate to meet the needs of the state,” Ryg said.

Ryg said the current deficit for the 2011 budget is $12.8 billion, which includes unpaid bills to social service agencies and state vendors.

Rep. David Miller (D-Dolton), a supporter of HB174, said he hopes now that the Feb. 2 primary election is past, the legislation will move forward.

“We have proved we can pass the bill in the Senate, now we need to see what we can do with it from here,” Miller said.

“I have a terrible medical history, and smoking cannabis for medical purpose improved my lifestyle by 80 percent,” said the 54-year-old, who did not want to be fully identified for fear of being arrested.

Lisa’s situation could change soon if the Illinois General Assembly passes a measure that would allow for the medical use of marijuana, joining a dozen other states with similar law already on the books.

The bill, called the Compassionate Use of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act, is sponsored by Sen. William Haine (D-Alton).

The Illinois Senate approved the measure last spring with a close 30-28 vote, and it cleared the House Rules Committee at the end of January. The bill is now on the calendar for a final debate before voting.

Gov. Pat Quinn said earlier this year that he supports the use of medical marijuana.

Under Senate Bill 1381, Illinoisans would be allowed to have six cannabis plants, no more than three of which can be mature, during a 60-day period. The original bill set a limit of seven plants.

It would also establish a patient registry to control cannabis distribution. Patients or caregivers who distribute marijuana to someone who is not allowed to use it for medical purposes could face a $2,000 fine and up to two years in prison.

With the new law, Lisa said she would live in peace of mind and have a better control about the pot she purchases.

“Right now, I have to be really careful because I do not know the quality or where the product I am inhaling came from,” said Lisa. “With the new law, I could make sure to get an organic product and not chemical.”

The Illinois Family Institute, a group that promotes the protection of traditional family values, argues that cannabis should not be legalized for any medical reason.

“We believe that kids and teenagers could think that cannabis is like a pill for relaxing, and Illinois would have a higher rate of young users,” said Kathy Valente, director of operations of the group. She said she based her statement on a study from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

Valente said THC, a substance in marijuana, is already present in many medications, and people should use those instead of an illegal drug.

The Illinois State Medical Society also opposes the bill.

“We are against the use of cannabis for medical purposes because there is no scientific evidence that it could be good for patients,” said the society’s president-elect, Steven Malkin.

Malkin said there are many anecdotes about the use of marijuana, but smoking and inhaling any substance is not healthy and not the right way to administer treatment.

Dan Linn, executive director of the Illinois Cannabis Patients Association, disagrees.

“The patients and the doctors should decide what is  best, and the law should not be influenced by other people,” he said.

Linn said he worked with Sen. Haine to write the bill.

“We made a lot of concessions, and we are now confident that the bill will be adopted,” Linn said. “We are still contacting state lawmakers to make sure they understand the bill, but we should have the 60 votes needed.”

Linn said one major change was that the proposed bill is a pilot project, meaning that lawmakers would have to enact a permanent law in a couple years.

The incumbent received 69 percent of votes, giving him an overwhelming majority against his challenger, Adolfo Mondragon.

Munoz, who was not available for comment during the week leading up to the Feb. 2 primary, was a difficult candidate to beat, said Kent Redfield, a political science professor who specializes in campaign finance at the University of Illinois, Springfield.

“The short time of the election is something that worked well for the incumbent,” said Redfield, referring to Illinois’ early Feb. 2 elections — the first primary in the nation since its move from April two years ago, which gave then-presidential candidate Barack Obama an early win.

Redfield said that January is the time to push campaigns, which left Mondragon just one month to work against Munoz’s money and organizational support. Since January 2009, the veteran politician was able to raise around $200,000 in campaign contributions, compared to Mondragon’s $29,000, reports the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune endorsed Mondragon, citing his virgin politics as a plus against Munoz’s longstanding membership with the Democratic machine. The papers specifically mentioned Munoz’s relationship with the now-defunct Hispanic Democratic Organization, most notably his close political ties to Angelo Torres, who was convicted of running the city’s Hired Truck Program.

“He’s been mediocre at best. He has really not worked with the people who are on the ground,” said Mondragon on Election Day.

Mondragon, who currently works as a public interest attorney, criticized Munoz for ignoring his community’s complaints about two controversial coal-fired power plants on the Southwest Side.

Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO) has asked Munoz to get involved with the Fisk and Crawford plants, which it calls environmental hazards. Instead, Munoz has accepted over $10,000 in campaign contributions over the past decade from Midwest Generation, owner of the two plants, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

“Unfortunately, we see a lot of old die-hard habits when it comes to voting for Democratic candidates. And when in doubt, people will vote for the name they recognize,” said Dorian Breuer, member of PERRO and assistant secretary for Chicago Southwest Side Greens, a local Green Party affiliate.

While Munoz isn’t known for his environmental initiatives, it’s likely he’ll continue to push legislation related to crime and to address the district’s high Hispanic population.

As for a change in leadership in the 1st District, that will have to wait.

“Electorally, with how to beat the machine candidates, it’s not enough to have a good background. It really requires the old school method of having your army on the ground,” said Breuer.

Whether that played a role in Tuesday’s election, one thing is for certain: low voter turnout didn’t help.

devin.katayama@loop.colum.edu

Steans, who is currently serving her first senate term, tallied more than 13,900 votes, or 65 percent of her district, according to the unofficial election results. Madigan, an attorney from Buena Park who ran on a platform of reform, carried 35 percent. About one in four registered voters city-wide went to the polls.

Steans will now face Republican Adam Robinson in the Nov. 2 general election in the race to represent a diverse swath of the North Side encompassing Uptown, Lincoln Square, Andersonville and Rogers Park. But in the overwhelmingly Democratic city of Chicago, that party’s primary elections tend to be a good indication of who will inevitably win the seat.

Madigan, who would have been the first openly gay state senator in Illinois history, positioned himself as a reform candidate in a campaign season abuzz with anti-corruption rhetoric. Still, Steans’ win did not come as a surprise to most political insiders.

“(Steans) is the incumbent, she has a good bit of money, she had robo-calls,” said Dick Simpson, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “And she has the support of the Democratic committee.”

Campaign contribution records show Steans raised more than $220,000 in 2009; Madigan raised half that amount.

Steans kept a low public profile during her campaign, much to the chagrin of her challengers.

Robinson, whose campaign is focusing on lower taxes, school choice and – perhaps surprisingly – marriage equality, said Tuesday that he “applauded” Madigan for joining him in two candidate forums during the campaign. He added that “it was unfortunate that Sen. Steans declined both of those opportunities to address the issues.”

Steans declined requests for an interview.

Among the more controversial elements of the 7th District race, Madigan sent out a series of mailers criticizing the senator for giving more than $200,000 to the campaign of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich between the years of 2002 and 2007.

“If it had been television ads or maybe even radio ads with Blagojevich’s voice that had a more emotional impact, it might (have swayed the election),” Simpson said.

Andrew Hughes, a 27-year-old beer deliveryman from Ravenswood, said he voted for Steans despite the fact that he knew little about her. Instead, he went along with a flier listing Ald. Gene Schulter’s (47th) recommendations that he carried with him in his jacket pocket.

“I try to vote, because it’s all I can do. I’m a working person,” Hughes said. “But I couldn’t find any information … on most things, (politicians) are too vague.”

Steans, a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Universities, has worked for government agencies in Wisconsin and Illinois, serves as trustee of the Steans Family Foundation and formerly headed the board of WBEZ.

She won her senate seat in 2008 with the endorsement of former Sen. Carol Ronen, who abruptly resigned from the seat mid-term in October 2007.

It was the first time Burke had faced a challenge in a primary in nearly two decades of representing the 23rd House District in Southwest Chicago. Lozano, son of a slain Hispanic political activist, garnered nearly 45 percent of the vote to the lawmaker’s 50 percent, according to unofficial results.

Dick Simpson, head of the political science department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said Tuesday before the polls closed that if the race was close, it would be a major statement indicating the machine’s strength weakening.

“If (Rudy) Lozano gets more than 40 percent of the vote, it would mean that (Dan) Burke can be defeated in a future election, if not the next election,” Simpson said. “It will mean the reform candidate can take back districts from the machine candidates. I see this race as a battle over the future of Latino politics.”

Lozano came close, willing 3,980 votes, while Burke had 4,414.

“The Latino population is growing at a rapid rate and is almost a third of the population in Chicago,” Simpson said. “This race will be a good indication about what the future of Chicago politics will look like and a tight race would be serious change in the future for machine candidates.”

Simpson said the 23rd District, a majority of which is in the 14th Ward, is over 70 percent Hispanic.

Burke hails from a powerful Irish family. His father, Joseph Burke, and brother, Edward, have served the 14th Ward in the Chicago City Council for a combined 55 years. Ald. Ed Burke is the longtime chair of the powerful Finance Committee and is married to Illinois Supreme Court 1st District Justice Anne Burke.

“This race has been entirely different for me,” Burke said in an interview just a day before Tuesday’s win. “In the past, if I voted I was elected. This is a new experience. I have ran a more than fair campaign. It has been a very positive experience, but I think I got what I anticipated.”

In addition to Lozano, there were two other Hispanic candidates in the race: Martin Meza-Zevala and Rene Diaz. These candidates kept a low profile, but may have taken some key votes away from Lozano. Meza-Zevala and Diaz combined received 5 percent of the vote.

Kelsey.Duckett@loop.colum.edu

Illinois has reduced funding for early childhood education, including before- and after-school programs, by 10 percent, said a spokesman for state Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago), who is the vice chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee. This could result in as many as 15,000 Chicago children losing eligibility for these programs.

The state’s budget deficit is up to $12.8 billion, forcing lawmakers to cut state funding. It’s these cuts that are destroying before-and-after school programs in Chicago, said Harry Wells, president of Chicago Youth Centers.

David Sinski, executive director for After School Matters in Chicago, said the cuts have significantly affected all nonprofit programs, and it doesn’t appear that the problem will be fixed any time soon.

“Given the current economic climate, After School Matters, like many nonprofit organizations, has experienced difficulty relying on continuous funding from all sources,” he said in an e-mail. “At the same time, challenging financial circumstances have escalated demand for and reinforced the need to expand out-of-school program opportunities for Chicago teens.”

After School Matters is a nonprofit organization that offers 25,000 program opportunities to Chicago teens. Sinski said the long-term goal is to double the capacity to 50,000 programs, which would be enough to accommodate about one-half of all Chicago public high school teens, specifically on the South and West Sides.

Wells said in the past year, his nonprofit organization has lost over $1 million in financial support.

“We have seven centers in Chicago that are for early childhood through teen education programs,” he said. “We lost $400,000 in state funding thus far, and it looks like that will double next year.

“That would be devastating to our program.”

Chicago Youth Centers serve eight neighborhoods: Altgeld Gardens, Riverdale, Roseland, South Shore, Grand Boulevard, Bridgeport, Humboldt Park and North Lawndale.

“Our goal was to expand our centers throughout Chicago, but right now we have to focus on finding funding to keep the doors open,” he said. “This program and others like it are vital in Chicago. The young people that come to us would otherwise be on the street after school and would be subject to drug and gang violence on the streets or they would drop out of school entirely.”

Ralph Martire, director at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, said the problem is just going to get worse unless state taxes are raised.

“All these elected officials seem to think they can solve the program without raising taxes, but they can’t say how,” he said. “The numbers are pretty simple, and they are staggering. It is impossible to solve this without a tax increase.”

Martire said the state’s financial situation is grave at best, and it’s just the start. Next year, he warned, these education programs are going to take a serious hit, receiving significantly less money, if any at all.

“This year, these programs can expect that they will get anywhere from 10 to 50 percent less than they thought they would get,” he said. “The following year, all bets are off. If you don’t have money, you don’t have programs.”

Jack Kaplan, director of public policy for the United Way, said his organization sent a survey to over 1,000 nonprofit organizations in Chicago. Of the 500-plus that have responded, 59 percent report they’re waiting on back payments from the state.

“These organizations were reporting over $80 million in back pay that is due to them,” he said. “The state has been slow paying any service they think they can do away with. The state feels these agencies can be a lower priority, when in fact they are necessity in Chicago.”

Kaplan said he doesn’t even want to think about what next year could bring.

“This is not a scare tactic or a ‘chicken little the sky’s falling’ thing,” he said. “The state needs a wake-up call. These before- and after-school programs, along with early childhood education, are absolutely critical for Chicago. If the state does away with the funding for these programs, the impact will be unspeakable.”

Kelsey.Duckett@loop.colum.edu

You can figure out which candidates have views that match your own — even among that daunting list of judges running for election. There are no perfect choices, but voting based on facts is betterthan voting blind or not voting at all.

Here is ChicagoTalks’ guide to the primary election on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010 in Chicago and Cook County. You can vote (if you haven’t done early voting) on Feb. 2 between 6 a.m. -  7 p.m., if you are registered voter.

If you have problems or see something that looks fishy, tell the election judge at your polling place and report it to your election authority for Chicago or Cook County. Then call ChicagoTalks. Here’s how:

• City of Chicago voters should call the Election Hotline at (312) 269-7870.

• County voters should call the Vote Fraud Hotline (Cook County, but not City of Chicago) at (312) 603-0909.

• Call ChicagoTalks at (312) 436-1820. We are working with reporters from Lake Effect News, Center Square Ledger and The Columbia Chronicle to report problems and voting irregularities.

Voting for judges doesn’t have to be hard or take long. First, go to http://voteforjudges.org/, a nonprofit site that explains the details of these elections and provides guides to help you gauge who is qualified and who is not. Print these guides and take them with you when you vote. Whether you are interested in justice and gender, justice and race, or justice and fairness, these guides are better than voting blind or not voting at all. Find more judicial recommendations you can use here.

• If you are voting in one of the 120-plus towns and villages in suburban Cook County, your election authority is the Cook County Clerk’s office. Here are resources for you:

• Find your polling place
• See a sample ballot
  
• What if I’m not listed as being registered?
• What options do voters with disabilities have?
• What will happen at the polling place?
• What kind of voting equipment will I use?
• How do I vote?
• What if I make a mistake?
• What if I need help on Election Day?

• If you are voting in the city of Chicago, your election information is at www.chicagoelections.com.
  • Chicago voter F.A.Q.
  • Check your registration and see a sample ballot

• The e-voter site is a non-partisan voting information site.

• From Lake Effect, former Ald. Dick Simpson on The Cook County Wars provides a quick review of how Cook County commissioners voted since the last election.

• Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke tell all in Election Follies : Age-old feuds, nepotism, logrolling, and Moonies—it must be primary season in Chicago.

Remember, this is a PRIMARY election, so most candidates are running to be the official party candidate in the November election. If you don’t feel comfortable asking for a Democratic, Republican or Green Party ballot, you have the right to request a non-partisan one.

It’s not often that elected county officials visit the West Ridge and Rogers Park backwater, but visit they did, arriving with an entourage of TV news cameras and a prominent TV newscaster to a Democratic candidates’ forum for the Cook County Board President’s seat.

Sunday’s forum was organized by a new neighborhood group called the Rogers Park Organization, whose mission is to support and elect candidates who will represent the interests of Rogers Park and West Ridge residents. One of the organization’s goals is to organize candidates forums so that voters can ask questions and get candidates’ opinions on issues directly affecting them.

More than 100 residents filled the pews at Temple Menorah, 7360 N. California Ave., on Sunday afternoon to watch incumbent Todd Stroger defend his beleaguered term as Cook County Board President against challengers Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4^th) and Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown.

West Ridge resident and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terry O’Brien, who is also challenging Stroger, arrived 45 minutes into the forum, apologizing profusely to his neighbors saying he had been held up at another campaign event.

Chicago Sun-Times political columnist, WTTW “Chicago Tonight” co-host and Channel 5 political editor Carol Marin moderated the forum, feeding audience questions to the candidates on topics ranging from property taxes, the county health care system, stabilizing the county budget, and patronage.

“People here in Rogers Park feel they don’t see too many Cook County elected officials in this part of their world,” Marin said. “What exactly does the county government do for them and how does it impact their lives in ways they may not see?”

Stroger, Preckwinkle and Brown each spoke of how county residents pay sales and property taxes, and use other services, including the county health care and criminal justice systems, and small business administration.

“Then there are many services like the Botanic Garden and Brookfield Zoo,” Brown said. “Even though they’re not here, you can go to them. The forest preserves are available as well. There are a lot of things that Cook County government can do for you and of course, you have to pay the various taxes in order to make those happen.”

Preckwinkle said the county government has two main missions, health care and the fair and equitable operation of the criminal justice system.

“About one-third of our felony resources and one-third of our budget goes to the health care system,” Preckwinkle said. “Our public health system is the safety net that provides for people who are uninsured or underinsured. The other big portion of the county’s budget and its focus is criminal justice. Likewise, it’s in all of our interest that the criminal justice system operates well and fairly to all who come in contact with it.”

Stroger spoke of the Cook County Sheriff’s Department’s interaction with Chicago police and other municipal police departments on drug, gang and bomb squad missions. He also mentioned the county’s vital records and highways departments, and help for small businesses.

“What people don’t think about is the highways,” Stroger said. “The county goes out and repairs the road and gives it back to the city and the city will take care of its maintenance … We’re planning a $200 million bond program where you’re giving money back to small businesses.”

Other audience questions were ripped right out of recent news headlines. Marin tossed a question to Stroger, asking how many of his relatives were on the county payroll and what jobs and salaries were they receiving.

“I believe my sister works for the chief judge. I never asked her what she makes and she doesn’t offer it up so I can’t really tell you,” Stroger said. “My brother-in-law works in facilities management. I suspect both have been there somewhere between 16 and 20 years. There you go.”

Preckwinkle was queried about the $40,000 in campaign contributions she received from convicted felon Tony Rezko in exchange for bringing business to the city’s 4^th Ward, where Preckwinkle has been alderman since 1991.

The alderman explained how her relationship with Rezko dissolved in the late 1990s, when she confronted him about affordable housing properties that he owned in the 4^th Ward after receiving complaints from the community and her staff about substandard conditions and criminal activity.

“Tony Rezko hasn’t given me a dime in decade since I called him,” Preckwinkle said.

Brown was asked how a supervisor could objectively receive cash gifts from employees or charge them to wear jeans to work. Brown said receiving and giving cash gifts to or from county employees was legally allowed, according to the Cook County ethics ordinance.

“The thing we do at the clerk of the court, we’re like a family. I give gifts and they give gifts. There’s been a lot of misreporting,” Brown said.

Regarding the infamous “jeans days,” in which circuit employees pay $2 to wear jeans to work on certain days which goes into coffers to be later given to charity or used for employee morale boosting events, Brown said the practice was started by her predecessor. She mentioned other county departments, such as the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, as well as various city agencies that had instituted “jeans days.”

“My employees wanted to continue because they wanted to be able to give to charitable causes …” Brown said. “The [Chicago] Department of Revenue just issued a memo they’re going to do jeans day every Thursday for Haiti. Some employees said to give $2 to wear jeans and have fun yet give to a good cause is a good thing for them.”

All of the candidates, including O’Brien, who by then had showed up to the forum, said they would lobby the Illinois General Assembly to extend the 7 percent property tax cap. Preckwinkle said the county needed to be more proactive on home foreclosures, adding that she would institute a mandatory foreclosure mediation process in the county’s circuit courts that would allow more homeowners to save their homes.

O’Brien supported seeking federal grants to reduce the county’s dependence on property taxes. Stroger said the county has not raised its portion of property taxes in 13 years, and that the county government saved 25,000 homes from foreclosure under his watch by helping homeowners readjust their mortgages.

Candidates were also asked whether they thought the county had a patronage or corruption problem. All of the candidates, with the exception of Stroger, agreed that county government had padded its payroll with patronage jobs.

Stroger said that unless patronage was going on “behind my back,” new hires made by the county during his term were made with a Shakman monitor in the room.

“I signed the Shakman decree before I came in … I talk to the Shakman monitor about every quarter,” Stroger added. “There is not one of us up here who doesn’t have a patronage employee. That’s the person you trust to look at your paperwork to make sure it gets done. That is part of being an elected official and I don’t think there is an office of any size that doesn’t have what they call patronage reports.”

Regarding budget cuts each candidate would make to stabilize the county budget, Brown said she would lobby the Illinois General Assembly for an early retirement program for county employees to bring in new hires at lower salaries.

Stroger supported a program that would allow retired county judges to review non-violent offenders eligible for electronic monitoring and home confinement to relieve the financial burden of housing prisoners in the county jail.

Preckwinkle said she would immediately take a 10-percent salary reduction.

O’Brien’s first order of business would be to eliminate one of the boards of elections.

“There’s two, the city and the county; it’s just duplication that’s not needed,” O’Brien said. “The second thing would be to consolidate all the purchasing aspects of the county. Why does every department need a purchasing department, when it should be just falling under one umbrella in which all the departments can feed from that one department.”

O’Brien added he was glad to hear the alderman’s offer of accepting a 10-percent salary cut if elected county board president, “considering that the alderman has voted four times to increase her own pay.”

“That’s true,” Preckwinkle replied.

The forum, Violence Against Women, held at Loyola University, is one of the first chances the candidates have had to delve deep into issues of rape, domestic violence, discrimination against people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer (LGBTQ), and sex trafficking in Chicago.

With the primary 11 days away, the candidates in attendance took every opportunity to steal time from one another and bring their platforms into the discussion.

All seven candidates running for Cook County Board president confirmed their attendance, but only four actually were present: Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown and Green Party candidate Tom Tresser.

Tresser came out swinging in his opening statement, addressing corruption in Chicago politics and calling out each candidate on issues he said are “unacceptable.”

“I don’t have as much experience as the other candidates up here,” Tresser said. “But I also don’t have the experience in hiring my cousins, getting cash from my workers for events and parties or making money from businesses I am supposed to regulate.”

Not one candidate responded to his claims, causing Tresser to smile and the audience to whisper amongst themselves.

Tresser was on a roll from the get-go, throwing punches in his opening statement and jabbing at each of his opponents throughout debate.

“Issues of violence against women and sexual assault are a big problem, but worthless spending and behind closed door meetings and corruption prevent the attention these programs need,” he said.

Tresser said these forums are necessary now more than ever.

“We have had years and years of Democratic rule in Cook County,” he said. “And we have nothing to show for it; nothing got done.”

As Tresser was stuck on the issue of corruption, Preckwinkle stayed on point, appearing confident and well-prepared to discuss the issue at hand.

“When I think about violence against women, I begin with rape,” she said. “In 2007, there were 5,600 reported rapes in Illinois, but only 30 percent result in arrests, and less than half that end in convictions. We need to focus our resources on these types of programs and bring these people to justice.”

Stroger offered unfocused, off-topic answers to some questions related to the forum’s theme.

When asked, “In your first 90 days how would you address violence against women, girls and LGBTQ?”

He answered: “What I have done in the three years I have been president; I have tried to reach out to everyone in all parts of the county. I have asked them how can we help. I recently had a meeting with the LGBTQ community, I asked what the county can do, and I hope to solidify what the county can do.”

Moderator Kimbriell Kelly asked Stroger the same question in the next round of questioning to try to get a more “clear and concise answer.”

Stroger again didn’t answer the question; instead he said: “We have 29 departments, and in 16 of those, we have women as deputies. We have helped open 35 businesses that are run by minorities, and 10 percent that are run by women. I have voted for pay equity for women and fought for human rights, but more work needs to be done.”

Tresser also didn’t answer the question. Instead he held up the front page of the Chicago Tribune and pointed to the headline: Madigan Rules.

“Until we get the corruption out of our government we will not be able to give you the true programs that the the citizens of Cook County need,” he said. “If you want to know you elected someone who is unbossed and unbought, you have to look to a new source of government.”

Preckwinkle stayed focused and on point as she answered questions, as if reading off a teleprompter.

“We need to create an environment where people feel safe so they can come forward and report crimes,” she said. “Then we need to make sure we get those offenders prosecuted. We need to focus our resources on violent offenders, sexual offenders, and we have to start to focus on the predators.”

When asked about the pending lawsuits against Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart for keeping pregnant inmates shackled while giving birth, Stroger was caught off guard and had no idea of the charges.

“I had no idea. I am surprised the sheriff would do anything that is against the law,” Stroger said, and when asked if he would look into the situation, he said, “Oh, yeah, I am the president.”

Brown, the clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court, also seemed to be shocked by the news of the pending lawsuits.

“I really cannot believe Sheriff Dart knew this was going on,” she said. When asked what she would do about the situation if she were president, Brown said, “I would send a strong letter to the sheriff letting him know under no circumstances should the practice be occurring. And as far as the pending litigation, I would recommend immediate settlement.”

At the end of the night it was Tresser who challenged the audience and challenged the “old ways of doing business.”

“The best predictor of the future is a person’s history,” he said. “You know they say the definition on insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”