Two things happened at about the same time; first, Dorothy Brown called a press conference for her campaign for Cook County President, calling for ethics reform.  Dorothy Brown is the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court right now.  Her press conference was held on the fifth floor of the County building, an ethical no-no.  Reportedly, her aids were carrying campaign signs - another no-no.

And in other related news, Angelo Colon, a Cook County Clerk since 1999, was charged with solicitation of a bribe and corruption.  He allegedly accepted $13,000 from a woman to get her husband, who is charged with drug trafficking, out of jail.

And we're to believe that Dorothy Brown is qualified to become Cook County President.

puhleez.

From the Southtown Star:

A 55-year-old man is being sought for leaving Cook County Commissioner Deborah Sims two threatening voicemail messages a day after she cast a controversial vote in September.

 He apparently left two 'vulgar' and "racist' comments on her voicemail.  The article talks about only one of them.

"I'm very disappointed in your vote. You flip-flopped, actually lied, and I hope you get ... AIDS and die," Stroh says in one message, police said.

But that's enough to get you charged with a hate crime, I guess.


To engage in that kind of racial comments and threats, I think that's inappropriate, it's wrong and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms," Peraica said.

Stroger and Madigan Meet Econ 101

Crain's reported yesterday that Mike Madigan lifted a hold on legislation that would slash Stroger's one percent sales tax increase. A companion bill reduces the number of commissioners necessary to override his veto.

There is a very interesting explanation at the Huffpo of how Cook County's taxes are laid on top of each other.

The Cook County tax mess is thick and deep like horse manure you need to have long boots on to shovel.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paras-bhayani/stroger-and-madigan-meet_b_314300.html

My Suburban Life:

The issue

The village (Bartlett) set up a tax-increment financing district (TIF) in December 1986 to revitalize its downtown by attracting new businesses and upgrading buildings and infrastructure. In May 2009, trustees brought up the idea of a one-year extension. Extending the TIF district for one more year would generate about $1.5 million, however, if the extension is granted, other taxing bodies would have to wait until the TIF expires to see any of the additional revenue.

More of this capital improvement stuff.  Fighting over the scraps...like vultures.

Since the TIF will not end on its own, the board must vote on an ordinance at its Oct. 20 board meeting. Mraz said the money has been locked up by Cook County and Bartlett won’t see the money if they do not make a decision. Taxing bodies must be notified of the decision by Nov. 1. The board will have three options: They can vote to extend the TIF, not extend the TIF, or extend contingent upon the fact that a portion also is refunded back to the taxing bodies.

Read the whole thing at My Suburban Life. 

This is ridiculous.

Sentence the murdering sociopath idiot already, and let the families finally put this behind them.

Crain's Chicago Business - - Leftists, naturally.

Chanting "Patients, not profits!" According to the article-they were socialist protesters, presumably affiliated with ACORN, SEIU, AFSCME, etc.-calling themselves

Healthcare-NOW! and the Center for the Working Poor. They plan similar protests next week in several other U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, where Cigna's corporate headquarters are located.

There they were, punching back twice as hard.

Officer Robert Perez says the protesters were arrested on criminal trespassing charges.

Little do they care about the law, though. I wonder who bailed them out.

A commenter on that article:

More free loaders who dont understand THAT IT IS THE GOVERNMENT WHO SET UP THE CENTRALIZED HMO'S and now merely want a lateral move SO THE GOVERNMENT WILL COLLECT THE MONEY FIRST.

Reform back to capitalism

Daniel T. Zanoza, Executive Director at Republlicans for Fair Media asks "Illinois Review U.S. Senate Poll Tainted: Mark Kirk Included, Andy Martin Not: Why?"

Off the top of my head I'd say-and I'm not speaking for Fran here, I'm just guessing- because he's a jackass and extremely litigious....an embarrassment...a loose cannon...and on and on. Sometimes I agree with his "take" on things, sometimes not - but at the very least, he seems to be a 'colorful' character.

Don't blame me for saying that; blame wikipedia:

Anthony Robert Martin-Trigona, usually known as Andy Martin (born 1945 in Middletown, Connecticut) is an American journalist, perennial candidate, and vexatious litigant

Why is he a "perennial candidate" who has never won an election, one might ask?

You might answer this question with the same answer as the previous.

From an article posted October 6th at Clout Street

The Cook County Board today voted to expand the power of county’s inspector general to investigate elected officials.

Inspector General Patrick Blanchard and his successors now will be able to initiate an investigation of an elected official on their own, providing they meet a U.S. Supreme Court standard of suspicion.

 Sounds pretty subjective.

Previously, the inspector general could investigate elected officials only if someone signed a complaint against that official.

Commissioner John Daley, D-Chicago, noted that the state now uses the same suspicion standard, one that falls somewhere lower than probable cause.

With the hearsay law in place, and now a standard that 'falls somewhere lower than probable cause', I see a lot of potential trouble here.  As if Cook County doesn't have enough.

On a smaller scale, Governor Quinn's capital improvement plan is the equivalent of the Stimulus Package; a waste of taxpayer dollars to be thrown at improving roads, bridges, etc. And the jobs that it would produce would only be temporary; they would go away when these projects are completed.   Quinn's plan involved the assumption that a hefty revenue stream would be pouring in from videogaming to pay for it.

Knowing the history of problems in Illinois with graft and lobbyists, special interests and union organizers, it should come as little surprise that Bridget Gainer, was, according to the Southwest News Herald:

appointed by Chicago Machine committeemen to succeed Mike Quigley in the 10th district in Chicago,

Gainer is a former lobbyist for AON, and her father is Bill Gainer, who is personal friends with the Daleys.  In fact, she-

received at least $2,000 from casino-related interests to her election campaign committee three weeks before proposing the video gaming machine ban.

So we can see the handwriting on the wall here.  With cash incentives, Gainer then proceeded to artificially influence the marketplace and take away the casinos' competition for the revenues.  Although, as some have pointed out, poor people tend to gamble; and in a sense, this is taking advantage of some of the most vulnerable among us.

Asked about Gainer receiving funds from two executive of the 10th Casino licensee, Midwest Gaming & Entertainment LLC, Pappas said that the vote might have been different at the Finance Committee if other commissioners knew.

There are more donations to Gainer from 'interested parties' that people should have been aware of:

On June 30, 2009, Gainer’s election campaign received $1,000 from Leslie Bluhm. Bluhm is listed on Gainer’s disclosure forms as working with “Lamb Partners.” On the same day, Gainer also received $1,000 from Gregory Carlin, who is also listed as an executive with at Lamb Partners.

Leslie Bluhm is the daughter of Midwest Gaming Chairman Neil Bluhm, and she is also a “partner” in Midwest Gaming. Gregory Carlin is President of Midwest Gaming. Neil Bluhm has many corporate interests in Illinois including Lamb Partners. He is also president of JMB Realty Corporation.

Gainer’s legislation was fast-tracked through the county board over the objections of several commissioners who asked that public hearings be held first. In fact, no "public hearings" were held on Gainer’s bill which sat dormant in the Finance Committee until Gainer asked Finance Committee Chairman John Daley to put the bill on an agenda for a vote. That vote was taken last Thursday, October 1, 2009 immediately after a few members of the public, last minute, were allowed to speak on the issue.

It is highly unusual for an appointee to become the point person for legislation like this.  It is even more unusual for legislation to be fast tracked so quickly without much of an opportunity for debate.  The measure was passed yesterday, October 6, when the full board voted on it. With the cigarette ban which has reduced revenue that would have poured into the Capital Improvement Program, and now this - Quinn is going to have to invent some additional ways to rape taxpayers to pay for it.

Cook County bans video poker in unincorporated areas (Daily Herald)

The Cook County Board stood up to 11th-hour lobbying by the video-gambling industry today and passed a ban on video poker in unincorporated areas.

In some ways, it was a redundant act, in that the county already bans video gambling, but the new ordinance, sponsored by Democratic Chicago Commissioner Bridget Gainer, specifically addressed language and machines cited in the new $31 billion state public-works bill passed earlier this year in Springfield.

"It's just not the way to fund governmental operations," said Riverside Republican Commissioner Tony Peraica. "We need to stop enabling the state legislature in their foolishness."

Republican Commissioner Liz Gorman, of Orland Park, noted that the public-works bill, which intended to fund about one-third of its total cost through video gambling, had the backing of Republicans in the General Assembly. Gov. Quinn, however, worked to add language allowing local governments to "opt out" if they so desired, and Cook's action today followed DuPage and Lake counties and dozens of municipalities in doing so.

At the moment, the ban affects only 53 places with liquor licenses in unincorporated Cook. Yet it adds political momentum to the public outcry against expanding video gambling.

53 places with liquor licenses in unincorporated Cook; I wonder how much the Casinos think they're going to make on this maneuver when the competition is taken away from them like this.

Gorman called it "hypocritical" and said that it was about protecting the larger gambling industry from video competition, adding they should either ban all gambling or none at all.

Gainer appears to be the hero today.

The commissioners voted unanimously 15-0, however, to approve Gainer's "Sunshine" lobbying-reform initiative. It will call on all lobbyists to register and report their activity online through the office of County Clerk David Orr, who helped form the ordinance.

The new law will also ban all county employees from lobbying on county affairs for a year after they leave their government positions. The lobbying Web site is due to be up and running by next summer.

Gainer is a former lobbyist for AON, her dad is Bill Gainer, a retired lobbyist who is good friends with the Daleys. Bridget is said to have been placed there to give Stroger the majority of votes on the Board. There is so much cronyism and nepotism here it's difficult to fathom.

None of this, as far as I can tell, works to the benefit of taxpayers.

But he said it in such a way that you couldn't be sure. Lying liars lie, as they say.

BackyardConservative: Bill Ayers No Dream:

"Scruffy, thinning beard, dippy earring, and the wirerims, heading to order.
I gathered my things, got my camera ready, and snapped a shot right when he got his coffee.

I asked--what are you doing in D.C. Mr. Ayers?"

It sounds as though she held her own with the jerk very well. Click on the link for her snapshot of his ugly puss and read her post about it.

Read the rest at Backyard Conservative.

There is rumored to be a facebook page for his candidacy, but I can't find it.

Garcia is on twitter, though - here AGarcia2010

But don't be alarmed about it. Here's the article-Counterfeit currency surfacing in area (Suburban Chicago news)

A rash of counterfeit money has hit the area in recent weeks, with police departments in Elgin, Algonquin, West Dundee and Lake in the Hills have all handling reports of the bogus bills.

All four area departments say they recovered the funny money -- including $5 and $100 bills -- during the month of September.

I'm not sure why this even hit the news. Every month, about $20,000 in counterfeit money is passed in the Chicago metro area--authorities aren't seeing, as pointed out in the article, any unusual pattern here - it's the amount they usually see. But when you buy gas or groceries and get cash back, make sure you take a close look at the bills before you put them back in your wallet. And for what it's worth, the secret service isn't involved in this yet. The Elgin police are doing a preliminary investigation hoping to nab the source of some of these bills, which reportedly are poor quality fakes.

Schools on lockdown because of disgruntled employee (My Suburban Life)

I was there; coming home from physical therapy and Lake Street was swarming with Bartlett and Streamwood cops. This is right on the border of Streamwood and Bartlett and it appears the man was hispanic. A fire truck had a ladder extended to the roof of one of the buildings in the strip mall, so I don't know precisely what happened and didn't stop to take pictures or ask what was going on.

But this is what My Suburban Life had to say about the incident.

Bartlett, IL -Eastview Middle School and Bartlett Elementary School were on lockdown Monday after a Streamwood man threatened an employee at a Lake Street business.

The Bartlett Police Department was the first to respond to reports of a disgruntled employee at a business near the 200 block of East Lake Street in unincorporated Cook County around 2:15 p.m.

A Streamwood man implied he was armed with a weapon and threatened a coworker, police said.

Eastview Middle School and Bartlett Elementary School were immediately notified of the situation and placed on a temporary precautionary lockdown until the Streamwood man was located.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office later took over the investigation.

While Bartlett Police reported that the Streamwood man made the threat in person, the Sheriff’s Office said the threat was made over the phone.

Lisa Gordon, spokeswoman for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, said the man threatened over the phone that he had a gun and was coming there to take care of a money issue.

“The owner signed a complaint for disorderly conduct and phone threat,” Gordoncq said. “There was no reference to (the Streamwood man) being an employee of the business.”

Around 2:30 p.m., the man was taken into custody without incident at a business in the 5000 block of Valley Lane in Streamwood and turned over to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Bartlett police said. It was later determined the Streamwood man was unarmed.

It was somewhat of an over reaction on the part of the schools to 'lockdown' as a result of this.

If it's the man I saw as we were driving by, waving his arms, with his eyes glazed over, it would appear they left out the part that he was not only disorderly, he was drunk.

10-07-09 New Business Classification System Could Be Devastating by Sandy Cruz

During a recent meeting of the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce Real Estate Banking Council Bill Sandrick from the Sandrick Law Firm LLC discussed the impact of the change in assessments for business owners; a bigger tax bill due to a change in classification on properties.

While the assessments may look almost identical, businesses will see a 15 percent or more property tax increase. Up until this year vacant land in Cook County was assessed at 22%, residential was assessed at 16% and commercial and industrial were assessed at 38% and 36%.

The Illinois Constitution gives counties with a population of 200,000 or more the ability to classify for purposes of taxation. Only Cook has exercised that privilege. Sandrick said the Constitution states that if you have a classification system there cannot be a differential of more than 2-1/2% between the lowest assessed class and the highest assessed class. The General Assembly requires fair cash value to be the basis for assessment and the assessed valuation must be 33% of the fair cash value except for Cook County which has its own system. The classification system is strictly the decision of the county board. The courts ruled that the total assessment in the county has to equal 33% of the total (fair) market value so you can have varying levels of assessment. Sandrick said the Cook County multiplier is an algebraic adjustment to ensure compliance with the 33-1/3% requirement. FMV x assessment x multiplier x tax rate = tax dollars needed.

The problem is that 2/3 of the assessment base in Cook County is residential. “If 2/3 of your tax base is assessed at 16%, you have a problem. The problem driving the changes is that the defacto assessment for residential in reality is 10% vs. the statutory requirement of 16%. The difference is made up in the multiplier. The undervaluation of Class 2 properties results in a higher multiplier,” Sandrick said. “One solution would be to slowly assess residential property back up to 16 percent to bring the multiplier down and ease the burden on commercial and industrial business owners and prevent the flight of business to Will County. The undervaluation is the biggest problem and that’s why the changes were enacted. Since 2002 the multiplier in Cook County has gone from 2.4689 to 2.9786 in 2008. That is a 21 percent increase. Even if your assessment hasn’t changed, your taxes went up 21 percent as a result of the multiplier going up.”

This is the reason why businesses are running like hell out of Cook County; Cook County is taxing their pants off.

In recognition of the problem Sandrick said the assessor’s office devised a way to eliminate the great disparity in classifications. The 2009 assessments are 10 percent for vacant land and 10% for Class 2 residential. Class 3 apartments will be at 16% in 2009, 13% in 2010 and 10% in 2011. Commercial and industrial will be at 25%.

“The state mandates all property must be assessed at 33% and now because there are five major classes and none of those assessment levels are 33% what will happen to the multiplier? If you choose to do nothing in about 13 months your taxes will jump” Sandrick said.

He explained that as a result of your level of assessment going from 36% to 25% and the assessor’s office making the transition from the assessor’s value which is typically lower, to real value this boosted the market value of your property. That is a 52% increase in market value for commercial property and 44% for industrial. “As tax attorneys we argue market value,” Sandrick said. “The assessor is pushing market values up while we all know that they are dropping.”

What should businesses do? Sandrick’s answer is appeal, appeal, appeal until you have exhausted all efforts. “I can’ stress enough that you have to appeal in 2009. You have to attack the market value,” Sandrick said. Market value can be appealed through the Cook County Assessor’s office and then through the Cook County Board of Appeals and Circuit Court.

“The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing”

 Jean Baptiste Colbert (from the Sandrick Law Firm LLC website.)

Don't get plucked.

Chicago Breaking News

Scores of people are at today's Cook County Board meeting to protest the expected passage of a measure that tweaks the county's already existing video-gambling ban in unincorporated areas.

The protesters, not all of whom could get into the meeting because of fire-code occupancy limits, were organized by the 130-member Illinois Coin Machine Operators Association, said Tom Fiedler, the group's president.

The protesters, who are unlikely to get a chance to speak because a public hearing on the issue was held last week, are wearing white T-shirts that say "JOBS, JOBS, JOBS" on the front, and "DON'T OPT OUT" on the back.

Fiedler said the protesters include his members, restaurant and bar owners that would benefit from video gambling, as well as union representatives.

This short article refers to Clout Street for more so let's go over there for a moment.

By passing the measure, Cook County joined scores of municipalities and counties across Illinois that have banned the machines. Opponents contend they are “the crack cocaine” of gambling, have been linked to the Chicago Outfit and would be difficult and expensive to regulate.

But regulating is what they're doing with it, isn't it?

The Cook County Board today tweaked its ban on video gambling to ensure the betting machines won’t be allowed in unincorporated areas under Gov. Pat Quinn’s statewide construction plan.

But as mentioned before, it's the Casinos that are behind this because video gambling would take a bite out of their "take". This is a fight for a cut of the "take".

Previous:

Cook County Commissioners to vote on overriding Cook County President's veto requirements; Video Poker

Casino donations tied to sponsor of video gaming machine ban

Image: CREATED/PUBLISHED ca. 1915 Feb. 5 DN-0009693, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society - William Hale Thompson posing in front of the sign for his campaign for Mayor of Chicago.

I have an unusual historical memory of this because of my great-grandfather's political involvement in Park Ridge during this period of time, the book that was published about what the corrupt politicians did to him called "They Got their Man", which family members read and re-read, and the stories that have been passed down from generation to generation in our family.

This picture shows the last Republican Mayor of Chicago, William Hale Thompson, who was reportedly on Al Capone's payroll.

A history of graft

Chicago, with its long history as a center of vice and organized crime, has had its share of official graft.

One of the most notorious alleged recipients was never convicted of any crime.

William “Big Bill” Thompson, who served as mayor from 1915 to 1923 and again from 1927 to 1931, was the last Republican to serve as mayor of the “City of Broad Shoulders.” He returned to office the second time with the support of gangster Al Capone, pledging to clean up organized crime in the city but instead targeting reformers.

Upon his defeat in 1931, the Chicago Tribune leveled the harshest accusations against Thompson in an editorial:

“For Chicago Thompson has meant filth, corruption, obscenity, idiocy and bankruptcy,” the newspaper said. “.... He has given the city an international reputation for moronic buffoonery, barbaric crime, triumphant hoodlumism, unchecked graft, and a dejected citizenship. … He made Chicago a byword for the collapse of American civilization."

Upon his death, two safe-deposit boxes in his name containing nearly $1.5 million in cash reportedly were discovered. (MSNBC)

The picture above taken in 1944 by Marie Hansen, shows Rep. William G. Stratton (3R, seated) counting money found in the safety deposit box belonging to ex-Mayor of Chicago William Hale Thompson after Thompson's death.  More on William Hale Thompson at the Chicago Crime Scenes Project, here. Thompson was quite a character and even served for two years as Cook County Board Commissioner at one point.

Illinois’ official slogan is the “Land of Lincoln,” but an equally apt descriptor would be the “Land of Greased Palms.”

The state, Cook County and its governmental seat, Chicago, have a long history of corruption by elected and appointed officials. (MSNBC)

And corruption is a kind word for what it's historically been; a mixture of gangsters vying for territory which culminated in such unsavory scenes as the Valentine's Day Massacre, and gangster and union involvement influencing politicians with bribes and death threats, and sometimes campaign donations, parties, bootlegging, horses, you name it.

The culture of corruption dates back to the late 19^th century, when a gambling-house owner named Michael Cassius McDonald created the city's first political machine, establishing a model in which officials would distribute contracts, jobs and social services in exchange for political support, according to a scholarly history of organized crime in Chicago by Robert Lombardo, a sociology professor and former Chicago and Cook County police officer. (MSNBC)

So Illinois's culture of corruption was kicked off in the late 19th centure by a gambling house owner.  Gambling in Illinois goes back a very long time, which is why the current video poker ban and videogaming discussions are striking me as -at the very least - humorous.   The mob has been behind gambling in Illinois for longer than most of us have been alive.   Graft, bribes, paybacks, bribery--corruption.

Its persistence was documented in Sept. 7, 2006 by the Chicago Sun-Times, which reported that at least 79 current or former Illinois, Chicago or Cook County elected officials had been found guilty of a crime by judges, juries or their own pleas since 1972. The paper provided this tally of the tarnished: three governors, two other state officials, 15 state legislators, two congressmen, one mayor, three other city officials, 27 aldermen, 19 Cook County judges and seven other Cook County officials.

The article noted that so many aldermen had been jailed that the newspaper ran a front-page-story in 1991 when the year passed with none being indicted or convicted. (MSNBC)

This of course, doesn't include the charges against Rod Blagojevich.  Cleaning up Illinois is going to be a major undertaking, and as my great-grandfather found out, there are people who are deadly serious about making sure their graft, their greased palms, and their bank accounts remain just as they've always been.

See MSNBC's article dated December 9, 2008 if you want to read more:

Illinois has long legacy of public corruption

At least 79 elected officials have been convicted of wrongdoing since 1972

Chicago Public Radio reports that the Cook County Commissioners are going to vote on override measures to Todd Stroger's veto power. This may make sense in the grande scheme of things where Todd Stroger's ineptness is concerned; but it gives more power to the Cook County Commissioners, which probably isn't a good thing, either.

Later this morning, Cook County Commissioners are expected to urge Illinois lawmakers to change some strict veto override requirements.

Last month commissioners opposed to Board President Todd Stroger's sales tax hike tried to override his veto of an ordinance to cut the tax by half-a-penny on the dollar. Commissioners thought they had the 14 votes needed to make the override, but one commissioner changed her mind.

Today the Cook County Board will take up a resolution that asks state legislators to pass a bill allowing commissioners to override a veto by a 3/5 majority, instead of the current 4/5. The proposed resolution says Cook County is the only one in the state with that high of a requirement.

Also this morning, commissioners will take up an ordinance to ban video poker in unincorporated parts of the county. Illinois lawmakers legalized the machines to help pay for a multi-billion dollar construction plan. Local governments can choose to opt out of the deal.

Two hot button issues are to be voted on today; overriding veto power and video poker. Previous post on video gaming, here.

The Cook County Finance Committee voted in early October to ban video gambling in unincorporated areas of Cook County, but today at its October 6th meeting,the full county board is expected to vote on the ban.

Cmdr. Michael Anton, head of the vice unit for the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department, said the department opposes legalized video gaming. He called it virtually impossible to regulate. -MedIll Reports

A Markham man charged in a multiple-car crash in Crestwood last week that killed a man was on parole for a 2006 deadly car crash and should not have had a valid driver's license, a state official said Monday.

Bruce Dozier had a valid license at the time he caused the Oct. 1 crash that killed Frederick Anderson, 55, of Country Club Hills, police said. But he shouldn't have, according to the Illinois secretary of state's office.

Dozier's reckless driving conviction in Cook County for the 2006 accident in which a 28-year-old woman died should have resulted in the revocation of his license, said David Druker, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office.

But, Druker said, the clerk of the circuit court of Cook County never notified the secretary of state about the conviction.

From the Southtown Star. Another example of incompetence in Cook County. Who is the clerk of the circuit court in Cook County? Dorothy Brown.