Standing on the Shoulders of Angels

We are a month out from the election, and I have been campaigning for Cook County Board for well over a year. Because there have been few things in my life I have worked this hard at, I have been reflecting in these final days about what this race and these elections mean to me personally.

People I have met on the campaign trail are very kind in thanking me for taking on this VERY hard job, and commending me for whatever it is that I have in me that allows me to be able to rise this challenge.

So I have been thinking about my father and my maternal grandfather who have a lot to do with who I am today.

Both of them were truly great, distinguished lawyers. Exceptionally smart, hard-working, talented men. Deeply Christian, principled and private men. Selfless and serious men who distinguished themselves in their work and their families and in their devotion to their communities. And both active, traditional Republicans from a different time, who showed me the importance of public service.

My mother's father John Bresee was Champaign County States Attorney for decades. He was the chief law enforcement officer during the time of the Civil Rights movement. He stood up for what was right even when it was not at all popular - a brave thing for an elected official to do. He prosecuted a white barber who refused to cut the hair of black customers.

When I was very young I always thought he was a bit too serious - intimidating to a child. I did not learn until later why.

He was raised on a farm in Mattoon, Illinois, the oldest of five children, born in 1899. He worked hard even in the fields from a very young age. While he would walk the rows of corn de-tassling them, he would practice, among other things, memorizing the Presidents' names in order. (He taught me a little jingle to remember them that I used for years with my high school students). He was sent away to live with relatives at a very young age to help on their farm and to make room at home - away from his parents and his four young brothers and sisters. All that would make anyone serious as a grownup.

He was an architecture major in college and a truly gifted artist who was offered a job early on with an unknown man named Walt Disney, but that was not deemed a "real job" at the time. So instead he worked his way through law school. He married a teacher and raised a son and a daughter.

His son, my Uncle Jim, now in his 80's, has a PhD, a law degree and a Masters Degrees in Chemical Engineering. He is one of the leading scientists in the world in Nuclear Waste Disposal. My mother is one of the most beautiful and intelligent women ever, who got her University of Illinois degree in Theater and has graced audiences all over with her stunning leading performances and exquisite singing voice - as Anna in "The King and I" and as the title role in "Mame". She was and IS a wonderful mother, still working hard. Just retired this year at the age of 80 from her work in a Winnetka Real Estate office. She raised me well and adored and admired her father.

GrandDaddy, as I called him, found time on the side to do a few other little things like bring rural electrification to downstate Illinois, and to codify in Illinois law and author the state handbook defining how Illinois Township government was to work.

There are so many stories I could tell about him - no space here - but he was brilliant, and incredibly decent - a great man. And he is my role model for how I will be as an elected county official in Illinois.

My father M. Lee Bishop was born in Pekin, Illinois in 1930. He grew up an only child in a depression era farm. His father Wilbur Bishop, my grandpa, was an Engineer at Caterpillar, and was on the team that invented the Ditch Witch. My father worked his way through the U of I and went on to law school. He was a Marine during the Korean War, ending his career later in the reserves as a Major. One summer he hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. (Check that out on a map - that is a feat!) He was a champion tennis player, nationally ranked, and played tennis for the Marines as well. We had literally thousands of trophies in my house growing up.

My father was an expert in labor relations law. He did corporate labor law for years in the meat-packing industry. He settle huge contracts and worked to employ tens of thousands of people. He was once the president of a Chamber of Commerce. He was an active precinct leader for his local Republican party in Winnetka here on the North Shore. He was really a handsome man, and he was respected and beloved. He never missed his Wednesday morning Church Men's Bible Study. He sang in the choir all his adult life with my mom. He was an Elder of the Church. He worked so hard and was so successful that when it came time for me and my two younger sisters to go to college, he was able to sit down with a national college catalog, open the book and hand it to me and say, "Choose". And he would pay for wherever I wanted to go.

I was fortunate to get a very fine education at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas - the "Harvard of the South".

I can only hope to be a small fraction as accomplished and helpful to the community as those two men. I am standing on the shoulders of Angels.

Spring Creek is Special

I have written before about Cook County's extraordinary asset - our Forest Preserves. And my commitment to conservation has earned me the Sierra Club endorsement in this race. My opponent lost this endorsement because some of his votes let down many who care about the forest preserves in our communities.

And I have been listening to and learning from the residents of my district as I have been campaigning. Some of them that I met with in Barrington Hills recently helped me to better articulate one of the central philosophical approaches to the best possible management of our "Emerald Necklace" for the collective good.

All forest preserves in Cook County are not the same.

So why are we treating them as if they were the same?

I, for example, live literally next door to the Skokie Lagoons. These lagoons are a swamp. One doesn't have to have been a former Geography teacher like me to know that a swamp is an entirely different kind of ecosystem than a prairie is, or a deciduous forest.

But we have all those different kinds of ecosystems in Cook County - and more.

And we have different kinds of functions carved out for the various conservation spaces. Some of them are rivers and have canoeing. Some of our Forest Preserves in Cook County even have golf courses. Many have paved parking lots and permanent buildings on them with bathrooms and meeting rooms. Some have paved bike paths, some have dedicated horse trails. Some have restricted restoration areas. Some have endangered species. We have space a-plenty for all sorts of features, including mountain biking, and I would like to see Dog Parks. Some of our conservation spaces are more people-use-oriented, and some are (as they should be) entirely wild.

Each of our Cook County Forest Preserve locations are unique. And yet current county policy seems to be geared increasingly towards "one size fits all" policies.

But homogenous policies do not work well in a diverse system.

One of the largest Forest Preserves in Cook County is in my district in Barrington Township: Spring Creek.

And one of the things that makes it special is that it is entirely undeveloped. There is no plumbing, paved roads or trails. And all around it are horse farms that allow riders to walk around in entirely natural spaces. There are few places like this in the whole nation, certainly in the Midwest.

People travel from all over to use Spring Creek to ride horses in all its entirely natural and unspoiled beauty.

We all benefit from this special place. We all have access to it, and we all derive income financially from the money this special place generates in taxpaying homeowners who want to live near it, and from visitors and tourism who come to use it.

Lets keep it that way.

An Open Letter to Independents

To All Independents in the North and Northwest Suburbs of Cook County -

Election Day is just weeks away and I am as frustrated as everyone else is about how government is not working. In fact, its why I am running.

People are upset this election year - and with good reason. We are in the middle of one of the worst economic crises in the history of our nation. We are surrounded by self-interested leaders who see their jobs as a matter of entitlement rather than as an obligation to service.

When I talk to voters I hear a recurring "throw the bums out" theme. That same sentiment motivated me to run.

We have a right to expect our leaders to be competent, committed, independent, professional, and transparent. And most of all, we have a right to expect them to DO the job they were elected to do.

Not to go winging off to California and Hawaii on the taxpayer dime, push through inflated no-bid contracts to "politically connected" firms, or to fail to show up for key votes to stop the Stroger spending spree, like my opponent has.

I am actually glad to hear the anti-incumbent fervor because I know it means that voters will likely turn out the 12-year incumbent in my race as well.

I wanted to write to Independents specifically because I understand all too well why people are dissatisfied with the status quo, including the political parties. I have found in the 14 months I have been campaigning that most voters here in the North and Northwest Suburbs share one important political feature - they vote for the person, not the party.

We vote the issues and the person running, and we do not care what party they are. We are all pretty well-educated, independent thinkers. I hear the dissatisfaction every day when I am out talking to voters. I hear the disappointment and the cynicism, too.

I have never run for office before - that alone has been reason enough for many voters to promise me their vote. But I have taught High School Government and Ethics, Social Studies and History, for 25 years. I have owned a small business. And I have been an effective advocate for public safety.

I am running to represent the 14th District on the Cook County Board, replacing a 12-year incumbent who has failed to fix what is wrong with one of the most bloated and infamously corrupt local governments in the nation. I am running as an Independent Democrat against an incompetent Republican who has supported Todd Stroger and business as usual all too often in his three terms in office.

I have a serious record of independence and have stood up both for and against all of the major parties at some point or other, depending on the issue. I have long worked with Republicans in this state on crime victims issues and on Public Safety. I have worked with Green Party members on environmental conservation and the Democrats on criminal justice reform.

I have opposed corrupt leaders in all parties, including leading the fight against some Senate Democrats who were using cronyism to place friends on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board and to remove law enforcement from that important board. Even though I once worked for a non-profit that endorsed Stroger during the 2006 elections, I have opposed publicly Todd Stroger's mismanagement of Cook County (I am not alone in that) from the first months of his nepotistic tenure. It was my opponent's vote for that 2007 budget, later used to justify the need for the sales tax increase, that first caught my attention about the need to replace the commissioner in our district.

I serve on statewide and national bi-partisan commissions designed to reform public policies. I know how to work to bring people together to actually fix things - to take action. I am entirely focused at all times on what works and what is sustainable.

I hope that our shared frustrations will not keep you from the polls - but in fact will motivate you all, as it has me, to get out and vote in the right people - regardless of party - who are committed to deep and systemic reforms, and open and responsive government.

Unlike the incumbent, I will have an open door to ALL residents and constituents of this district, regardless of party or concern. I will listen to and meet with everyone. I will support good government, responsible reform, streamlining and downsizing the bureaucracy, holding the line on tax increases, and sustainable policies.

Independents, I ask for your vote this November 2.

My Commitment to Independence and Reform

Thoughtful voters will ask me: what does my stated commitment to be an independent reformer actually mean I will DO once elected to the Cook County Board?

To be specific on just some of what I am committed to do:

Streamlining and Reform County Government:

• Consolidate Departments (see "Reinventing Cook County" plan linked on Issues page of website) for example merging all tax-related departments into one, merge the Secretary and Clerk's offices, etc.
• Immediately cut the sales tax
• Eliminate redundant functions in purchasing, IT, HR, and other areas
• Shrink the budget
• Dramatically reduce salaries of Cook County employees making over $100,000
• 10% cut in pay for all county leaders, including myself
• Change the budget procedures using the following strategies: zero-based budgeting, performance-based budgeting, outcomes-based budgeting, and intensive and targeted audits
• Reform the 10-25 tax plan supported by my opponent that capped rates but did not address the huge problem with rising assessments
• Work with the States Attorney to pursue the return of millions of dollars in fees paid to corrupt and incompetent consultants
• End the use of county taxpayer funds for personal benefit of Commissioners such as the current commissioner who spent over $100,000 of Cook County taxpayer funds to receive a graduate degree from Notre Dame University
• Create incentives for employees who can propose ways for the county to save money
• Require all minutes to Cook County Board meetings to be posted online (currently not available since 2003)

End Corrupt Hiring:

• End almost all Shakman-exempt (patronage) job positions except the immediate staff of elected officials
• End no-bid contracts
• Post all county job descriptions and salaries on-line
• I will take no donations from county contractors
• I will create a whistle-blower hotline to report fraud, waste, ghost-payrolling, and abuse
• Change the leadership in all hiring aspects of the county and eliminate patronage positions identified in studies by the Better Government Association, and other independent groups

End Conflict of Interest on the County Board:

• I will be a full time commissioner with no other outside employment, unlike all other current commissioners and candidates
• End the practice of elected county officials and leaders also holding party committee county, ward, or township leadership positions

Give the 14th District, all residents and taxpayers, better service from their County Commissioner and a Better Return on Investment:

• Increase the percentage of tax dollars brought back to the 14th District (my opponent has averaged approximately only a 22% return on investment over his 12 years in office)
• Stop the suburban Red Light Camera program originally supported by my opponent (see previous blog)
• Fight to eliminate TIFs (Tax Increment Finance Districts) that have taken hundreds of millions of property tax dollars away from actual use for operations within the county for the benefit of taxpayers and residents
• Spend resources instead on direct services to benefit residents such as green employment in mass transit and better public access to transportation in the north and northwest suburbs I will represent

Save the county money and improve quality of life through Prevention:

• I will bring my nationally recognized expertise in crime and violence prevention to reduce violent crime in Cook County, saving money and making our communities safer
• Reduce day to day non-violent jail population through alternatives such as electronic monitoring
• Increase the number of cameras in the jail to reduce costly vandalism and inmate lawsuits injured in fights
• Require improved safety and prevention programs for all employees to reduce self-insurance costs
• Better utilize vast numbers of qualified volunteers to improve services through Forest Preserves and the Criminal Justice system

More to come!

Small Business

I had the pleasure of attending a very educational forum last week with the SBAC - the Small Business Advocacy Council.

Wonderful group - doing very important work - check them out at: http://smallbusinessadvocacycouncil.org/

I was impressed by not only the caliber of the program, but also the high level of discussion about a broad range of issues that affect small business. I will be attending more of their events and highly recommend the same to all business people in the region.

Conventional wisdom is undisputed - small business is where America creates jobs. And jobs are what we all need a lot more of these days to turn the country around from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930's.

Cook County has some control over the climate in which small business in the region functions.

I have already written about the need to cut the Stroger sales tax which has only drive business to the north of Lake Cook Road. I will push for this immediately upon election.

And I learned about how a more creative approach to delineating enterprise zones can be made by changing some of the definitions of the geographic region they would be made up of. I am all for this kind of out-of-the-box thinking as well and look forward to working with the SBAC and other business owners once I am on the county board to help innovate in this way.

But there is another insidious practice that Cook County can directly affect - no bid contracts.

One woman co-owner of a small business talked to me while I was at the Northbrook farmers' market recently about the financial struggle they were having because of the county's repeated patronage of the same well-connected contractors, and the no-bid process.

My incumbent opponent recently was called out in the local news for pushing through no-bid contracts to "politically connected" contractors at more than double the original cost of the contract, over strong objections of some commissioners who wanted it put out for competitive bid.

I will work very hard on the Cook County Board to create an environment more conducive to all small businesses, not just those with "connections."

And as a former small business owner myself, I know how important this is.

Eliminate no-bid contracts.

Use Creative enterprise zones.

Equalize our sales tax rates to those of neighboring counties, so that Cook County businesses can compete.

Lets help small businesses so that they can help us.

Endorsing Forrest Claypool

Forrest Claypool will be my choice on November 2nd for Cook County Assessor. He is a man of integrity and intelligence, and he has a keen understanding of how to make county government function well for its citizens. He will bring strong ethical and tax reform to that important office, and I am proud to give him my support.

I first voted for Forrest Claypool during his run in the 2006 primary for Cook County Board President. He was challenging the long-entrenched John Stroger, who was seeking yet another term. I proudly displayed my Forrest Claypool window and yard signs in the early months of 2006.

Many of us are tortured by the historical "what if" that followed that story:

What if John Stroger hadn't had a stroke just days before the primary?

What if Todd Stroger hadn't been appointed to run in his father's place?

What untold damage could have been prevented in Cook County during the last four years. . . .

What a difference one man in one office could have made to our lives, and to the Cook County budget!

If only Forrest Claypool had won in 2006.

We have all paid the disastrous price for the outcome. And now we must not ever let this happen again.

I am always impressed by how well informed the voters of my 14th Cook County District are. Most are already well aware of the importance of this vote for Cook County Assessor.

Many ask me hopefully, do I think Forrest Claypool can win, running as an independent?

Yes, I tell them. I know he can win. Good people just have to turn out to vote for us independent reformer types on November 2nd.

Let's face it. Most local races usually don't get enough attention by voters. But I have a strong sense that voters this year are uniquely aware of how important some of our local races are. How our property taxes are assessed has a deep impact on our lives, often affecting where we have to live and whether we have to move.

Forrest Claypool has integrity, and is very good at what he does -- serving the public trust and protecting our tax dollars.

Greening Cook County

A wonderful partnership of the Friends of the Forest Preserves, the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, the Friends of the Parks, the Friends of the Chicago River, and Openlands have put out a Green Policy Paper for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

Cook County Commissioners currently are also the Forest Preserve District Commissioners. And while I strongly support separating those functions because of the inherent conflict of interest between the forces of development and the forces of conservation, until the boards are separated, I will be also be a FPD Commissioner if I am fortunate enough to be elected November 2.

So I want to lay out in clear language what my position on the Forest Preserve District will be. Thanks to the coalition of experts listed above, they have made that task easier.

First, a bit about the Cook County Forest Preserves:

Eleven percent of Cook County's land is in Forest Preserves -- our beautiful "emerald necklace" that provides a greatly enhanced quality of life for all residents in our communities. Eighty percent of that 68,000 acres is in its natural undeveloped state, and the rest is in nature centers, parking, bike paths, etc.

There are 40 lakes to fish in, 10 golf courses, 200 picnic groves, and 300 miles of trails. What a precious resource, and what a gift to our children!

There are also 173 endangered and threatened species. There are serious issues with pollution, neglect, invasive species, overused areas, and trash to contend with.

I am an environmentalist. No matter what else is going on in the world -- and there is a LOT going on in our world in terms of human activity and the needs and concerns surrounding human life -- little else will matter if we don't have a healthy place to live. Protecting our global and local environment is the top issue of our time.

Just this week in international news, we've heard about the largest disaster of modern times in terms of human impact: the flooding in Pakistan, where a staggering 1/5 of the nation is underwater, 20 million people are facing imminent death and disease, and the suffering is on an unprecedented scale. Science is clear that we can expect more of these disasters with man-made climate change upon us.

A petty example but a real one: as I walk door to door in the district this month here in the north and northwest suburbs, I have encountered more mosquitoes than at any time in my half-century of living here. The little buggers are making the front pages of the newspaper, so you know it's a big deal.

There are so many other examples that illustrate the importance of a healthy environment, but I think you get my point.

So with gratitude to the group that has put together the Green Policy Paper, here is their plan, which is now MY plan for how we can address the environmental issues faced by our own local Forest Preserve District of Cook County -- one of the largest of its kind in the nation.

1. Land Policy

The forest preserves should not and can not be "chipped away" at for the various development desires as people see them as an "easy" place to grab for housing, schools, roads, etc.

2. Land Acquisition

Cook County can have 75,000 acres in conservation space, but currently only has 68,000. Acquisition plans and various funding models to acquire land are out there and need to be implemented, especially to take advantage of the low prices now available.

3. Restoration

Wild land cannot be just left alone; given all the ways humans interfere with the world around us, it must be managed. Populations and species have to be expertly managed properly and in partnership with the many groups willing and able to do this.

4. Superintendent Runs Day-to-Day Operations

The Superintendent of the Forest Preserves needs to be able to review the work of his/her own staff, and to hire competent staff and fire incompetent staff.

5. Youth Programming

More partnerships with the schools, the Green Teacher Network, and other community youth groups enhance not only the public use and enjoyment of our Forest Preserves, but also their care and management for the long term.

6. Partnerships

Non-profit groups interested in the environment and Forest Preserves provide countless hours of volunteer assistance in managment already. These wonderful resources need to be developed and enhanced through better working relationships with the FPD staff.

Blagojevich Has a Lot to Answer For

The headlines this week are historic and troubling: "Convicted Felon Rod Blagojevich."

A conviction on one count and mistrials on the rest, which means we Illinoisans are not out of this long nightmare yet. But certainly another horrific landmark in what surely must rate us as the most politically corrupt state in the nation, with four out of our last eight Governors, of both political parties, headed to prison.

I am not the only one in the state who is furious with the man. He was rightly impeached for abusing his power and disgracing his office. He is the antithesis of the public servant that I aspire to be. We all have our own stories about how his crimes and abuse of the public trust have affected us.

I won't take time in this space to comment on the obvious and widespread damage he has done to the state. Instead, I share a story that is personal because I think it tells a rarely heard side of how this whole scandal with Blagojevich has affected a few people's private lives.

I actually did intersect with the disgraced former governor several times in my years of work helping victims of violent crime. I have been in the home of a fellow murder victim's family member with him as Governor after a very high-profile shooting. I worked with his office on legislation. I have emceed press conferences that he has appeared at with other shooting victims' families like mine, with him calling for an end to the violence.

This helps explain why my anger over this betrayal is something I feel so deeply.

On the day of Blagojevich's arrest, I got three phone calls inside of one hour that tell the whole story for me.

All three of the phone calls were from mothers of murdered children from the south side of Chicago. They called me because part of my work has placed me in the support network of families like mine who have had loved ones shot and killed. They called me because I had been at events with them where Blagojevich had called for change in public policies to address the violence that shattered their lives.

I cannot put into words the pain I heard in these mothers' voices.

Two of them were crying. All three were deeply distraught.

It was if their world had ended.

"What is going to happen to his promises now?" they asked me, as if I had an answer . . .

He was the man who was going to finally fix things. The first Governor in decades who had actually been in their homes, at their funerals, marching in the streets with them, calling for an end to the violence. He was the one who promised to pay attention to their concerns and their agony when no one else had.

And now he was going to jail. He was over. Clearly, all that they hoped he would do for them politically to change things was now not going to happen.

We can debate seriously about whether or not Rod Blagojevich was sincere in his intentions when he made promises to those mothers. And I did hear him promise them that he would do all he could to make things better -- pass sensible gun regulations to limit the easy flow of guns into the hands of inner-city youth, get funding for needed programs for inner-city residents.

Promises broken. Hearts broken.

People who had hung their entire healing after a tragedy on his promises to make life better were re-traumatized and left without hope.

And I just cannot forgive him for this. If I ever see him again, I will tell him this to his face, because he needs to hear it.

Campaign Promises

I take the commitment of making campaign promises VERY seriously. Promises are a binding contract.

As a teacher who taught government, ethics, history, and civics to high school students for 25 years, I know that such promises are the foundation of the political system in which we live. Candidates make promises to voters about what they will do and who they will be once elected. Then the voters vote for them on that basis. Those we elect must keep those promises.

I will keep my promises, and this may distinguish me from many people running for office, including my opponent. Even if keeping those promises means I am a one-term Commissioner, I will put service to the constituents ahead of advancing my own interests. Service to constituents is ultimately the only thing that should get an official re-elected anyway. Below is what I promise to work to do once elected a Commissioner for the Cook County Board. Please don't hesitate to contact me for other items that you feel need to be on this list.

I promise to:

Streamline Cook County
Be accessible, responsive, and accountable to the people of the 14th District
Listen to my constituents and always respond to them in a timely manner
Dig deep to analyze what is and is not working
End the corrupt hiring
Cut the remaining Stroger sales tax
Consolidate the bloated bureaucracy
Eliminate conflicts of interest
Be independent
Set high professional standards
Practice exemplary ethics
Lead for reform
Reform the budget process
Create decision-making processes that include all stakeholders
Be a full-time commissioner, unlike my incumbent and others with conflicts of interest
Use only best practices and evidence-based practices
Upgrade technology
Increase efficiency and transparency
Reduce costly crime through prevention
Increase public safety
Implement green practices county-wide
Protect the Forest Preserves and natural spaces
Hold public meetings to discuss how best to improve Cook County, and then work to implement findings
Implement a virtual suggestion box for Cook County employees about how to save money, with incentives
Implement a "whistle-blower" system for reporting wrongdoing by Cook County employees

Scandal!

I stay away, instinctively, from lurid media reports of sex scandals with public figures. Its hard to watch human tragedy unfold in such a personal way and it usually seldom has any real value to issues that should be of public concern. Often these stories are repeated only to appeal to purient interests.

So I have truly resisted writing this blog. But now that there may be a pattern of problems, I am forced to comment.

Very early in my race for this office, I learned of the problems inside this 14th District (that I have so grown to love and feel protective about) with the former Palatine Township Republican Party Committeeman Gary Skoien who was defeated for re-election earlier this year in the primaries because of his taint of sexual scandal, and even questions of financial mismanagement.

Police reports indicate that he was caught by his wife last year late at night with two prostitutes in their home. The story became a butt of national jokes because the wife apparently then attacked Skoien with a guitar. He retaliated by later charging her with assault and it all went ridiculously nasty into a divorce scandal with their three children as the victims.

No doubt propelled by this negative publicity, a young business leader named Aaron Del Mar narrowly defeated the entrenched Skoien for control of the Palatine Republican Party in this year's primary back in February, also citing financial questions about how Skoien conducted Republican party business in Palatine.

The victorious Del Mar has asked that Palatine Republicans unite behind the legitimate winner of the elections, but Skoien did not want to let go the reins of power. He controls the group TOPPER and has chosen instead to split the party. Del Mar then put out letters that called any who stayed with Skoien to be basically traitors to the party.

And the Tea Party got involved, backing Skoien as well. This is not the first place in the nation this year that the Tea Party has contributed to splits inside the Republican Party.

Honestly, its been such a mess to watch, I just have looked away and concentrated on listening to the needs and concerns of the Palatine Township residents, and all the residents of the 14th District that I have been fortunate to talk to about how Cook County can better be run.

But I was shocked to see my opponent apparently chose to side with Skoien in this whole mess. Goslin donated $2000 to Skoien after the election that took him out of office, and continued to appeat at party events with him, against Del Mar's call to unify the party. Frankly, I think that speaks to the pattern of poor judgment that I have come to see too much of in my opponent.

I write about all this now because the Cook County Republican Party is making national headlines again this week because of a sex scandal amongst its leadership, now Cook County-wide. Here is one report covering the breaking story:

"Jeremy Rose, the executive director of the Cook County GOP, resigned Tuesday night after word spread of a past allegation of sexual misconduct. According to documents . . . his boss -- Cook County GOP chairman Lee Roupas -- has known about the allegations for over a year, during which time he hired and promoted Rose. And when a whistleblower came forward about the complaint, Roupas organized a concerted effort to remove that person from her elected position within the party."

Rose apparently inappropriately sexually pressured one of his young volunteers. The aggravating part of this story was not just the original wrong-doing but an apparent cover up about it by Cook County Republican Party leadership. I was troubled to see reports that Republican candidates are not pushing for Roupas to now resign as well.

Not wanting to spend one more minute than necessary on this whole sad business, I simply call on my opponent to do the right thing and denounce the misbehavior of the leaders of his party and dissociate himself from any dealings with them.

I am off, back to the business of the campaign. Today I look forward to meeting more Palatine residents at their Farmer's Market which I often visit - always a pleasant experience.


For more information, google the names involved. Here are just some examples of reporting that has been done on these stories:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/28/jeremy-rose-resigns-cook_n_662270.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/30/cook-county-gop-scandal-b_n_665355.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/11/gary-skoien-former-cook-c_n_174128.html

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=350120&src=329

http://www.teapartypalatine.com/apps/forums/topics/show/2178096-palatine-township-republican-controversey-02-20-10-

A Failure to Oversee Contracts

At Tuesday’s Cook County Board meeting my incumbent opponent Commissioner Gregg Goslin voted to spend over $500,000 to initiate the fifth major change in project design requested by county engineers for a stretch of Lake-Cook Road within Deerfield, inside our 14th District.

He did so over strenuous objections from members of both political parties who urged that the process be opened for competitive bidding.

Including the five change notices that were previously requested and voted for by Goslin, the total cost to design this construction project has soared to almost $2.0 million or over 112% more than was originally approved.

Having enthusiastically voted for all five design changes, Goslin consistently has failed to live up to his fiduciary responsibilities to 14th District voter by refusing to call a halt to this continuous stream of expensive changes to provide sufficient time to “finalize” the design concept and determine where money will come from to fund construction of the requested changes.

And then, to make matters worse for Cook County taxpayers, the company, McDonough Associates Inc, was again allowed to renew its contract this week without any competitive bidding.

We need a commissioner who fights waste and corruption, not one who sits idly by while taxpayers foot the bill.

After 12 years of work on this project on Lake Cook Road in Deerfield, it seems to me, taxpayers should not have to bear the burden for numerous design changes and a no-bid contract renewal with a politically connected engineering firm.

This contract has been going on in Goslin’s district ever since he came into office and he had a responsibility at every step of the process to analyze the need for these changes, ask questions about where the funding these changes might come from, and determine how to minimize the costs.

The Cook County Board narrowly approved an additional $500,000 engineering contract to McDonough Associates Inc., of Chicago, on Tuesday by a 6-5 vote over strong objections from some Commissioners, including from Goslin’s own party. McDonough was originally contracted for $944,000 in 1998 for work on the road.

Since then, according to a recent article in the Daily Herald, several change orders brought the company, described as having insider political relationships, to total pay of $2 million.

Commissioners owe taxpayers due diligence to make sure we get what we pay for. We cannot write a blank check for construction projects that lack definition and foresight. It is the commissioners' job to hold county engineers, suppliers, and contractors accountable, and to make sure that we save, not waste money.

The Clinic Flip-Flop

I got an email from my opponent this week that left me almost in disbelief. As a constituent of my incumbent opponent, Commissioner Goslin, I get his routine updates. This week he was surveying us about whether or not we wanted a second Cook County Health Clinic to handle low-income and uninsured people seeking health care in the northwest suburbs of this district.

The Stroger Hospital that anchors the Cook County health system is very far away from our communities, an hour plus drive away on the southwest side of downtown Chicago. And this district that I am running to represent is truly vast: from Winnetka in the east all the way out past Barrington in the west, all along the south side of Lake Cook Road. The only Cook County clinic is remote, in Palatine. It is actually fairly busy serving the health care needs of the uninsured and low-income families of our area, despite the mythical impression that these suburbs are devoid of people who need access to public health care assistance.

Goslin reported that the independent hospital board governing Cook County's health care system was considering opening a second clinic in the northwest suburbs soon and wanted our input on the idea. The email definitely gave the impression that he was proud to be telling us this news, as if to say: "Look what great new thing I can deliver to the citizens of my district as I run for re-election!"

There's just one problem.

The district already used to have the two clinics. But HE voted to cut that second clinic in 2007.

The second clinic was in Rolling Meadows, but Commissioner Goslin voted to dramatically reduce its functioning to almost nothing just three years ago.

Now he wants to take credit for bringing a new clinic back to the district.

I can only do what any caring citizen and candidate to represent the district should do: call him out for his hypocrisy.

Again.

I think most voters know that incumbents always try to make themselves look good to their constituents right before election time. And they hope that most people don't pay attention enough to the details of how they run their offices to catch contradictions like this.

I would like to know the dollars behind all this, and more than that, the human stories of residents in our district that have needed the services that the Rolling Meadows clinic used to offer but stopped. And I would very much like to know why he is using the delivery of a needed service in order to attempt to endear himselves to voters right before an election.

Choice

A little over half the population of the world is women. Most women have had children and become mothers. I am a mother of two teenage daughters, one headed off to college next month for the first time, and the other still in high school. But men as well as women who have not chosen to have children also clearly understand the importance of the defining political issue of choice and reproductive control over one's own body.

This issue is so profoundly personal, down to our very cells, that it is between a woman, her doctor, and her God.

Not her County Commissioner.

It is a controversial issue, no doubt, and one my opponent in this race has worked fastidiously to avoid (as he often does) and to be silent on. Just to finally put it out publicly, because he has not, he is AGAINST a woman's right to choose. He has consistently refused to support choice and reproductive freedom, even though he has been asked to, many times. Too often in this campaign I have had to ask, "Where is Gregg Goslin?"

I believe that being against choice is an incredibly dangerous and bizarre position for a Cook County Commissioner to take, and it is my duty to make sure the public knows who he is and what he stands for.

If you have read any of my other blogs, hopefully by now you have sized me up as someone who is not afraid to honestly take a stand on difficult issues based on facts and principles, what works, what is sustainable, smf what is right. I also keep an open mind, can change my mind, and always want to base my positions on facts and principles. I will speak truth to power.

The reason that I write these blogs is so that voters will know that I am a person who will sometimes refuse to speak in soundbites. Quick labels like, "anti-gun," "anti-tax," and "pro-life" do not always serve the public well. The public has the ability and the right to understand that issues are complex and need to be fleshed out, documented, and understood in their real-life context. And of course, people have a right to delve into an issue to whatever depth they feel comfortable.

I am unabashedly and deeply pro-choice. I am also pro-responsibility. And I believe it is also very fair to say I am for LIFE. Let me explain.

Only twice in all the thousands of conversations with voters have they been abrupt with me and said, in effect, go away -- I do not want to talk with you. Both of them were people who identified themselves as pro-life. I absolutely respect their convictions and their right not to want to talk with me.

But one gentleman I met at an outdoor shopping center event last Memorial Day weekend asked me, "Where are you on the family and life?"

I answered him immediately and with genuine enthusiasm: "I am very much for families. I have a wonderful one myself and cherish it every day. I have been a teacher for over two decades who worked my heart out to help children grow to be good people. I love life. I am against gun violence and the death penalty, I have worked in suicide prevention and have been a volunteer for years helping troubled youth to not grow up to become violent criminals who hurt other people. I am a strong conservationist. I adore and have rescued many animals. My whole family loves and often works to protect nature. I am against unnecessary war, and I have always worked to support causes that protect life by helping the poor and downtrodden, the homeless, the environment, families, education, jobs and economies for families and working people. My record on these issues of life and family are something I am very proud of."

And then I said to him, "But I don't think that's what you are asking about, right?"

He nodded.

And then I told him I was pro-choice because I am for families and for children and for life and for communities. All children deserve to be wanted and cared for and to grow up in families that can love and care for them.

I then asked him if he had ever adopted an unwanted child. Had he ever given money to help an orphan of the streets go to college? Was he willing to pay much higher taxes to support mass incarcerations of thousands of troubled young people who turned to crime because their lives were hopeless?

Oh, no, he said. He was against higher taxes too.

I asked him if he had ever given money to support a young woman in crisis through the worst time of her life. I asked him, if he was indeed pro-life, did he support the request from Illinois Law Enforcement that we require background checks for every person who wants to buy a gun?

I wasn't trying to be argumentative with this gentleman, believe me. My tone was gentle and respectful. I genuinely wanted to have a conversation with him. I cherish the value of public discourse about issues and believe it's something we do not do enough of in our world these days.
At this point, he just shook his head and told me to go away. So I did.

But I was saddened. He did not want to discuss the more difficult issues that face our communities, which of course I can understand because he was out for a day of shopping. But it was clear that he had never been inside the Cook County Jail, where on any given day there are about 10,000 souls incarcerated at taxpayer expense while they await trial -- inmates who for whatever reason are there because their lives are a mess.

It was clear that he had never met anyone who was really hungry or malnourished. It was clear he had never comforted a mother whose only son was just blown away on the streets of Chicago. He had not had a young woman sobbing on his shoulder unconsolably because she had been raped or was in a life crisis, now pregnant, and could not keep her baby, or because she had just found out that if her baby was to live to full term, it would be born profoundly disabled, would suffer all its life, and then die young. He clearly had never been a doctor who had to treat a woman back in the 1950s who tried to give herself her own abortion and ended up torn up inside and bleeding to death. Out there in South Barrington, he clearly felt very far from, and very free of, all those types of concerns.

But he knew he did not want to pay higher taxes to assist anyone like that who could not help themselves. And he definitely opposed laws that would help to prevent more of these kinds of tragedies from happening.

You see, I believe in responsibility. I believe in freedom. I believe in freedom with responsibility.

I believe that families have a strong responsibility to teach their sons and daughters the serious potential consequences of sexual activity. We must do much more in the public policy arena to make sure that everyone is educated on all these issues as best we can. If we do that, there will be far fewer abortions, and that will be a very, very good thing.

We also need elected officials to stand up honestly and tell the public where they stand on complex issues and why.

The Cook County Death Penalty Burden

Cook County's largest single budget burden is the criminal justice system. Just less then half of what taxpayers pay to Cook County in taxes goes to fund the courts, the clerks, the sheriffs, the jails, the probation officers, the public defenders, and the prosecutors. It's the most important area of Cook County's public function -- protecting public safety -- and it's appropriate that our financial priorities reflect that.

But there are some things Cook County does in the criminal justice arena that just don't make any sense and that waste tax dollars. Excessive prosecution seeking the death penalty is a glaring example.

I have studied hard the areas where Cook County can cut waste, and it's been my observation that most of the fat that needs to be trimmed is primarily not in the criminal justice area -- it is in other departments throughout Cook County government.

While there are some clear exceptions in a few well-publicized problematic jail employees and other patronage employees in the county criminal justice system, most of the prosecutors and defense attorneys working for the Cook County taxpayers are actually incredibly over-worked and under-resourced. They are among the hardest working of all Cook County employees.

But there are still a lot of ways we can save money, even in this area of prosecuting criminals.

Part of the overall solution is a greater focus on being smart on crime, on best practices and prevention. We can save a lot of money at the jail through alternatives to incarceration pre-trial for non-violent offenders. But Cook County still sees more people moving through its criminal justice system (1.2 million people!) each year than almost anywhere else in the world. Every single day, the Cook County States Attorney's Office has to make decisions on whom to prosecute, whom to plea bargain, whom to take to trial, what cases to drop, and what evidence shows that criminals should be charged with. Every day, public defenders are handed a huge number of tragic and difficult cases that they must provide a quality defense for. We have some of the finest attorneys in the world working in our system.

Given the incredible importance of public safety and the incredible burden that these prosecutions place on the system, it only makes sense to be incredibly wise about where to spend our tax dollars in these prosecutions.

Since 2003, taxpayers in the state of Illinois have shelled out over $100 million dollars to fund the prosecution of death penalty cases statewide, yet not a single person has been executed in over a decade. To understand the whole picture would take another entire chapter explaining the history of the moratorium against executions that is still in place, first imposed by then-Governor Ryan after massive errors in the death penalty system were uncovered. Ryan commuted the entire population of death row -- over 160 inmates -- to life without parole as he left office because of the widespread systemic doubt that had been well-documented by media and academic study of the process of convictions.

The Illinois legislature, with an initiative led by then-state Senator Barack Obama, passed a series of reforms to the Illinois death penalty designed to correct these flaws. They also established the Capital Punishment Reform Study Committee (CPRSC) to study the impact of the reforms. Its final report is due this year and is being worked on even as we speak. In 2008 I was officially appointed to that committee as a leading voice in the state on the issue, as a murder victims' family member who had long been active on public policy on crime.

As an insider to this careful examination of an expensive and extremely serious process, I can tell you that there is overwhelming evidence that the Illinois death penalty is too flawed to fix. On a personal moral level, I have come to understand ever since my sister's murder that no human being should ever make the decision to kill another, and that life without parole is the proper punishment in many cases if we are to stand as a people against the evils of murder.

But let's get back to the issue facing Cook County taxpayers.

Quoting from the 2010 Annual Report by the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (ICADP):

"Close to 90 percent of death penalty cases in the state of Illinois take place in Cook County, which is home to just under half the state's population . . . . [there are] 154 pending death penalty cases in Cook County. . . . Over the past 7 years, Cook County prosecutors have sought to try an exceptionally high number of capital cases, despite a general decline in the murder rate and a justice system under increasing financial strain . . . . 80% of these defendants rely on the Cook County Public Defender's office for legal representation . . . [most of the rest] are court-appointed and paid with public funds . . . . Cook County has aggressively pursued the death penalty against defendants with schizophrenia and other serious mental disorders . . . . Since 2003 ICADP has documented 35 'not guilty' cases in Cook County, far outnumbering the six defendants actually sentenced to death in the same period. These figures suggest that death penalty prosecutions in Cook County can occur even in cases where evidence against the defendant is relatively weak."

I pause here to reiterate: it is vital that we continue to prosecute murderers consistently and aggressively and that the guilty be removed, in many cases permanently, from our midst. Especially given my family's personal tragedy, I am not by any means "soft on crime."

But I am profoundly aware of how important it is to be smart on crime.

Taxpayers at both the state and county level are paying an exorbitant amount of money to pursue a penalty that has zero public benefit and is all about politics and posturing politicians.

The death penalty does not make us safer, and it does not save us money. Life in prison without parole is FAR less expensive than death and works better as a sentence for all concerned.

The bulk of the costs in these cases come in the prosecution of the death penalty, which has mandatory appeals in every single case all the way up to the Supreme Court and back again, often several times. Since this is required by the U.S. Constitution and by multiple Supreme Court rulings, there are no "short cuts' in death penalty prosecutions. There are no ways to create a more "efficient" death penalty.

In my family's Cook County murder case, the offender who killed my pregnant sister and her husband was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. This was a very good thing for the public and for us. He got one appeal and then was done. His case was entirely resolved in 18 months. There has been no decades-long appeals process to entangle either our family or the taxpayer. No need for the media to turn him into a household name. And he won't ever get out. Ever.

There is a behind-the-scenes dynamic that explains why Cook County seeks so many death penalty prosecutions, usually "unsuccessfully," since 2003.

It's not because our murders here are more horrific or the offenders more dangerous than anywhere else. And it's not because of strong feelings here in Cook County that the victims' families need the offenders to die in order to feel any sense of justice. And it's not because the public is demanding it -- the majority of the public prefers the quick certainty of life-without-parole sentences in such heinous cases.

No, actually, the high number of death penalty prosecutions in Cook County are, at least in good part, because such prosecutions allow prosecutors to tap into additional funding from the bountiful (I am being sarcastic here) Springfield fountain of money.

The state Capital Litigation Trust Fund (CLTF) was designed to guarantee fair defense and prosecution resources and was part of the post-moratorium reforms put in place by the Illinois legislature. Inadvertantly, however, the Illinois General Assembly created a perverse incentive towards more death penalty prosecutions. Filing notice to prosecute for the death penalty in any given case allows prosecutors to tap into the state CLTF.

But whether it's state tax money or Cook County taxpayer money, it's still coming out of OUR pockets.

Springfield, in case you haven't been following the news, is entirely broke, more so even than Cook County. The large number of death penalty cases are in part a result of Cook County moving money in a taxpayer shell game that brings in millions from the state treasury to fund unnecessarily harsh prosecutions when that money could have been saved by not expending it at all, either here in Cook County or in Springfield.

And there is still an extraordinary cost to Cook County residents and taxpayers in any death penalty case. They clog the system and suck away massive man and womanpower. They drag on for years, budget after budget. They prevent staff from being available to prosecute the MANY other crimes that harm and impact the public.

And they don't result in a safer Cook County.

I will be supporting legislation in Springfield in the next legislative session to abolish the death penalty. In the meantime as a candidate for Cook County Board, I will use whatever influence I have to make for a smarter Cook County when it comes to the worst crimes in our communities.

Borrowing to Cover Debt

Getting information about vital votes being made by our Cook County Commissioners that deeply affect our pocketbooks and our communities is nearly impossible.

Incumbents like it that way.

So I was grateful to find a paper written just a few months ago for the Political Science Department at UIC called "Cook County Wars," in which author researchers Dick Simpson and Tom Kelly discuss the problem I have faced repeatedly in this campaign -- that the public (including candidates like me up against an incumbent opponent) cannot get access to the voting records of Commissioners on the Cook County Board.

It is not surprising that the Commissioners have made sure their votes are not easily accessible when we find out the kinds of things they are voting to do.

It is up to us in the November 2nd elections to make sure they do not get to continue to give us this treatment.

In what is clearly an outrage to democracy, and all too symbolic of much that is wrong with how Cook County is governed, this appalling lack of vital transparency that I have been up against for months is affirmed by the UIC researchers:

"While the news media have covered the individual votes of the county board meetings, there is no easy way to obtain the voting record of each commissioner. The Cook County Clerk does not post the controversial divided roll call votes of commissioners on his website as the Chicago City Clerk does for the Chicago City Council."

The paper goes on to describe some important votes that the authors personally were able to observe, as I have done myself at meetings I have attended -- the only way to know for sure how the Commissioners are voting.

Previous blogs have highlighted some other votes made by my opponent that I have been concerned about as I have tried to cover the range of poor decisions made by my incumbent opponent, Commissioner Goslin. Another issue important for voters to know about is how he supports irresponsible borrowing to cover debt on a massive scale for Cook County.

As a taxpayer in his district, I am personally outraged that he cast this vote while he has simultaneously, for the twelve years he has been in that office, NEVER worked to accomplish the streamlining, waste-cutting, and downsizing of county government that I have been supporting (see the Issues page at my website) and that would make this kind of borrowing unnecessary.

Simpson and Kelly write about the period following the passage of the controversial and counterproductive sales tax from two years ago, that has now only been partially repealed.

"After the failure of the repeal [of the sale tax], Stroger worked out a deal to allow his Chief
Financial Officer and first cousin, Donna Dunnings, to renegotiate $3 billion of debt and
to add another $740 million to the debt. The additional borrowing and bond issuance was
passed on September 17, 2008 by a 12-4 vote, with surprisingly support of four of the
five Republican Commissioners. Republicans Silvestri, Goslin, Schneider, and Gorman
joined Democrats Collins, Steele, Butler, Beavers, Sims, Murphy, Moreno, and Daley to
pass the measure. Voting against the measure was lone Republican Peraica and
Democrats Quigley, Claypool, and Suffredin. Reformer Forrest Claypool reacted to
alleged backroom deals made with the Republicans, 'Responsible governments don't
borrow money to pay the bills especially after raising taxes to record levels.' 7 . . . [Republicans] Silvestri, Goslin, Schneider, and Gorman voted with Stroger."

Backroom deals.

Irresponsible borrowing.

No public record.

Time to vote out Commissioner Gregg Goslin in the 14th District.

Program Cut for Kids in Trouble

For over ten years, I have been fortunate to be a volunteer speaker in a wonderful program that helps youth in trouble with the law through the Cook County Juvenile Probation system.

But in the first year of Todd Stroger's administration, my opponent supported his 2007 budget that cut this wonderful program back drastically.

The program, called Victim and Community Impact Panels (VIP-CIP), had been required of all youth between the ages of 13 and 17 in Cook County who were convicted of a crime and were on probation, as a part of their sentence.

And it had worked, and worked well, for many years.

One statistic I heard from a probation officer years ago had the program resulting in about a 50% drop in recidivism (repeat offending). A serious study actually should be done to better track it, but anecdotally, I believe in its success from what I have heard the kids themselves report to me and to their probation officers.

It is a simple program where victims of crime share their personal stories with kids in trouble with the law . . . changing lives.

VIP-CIPs had been held at almost every courthouse and police station thoughout Cook County, and I have been in many dozens of them. At the end of the month, I am speaking again at the Rolling Meadows Courthouse. Just yesterday I addressed 33 teens at the Cook County Juvenile Center on Ogden in Chicago for over 90 minutes. Many of the young people were accompanied by parents, who sat at the back of the room. I am sure that, being summer vacation and all, not a single one of them wanted to be there. We joked about that together.

But I started off by promising them that by the end of our conversation, they would actually not mind the time spent there. And I told them that in a way, being in trouble was actually a good thing. And sure enough, as they left the room, many thanked me, hugged me, and said indeed that they were really glad they had come. It was with good reason.

I always try to make these talks a conversation. I get them talking. I ask them questions. And at the start of the talk, I always go to each one of them, shake their hands, look them in the eye, ask them their names, and tell them that it is nice to meet them. In a minute I will tell you why.

I tell the kids just a bit of the story of my sister, brother-in-law, and their unborn baby's murder by a 16-year-old Winnetka teen in 1990. If tears come, I don't ever lose control, but I also don't hold back too much because it's okay for them to know that pain is real and it lasts. I tell them especially about how my sister's dying act of drawing a heart and a "u" in her own blood ("love you") had changed my life, changing my focus forever to one that would honor this ultimate statement of the importance of love in our lives.

I have never hesitated to tell Nancy and Richard's story. I want to keep their memories alive. I have been speaking all over the state and the nation for almost two decades on various issues related to my work for violence prevention and helping crime victims. As a career high school teacher, comfortable with public speaking, I am told that I am an animated and entertaining speaker. I know how to talk to teens and to get them talking. I have told my story over a thousand times in many different venues.

But in all those events, I usually never talk about the offender. I will not be a part of feeding his glory-seeking and the morbid attention the media often gives offenders over victims.

But for these precious kids who are from our communities, and who are now in the Cook County Juvenile Probation system, I make an exception. I tell them about the offender -- a child of privilege from prosperous Winnetka, who was smart, well-educated, lived in a multimillion-dollar home, had a very bright future ahead of him, but who was bored.

He was a bored 16-year-old sociopath who got a rush out of breaking the law and getting away with it -- he thought that it showed that he was smarter than everyone else. And I tell the kids of this offender's parents, who were too busy with their successful careers to deal with his early crimes. They would just bail him out, pay people off, never allow him to be held accountable, and never allow him to really get in trouble, even when his crimes were serious. They even knew he had gone to great lengths to try to get a gun. They were told by experts that he was dangerous, but he easily manipulated them into not making him go into a program that could have helped him.

And so my baby sister, her husband, and their unborn child were later murdered. And now this offender is serving three life-without-parole sentences in the Illinois Department of Corrections, tried and sentenced as an adult because of the seriousness of his crimes and his high degree of culpability.

The most important part of the story for these young people in Cook County Juvenile Probation to hear is WHY it's good that they are now in trouble with the law.

It's a good thing that they were caught. It's a good thing that they got in trouble for a crime that was not yet irreparably serious. It's a good thing that the judge sentenced them to some supervision and consequences. It's a good thing that their parents were there taking them to hear a speaker in the VIP-CIP program. It's a good thing that they have been assigned to a probation officer.

It's a good thing because every single time the teen offender in my life got in trouble, none of those things happened to him. He never got in trouble. He got bailed out and passed on. So he kept going. And look what happened as a result of that.

With emotion that is quite genuine, I tell them that I would give literally ANYTHING if the offender in my life had been caught, punished, and put through this program early in his criminal career. And that's why it's a good thing that they are in trouble now -- caught, punished, and under probation. Now they have a chance to stop it -- to make whatever minor changes in their lives that need to be made.

I tell them that the reason I wanted to shake each one of their hands and learn each of their names is because I cared about them -- each of them -- as human beings. And that our mutual ability to make that human one-to-one contact is what a sociopath lacks. Sociopaths lack the ability to see the humanity in another person.

That's why the murderer was able to point a gun and fire into the abdomen of my beautiful 25-year-old pregnant sister, who was begging for the life of her baby. It was because he did not have the ability to see her humanity.

As the teens talked, some said openly that they realized that the changes they needed to make were pretty basic -- perhaps just not hanging out with certain kids they knew were bad news. Others turned to their parents at the back of the room and admitted that they should have listened to them.

Teens making mistakes, even criminal ones, is something that people can generally understand. Residents of the wonderful suburban communities I live in, and now am running to represent on the Cook County Board, are also appropriately upset and concerned, with good reason, about the problems and burdens that violent and troubled youth represent in our communities.

VIP-CIP programs are dirt-cheap for the taxpayer and really work to prevent crime when coupled with other measures. They save money, they change lives for the better, and they prevent costly crime from increasing because we can make a successful intervention with young and first-time offenders.

This program was gutted in the 2007 budget. Now VIP-CIP panels are extremely few and far between compared to what they were before. My opponent in this election voted against the independent reformers on the Cook County Board and supported Todd Stroger in the difficult 2007 budget vote.

This same 2007 budget that gutted this extremely inexpensive and beneficial program also cut front-line emergency room doctors and sheriffs and prison guards. And it also gave Todd Stroger almost unlimited power for massive financial mismanagement and corrupt hiring. It gave six-figure salaries to many of Todd's cousins and friends. And it ultimately necessitated the sales tax increase of recent years, and the need to later take away control of the health care system from the Cook County Board President's office.

The first thought I ever had about running for this office came because my Cook County Commissioner actually voted to support the 2007 Stroger budget, despite the warnings of the independent reformers on the Board. He voted to, among other things, cut this wonderful program that helps the teens in our communities who have made some really bad decisions learn to make better ones.

The more I look into this, the more I see the interconnectedness of it all. If we don't make good decisions about where to spend our limited and hard-earned tax dollars, things can and do get much worse down the road.

It is just like the parents of the teen murderer in my life, who failed to act promptly and early. They failed to look ahead. They did not give up just a bit of their time to work to curtail what was a very bad trend in their son's life. They were not accountable, and they did not teach their son to be accountable. And we had to pay the price for that.

One young man stopped and talked to me yesterday as he left the auditorium after the VIP-CIP program. He shook my hand again and said, "Thank you. I am really sorry for what happened to your family."

I told him that it was really nice meeting him but that I never wanted to see him back here again. He said, "I know. I am going to clean up my act."

There is just nothing better to hear than that.

Unity Now Possible on the Gun Issue

Having seen the ravages of gun violence first-hand when my pregnant sister and her husband were murdered, I watched the Chicago gun ban case before the U.S. Supreme Court this year with great interest. I think this week's ruling in the McDonald v. Chicago case has good news for everyone in Cook County.

The political wedge that extremists on both sides of this issue once had is now gone.

Gun rights advocates, you can relax. Gun bans are out.

And those of us concerned with gun violence, which has a staggering cost not only to victims' families like mine but to all Cook County taxpayers, also were given some reassurance by the Supreme Court.

People who follow the rules and who do not present a danger can have a gun in their homes if they wish. But also regulating guns -- who can have them, when, where, and how -- has been affirmed as fully constitutional. The “any guns anywhere by anyone” argument of the gun lobby has been utterly repudiated. Common-sense gun regulation is fully constitutional.

So here’s some good news. Gun owners and non-gun owners largely already agree on regulating guns.

Polls show overwhelming support for universal background checks every time a gun changes hands, regulating the trafficking of guns, prohibiting civilian access to military-level firepower, and keeping guns 100 percent away from kids and terrorists.

Now the Supreme Court has given us all the solid green light.

Everyone can also be sure that we can succeed like Canada, which figured out how to have nearly universal gun access with almost no gun violence.

Guns, the number-two non-medical cause of death in America, can now be treated like the number-one cause -- cars. Car users must carry a license that shows they are qualified to drive, and they may lose their licenses if they abuse the privilege. Vehicles have titles, and drivers have to carry insurance. Cars have to meet safety standards. We all live comfortably with traffic regulations. We all agree with and cooperate with this system because lives are so clearly at stake.

With rights come responsibilities.

The good news is that we can be a much safer nation. Let’s get to work.

A Question of Ethics

When Fox News Chicago broke the story on Thursday that four Cook County Commissioners were caught up in a possible ethics violation, I am sure that no one was very surprised. Everywhere I go (even outside Illinois!), the cynicism about "Crook County" is pervasive, and frankly, sadly well-earned. http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/investigative/cook-county-advertisement-controversy-20100617

Of course, it immediately caught my attention that one of the four Commissioners was my opponent, Commissioner Gregg Goslin. He was one of the Commissioners whose names and photos were featured illegally and prominently in an advertisement in last Wednesday's Chicago Sun-Times.

The purpose of the advertisement was to promote information to Cook County residents about how to get state disaster grant money to cover damages to their homes in the 2008 floods in our area. But ethics laws prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to promote individual Commissioners' names and photos while they are campaigning for re-election, as my opponent now is.

The idea is that taxpayer money should not be used to tout the accomplishments of elected officials while running for re-election. Otherwise, we would be inundated with expensive public relations campaigns about the records of the incumbents, all at taxpayer expense. It is a good law.

Commissioner Goslin has been promoting an information session in Glenview this coming Wednesday, June 23, about how to get access to the flooding disaster grant money.

I am completely ready to believe the Fox News report the day after the ad ran in the Sun-Times when Commissioner Pete Sylvestri said he knew nothing about the ad being placed. A Cook County spokesperson said an ethics investigation is being launched into the matter. Two other Commissioners also appearing in the ad, Sims and Collins, also told Fox News that they knew nothing about it. I have no reason to believe that they are not telling the truth about this.

I am understandably curious, however, about Fox News Chicago's report that they "could not track down" Commissioner Goslin to ask him whether he knew about it or not.

Since we know he does pay attention to what I am saying in this campaign, I am sure we will hear from him now. The pattern has been that within a day or two of my posting a blog or sending out a press release about a problem issue in our race, he issues turn-arounds and retractions almost immediately.

I surely hope that he also had nothing to do with the placing of the ad that violates ethics ordinances. I am assuming that, like the other Commissioners, he did not.

But even so, problems remain. The next likely culprit is the public relations firm that the County hired to promote the flooding grant money program. Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is already under fire and under criminal investigation for awarding several no-bid contracts as favors to friends and for wasting these precious disaster grant monies.

As long as President Stroger does not spend more than $25,000, he does not need Board approval. The contract to the PR firm was for $24,975 dollars, according to Fox News. There has already been substantial criticism that the flooding grant money is being misused, along with the rest of the taxpayer dollars being burned through by Stroger in these lame-duck final months.

A majority of Commissioners did pass an ordinance recently to try to limit President Stroger's ability to dole out these expensive favors to friends. Of course, Stroger vetoed it. On June 1st, the Board attempted to override the veto. Commissioner Goslin, who had been at the meeting that day, suddenly and without warning slipped quietly out of the Board meeting before the override vote was taken. The override failed.

The power of the spend-crazy and arguably corrupt Board President Todd Stroger remains unchecked.

And so I have to ask, even if there is no deliberate violation of county ethics ordinances by my opponent, why hasn't he been there to answer questions about this? And more importantly, why wasn't he at the June 1st meeting all the way to the end to vote for that veto override? And if he needed to leave for something urgent, why didn't he ask for the vote to be moved up -- something that happens all the time?

This isn't just a question of ethics. This is about basic competency to do the job that the residents of the 14th District have been laying out their hard-earned money to pay him to do these last twelve years.

UPDATE: 6-22-10
Still no formal response from Commissioner Goslin about his role in this possible ethics violation that I have seen, and the story broke 6 days ago. But more importantly the horrible march of corruption and taxpayer waste continues - see story below - all because the Board did not have enough votes to override Stroger's veto of efforts to curb his crazed scorched earth spending spree with friends in his final months of lame duck status.

The reason there were not enough votes to override the veto? Commissioner Goslin left the June 1st meeting with no notice . . . and here is one more story about consequences. A rap promoter and TV producer named Terrell "Shorty Capone" Harris is the latest friend of Cook County Deputy Chief of Staff Carla Oglesby to get a "24-9" contract from Cook County:
http://www.windycitizen.com/chicago/chicago-life/2010/06/22/rap-promoter-received-24975-contract-from-cook-county

Red-Light Cameras: Municipalities Versus the County

The Cook County Board recently approved a trial year of 30 suburban red-light traffic cameras -- a story lost amidst the higher-profile attention on the Arizona immigration boycott issue. One of the red-light traffic technology suppliers is from Arizona and potentially could have been boycotted, had the County Board not decided to exempt it since the contract negotiations were already completed.

Underlying the hot-button immigration debate coverage was the issue that almost went unnoticed: that Cook County is going into the traffic-light business.

And my opponent was in full support.

It's true that these cameras have inspired love and hate in recent years all over the nation.

Governments love them as a new and inexpensive revenue stream. Drivers hate them because we get hammered with high fines, often without any warning that we are even doing something wrong. (Full disclosure: I have gotten two of the fines in recent years in Chicago at $100 each for turning right on red after stopping, where yellow lights are programmed deliberately to be extra short. So I know the frustration well.) I certainly understand that fines from violations of the law, especially in areas of public safety, are an important and appropriate revenue stream for localities, and I would not undermine that.

But red-light cameras seem to be more problematic -- they are strictly a means of raising money. This is evidenced by the two companies, Red Speed Illinois and Redflex Traffic Systems, that both strongly recommend shorter durations for yellow lights so as to trap as many folks as possible in the intersection, thereby raising the maximum possible funds from red-light violations. To this end, municipalities using these devices have generally shortened the duration of the average yellow light to about 2.75 seconds, down from an average of just under 5 seconds.

However, this flies in the face of a growing body of evidence that suggests that while this strategy may serve to increase localities' coffers, it does so at increased physical risk to drivers.

For example, testifying before the Illinois Senate Transportation Subcommittee on Red-Light Cameras regarding Senate Bill 2466 on March 2, 2010, Brian Costin, Director of the Illinois Policy Institute, stated in part, “In a survey of the existing studies on red-light cameras, there are at least 9 studies that raise significant concerns about red-light cameras. Each of these studies reports that red-light cameras increase accidents instead of preventing them. The cause of this increase in accidents stems primarily from the fear of getting a ticket, which causes motorists to radically change their driving behavior. These driving behavior changes include rapid acceleration to slamming on the brake irregularly, both to avoid being caught by a red-light camera. A 2008 study by the University of South Florida report found that 'Comprehensive studies conclude cameras actually increase crashes and injuries, providing a safety argument not to install them …. public policy should avoid conflicts of interest that enhance revenues for government and private interests at the risk of public safety.' Additional studies conducted by the Virginia Department of Transportation, North Carolina A&T University, Ontario Ministry of Transportation, the Australian Road Research Board, and Monash University (Australia) cast a serious pall on the claim that red-light cameras are effective in reducing accidents. The companies that operate red-light cameras, and the communities that use them, have an invested financial interest in selectively promoting certain red-light camera data and ignoring the full body of scientific evidence. For every ticket written, fees can be anywhere from $15-$50 for a red-light camera company, based on the level of service provided, and the remaining money goes to the government."

Since there is no proof that use of red-light devices improve safety and a variety of emerging studies that strongly suggest they actually increase accidents, it seems that this move in Cook County may be driven by the placing the desire of increased revenues over the safety of its citizens.

My sense from talking to constituents in the 14th District is that citizens are outraged by the vagueness with which red-light tickets are reviewed and approved, as well as the size of the fine and virtual inability to successfully mount a defense against these tickets. In reality, these devices represent a proven safety hazard .

Are the dollars that the county collects ultimately worth the potential cost of increased collisions, bodily harm, and perhaps deaths?

If you look deeper still at this decision by the Cook County Board, you will find that there are two even more interesting issues.

The first issue is jurisdictional -- does Cook County really have the legal right to set up traffic-light cameras INSIDE a municipality, a village, that perhaps might even have cameras of its own competing for income? Can Cook County do this inside a village's borders, but keep the money only for the county?

And the second issue is the way that this latest effort at generating income for Cook County has clearly targeted the wealthier suburbs. Legally, the county cannot place these cameras inside Chicago because of Chicago's established laws. But at least the 30 cameras being piloted should be evenly distributed through the other half of Cook County in a somewhat even-handed way.

Is this an example of discrimination against residents presumably more able to shell out the big bucks? Is this fair?

The Daily Herald reported this week that "the county highway department has identified 30 potential intersections for the trial period in suburbs including Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Palatine, Schaumburg and Wheeling. The department is still in the process of narrowing down which 20 intersections will get cameras."

Note that most of these camera locations are in the northwest suburbs, and in the 14th District that I am running to represent. All of these suburbs except Elk Grove Village are all or partially located in the 14th.

I am committed to doing what is best for the residents of the 14th District. And I must say that I was troubled to learn not only of the cameras, but of the targeted locations for the 30 trial cameras, instead of a more even distribution throughout the county.

I will wait to hear what the reasoning is on locations from the County Highway Department, but at this point, it appears to me to be completely unfair that the wealthiest suburbs in Cook County were primarily selected for these cameras. It takes the cameras' purpose of being a law-enforcement tool for public safety and exposes it for what it seems to be: all about making the most money possible.

We are being discriminated against because we in the 14 District are perceived to have a greater ability to pay.

But that perception is misplaced. The suburbs of the 14th District are very diverse, and people here are hit as hard by the economic recession of the last two years as anywhere else. There are many struggling and unemployed people here, those under financial hardship who have lost their homes or who are unable to pay their mortgages. There are small businesses going under, and more that are hurting horribly already by the Cook County sales tax.

We can't tax and fine our way out of this crisis.

We have to cut the size of Cook County government. (See previous blogs and the Issues page of my website on how I intend to work to implement the "Reinventing Cook County" plan written by Mike Quigley in 2006, which was unacted upon by my opponent.)

The north and northwest suburbs of the 14th District all run along the Lake County border, and they have been hit harder than any other part of the county by the negative impact of the sales tax increase. Shoppers have fled north to Lake County retailers. To target us now, additionally, for the red-light camera income seems like double jeopardy for us.

Finally, some of our communities such as Arlington Heights are suing over whether or not Cook County can take income from these law-enforcement tools when they are placed INSIDE a town or village.

Yes, they are on county roads. But law enforcement on county roads inside a town or village is always the responsibility of and under the control of that village.

Theoretically, lawyers could argue that Cook County might only be eligible to place these cameras in unincorporated areas. I have to ask -- was there a conscious decision not to go there because they would not generate the desired income?

Lawyers will no doubt battle over this question. Who will prevail legally, the municipalities or the County, is yet to be seen. But the lawyers win and the taxpayers lose in such a battle. It takes precious time and money to fight them.

And the Mayor of Arlington Heights said in the Chicago Tribune's northside edition this week that she and other local leaders who will be the target recipients of these red-light cameras were not told about this by the County -- they had to read about it in the papers when the Board voted to approve them this week.

So, in the meantime, I can't help pointing out the utter lack of foresight on this issue by the incumbent commissioner, Mr. Goslin, currently representing the 14th. He did not communicate to the municipal leaders in his district about this issue, and he voted for it -- once again quietly rubber-stamping an agenda of Stroger and the County Board that was not fully vetted, without raising a single question publicly at the meeting where the vote was taken regarding issues that would affect our district.

And once again the suburbs of the 14th are being expected to pony up extra dollars to pay for the County Board's budget. I don't mind paying taxes and fees as needed to make public systems work, but these are not working -- and our current Commissioner has not proposed any major structural reforms to reduce the size of the Cook County government and budget.

The plans have been proceeding for almost a year to pilot these red-light cameras. Where was our voice when the Cook County Highway Department was deciding where to place these cameras?

UPDATE: Days after I posted this blog, and after media attention to the outcry, Larry Suffredin led other suburban commissioners with a proposed amendment for the Cook County Board to vote on at their next meeting that would allow localities to opt out of these cameras. Incumbent Commissioner Gregg Goslin, my opponent, who fully supported these cameras from the start, and instituted the program on October 1, 2007, now is blaming other county employees for not notifying the municipalities in his district of their plans and is trying to backpedal his support. In all his communications since I posted this blog he paints himself as opposing the cameras, and does not report that he was one of those responsible for the program being approved in the first place, nor does he report that he did not communicate with the villages in our district about them.

UPDATE: The Board voted to allow local communities to opt out of the cameras if they choose to do so, two weeks after their vote to approve the cameras.

UPDATE: 6-22-10 Both Arlington Heights and Wheeling, in my district, have already opted out of the red light cameras that were approved by my opponent in 2007, but who did not inform these communities in his district that these were coming. Buffalo Grove and reportedly Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Wheeling, Wilmette, Northbrook, Glenview and Deerfield are making all the signs each town will opt out.

UPDATE: 6-24-10 Is this a memory lapse? A convenient omission? Commissioner Goslin publishes this in his newsletter: "The amendment I sponsored allowing municipalities to opt out of the county red light cameras for intersections within their incorporated boundaries was approved by the County Board today.Many suburban municipalities expressed serious concern over the recent contract to install red light cameras in suburban Cook County, and part of being good neighbors with our municipal partners is not only listening to their concerns, but soliciting their input before such action is taken.Consulting our local governments is essential to providing good service to county residents. Cook County policies and programs have impact on local communities, and this is especially true for an issue such as this, where programs have effect within their municipal boundaries and in many cases have already been addressed by local governments.I am against the installation of red-light cameras at the county, and I will continue to support legislation which provides for local input on this and other county programs."

Except that he supported the cameras. He voted to begin the program in 2007.

And he had three years to talk to the affected communities in his district, yet he did not say a word to them in all this time. They found out this month in the news media.

I am sure that in 2007 this seemed to Commissioner Goslin like a great way to get cash for the county. That he would not take time in the last three years to communicate the plan he voted for to the affected villages in his district is noteworthy. That he has suffered this memory lapse now is worrisome.

A Day at a Cook County Board Meeting

I often attend county board meetings in my preparations for becoming a Cook County Commissioner. Most residents of Cook County have never, and will never -- with good reason -- attend or watch one of these marathon exercises in frustration, compromise, and interpersonal gamesmanship. It's like watching sausage being made.

Here is a true story: When Barack Obama first considered going into public office in Illinois, he thought he would run for the Cook County Board. He was told before he decided that he should go sit through a County Board meeting.

So he did.

When it was over, he definitively announced that there was no way he would do this -- he ran for the state Senate instead. The rest, as they say, is history.

I thought I would share with you a bit about just one of the days I have spent at a county board meeting. I took eight pages of notes.

I won't burden you with the filler and minor points of this six-hour-long meeting: the honorary recognitions of lives well lived, the rubber-stamping of routine payments, the coming and going of all the county staff reporting on various matters, and worst of all, the childish and sometimes unprofessional conduct being displayed by a few commissioners and President Stroger alike.

Today, for example, Commissioner Peraica yelled loudly and insistently into his microphone at Commissioner Reyes about immigration issues. And Commissioner Beavers yelled at Commissioner Butler with a loud voice and a pointed finger, telling him that he should NOT be voting outside the racial lines on a certain vote.

One commissioner asked me at the end of another long board meeting I attended months ago, was I sure that I really wanted this job?!

We laughed together, but I assured him, yes -- I am up for this task.

I will highlight just three of the more interesting, controversial, and newsworthy items before the board today: actions regarding the independence of the health care governing board; a boycott of Arizona by Cook County in opposition to its racial profiling law; and an attempt to override a veto by President Stroger of an ordinance that would have put the brakes on his recent disastrous lame-duck spending, hiring, and corruption spree.

The first of the more high-profile issues was a proposed ordinance by my opponent, Gregg Goslin, to make a change in the sunset provision built into the law that created the mostly positive independent health care board. This independent health care board was put in place two years ago by Commissioner Suffredin and other reformers because of the hopelessly incompetent management of this vital and huge system by President Stroger. The new independent board has already saved the Cook County taxpayers millions of dollars by making the hospital system work more efficiently.

While my opponent had promised a strong package making the independent board permanent, he failed to marshal the votes he needed on the board to get it through. He had hoped to rewrite the entire ordinance. But the detail work and consensus building that required his leadership was not done. Today he had to settle for a very minor change to the sunset provision that most everyone on the board already supported.

As an aside, as I have researched much of my opponent's twelve-year record, I have yet to see a single major measure for fundamental reform that he has been able to push through. I do find it amusing and even flattering that he is finally apparently so worried about his own re-election that he is now trying, in these final months, to actually do his job. He had originally appointed himself to the Cook County Board twelve years ago and has never faced a serious electoral challenger.

The board room was packed. standing room only, with audibly concerned citizens, especially people who use and work in the county health care system. Several Commissioners voiced concern as well -- that while the independent hospital board has so far proved to be very promising in saving money, some of the hospital administrators' salaries are horrendously large. And there have been complaints of inadequate transparency, a lack of community oversight, and a lack of input from all stakeholders. There is obviously still some work that needs to be done --work I am committed to do. The watered-down measure passed 13-3.

The second high-profile issue taken up this day was Commissioner Reyes' resolution calling for limits on Cook County business being done with Arizona. In protest of the recent nationally controversial (and likely unconstitutional) state law passed there on illegal immigration, the Board voted along straight party lines to boycott Arizona, if it did not violate any contracts or cost the county taxpayers anything more. There was one exception -- Commissioner Daley voted with the Republicans.

When seeking solutions to a problem, I generally place my trust in law enforcement experts that are closest to the problem. My favorite voice in the nation on the problems with the Arizona law is the Sheriff of the border county, Pima County, most affected by illegal immigration -- Clarence Dupnik. (Search his name on YouTube and watch his interviews.) He has been a hero in law enforcement for over fifty years, and he says this law is one of the worst he has ever seen, not just for people, but for law enforcement. Dupnik said he is refusing to enforce the law because, among other problems, it cannot be enforced without requiring his sheriffs to do racial profiling.

As he cast his vote with the losing side to oppose the boycott, my opponent stated that he did not like racial profiling. It is ironic that he was actually voting to support racial profiling with Cook County taxpayer money.

But the most shocking part of the day for me was when my opponent, who is being paid by taxpayers to represent the citizens of the 14th District, left the meeting early . . . before a crucial veto override vote to put transparency on Stroger's awful and costly behavior of late. His premature departure from the meeting cost the board and the taxpayers the votes needed to override Stroger's veto.

Most of us know that an average workday generally lasts from 9:00 to 5:00. I am wondering, does my opponent think it ends at 1:00 p.m.?

Where had he gone? Not even the Board Secretary calling the roll had known he had slipped out. Goslin's departure conveniently saved Todd Stroger. It gave Stroger carte blanche to continue what Congressman Mike Quigley has called the Feds in to investigate as a crime spree of illegal spending, hiring, and contracts.

My opponent simply shirked his responsibility to be there and make his voice heard on behalf of the taxpayers of the 14th District. His absence meant the veto override failed. If there had been some urgent matter requiring his departure, he could have easily asked that the vote be taken earlier in the meeting. That kind of flexibility in the order items are addressed in the agenda happens all the time. Goslin should not have left until that vote was taken.

I will be on the job for my constituents full time, and nothing short of a life-and-death emergency will keep me from a vote as important as the one my opponent missed today.

UPDATE: One day after this blog was posted, my opponent sent out an email to his constituents, claiming to have made the independent health board permanent, while not admitting that the act he actually sponsored was only a minor change to the sunset provision. As many Commissioners pointed out during the vote, an independent board is not independent if it can still be easily undone by a simple majority vote of the Board. Worse, in his email, he took credit for the board measure to put limits on Stroger that was then vetoed by the Board President. He then blames the board for not being able to override the veto. His email did not tell his constituents that he was the reason, because of his absence, that the veto override failed.