Well The D-2's have been filed with the state for the period covering 7-1-2004 to 12-31-2004 and (Assuming I am reading this stuff right) the Big Money winner is...

Tom Weisner with $96,137.97 available at the end of the reporting period with 35K in loans. Next is...

Bill Wyatt with $7,762.85 availabe at the end of the reporting period. Then Richard Irvin with $2,200.76 on hand and Jack Cunningham with 2,200.00 on hand.

Wiesner also had at least double the expenditures for the 7-1 to 12-31 period of Richard and Irvin and Weisner, in fact his $85,170.56 is more than Richards $40,934, Wyatts $33,293.20 and Cunningham's $8,000 combined!

Here is a question, is Tom getting a good bang for his buck?

For whatever reason Richard filed a D2 covering 1-1-2005 to 1-23-2005 with $18,531 in recipts.

I could not find any filings for Angel.

Also since we are within 30 days of the election they are filing Schedule A-1 reports on donations greater than $500.

More to come, but it is interesting reading for a geek so far.

OneMan

I think he can be considered the sergeant Shultz (I know nothing..) of state government and funding.

Before Rod Blagojevich ran for governor, Castle Construction of suburban Markham had not given state politicians much money in recent years, nor had it won big state contracts.

Then Castle and a related company, both with links to Blagojevich's chief fundraiser Chris Kelly, poured $224,000 into the Democrat's campaign fund. Firms directly owned by Kelly gave Blagojevich $462,000 more.

Last year, Castle scored a $24.3 million contract with the Blagojevich administration, nearly 10 times the state business it earned over the previous five years combined.

A Tribune analysis of state records shows that more than one quarter of individuals and businesses that have contributed at least $50,000 to Blagojevich have also received state business during his first term in office.

-- snip

Many, though not all, of those contractors did state business before Blagojevich. Still, there was no letup in their campaign giving when the new governor took office, despite his pledge to change "business as usual" in a state government.

Aides to Blagojevich say official business is scrupulously separated from fundraising.

Remember he is the reform governor. Read the entire story.

Do they really think people buy the "It's a coincidence stuff"?

OneMan

At least I understand why he is such a big fan of debt now.... The Trib goes into the perceptions of the governor a bit. I think this quote says quite a bit.

"I'm ambitious to be a good governor," Blagojevich said. "I want to be good for the people of Illinois. We've got real challenges in the next several months. I don't think much beyond that."

So the stuff you are doing now has nothing to do with running for president Milorad? A little long term vision about the state will go a long way.


OneMan

Weisner got the city employee union nod, barely....

The panel of eight union representatives voted 5-3 to endorse Weisner, who spent 17 years working for the city in a variety of administrative positions. The panel was made up of the presidents and political chairmen of the three city employee locals and chairmen of unions representing the Illinois Youth Center-St. Charles and other state offices with workers who live in Aurora.

So if one vote switched, it would have been 4 to 4. Considering Weisner worked for the city and worked with a lot of these people for 17 years, I would argue that him getting the endorsement by only one vote is not all that impressive.

Richard got 3 of the votes. It would have been interesting to see which unions voted which was, in particular how the city employee unions (those who work for the city) voted.

OneMan

Some mayoral stuff today....
In one Beacon story some folks are not too happy about something Jack said in a forum last week.
The story had this quote

"While we don't claim to be in disagreement with the candidate's complete statement, it must be said that we object to the implied linkage between illegal immigration and crimes which are worthy of capital punishment," the letter reads

So they are ticked in part because of how Jack turned a phrase? I don't think that Jack's point was that illegal immigration leads to drug dealing and murder. Also I think they may end up giving Jack a boost if this gets too much play.


They had another forum the Beacon News has some stuff on it from Positive Jack, Richards' set aside ideas to this from Tom Weisner?

Weisner said he wanted to use revenue from Hollywood Casino to create a wireless network in downtown.

What? A wi-fi network for downtown, paid for by the city? Does this make any sense to anyone? There is a CO (central office) in downtown as well as one near downtown so even DSL speed rates downtown are farily high and most office space worth having has some sort of networking option already available.

Also most business people would not want to rely on the city for network conectivity if it was even remotely mission critical to their business. Who do you call if it goes down over the weekend? Is this a business the city wants to get into?

Why not encourage private vendors to get into the business downtown? Heck residential wi-fi service in parts of town that can't get DSL is well less than $40 a month. Do we really need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to provide it for free to one part of town?

So, if it isn't for business who is it for? Tourists and people spending time downtown? A nice PR thing?

As someone who uses wi-fi, it is not going to increase the lieklyhood of anyone going downtown just because the wireless access is free.

So what is it besides a way of sounding all high tech. Let those firms that want to use free wi-fi such as The Roundhouse or the Hollywood Casino ( I don't know if they have free wi-fi or not they are just examples) offer it as a diferentiator to the marketplace. They don't need me subisidizing it.


OneMan

From Today Trib

Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Friday ordered the state Department of Natural Resources to rehire a paraplegic man who was laid off from his mechanic's job at a state park and told he had to give back his state-owned wheelchair.

Ok I am glad he got his job back, the only questions I have are...

Is the DNR going to have to let someone else go instead so he can keep his job?

Is it really fair that he gets to keep his job because he is disabled and/or because it caused bad PR for the governor?

What about other people let go by the state inside and outside the DNR who have family issues that the layoff has caused family hardship can they expect the governor to show 'compassion'?

Isn't kind of sad that it is logical to look at this governor with this level of doubt?

OneMan

The Journal Register points out that..

More than a dozen Illinois House members will get raises of nearly $9,000 after House Democrats created six new legislative committees this week.

--snip--

In all, 44 of the 65 Democrats in the House will get some kind of stipend. They range from $8,771 for committee assignments to $16,810 for leadership posts to $23,388 for Madigan as speaker.

Brown said it is a coincidence that any Democrat who has served at least four years in the House now will hold a position that pays a stipend, either as a committee chairman or as one of Madigan's top aides.

Then there was this little nugget about the state senate

The Senate also expanded the number of its committees this year. As a result, only two of the 59 senators will earn just their base salary.

I wonder who those two are? Well better luck next session guys....

OneMan

Looks like sheriff Ramsey is not going to run for another term.

It will be interesting to see who runs and if the Democrats make another serious move for the office when the time comes.

OneMan

Well it's been long days for OneMan at work and stuff lately so that's why the blogging volume has been done.

Spent some time tonight making calls for the Oswego 308 school funding referendum. Anytime you make calls for anything it can be interesting, some yes, some no. Yes, I am a Republican and yes I was calling asking people to vote in favor of raising their taxes.

308 does a good job spending it's money without blowing it all on stupid stuff. For more on the referendum go here.

The Gov's cheif of staff realizes that different parts of the state are, well different.

One of the most interesting aspects of the job, he said, is getting to know the people in the state, as he did last week when he accompanied the governor on a two-day swing through Southern Illinois. The trip helped clear up what he said was his biggest misconception about the state.

"I just didn't realize how diverse this state was. Southern Illinois is almost like the South. Central Illinois is more like Middle America. Chicago is like most big cities and its suburbs are sort of typical of most American suburbs," he said. "It's almost like four different worlds in one place."

Where is the outrage...

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) -- The sons of a first-term congresswoman and Milwaukee's former acting mayor were among five Democratic activists charged Monday with slashing the tires of vans rented by Republicans to drive voters and monitors to the polls on Election Day.

Another blog UncivilRights (who I think comments here) has some thoughts on the Mayors race.

It's a different perspective on the race, that's for sure.

One of the big knocks I have on Tom is why he left city government when he did. I know he wasn't in charge of the water department. But he was in charge of the help line and the help line and I think it would have been appropriate for him to stick around until the crisis was over, you didn't know if something else was going to occur as part of it that might have required your involvement.

When we have a problem at work after you fix your part of the problem you stick around until the entire problem is solved. Just in case someone else needs your help or another fix causes a problem in your area.

Number two is more of a pure opinion thing. I really think we need a mayor who was not actively involved in city government recently. A good department head does not necessarily a good CEO make.

OneMan

Can I say anything nice about Tom Weisner. Sure, just watch.

A) I have met Tom and he seems like a nice guy and I have heard positive things about him from people from various political stripes.

B) He has extensive experience with the city so he understands how city government works.

c) On most policy questions his answers don't seem to come out of left field or anything like that.

See and to be honest with you I am not 100% sure who I am going to vote for when the time comes.

If you could combine, Richard's vision, Wyatt's pragmatic and tactical view, Cunninghams real world experience and intelligence and Weisners current understanding of city government. You would have my ideal candidate.

But you can't so you have to pick.

Longo vs. Blaggo: ...
From todays Trib.

A controversial political operative on Friday accused Gov. Rod Blagojevich of soliciting his help getting elected in 2002 even while publicly disavowing it and said the governor also promised to make him "a rich man" if elected.

In a letter to the governor, attorneys for Dominic Longo, a felon who is co-chair of a political action committee named the Coalition for Better Government, demanded an apology for disparaging remarks made by Blagojevich and aides.

The leader has what appears to be a letter that was sent to Gov. Milorad's (who knew that was Rod's real name) asking for a cease and desist.
Strange Days...

OneMan

There was another mayoral forum, this time on the near west side, this little nugget was in the beacon Story

"The top cops in our city have faith in me to address our No. 1 issue — crime," Irvin said.

Weisner, who is relying on his heavy volunteer and community participation for the past two decades, responded by pointing out that after leaving the Kane County state's attorney's office, Irvin has made a living as a private attorney defending criminals.

-- So the fact he defended criminals disqualifies him from office? Is it a leadership problem that he has done this? Does it mean we should question his character.

Before you answer Tom, keep in mind another Illinois attorney with some political success also worked in criminal cases. That's right Abraham Lincoln to look at just one month of Lincoln legal work in 1838 follow the link, July 1838 shows work on a murder case and a trespass case.
The murder case was People v Truett (near the bottom of the page). Lincoln won the case and Truett was acquitted of murder. It was not the only acused murderer that Lincoln defended.

Lincoln also successfully defended Peachy Quinn Harrison's in his murder trial in 1859. Two years later Lincoln would be president.

For more on Lincoln legal career go to the Lincoln Legal Papers Project or spend 2K to get the book.

But seriously, is Tom saying if you defend a criminal you are unqualified to fight crime and/or be mayor of Aurora. That's the question I would ask.
Richard, next time Tom brings this up, remind him about Lincoln's legal work with criminals.

OneMan

I will try and have some more thoughts tomorrow about the forum. But for now....

1) Wyatt was the most direct his answer on the Eola 88 interchange was perfect.
2) Weisner got so PO'd during the ask each other part it makes you wonder if he has the temperament to be mayor.
3) Richard needs to spend a little less time on big picture with more details.
4) Cunningham seems to have the mix of government and non-government experience that he is able to articulate.
5) Seriously, Weisner almost lost it last night. Besides for the ranting Tom during questions, he got verklempt in his summary.
6) Tom, passion for your ideas good, passion attacking your opponent really bad. You are projecting the vibe that you feel that you are the only one worthy of the job and the rest are interlopers.
7) Tom, you want to get rid of the water questions? Here is what you need to do in my opinion. Answer these questions:
A) When did you give notice?
B) If the period of notice was less than two weeks why was it less than two weeks?
C) If you had it do to again would you leave during the water thing?
D) Do you understand why people find it strange you brag about helping to create the info line and then left during it's heaviest utilization and explain it by saying there are smart people with masters degrees running it.
8) More for Tom, the dramatic pauses make you look indecisive.

-- More thoughts to come.

OneMan

Too tired to put up much about the forum tonight. I will do something tomorrow night. Here are some highlights, Wyatt did very well, Cunningham did well, Irvin did ok.

Some quick thoughts/observations and/or a brain dump.

I think there were at least three questions where Wiesner took a 'dramatic pause' during his answer (at least 5 and as long as 15 seconds).

It seems like he has made it personal with Irvin, during the candidates gets to ask another candidate a question portion he got down right testy after he had to answer his second 'why did you quit during the water thing' question by asking (out of turn) Irvin a question that was really more of an attack.

Still haven't heard a good answer on the water thing from Weisner by the way.

Bill Wyatt did very well, good direct answers to a lot of stuff. I think Bill impressed some people.

Crime is going to be the 'lock box' of this election (big surprise)

There was a 'the far east side feels a bit disconected from the city' question. No one really did well with that. Also since most people in that part of town didn't grow up in Aurora they don't consider the fact your family has lived in town for 100 years a qualification for mayor.

Cunninham did a good job playing both the 'I understand the city' and the 'I have had succcess in the private sector' cards.

During the closing remarks I think Weisner was getting a bit verkelmpt.

More Tomorrow

OneMan

The Springfield Journal Register has a story about a youth prison down near (about 60 miles away) from Springfield that was built but never opened

The city is looking for some help on the cost of the bond service on the bonds they issued to pay for bringing utilities to the site. Also it appears the state wasn't paying the electric bill.

Tenhouse said the Adams Electric Cooperative enlisted his help to get the state to pay a delinquent $85,000 electric bill for the prison.

The prison incurred the bill over five months, said Steve Jennings, manager of finance for the electric cooperative in the Adams County town of Camp Point.

Adams Electric took the state to small-claims court in August. The Department of Corrections is now processing the payment, said a spokeswoman for the agency.

Remember kids, we are all out of budget tricks this time around and it looks like the fee increases from last time might be a bit iffy. We had maxed out the Discover card, got the home equity loan and the payday loan. We are going to either have to start spending less, grow gaming significantly (hello video gaming) or tax someone.

Place your bets (pun intended), my guess hello video gaming in bars and hello Chicago city owned casino.

OneMan

I was at the Irvin event tonight, and yes I paid the full $75, fairly good sized crowd. Got to see several state reps and Richard gave a very good speech.

He does well in front of a crowd (all be it a friendly one) I undestand we heard a variation of his One Aurora stump speech. He also does very well one on one and with small groups. We'll see how everyone does tomorrow night at the forum.

I had a friend tell me he got a polling call that sounded a lot like a push-poll to me, with lots of negative questions about Richard and lots of positive questions about Weisner. Interesting....



OneMan

Lisa Madigan had a baby girl, congratulations Lisa. I have to say she has been the biggest pleasant surprise of the officials elected at the same time she was.

OneMan

Richard has a fundraiser tonight at the Roundhouse 5:30-7:30 PM, $75. I used to remeber when committeemen would get discouts for this sort of thing, sigh.

Also there is Mayoral Candidates Forum on January 18, 2005 at
the Bethany of Fox Valley Methodist Chuch located at 2200 Ridge Ave (Accorss the street from Rush-Copley). The forum will start at 7:00 PM and last until 8:45 PM.

OneMan

Today's Beacon has an interesting story about why new Naperville Republican State Rep Joe Dunn voted 'yea' on the gay rights bill.

-- Can't say I disagree with him, I constantly fail to see why conservatives feel the need to make homosexuals the hobgoblin of society. You know there are all sorts of other 'sins' that we don't freak out nearly as much about. I strongly suspect as time goes on and the 'younger generation' (even guys as old as 35 like me) move up and make up more of the party this is going to be less of an issue.

Sorry I think of the homosexuals I know and the ones I don't know why it should be ok to discriminate against them because of who they love and how they chose to love them. Regardless if you think homosexuality is a choice or something hard wired into the brain (put me in the latter) discriminating against people on that basis is just wrong.

OneMan

The daily herald has a story pointing out how Blago voted against a law against violent video games when he was a congressman.

He says the law was a trojan horse that let the companies off the hook, well governor your law seems to go after retailers, not developers.

OneMan

Over at ROK he makes the point about how getting on boards has been done a certain way in this state for a while. Blago's mother in law is on the board along with Lisa Madigan's mom.

The other interesting fact is where the people on the board are from 21 Members, 12 from Chicago, 2 Chicago 'burbs, 1 Rockford, 1 Rock Island, 1 Normal, 1 Asotira (North of Springfield). So not a single member from South of Springfield and only two members from south of I-80. 2003 Estimate of 12.6 Million people in the state. In 2000 about 3 Million in the city of Chicago, so lets say 1 out of 4 people in this state live in Chicago (not accurate but still) so if the board was proportional only about 5 members should be from Chicago, not 12.

Oh well, perhaps he thinks everyone south of Springfield is a huge bumpkin and don't know nothin about no arts.

OneMan

The Trib is sharing a little education love with the governor

The new board hired a 24-year-old chief of staff who previously had driven Blagojevich's press van through rural Illinois. It approved a Downstate charter school at the governor's urging, even though the previous board had denied it four times.

While it remained silent on key education issues, the board loudly publicized Blagojevich's proposed ban on violent video games. The agency's annual roundup of state education issues even appears on letterhead featuring "Rod Blagojevich, Governor" in large type.

The Sun Times also gets in the act.

Don't forget Emil Jones wants to do something about education funding. Figure something out about that Rod, that's leadership. Not baning video games.

OneMan

NBC 5 is reporting

The Illinois Attorney General and Cook County State's Attorney have started a joint investigation into charges of state job selling -- charges made by Chicago Alderman Dick Mell.

-- You don't think Lisa Madigan is going to be motivated in this one? I think it would really help her political career if she is able to find something and do something with it.

OneMan

From ABC News

Kennedy also mangled the name of the Democrats' new star, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, calling him "Osama bin … Osama … Obama."

-- Barack Obama, new hotness. Teddy, old and busted.

OneMan

Last one, the Turn Illinois guys are pointing out Richard got the Aurora Police Union endorsement, not a huge surprise but still a good endorsement to get.

Also saw Richard last night at the caucus last night, I haven't seen him speak to a large group yet but he does the one on one thing very well.

OneMan

We had the caucus last night, the Beacon has a good run down here, have to admit that Rick Todas did better than I expected, but I wasn't surprised that Bob ended up winning. Bob is a good guy and should be a good candidate. Also the rest of the slate looks good. The other races went about as I expected.

We had a bit over 200 people show up, double the prediction in the Beacon but lower than I had seen in the past. Generally caucus' (I have only been to two so I am not a pro) a about who you as a candidate can get to come to vote for you. Also depending on the caucus rules if you are running for trustee to get people to come and to only vote for you and not vote for 4 candidates, that can really help you.

It's always an interesting night, at least for a political geek like me.

No, OneMan didn't run, I did think about it but between work and life I don't think I could give it the time people would expect and deserve.

The Naperville Sun offers it's thoughts on the caucus process and how the GOP caucus is the election for all purposes. A party can elect to have a primary instead of a caucus, however I don't see how that would improve participation all that much and would just end up costing taxpayers more.

The Democrats in Naperville nominated Rick Klau for one the trustee slots. I have to say they made a very good choice, Rick is going places at some point and us blogger writers and readers will be able to say I knew him when. Seriously on character alone they made a very good choice. (This is about as much praise I can offer Rick publicly without them taking away my GOP decoder ring).

Lots of thoughts on the Mell vs. Blago thing. Carol Marin says it can hurt the governor. Rich over at CapitolFax offers his thoughts on why this wasn't staged.

Interesting that a landfill he had to close down right now is going to be able to re-open next week. Also how the Ford Heights shutdown is going to cost the city between $18,000 and $20,000 a month in tiping fees. Big money to Ford Heights, and as Rich points out he vetoed legislation about this very facility months ago, but yet now it's a crisis. Sound more like a handy example of him going after someone besides his father-in-laws kin.


OneMan

For more info on the caucus in Aurora Township the Beacon has some coverage.

More on some boards, Mary Laney over at the Sun Times has some more on the costs of not having a quorum on the Gaming Board.

Meanwhile, the Rock Island Casino is waiting to get permission to expand. It projects the bigger facility would create 300 to 400 new jobs and bring in an estimated $84 million annually in gaming revenues.

Harrah's Metropolis casino is waiting for an OK from the board to begin construction on a high-rise hotel adjacent to its facility. It estimates the hotel would create 113 staff jobs and would add $1,470,707 a year to the city's tax revenues and $9,697,362.30 in annual state tax revenues.

Harrah's Joliet casino is waiting for word on expansion. The Casino Queen is waiting to get approval to expand its casino and move it to the other side of its hotel. It estimates the move would generate additional millions for the state through gaming taxes and property taxes.

She also has this little reminder

Months ago, Blagojevich said he'd fill all the vacant board positions within a few weeks. He made that statement during a time when the gaming board was in the headlines and on the editorial pages almost daily.

But remember he is dealing with issues important to the people of Illinois, that's right. Video Games, he as able to appoint at a large Advisory Board on that real quick. But yet can't find a single person to at least bring the gaming board to quorum.


OneMan

The Beacon has some stuff on the candidates views on crime.. Not much variation between the canidates.
Weisner, Wyatt and Irvin want more comunity policing. With Wyatt pushing the residentcy requirement.

All are in favor of statistical review of crime to better figure out where to put officers.

Not a huge variation between them, some disagreements on adding officers or not. Also Hernandez likes the idea of multiple satalite police stations.

For a good summary on how they want to deal with crime related issues, go here.

OneMan

Wow....
The Balgo/Mell thing is huge!
The Sun Times has these nuggets

That hasn't happened, Mell insisted Friday, as he talked of months of building animosity with the governor that has driven a wedge between the alderman and his daughter, first lady Patti Blagojevich. Mell said he rarely talks anymore with her, and the Blagojeviches won't return his phone calls -- isolation Mell compares to "putting a stake through my heart."

"She's got blinders on. Patti will wake up one day," Mell said, hinting that she cannot see Blagojevich's penchant for doing anything for his own political gain, even at the expense of family and friends.

"He uses people, and he used me. He uses everybody, and when there's no more use, he discards them," Mell said. "When he was running, we talked five or six times a day. After he became governor, we never talked. He wanted everyone to believe he got there on his own."

--snip--

Mell's laundry list of complaints against Blagojevich goes beyond just his handling of the landfill issue and the friction that exists within his family.

Comparing himself to a spurned spouse replaced by a trophy wife, Mell said he has been displaced within Blagojevich's political circle by fund-raising chief Christopher Kelly, who Mell said "trades appointments to commissions for checks for $50,000" to the governor's political fund. Both Kelly and a Blagojevich spokesman denied that claim.

--snip--

Mell said their stormy relationship and Blagojevich's ingratitude have his wife's words ringing in his ears. Marge Mell, who is now seriously ill, once warned the alderman not to back Blagojevich in his run for governor.

'Mad at what?'

"My wife begged me not to support him for governor. She said you know how he is, and I did it anyway. I remember when there was a problem in his congressional campaign. I told Patti maybe we should just shut this campaign down now. But she said, 'Oh no, dad, we've come so far. No dad, we can't do that.' Her mother said shut it down, and I told her my daughter will hate me. Do you think he'd ever have had a chance without me?" Mell said.

Rich has some more on it including the item that Mell may do a press conference Monday. Does he have real dirt on the governor, if so will he use it? If he drops the 'really big one' that no one has been able prove and/or at least says it in public does it enter public play?

Should be interesting, one thing is for sure Mell sounds mega p.o'd. I suspect there are going to be investigations before everything is said and done.

OneMan

Now for my Mayor fix.

Got some context on the Jack quote about Seneca, it actually isn't as bad as it sounds. Kind of figured that on one level because the Beacon would have been all over it. General 'sort of netural' opinion was that Jack did the best at the forum. More forums to come so well see if that is true down the road.

Rick also has some stuff about the race, he had a sit down with Weisner. Kind of surprised it took as long as it did he since Rick is Chair of the Naperville Township Democrats and that outfit includes a decent sized part of the city of Aurora. If I was a Democrat I would be talking to him all the time.

Also don't forget township Caucus' are coming up on Tuesday. It's an 'interesting' experience.

OneMan

Over at Random Act of Kindness Jeff makes an interesting point if the Blago game law becomes law. It will be fine to provide a 15 year old an abortion but against the law to sell her Grand Theft Auto.

I guess my question is if you want to argue she is mature enough to make that decision without Mom and/or Dad then she should be mature enough to buy Grand Theft Auto without mom and/or Dad.

Congratulations to the Cross Guys/Illinois First on the Slamdance Games nomination. How cool is that.

The Trib has a story today about the first 'all five' mayoral forum in Aurora. It had this little nugget in it

The candidates all were asked how accessible they would be to residents as mayor.

Cunningham, 65, who owns a 140-slip marina in Seneca and is developing 300 acres of land in LaSalle County, said he is "not a micro-manager that handles everything from sweeping the floor to fixing the roof.

"I would attempt to be available by phone," he said, adding that "it's only 45 minutes from Seneca to Aurora."

-- Umm Jack, you really need to come up with a a better answer than. "I would attempt to be available by phone," he said, adding that "it's only 45 minutes from Seneca to Aurora." most residents of the city would expect the mayor to spend most of his time in the city.

The Beacon News didn't have anything in it's story about this event about Jacks comments.

Found a new blog today OpenLine, it's new but it plans to cover Aurora politics so well see how it looks. It would also be nice if they give OneMan a shout out.

Thanks to Eric Zorn for the link to the stuff on how quickly the governor seems to be able to fill some boards vs. the time it takes to fill boards that deal with real issues like education funding, ethics, casinos, etc.

That would be an interesting story how many boards are short and/or below quarum levels of appointments and how long they have been that way. I wonder if I could FOI that from the state.

Some more on how Blagozo or should I say Rodysseus goes for the 'topic of the month' over at the Trib.

Also the WSJ had a bit of a tribute to Sen. Peter Fitzgerald as well as an honest assesment of some of his shortcomings. It would have been a good idea to Sen. Fitzgerald to act like he at least liked Illinois rank-and-file Republicans.

OneMan

Ok, I was asked to provided a little more detail on the Bob Thomas suit and the stuff behind it. Actually the Leader has a good summary here. He is suingha Shaw Newspapers, owner of the Kane County Chronicle, a columnist Bill Page and an editor Greg Rivara for libel, defamation and false light.


Eight Forty Eight back in 2000 had a show with a good summary of the allegations against now former Kane County States Attorney Meg Gorecki that eventually led via the attorney discipline process to the columns that led to the lawsuit, you can find it here at about minute 9.

If you want to see the initial ruling by the AD&RC (Attorney discipline and go here, the ruling of the AD&TC review board go here and the State Supreme Court ruling go here. Eventualy it resulted in Meg's law license being suspended for four months.

What Chicago Magazine brought up about the lawsuit in it's story besides the question of why a State Supreme Court Justice would sue over some stuff that appeared in a newspaper with a circulation of 14,000 is how difficult it might be for this case to actually be heard due to fact it involves a sitting state supreme court justice. I guess that every judge in Kane county has already excused themselves. Chicago Magaizne points out that the discovery process in this lawsuit may end up leading to all sorts of stuff that is normally kept behind closed doors within the State Supreme Court.

The Chicago Magazine story also quotes Jon Zham several times which I find interesting on a couple of levels. Mostly since it just strikes me as an surprising pick of a Kane County Republican to quote multiple times in a story that is in part about Kane County politics, considering the response Jon draws from some people and how he responds to that response.

What makes it interesting for OneMan is I actually know and have met a large number of the parties involved. I knew Meg when she ran for states attorney and have sat near her and talked with her a several Republican events. I found her to be intelegent and felt she did a good job as states attorney. Like most Republicans I wondered what the heck she was thinking when she left the message on her friends answering machine that led to all of this, but sometimes smart people do dumb things. At least this Kane County Republican felt that some sort of license suspension was in order.

The editor who was named in suit is someone I used to know when we were in college at the same time at NIU. I have met Bob Thomas a couple of times and he seems like a nice enough guy.

The sitting states attorney Meg defeated David Ackerman(sp?) was a nice enough guy too, but he had to be the worst campaigner I have ever seen. He didn't do very well even in front of friendly crowds and didn't seem to have widespread support within the party. Also he was defeated in part because Meg worked the entire county really, really hard. I never saw any resentment aimed at Meg by any Republicans I knew.



OneMan

Mrs. OneMan and I went to see Spam-a-Lot (the new Python musical) last night. Most excellent and if you have the chance to see it in Chicago before it heads to Broadway I would highly recomend it.

OneMan

The Beacon had a story about the top stories of 2004. The number one story was the water crisis and their story had this little snipit.

The water boil also made political news, as mayoral candidate Tom Weisner quit his job as Aurora's community services director in the middle of the crisis. His opponents quickly jumped on him for leaving at a time when the city was in need, but Weisner said he always planned to resign in order to focus on his campaign.

-- Always planned to resign, yeah I buy that. Was his timing really, really dumb, yes..

OneMan