July corruption watch

Chicago leads the way in numerous corruption headlines yet again.

Illinois residents can’t seem to get ahead in the fight against corruption.

The month of July handed Illinoisans a particular blow when a judge shot down a proposed amendment to change the way Illinois’ district maps are drawn.

Redistricting reform is desperately needed in Illinois. Currently, politicians pick their voters by drawing the districts as they like. And because Illinois doesn’t have term limits, these same politicians can stay in office for decades, often because uncompetitive districts allow them to perpetually run unopposed in elections.

Fortunately for Illinoisans, many people are speaking out against this, as well as other forms of corruption, including Gov. Bruce Rauner, who recently expressed his support for term limits.

Business leaders in Chicago are also speaking out against corruption in their city. A new report shows 9 in 10 business owners believe that cronyism is a problem in the city. Many of these business owners have felt pressure to make political campaign donations or felt that elected officials have behaved unethically.

Illinois taxpayers are always the losers when elected officials are not held accountable. Here are some other stories of corruption:

July 7, 0216 – Post-Tribune: No Prison time for Brakley in Lake Station corruption case

The stepdaughter of former Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist will not see jail time for a federal theft charge.

Judge James Moody in U.S. District Court of Hammond on Thursday accepted a plea agreement for Miranda Brakley that will see Brakley serve six months of home detention and two years probation for agreeing to plead guilty to one count of theft from a program receiving federal funds. A second charge of her lying on her bankruptcy filing was dropped.

A second federal indictment accused Brakley, 33, a former city court clerk, of stealing at least $5,000 in bond money from city court from August 2011 to July 2012 and hiding $7,000 in income from her bankruptcy case, which she filed in August 2012. Former Mayor Soderquist and his wife, Deborah, were also charged with helping Brakley hide the thefts and violate federal banking law.

In January, Keith Soderquist reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors admitting he helped Brakley hide that she stole more than $5,000 in court bond money from the city by helping her get a $15,000 loan from someone else. As part of the deal, the Soderquists dropped a motion for a new trial to overturn their September 2015 trial — in which they argued U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano fell asleep at least twice during the two weeks it was heard — as well as their appeal rights in that case.

July 7, 2016 – Chicago Tribune: Aldermen rebuff Chicago police union chief’s suggestion on oversight

The Chicago police union president suggested Thursday that only a task force of outside law enforcement could fairly probe police shootings and maintained that the city’s civilian agency is now handling that job in violation of state law.

But aldermen shot down Fraternal Order of Police President Dean Angelo’s legal claim and fired back that at a time of widespread distrust of the Chicago Police Department, allowing other police to be in charge of looking into police abuse claims here would not provide strong enough oversight.

“How do you propose we balance the public skepticisms of the police investigating the police with what you’re looking for in seasoned law enforcement professionals doing these investigations?” asked Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th.

The police union boss’ testimony came on the second day of hourslong hearings on the issue of police accountability — meetings that have been decried as “a sham” by police reform experts and public activists.

July 12, 2016 – Chicago Tribune: The price of oblivious school boards

A west suburban school district that relies on parent fundraising to buy basic school supplies managed to scrape together more than $20,000 to send the superintendent and several school board members on vacations recently.

Did we say “on vacations”? Oops. We meant “to conferences.” They just happened to take place in coveted sabbatical spots such as Nashville, Tenn.; Las Vegas; Phoenix; Washington D.C.; and Savannah, Ga. — all within less than a year.

Taxpayers of Bellwood School District 88 also paid $8,300 for dining expenses and extras at the conferences. And that’s not all.

As the Tribune’s Angela Caputo reported, the indebted elementary school district struggled to get off the state’s financial watch list yet managed to set aside more than $100,000 to replenish a pension fund that Superintendent Rosemary Hendricks had cashed out years earlier. The district also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal settlements and contract payouts, and put Hendricks’ two daughters and board President Marilyn Thurman’s son and daughter on the district payroll. Hendricks’ daughter also traveled to Phoenix and New Orleans on the taxpayers’ dime.

Meanwhile, the PTA is stuck raising money for paper towels, hand sanitizer and copy paper.

If you think the public deserves some clearer answers on the spending practices, you might try contacting the district yourself. The superintendent, most of the elected school board members and the district’s attorney — also paid by taxpayers — declined comment.

July 14, 2016 – Chicago Now: Over 90 percent of Chicago business leaders say city is home to cronyism

Chicago is America’s corruption capital. And nowhere is that more evident than in the cronyism that tilts the city’s economy toward favored political players.

More than 9 in 10 Chicago business leaders agreed that a form of cronyism is practiced in Chicago, according to a new study commissioned by the Committee for Economic Development. The study used the term “crony capitalism,” defined as “the unhealthy relationship between some businesses and government, which can lead to favoritism in the form of tax breaks, government grants, and other incentives.”

Among the other notable findings:

• Half felt there was “a lot” of pressure on businesses to make political contributions
• More than half felt the ethical behavior of elected and appointed officials is a very serious issue
• Nearly 8 in 10 felt the city is off on the wrong track
• More than 9 in 10 felt using paid lobbyists and making political contributions helps companies gain a business advantage

July 14, 2016 – Huffington Post: Chicago Police Settlements Cost Taxpayers $210 Million Plus Interest

As the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling at the hands of police officers stir up national debate on law enforcement practices, a new database unveils hundreds of Chicago Police Department misconduct lawsuit settlements between 2012 and 2015 ― costing a whopping $210 million in total and revealing yet another financial burden on taxpayers.

“Settling for Misconduct,” an extensive database from The Chicago Reporter published this week, highlights allegations of Chicago’s excessive policing methods, ranging from false arrest to unwarranted killing, particularly in Latino and black communities, leading to 655 settlements in four years.

Multimillion-dollar police misconduct settlements, such as the one stemming from the killing of Chicago teenager Laquan McDonald, tend to garner national attention. But the database reveals that the City of Chicago pays much smaller sums of money to plaintiffs on an average of every other day. The average payment was just $36,000.

July 15, 2016 – Chicago Tribune: City to settle police misconduct suits, bringing tab to $18.6 million this year

The city is poised to pay a combined $4.3 million to settle separate Chicago police misconduct lawsuits involving the fatal shooting of a motorist on the Northwest Side and a police raid by a corrupt team of officers on the home of an off-duty firefighter a decade ago.

The City Council’s Finance Committee is scheduled to consider the payouts — $3.75 million for the family of shooting victim Esau Castellanos and another $550,000 for Robert Cook in the botched raid — at its monthly meeting Tuesday, according to the committee’s online agenda. The settlements would then go before the full council for a vote Wednesday.

The settlements would bring the total paid out so far this year by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration for police misconduct to $18.6 million. Agreements to settle at least two other high-profile police shooting cases have been reached in court, but the dollar amounts have not yet been made public.

July 15, 2016 – Illinois News Network: Blagojevich wants his prison sentence reduced

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich hopes to get some time shaved off his 14-year sentence when he appears in federal court next month.

The disgraced former governor will ask for a reduction of his sentence, which is scheduled to end in 2024, during an Aug. 9 hearing in federal court. He is serving time in a Colorado prison after being convicted of corruption charges in 2011 after he was accused of using his position as governor for personal gain.

July 16, 2016 – Crain’s Chicago Business: Chicago biz tired of the Chicago Way

In a city as divided as Chicago, it’s rare to find unanimity on any issue. That’s what makes the results of a first-ever poll of Chicago’s business leaders on the subject of crony capitalism so striking.

In a survey conducted by Crain’s Custom Media in conjunction with the Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board, 428 local business leaders spoke out in remarkable unison about the corrosive effect that paid lobbyists and fat-cat political contributions have had on the city’s civic and business life. Yes, they agree, the Chicago Way still works for those who can afford the cost of admission to the pay-to-play political game. But, most also say, it’s bad for business.

Among the findings: 91 percent believe companies using paid lobbyists or making big political donations have a business advantage, while 88 percent believe the ethical behavior of elected or appointed officials is a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” issue.

July 17, 2016 – West Cook News: Leef: Gerrymandering part of why Illinois ‘most corrupt state in country’

… “The drawing of the legislative boundaries in Illinois is yet another example of the disgraceful and shameless behavior of our state’s career politicians,” Leef told West Cook News. “Specifically, take a look at the 4th and 7th Districts. Can any honest person claim that these districts are drawn in a fashion which achieves anything other than connecting specific voter blocks?”

The Independent Maps Coalition, which is trying to get an amendment on the November ballot to reform the system, said the way Illinois decides its legislative boundaries is too political and doesn’t serve voters. Leef agrees and offers examples of gerrymandering in these two districts, starting with River Forest, his home town.

“Can anyone come up with a reason, beneficial to the voters, that a single district includes portions of the Englewood neighborhood, Chinatown, Greektown, the west side AND River Forest? The answer lies in the fact that River Forest is used as a political conduit, connecting portions of Maywood to the South side and the rest of Danny Davis’ fiefdom.”

Leef said current boundaries inherently are designed to benefit incumbent candidates. …

… Leef said such corruption can be seen across the Illinois political spectrum, especially with longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Dist. 22).

July 19, 2016 – Chicago Now: 37 of 50 Chicago aldermen took illegal campaign cash in 2015

A recent survey of Chicago business leaders showed over 90 percent believed city government engages in some form of cronyism.

A July 18 report from Project Six, a new corruption watchdog headed up by former Chicago Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan, helps to show why.

The report finds more than two-thirds of Chicago aldermen took in donations that appear to be in violation of the city’s campaign finance rules. Those rules prohibit donations over $1,500 from registered city lobbyists, vendors of the city or its sister agencies, and businesses or individuals who have certain types of legislation pending before City Council.

July 26, 2016 – Illinois News Network: Mautino fails to turn over campaign-expense data as deadline passes

A public hearing is expected in the case involving Auditor General Frank Mautino’s campaign expenses after he failed to file amended reports Monday. The Illinois State Board of Elections is seeking amended reports to clarify hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign expenses paid to a bank and service station in his legislative district over the course of a decade.

The deadline came and went Monday for Mautino to turn in amended campaign-expense reports as ordered by the elections board.

That means the elections board will work with all of the parties to find a date for a public hearing in which the complainant will have subpoena power.

July 28, 2016 – Chicago Tribune: Morning Spin: Feds indict woman who gave West Side alderman check for nearly $5,000

The head of a nonprofit group that allegedly made a nearly $5,000 payment to a West Side alderman has been indicted for allegedly using state grant funds meant to provide summer jobs for youth to cover personal expenses and make other unauthorized payments.

But the Wednesday indictment of Franshuan Myles, president and executive director of Divine Praise Inc., shed no new light on the alleged connection to 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin. In fact, the paperwork contained less detail than an earlier criminal complaint in her case.

That complaint said that in August 2011 Myles wrote a Divine Praise check for $4,932 to “Individual A,” identified by the Tribune as Ervin, after her group received a $60,000 grant for youth employment. Notably, the indictment made no mention of Individual A.

A source close to the alderman said Ervin and his attorney, Sam Adam Jr., have yet to meet with the feds to discuss the matter but plan to do so.

July 30, 2016 – Chicago Tribune: WATCHDOGS: 18 aldermen avoid hefty property tax hikes, 5 pay less

Three of every four property owners in Chicago have been hit with higher property taxes this year, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis shows — often thousands of dollars more and in some cases in the Loop and surrounding hot neighborhoods twice what they were last year.

That’s the result of a perfect storm of higher property assessments from Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s $318 million tax hike, passed to shore up the city’s shaky finances and boost police and fire pension funds that for years have been shortchanged.

Eighteen of the city’s 50 aldermen — including Ald. Patrick O’Connor, the mayor’s City Council floor leader who rounded up the votes to pass the tax increase last fall — staved off the hefty tax hikes, shifting a total of $19,484 in taxes to other property owners. Those aldermen, including several whose wards have seen real estate prices skyrocket, did that by convincing Berrios or the Cook County Board of Review to lower the estimated value of their homes or apartments.

Five of those aldermen — including four who voted against the tax hike — owe less than they did last year, even as most of their constituents pay more, the Sun-Times found in an analysis of the 882,965 tax bills sent to Chicago landowners. Monday is the deadline to pay.