Author: Newsdesk

Posted by Hal Dardick at 10:43 a.m.; last updated at 2:23 p.m. with aldermen who voted against

The City Council today overwhelmingly approved an ordinance barring aldermen from using a stealth payroll account to hire relatives — after a committee earlier altered the measure to grandfather existing employees.

The vote was 33-5. Only Ald. Bernard Stone, 50th, spoke against it, saying the measure was "absolutely ridiculous" and would create a special class of people who can’t work for the city "because of the mere fact that they happen to be a relative of an alderman."

Ald. Thomas Allen, 38th, first proposed the change last November in response to a Tribune story that revealed aldermen were using a $1.3 million payroll controlled by the Finance Committee to hire relatives, campaign operatives and workers with political baggage.

One of the employees with political baggage was a former full-time city worker ousted over sexual harassment allegations who had been placed on a city do-not-hire list.

Attorneys with expertise in the federal court consent decree that prohibits political consideration in hiring for most city jobs said the payroll may violate that decree, but Allen’s change does not address those issues.

The story also noted at least four aldermen had used the account to hire relatives, prompting former 29th Ald. Isaac Carothers, who since resigned his post after pleading guilty in federal court to bribes, to say: “All us (aldermen) have family members on the payroll. That’s nothing new.”

Other aldermen said that statement landed all of them in hot water with the public, something Allen alluded to today.

“I would submit that if you walked down the street and asked 100 people if they thought this was appropriate, I would bet a hundred out of a hundred would say no,” Allen said at a meeting of the Rules and Ethics Committee where the measure was amended this morning.

Under the measure, aldermen would no longer be able to hire relatives, as several have done, but those already paid from the stealth account could continue to work for their aldermen relatives.

“We are not trying to throw anyone out of a job or prohibit those people from continuing to work, but this would apply only to new hires,” Allen said. “So, the current hires would be grandfathered.”

That change, made during the Rules and Ethics Committee meeting, appeared to be a compromise to get sufficient votes for passage.

“After talking to a number of my colleagues, they were concerned about current employees,” Ald. Margaret Laurino, 39th, said during the committee hearing before the full council vote. “Should Ald. Allen amend this on the face to grandfather in existing employees, I think that this would indeed be a very good ordinance.”

Stone also spoke against the measure at committee.

“The general public’s opinion of the aldermen themselves is so low, that if you are going to sit and worry about what their opinion is of hiring members of the aldermen’s family, it’s probably no greater than what it is of the aldermen,” Stone said.

“I don’t care what you tell me, that is unfair,” Stone told Allen of his proposal. “It is certainly contrary to the statement that all people are created equal. It is certainly contrary to the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which we fought the Civil War over, and you are creating a special class by saying that relatives of aldermen cannot serve because they are relatives, because by chance of birth they were born relatives of aldermen.”

The other aldermen voting against the ordinance are Alds. Anthony Beale, 9th; Lona Lane, 18th; Willie Cochran, 20th; and Ray Suarez, 31st.

Stone in recent days also has taken a strong stand against Mayor Richard Daley’s proposal to let the inspector general’s office probe aldermen. Allen said that proposal and his effort are not related.

The little-known Revenue Committee account has been around for decades, and employees paid through the fund don’t show up on the regular city payroll.

According to the line item in the budget, aldermen are allowed to hire people "to perform secretarial, clerical, stenographic, research, investigations or other functions expressly related to the office of aldermen."

The jobs also don’t appear to be on the city’s court-mandated list of positions deemed exempt from the political hiring ban, according to private attorney Michael Shakman, whose lawsuit led to the decades-long court ban on political influence in city personnel decisions. And they are not "posted," a procedure aimed at giving everyone an equal chance, clout or not, to compete for the jobs.

City officials have said the employees paid through the fund are contract workers because they do not receive a city pension or other city benefits. But Shakman has questioned that statement, because the city withholds the employees’ taxes and sends each one a yearly W-2 tax form.

Posted by Hal Dardick at 9:52 a.m.

Mayor Richard Daley this morning officially unveiled his proposal to let the city inspector general probe aldermen and their employees — a change first rejected by City Council 20 years ago when Daley created the watchdog office.

 

At today’s City Council meeting it is expected that Daley’s amendment to the IG ordinance will be referred to the Rules and Ethics Committee. Ald. Richard Mell, 33rd, who is chairman of that key committee, told the Tribune that he has yet to form an opinion on the proposal but expects to conduct a hearing to consider it. Other aldermen have already expressed concern the plan would give the mayor more control over the legislative branch.

The proposal provides a minimum level of funding for the inspector general’s office, but Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, who proposed a similar measure last year, said the level of funding specified in Daley’s proposal would not increase funding to the office.

 

As a result, the inspector general’s staff could be spread thin between investigating the Daley administration and City Council, if aldermen approve the changes as is, Moore said. Moore’s proposal called for a minimum funding level that was 50 percent greater than Daley’s.

 

Daley proposed the changes as part of an amendment that also would shift responsibility for hiring oversight from Anthony Boswell, the beleaguered head of the mayor’s Compliance Office, to the inspector general’s office, led by former federal prosecutor Joseph Ferguson.

 

The proposal comes as Daley is trying to end a decades-long consent decree that gives the federal court supervision of city hiring.

 

You can view the proposed ordinance here.

 

Posted by Tribune staff at 5 a.m.

A look at what’s going on in Illinois politics Wednesday:

*The Chicago City Council meets at 10 a.m. at City Hall. While the agenda could be low-key, Mayor Richard Daley also is expected to introduce his proposed overhaul of the inspector general’s office. The headlines have been dominated by Daley’s suggestion that he wants the inspector general to be able to investigate aldermen, who are none too happy about that prospect. The proposal also comes as Daley is trying to convince a federal judge to end court oversight of city hiring.

*Also on the council agenda is a historic preservation designation for the Chicago home of playwright Lorraine Hansberry, who penned "Raisin in the Sun." It’s also the first council meeting since Isaac "Ike" Carothers pleaded guilty to bribery and tax charges and resigned as 29th ward alderman. Daley has not yet named a successor. Carothers was the 29th alderman convicted of crimes since 1972.

*The Illinois House and Senate are in session today in Springfield. The jockeying to replace pawnbroker Scott Lee Cohen as the lieutenant governor nominee will continue, even as Illinois Democratic Chairman Michael Madigan said Tuesday that he’s collecting names and doesn’t have a personal favorite yet.

*Gov. Pat Quinn has no public government or campaign events Wednesday, same as Tuesday.

Posted by John Byrne at 4:25 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley gave no indication today that an end to CTA service cuts is imminent, pointing out that negotiations between CTA officials and labor leaders representing bus and rail drivers were going on for months before more than 1,000 employees were laid off Sunday.

 

"They’ve renegotiated everything," Daley said. "This went on for months. This is nothing new."

 

"(Labor leaders) just openly said their members said ‘No,’ " the mayor said, referring to a meeting last Friday in his office when he urged the union heads to convince their membership to make concessions rather than accept the layoffs.

Some involved in the negotiations had expressed hope that the service cuts could be restored within two weeks if the unions and CTA management could agree on cost-cutting moves.

 

The presidents of the unions representing CTA bus drivers and train conductors insist the CTA is unfairly trying to foist concessions such as pay freezes and unpaid furlough days on the employees without cutting costs in less painful ways. CTA officials went ahead with the layoffs after the unions refused to agree to the concession proposals.

 

"It’s still an ongoing negotiation to really educate (CTA employees)," the mayor said at an event to announce a campaign to combat the culture of silence that often hampers police efforts to arrest perpetrators of violent crime.

 

Daley reiterated that riders are more willing to put up with longer waits for buses and trains than higher fares. "It’s a hundred million (dollar CTA deficit). If you raise fares, people don’t like it. They’ve been working hard, CTA, doing everything possible."

 

"Again, you can’t increase fares. It’s impossible to increase fares," Daley said when asked if the city can make do for an extended time with fewer buses and trains on the streets. "And there’s no money — a hundred million dollars — around. And this has been talked about for four months, and they’ve been working on it, looking at it, what service they cut, what they can do, and they’re always adjusting."

Posted by John Byrne and Hal Dardick at 3:45 p.m.; last updated at 4:40 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley said today that aldermen opposed to giving the inspector general’s office the power to investigate the City Council need to understand that such measures are important to improve the public’s trust in government.

"When you get elected to office, hold public office, hold public trust, people pay their taxes. It doesn’t matter if you work with the schools or the parks. Doesn’t matter if you’re in the executive or the legislative branch, it’s a public trust," Daley said. "And people work hard and pay their taxes — federal, state and local taxes — and they want people to be honest, open and transparent in all the issues you deal with. Simple as that. They elect you for your honesty, hard work and dedication, they want you to commit to that."

Daley’s measure would allow Inspector General Joseph Ferguson to investigate aldermen and their staffs, a power overwhelmingly rejected by aldermen 20 years ago when Daley created the office of inspector general.



Daley has outlined the broad changes he seeks in the inspector general ordinance, but is not expected to release a copy of it until he presents it tomorrow at a regular City Council meeting.

While scores of aldermen have gone to prison for political corruption, Daley’s administration also has been the subject of several scandals during his two decades in office. He voluntarily gave up taking campaign donations from city contractors after the Hired Truck scandal. Daley’s administration also has been the subject of a federal criminal probe that led to convictions of Daley’s patronage chief and other high-ranking city officials. And James Duff, a Daley campaign contributor with mob ties, was convicted of creating phony women- and minority-owned businesses in order to secure city business.

Several aldermen, including Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, said today that Daley’s proposed change to the inspector general’s powers could make members of the City Council the targets of politically-motivated investigations.

 

“I’m opposed to the inspector general investigating aldermen, because all it would take is for you to make someone mad in your ward or a constituent and then they’ll start calling the inspector general making bogus reports, and you won’t be able to get your job done on a day-to-day basis because you’ll be fending off all these erroneous complaints,” Beale said. “If something like that is put in place, complaints would just be coming from everywhere, and we would just be sidetracked, and wouldn’t be able to do the people’s business.”

 

Ald. Ed Smith, 28th, said he also opposed the change, contending the U.S. attorney’s office is doing a fine job of keeping aldermen in line. “(U.S. Attorney Patrick) Fitzgerald does an excellent job, they don’t need anybody else,” he said.

Ald. Thomas Tunney, 44th, said he “would be supportive of it,” but went on to suggest that appointment of an inspector general should not be left solely to the mayor.

In a proposal made last year by Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, the inspector general would have been chosen by the mayor from a list of three candidates submitted by a panel that included the county’s chief judge, the county state’s attorney, the top Chicago FBI officials, the U.S. attorney and others.

Ald. Daniel Solis, 25th, said today that many aldermen would be more comfortable voting for the inspector general to have the new investigative authority if the person holding the position was appointed by an independent panel, rather than solely the mayor. That would assuage aldermanic concern that the executive branch could exert influence over the council through the inspector general, Solis said.

 

Daley — speaking at an event to announce a public service campaign to combat the culture of silence that often hampers police efforts to arrest perpetrators of violent crime — said he didn’t know whether he would agree to such a compromise.

Solis said he wasn’t sure he would support the mayor’s proposal as-is, which would keep the inspector general appointment in the mayor’s office, but he said he could understand why Daley presented the plan.

Elected officials, period, are perceived very suspiciously these days," Solis said. "If this is an issue that can be presented that might give some confidence to our citizens, I can consider it."

Daley’s proposal also would shift
hiring oversight from his beleaguered compliance officer, Anthony
Boswell, to the inspector general’s office.

Ferguson has recommended Boswell be disciplined for allegedly mishandling a sexual harassment complaint from a student intern in the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. The mayor said today that he has not decided whether to discipline Boswell.

Posted by Michelle Manchir at 3:24 p.m.

 

SPRINGFIELD — House Speaker Michael Madigan said today he is gathering names of potential lieutenant governor candidates to replace scandal-plagued primary winner Scott Lee Cohen but does not have a choice of his own.



"I’ve committed to no one," said Madigan, who doubles as the state Democratic Party chairman, at the Capitol today.



Madigan said he will review potential candidates with Gov. Pat Quinn, and Senate President John Cullerton before making a recommendation to the Democratic State Central Committee. Madigan said the panel can’t meet to discuss the issue until after the Illinois State Board of Elections certifies the election results. March 5 is the deadline for elections officials to do so.

Cohen’s candidacy quickly fell apart in the days following his election last week after police and court records came to light in which he was accused of abusing women, using illegal steroids and failing to pay $54,000 in child support even as he spent more than $2 million on his campaign.

Madigan spoke privately to Cohen on Friday and said he recommended the newly minted lieutenant governor nominee drop out.

"I told him I would not give him political advice. I would only give him personal advice," Madigan said. "And the personal advice was that the anguish he was experiencing at the time would not get better, would probably get worse."

Cohen announced on Sunday night at halftime of the Super Bowl that he would resign.

Madigan was asked about the prospect of installing Iraq military veteran and Obama administration appointee Tammy Duckworth as the lieutenant governor replacement. Sources told the Tribune Monday that Quinn has discussed the Duckworth possibility with top Democrats.

"She’s certainly got an outstanding record in government," Madigan said, without elaborating.



Madigan said he thinks Quinn will win in November in a "close election" against likely Republican nominee Bill Brady, a state senator from Bloomington who is only about 400 votes ahead of rival Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale. Dillard has not conceded.

Providing a bit of political analysis about last week’s governor primary, Madigansaid the "mistake made" by the Illinois Department of Corrections to allow some prisoners out early hurt Quinn and helped Comptroller Dan Hynes, who barely lost his bid to Quinn to be the Democratic governor nominee.

"I’m rather surprised that there hasn’t been some dismissals over at the Department of Corrections," Madigan said. "That’s what I would recommend."

Quinn blamed his corrections chief, Michael Randle, but did not fire him.

Posted by Hal Dardick at 2:10 p.m.

The Cook County Board today approved a short-term borrowing plan to cover $104 million its owes to the employee pension fund.

If accepted by the pension board, the county would pay $108 million — the amount it owed the pension fund, plus 2.75 percent interest, said Laura Lechowicz Felicione, the county attorney who has been negotiating with the pension board. The original pension payment was due in December 2008.

The county will use $30.4 million it has on hand and take and take out a three-year loan for the rest of the payment. Once paid off in 2013, Felicione said the county will have paid about $112 million to cover the original debt of $104 million, meaning the cost for the late payment is about $8 million.

Board President Todd Stroger initially wanted to take out a longer term loan to pay the debt, but that would have cost the county more money in the end. Stroger did not attend today’s meeting, his first since losing his re-election bid in the Democratic primary a week ago. His staff said he was slowed by snow coming back from a weekend trip to New Orleans.



“I want to commend you for bring this to a close and having a way to pay this off in a very short period of time,” Commissioner Forrest Claypool, D-Chicago, said to Felicione. “The original plan to fund a ongoing year-to-year obligation with long-term debt was absolutely irresponsible. I think this is a reasonable approach.”

Posted by John Byrne at 1:42 p.m.; last updated at 2:30 p.m.



Mayor Richard Daley today said that his son, Patrick, has been called back to active duty in the U.S. Army.



"My son had a responsibility to serve four years in the military," Daley said at an event to announce a campaign to combat the culture of silence that often hampers police efforts to arrest perpetrators of violent crime.

"He’s been redeployed, and so he will serve his country just like every other son and daughter of this country who does the same thing," Daley said.

Patrick Daley was living in Moscow when he got word of his recent redeployment, said the mayor, who declined to say where his son is serving.

"It’s a confidential thing he has to do," the mayor said. "He doesn’t want any major publicity where he is or where he’s going. Like anything else, it’s his life, it’s not your life. He’s not a public official. He’s just another son or daughter who has taken this very seriously, and he’ll do it."

Patrick Daley surprised his family in 2004 when he announced that he was joining the military. He had received a graduate business degree from the University of Chicago just a few months earlier, and was 29 when he was sworn in Dec. 29 of that year. Daley opted to enter the Army as an enlisted man rather than seeking to become an officer.



In December 2007, Patrick Daley was deployed but the mayor declined to say where. The mayor’s son had been a paratrooper with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C., but military officials said more than two years ago that Daley was assigned to a different unit at the North Carolina installation.



Shortly before Daley’s 2007 deployment, news surfaced that a sewer inspection company in which Patrick once invested held a city contract.



Before he enlisted in the Army, Patrick Daley joined his cousin Robert Vanecko in acquiring a 4 percent stake in Municipal Sewer Services from April 2003 until late 2004, company officials acknowledged. During that time, the company took over two city contracts from a bankrupt vendor and then obtained one-year extensions on each contract.



When the company filed its economic disclosure statements with the city in February 2004 and listed three officers as owning 100 percent of the company, it failed to disclose the ownership interest of Patrick Daley and Vanecko. The disclosure was required at the time.



In December 2007, Mayor Daley said he didn’t know about his son’s involvement in the company.



"As an adult, he made that decision. It was a lapse in judgment for him to get involved with this company. I wish he hadn’t done it," he said at the time.



The firm told city officials in 2008 that it was going out of business.

UPDATE 4:33 p.m. by Hal Dardick and Todd Lighty – Details of Daley proposal, aldermanic reaction.

Mayor Richard Daley today proposed expanding the powers of the city’s inspector general to include investigating aldermen — an idea long opposed by City Council — as well as taking away the hiring oversight duties currently held by the mayor’s compliance office.

The proposed ordinance, which Daley will introduce at Wednesday’s council meeting, would be a dramatic shift in the power struggle between City Hall watchdogs.

The move was endorsed by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, who while appointed by the mayor is considered more independent than the Daley administration’s Office of Compliance.

“The proposal announced by the mayor here today to amend the inspector general’s ordinance constitutes a watershed moment in the history of the city,” Ferguson said. “This proposal comes to grips with core structural reforms necessary to root out patronage and corruption in the city of Chicago.

 

In a report last month, Ferguson said “the dangers of political hiring remain real and constant" and recommended that a city ordinance that bars him from investigating aldermen be lifted. He said the ordinance has prevented him from looking into a November Tribune story detailing that aldermen had put family members, campaign operatives and others with political connections on a stealth taxpayer-funded payroll.

Many aldermen have long opposed the notion of the inspector general investigating them, and by law such probes are prohibited. A similar effort last year by several alderman to expand the inspector general’s powers died in committee.

Daley typically gets what he wants from the council, but he may have a fight over the inspector general proposal, which could get shifted to a committee for hearings when it is introduced at Wednesday’s meeting.

Daley said the corruption investigation of former Ald. Isaac Carothers, who has cooperated in an ongoing federal probe into city developments, played a role in his decision to make a change. “I think after the Carothers issue, some people are losing confidence in government,” the mayor said.

Ald. Bernard Stone, 50th, said he opposes Daley’s plan to give the inspector general the ability to investigate council. Stone had accused Ferguson’s predecessor, David Hoffman, of overstepping his bounds when an investigation led to prosecution of one of the alderman’s aides.

“If (Daley) wants to have (the inspector general) oversee hiring, that’s the executive branch and that’s OK with me,” Stone added. “The executive branch should not be able to oversee the legislative branch, because the executive branch can use it to blackmail the legislative branch. That’s the same thing J. Edgar Hoover did to Congress.”

Stone, noting that 29 aldermen have been convicted in the last four decades, also said there’s simply no need for further aldermanic oversight.

“Law enforcement is doing an excellent job in sending crooked aldermen to jail,” Stone said. “Why do we need someone to duplicate that?”

Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, predicted  Daley’s proposal would succeed where his had failed. “His winning percentage is close to one thousand,” Moore said.

Moore said voters are angry with government corruption, noting that the political climate was ripe for change inside City Hall. “The mayor continues to struggle with abuses in hiring,” he said. “And, we have another alderman going off to jail.”

Carothers pleaded guilty last week to bribery and tax fraud charges. He admitted receiving $40,000 in improvements to his home in exchange for supporting a developer’s controversial commercial and residential development know as Galewood Yards.

After ticking off a list of reform efforts, including an executive order prohibiting him from accepting campaign contributions from people or companies doing business with the city, the mayor admitted changing the culture was not easy.

“The challenge of reforming government is tough and ongoing,” Daley said. “We acknowledge that our efforts to reform the oversight of hiring have not yet worked as well as we liked. The truth is that while I believed the Office of Compliance model for hiring oversight was a good one, it did not yield the results we hoped for.”

City Hall is operating under a decades-long consent decree aimed at keeping politics out of most personnel decisions. A federal judge appointed a monitor in 2005 to oversee hiring after federal authorities accused Daley’s patronage chief and others of circumventing that decree by rigging hiring to reward the mayor’s political allies with jobs, promotions and overtime.

In 2007 Daley created the Office of Compliance to ensure that city personnel decisions are free from illegal political influence, part of the mayor’s plan to persuade a federal judge to end the court oversight.

Daley has said he plans to ask the court this year to end oversight, arguing that the city was in “substantial compliance,” a legal threshold for ending court involvement. Once the court case ends, oversight for hiring would go to the inspector general.

Michael Shakman, the lawyer who brought suit 40 years ago and for whom the decree is named after, said Daley had taken a step in the right direction but more needs to be done.

Shakman said the Daley administration needs to tackle the issue of contract workers who function as city employees in apparent violation of hiring rules. He said the city still needs to complete its hiring plan, which would set in place the process by which new employees get hired, based on merit or by lottery and not on whom they know politically.

And, Shakman said, the mayor must get rid of the head of the Office of Compliance, Anthony Boswell. “No one has any confidence in Boswell,” he said. “I don’t, the monitor doesn’t, and it’s clear, the mayor doesn’t. He’s got to go.”

Boswell could not be immediately reached for comment.

Ferguson and Boswell also have tangled. Ferguson last month concluded that Boswell and his top deputy, Mark Meaney,  mishandled a 2008 sexual harassment complaint from an intern at the 911 center. Ferguson concluded that the two men repeatedly disregarded city policies and showed favoritism toward the 911 supervisor by trying to find him another city job and a new intern.

   

He recommended to Daley that the men be suspended for at least 30 days. Meaney has resigned his post.

Daley today refused to answer questions about if he has made any decision on Boswell’s fate.

Boswell’s lawyer, Jamie Wareham has said the inspector general’s investigation was politically motivated by the desire to take over many of Boswell’s duties.  Wareham said it was a “classic Chicago power grab.”

UPDATE AT 3:07 P.M. — originally posted by Hal Dardick at 2:35 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley today proposed expanding the powers of the city’s inspector general to include investigating aldermen — an idea long opposed by City Council — as well as taking the hiring oversight duties currently held by the mayor’s ethics compliance office.

The proposed ordinance, which Daley will introduce at Wednesday’s council meeting, would be a dramatic shift in the power struggle between City Hall watchdogs.

The move was endorsed by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, who while appointed by the mayor is considered more independent than the Daley administration’s ethics department known as the Office of Compliance.

Ferguson said he supports Daley’s proposed changes, which “constitute a watershed moment in the history of the city.”

Many aldermen have long opposed the notion of the inspector general investigating the council, and by law such probes are prohibited.

Daley said the corruption investigation of former Ald. Isaac Carothers, who has cooperated in an ongoing federal investigation into development issues, played a role in his decision to make a change.

“I think after the Carothers issue, some people are losing confidence in government,” Daley said.

After ticking off a list of reform efforts, including an executive order prohibiting him from accepting campaign contributions from people or companies doing business with the city, the mayor added:

“Still, the challenge of reforming government is tough and ongoing. We acknowledge that our efforts to reform the oversight of hiring have not yet worked as well as we liked. The truth is that while I believed the Office of Compliance model for hiring oversight was a good one, it did not yield the results we hoped for.”

Daley typically gets what he wants from City Council, but he may have a fight over the inspector general proposal, which could get shifted to a committee for hearings when it is introduced at Wednesday’s meeting.

Posted by Hal Dardick at 2:35 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley announced today he wants to shift oversight of city hiring issues from his own Office of Compliance to the city’s inspector general, the latest sign of tensions between watchdog agencies at City Hall.

Daley, who is eager to end a decades-long federal consent decree that governs city hiring, introduced an ordinance to strip the compliance office of its hiring oversight and give that authority to the inspector general. The mayor wants the ordinance considered at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

Daley created the compliance office in 2007 to take over the oversight duties of the court-appointed hiring monitor when the decades-long legal case officially ends. But the office has been criticized by the city inspector general and by the court-appointed hiring monitor.

Posted by Hal Dardick at 1:25 p.m.

A key City Council committee today recommended settling for $700,000 a civil rights claim filed against Chicago Police and the city that accused officers of clubbing and injuring a man without cause.

The settlement, set to be considered Wednesday by the full council, relates to a July 2008 early morning incident at the Southwest Side home of Gustavo Arreola and his son, Juan-Carlos Arreola.

Police accused the younger Arreola of toting a gun, and a scuffle among police and family members occurred, according to the suit filed by the family. At one point, Guatavo Arreola was hit in the head with a weapon of some kind, causing a bloody skull fracture, the suit alleged.

Police have denied the claims, but charges of obstruction and aggravated assault against four of the family members, including Gustavo Arreola, were either dismissed or failed to hold up in court, according to a city Law Department press release.

UPDATE AT 3:35 p.m. – Madigan spokesman says no fundraising discussion with Cohen

Gov. Pat Quinn and fellow Demcratic leaders began the delicate dance of picking a new running mate for Quinn today, while emphasizing there was no horse-trading involved in a scandal-ridden Chicago pawnbroker’s decision to abandon his primary nomination for lieutenant governor.

Quinn said Cohen should not be reimbursed for the roughly $2 million in personal funds he poured into his campaign, and a spokesman for Democratic Party chairman and House Speaker Michael Madigan agreed, saying the topic never surfaced in Madigan’s two conversations with Cohen leading up to his teary-eyed withdrawal Sunday night.

Already at least two of the five rivals who Cohen bested in last Tuesday’s primary have said they want to be considered for his replacement – state Rep. Art Turner of Chicago and state Sen. Terry Link of Waukegan. But other names are also being thrown around as the Democratic Party considers how to balance a ticket that is heavily weighted with Chicago candidates.

Quinn said Cohen did the right thing by quitting less than a week after his surprise win.

The governor said he never met or reached out to his presumptive running mate, and that he only found out about Cohen’s decision to drop out by watching television coverage of the announcement, which Cohen made during half-time of the Super Bowl.

But Cohen cited advice from Madigan, who met privately with him Friday, as helping him make his decision.

During an interview this morning on WLS-AM (890), Cohen said Madigan never offered to help raise money to repay the former candidate for the funds he put into the campaign.

Asked by show co-host Don Wade if Cohen was out the more than $2 million in personal funds he contributed to his own campaign, Cohen said, “I’m out right now.”

Asked if he was promised any help with his business, Cohen responded: “No. No. You know, I hope that there’ll come a time that I try to fundraise to get some of the money back. But there were no promises. (Madigan) never said that he was going to fundraise for me.”

A Madigan spokesman confirmed that fundraising never came up in the conversations with Cohen.

“It wasn’t discussed and no way would he (Madigan) be involved in fundraising for Mr. Cohen or direct others to do so,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said. Madigan had a face-to-face meeting with Cohen on Friday in Madigan’s law office and a telephone conversation later Sunday.

UPDATE 1:18 p.m. from Rick Pearson and Monique Garcia — Quinn and Cohen say no offer made to reimburse him.

Gov. Pat Quinn today said he doesn’t think Scott Lee Cohen should be reimbursed for the roughly $2 million in personal funds he poured into his campaign for lieutenant governor now that he is dropping his Democratic nomination.

Quinn said the Chicago pawnbroker with the controversial past did the right thing by quitting less than a week after his surprise win in the Feb. 2 primary.

The governor said he never met or reached out to his presumptive running mate, and that he only found out about Cohen’s decision to drop out by watching television coverage of the announcement, which Cohen made during half-time of the Super Bowl.

But Cohen cited advice from Democratic Party chairman and House Speaker Michael Madigan, who met privately with him Friday, as helping him make his decision.

During an interview this morning on WLS-AM (890), Cohen said Madigan never offered to help raise money to repay the former candidate for the funds he put into the campaign.

Asked by show co-host Don Wade if Cohen was out the more than $2 million in personal funds he contributed to his own campaign, Cohen said, “I’m out right now.”

Asked if he was promised any help with his business, Cohen responded: “No. No. You know, I hope that there’ll come a time that I try to fundraise to get some of the money back. But there were no promises. (Madigan) never said that he was going to fundraise for me.”

Quinn said he was unaware of any efforts to help Cohen get his $2 million back for dropping out.

“Not from me, and not from I think anyone else," Quinn said. "I don’t believe that would be the way to go. Offerings. The answer is no.”

But Quinn did offer some sympathy for Cohen after watching the tearful news conference the candidate had with his family surrounding him.

“I think anyone who’s human would be sympathetic to a man who spoke from his heart,” Quinn said. “I met him on the campaign trail and I always found him to be a person who had a real heart for the working people.”

Cohen used his money for a blitz of broadcast campaign ads touting his job fairs, which helped him overcome a crowded field that included veteran state lawmakers. It was only after his nomination win that details of domestic abuse allegations, his relationship with a prostitute and his troubled financial history were uncovered by the media, creating a potential disaster for Democrats.

Cohen has argued the allegations were overblown and that he was transparent about his career and the 2005 domestic violence case that was dismissed.

The governor said he does not blame Madigan or other Democratic leaders for the Cohen situation.

“Things happen,” Quinn said. “The Democratic Party is alive and well and very strong.”

Quinn said he will push lawmakers this session to change the way lieutenant governors are elected, so instead of being elected separately the governor and lieutenant governor would run as a team in the primary election.

“I think given the history of this, it’s probably the best way to go,” Quinn said. “Given the words of the constitution that the lieutenant governor is given assignments by the governor… I think given all that, it’s, I think a better way to go.”

Quinn refused to say who might be on his short-list of potential running mates, saying he’s “open minded to a number of folks.”

“I would encourage anyone who’s interested to let us know,” Quinn said.

Asked what qualifications he is looking for, Quinn said “I want to run with somebody who’s qualified to be governor, who has a record of public service, someone who is able to speak to ordinary, every day people in plain language about the importance of the economy and stands up for the progressive values of the Democratic Party.”

He said he would like a decision on a running mate “sooner rather than later,” though he would not set a deadline.

“I think it’s important to have this collaboration, to have this discussion among Democrats, to make sure everyone has their voice heard," Quinn said.

He refused to say if he’s reached out to anyone yet, saying people have called him.

“This process is just begun,” Quinn said.

In the WLS-AM interview, Cohen called the uproar after his nomination last Tuesday "a crucifixion.”

To his supporters, Cohen said, “I’m sorry that–how do I put it into words–you put your trust in me and I don’t want you to think for one second that I abandoned you or that I had let you down.

"I mean, I did let you down because I resigned, but the pressure was just so great on my family, from the media and there was a possibility that the party thought I would bring down the ticket and that would have hurt the vote for me even more,” Cohen said in the WLS-AM interview.

Cohen’s official withdrawal may have to wait for the results of Tuesday’s election to be certified by the state on March 5.

In the meantime, the scramble for a replacement is underway and will ultimately be made by the ruling Democratic State Central Committee.

Republicans see advantage in the Democratic fiasco, but they still have their own unrest in the governor’s race. State Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington is nursing a slim lead over state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale, but neither man is declaring a winner while they wait for final absentee and provisional ballots to be counted. After that, a recount could further delay clarity for the GOP.

UPDATE AT 11:20 a.m.  by Monique Garcia and David Heinzmann — Hynes not interested in being Quinn’s running mate

Gov. Pat Quinn said today that his Democratic rival, Dan Hynes, does not want to be his running mate to replace the controversial Chicago pawnbroker who announced he would walk away from the party’s nomination for lieutenant governor.

Quinn told reporters this morning that he spoke with Hynes today on another topic but the issue of Scott Lee Cohen’s withdrawal came up. Hynes said he was not interested in the opening, the governor said.

Cohen dropped out of the race Sunday night, citing a lack of support from Democratic officials and concerns that controversies over his background could hurt the ticket. His decision came after a private meeting Friday with Democratic Party chairman and House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Quinn said this morning that he felt "sympathetic" for Cohen when he watched his tearful announcement Sunday. But Quinn said Cohen made the best decision for the people of Illinois and for the Democratic ticket.

"It’s never easy making those decisions, and I commend him for doing that, for making a decision that puts our state and our party and our country ahead of personal interests," Quinn said.

A spokesman for Cohen said today the conversation with Madigan was in the form of "valued advice from a political veteran.

"Scott really values his advice," said Cohen spokesman Baxter Swilley.

There were no ultimatums or incentives, but Madigan explained to Cohen "the trajectory of how the race would go" if he remained in, and that if he got out now he may be able to salvage a future in politics, Swilley said.

Swilley said the conversation left open the idea that if Cohen helped the party control the damage, he could begin to rebuild his name and move on, perhaps running for public office down the road.

Cohen asked Madigan for help recouping the millions he spent on his campaign. Madigan made no such offer, Swilley said, but Cohen views the matter as an "open discussion."

"We are certainly going to ask for help," he said. "We’re going to ask them to help us with some fundraisers."

Swilley said Cohen wants to continue holding job fairs, like the ones he publicized in his expensive campaign ad blitz.

Posted by Rick Pearson at 9:50 a.m.

State Rep. Art Turner, who finished second to departing Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen, says today he’s a candidate to fill the vacancy to become Gov. Pat Quinn’s fall running mate.

In a statement, Turner commended the embattled Cohen for stepping down after damaging disclosures involving Cohen’s ex-wife and ex-girlfriend. Turner finished about 20,000 votes behind Cohen in the Tuesday primary featuring six candidates for the nomination.

The vacancy will be decided by members of the Democratic State Central Committee.

Turner is a Chicago legislator for nearly 30 years and a member of the leadership team under Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is also chairman of the state Democratic Party.

“Gov. Pat Quinn heads an outstanding slate of accomplished legislators on the Democratic ticket that far surpass the Republican candidates in every important regard,” Turner said in a statement. “It continues to be my desire to join this exceptional group of individuals as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, and to bring my 30 years of experience to the executive branch as we solve the difficult economic and social challenges that face this great state."

But some state central committee members have said privately that they should look beyond the field of contenders who ran for the lieutenant governor nomination, noting the statewide ticket lacks a contender from outside Chicago.

Other candidates for lieutenant governor on the Democratic ticket were state Rep. Mike Boland of East Moline and state Sens. Terry Link of Waukegan and Rickey Hendon of Chicago. Thomas Castillo of Elmhurst also was a candidate.

In a private  meeting with Cohen Friday, Madigan urged Cohen to drop his nomination, according to a spokesman for Madigan.

Cohen thanked Madigan during an emotional news conference at a Far North Side bar Sunday night at half time of the Super Bowl.

UPDATE 8:38 p.m. – Quinn comment, Democratics to begin replacement talks

POSTED  by Kristen Schorsch and Rick Pearson

Scott Lee Cohen, the pawnbroker whose surprise victory in last week’s Democratic lieutenant governor primary was followed by scandalous revelations about him, quit the race tonight during the half time of the Super Bowl, saying he didn’t want to "put the people of Illinois in jeopardy in any way."

Cohen made the tearful announcement at the Hop Haus tavern on the Far North Side. He spoke just hours after a spokesman for powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, the state Democratic chairman, said Madigan had urged Cohen to quit in a private meeting Friday.

 

"For the good of the people of the state of Illinois and for the Democratic party, I will resign," an emotional Cohen told a crowd of reporters.

Cohen’s candidacy was widely perceived as a potential disaster for Gov. Pat Quinn and the rest of the Democratic ticket in the November general election.

When Cohen became a candidate, he disclosed that a 2005 domestic battery charge against him had been dismissed. It was only after his victory Tuesday that the details became known: His girlfriend at the time, a prostitute, had accused him of holding a knife to her throat but had failed to appear in court, leading to charges being dropped.

More revelations followed last week: Cohen admitted injecting anabolic steroids, was accused of failing to pay child support even while he put at least $2 million into his campaign, and was identified as the target of dozens of lawsuits over back taxes.

Cohen at first adamantly refused to quit, doing a series of media interviews to present his position that the allegations against him were overblown and that he had been transparent about his background when he first got in the race in early 2009. But he was drowned out by a chorus of Democratic calls for him to quit.

"Tonight he has made the right decision for the Democratic Party and the people of Illinois," Quinn said in a statement released through his campaign office. "Now we can continue to focus our efforts on putting the economy back on track and working to bring good jobs to Illinois."

Steve Brown, Madigan’s spokesman, said work would begin soon on picking a replacement.

"The speaker is prepeared to work with the members of the (Democratic) State Central Committee, Gov. Quinn and Senate President (John) Cullerton to work on selecting a replacement," Brown said. "We’ll start with members of the central committee and work on ideas."

Selection of a replacement to fill the ballot vacancy is the work of the 38-member Democratic State Central Committee, made up of a male and female representative from each of the state’s 19 congressional districts. The state central committee is scheduled to meet March 17, though a meeting could be held sooner.

As fans screamed at large mounted flat-screen TVs in the main bar and restaurant area of the Hop Haus tavern, 7545 N. Clark in Rogers Park, Cohen and his family chose a side room to announce his decision.

Cohen’s sons Jacob, 11, and Zachery, 17, joined him, along with fiancee Karen Reisman, and her son Brandon, 18.

As Cohen made his announcement, he and his family sat at a square table covered in a checkered tablecloth, clutched each other and sobbed.

“When I decided to run for lieutenant governor I did it with my heart and my soul. I thought that by opening up my life I could represent the people in a fair, honest, loving, caring way. … On my election, it went crazy. The last thing I ever, ever wanted to do was to put the people of Illinois in jeopardy in any way.”

“There is uncertainty that if I continue to run that the Democrats will win in November. Many people came out to support me when I announced. The Democratic Party didn’t, but many people did. This is the hardest thing that I’ve ever had to do in my life.”

Cohen paused to gain his composure before continuing.

“For the good of the people of the state of Illinois and for the Democratic Party, I will resign," Cohen said. "It’s my hope, and I pray with all my heart, that I didn’t hurt the people that I love so much. All I ever wanted to do … was to run for office and to help the people, not to cause chaos. That was never my intention.”

Attempting to rebut criticism that the Illinois Democratic Party should have done more to prevent Scott Lee Cohen’s nomination for lieutenant governor, Brown said earlier today that Madigan met with Cohen on Friday and urged him in a “very direct and very frank” way to drop his candidacy.

Brown was unable to characterize Cohen’s response to Madigan during the meeting in Madigan’s Chicago law office. He said the meeting had previously been kept under wraps to avoid the appearance of backing Cohen into a corner.

But Brown said he believed the meeting should be publicized after Madigan has become the subject of criticism for failing to do background checks on the candidates for lieutenant governor, including Cohen.

The state central committee is not bound to select any of the candidates who lost to Cohen in last week’s primary. State Rep. Art Turner of Chicago, a member of Madigan’s House leadership team who was backed by the powerful Southwest Side lawmaker, finished second to Cohen.

Even before Cohen stepped off the ticket, some Democratic leaders said privately that they would like to expand a search beyond the primary election contenders and look to fill the vacancy to provide some regional balance–namely a downstate resident.

Currently, all of the nominees on the Democratic statewide ticket come from Chicago—a point Republicans have used in the past to contend that city-controlled politics dominates state policy.

Republicans faced a similar problem on their statewide ticket in 2004, when the primary-elected nominee for U.S. Senate, businessman Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race amid damaging disclosures contained in his divorce file.

The Illinois GOP held an open casting call for the post but ended up settling on controversial conservative Republican activist Alan Keyes from Maryland to run as the nominee. Keyes was swamped by then-state Sen. Barack Obama in the 2004 general election.

Turner, said he would make a case to the state central committee that he was the most qualified of those who sought the lieutenant governor nomination—but that his second-place finish should not automatically give him the spot.

“I don’t think it ought to be an automatic. The fact that you finished second, I would not want to set a precedent for that,” Turner said. “What I’m saying is that of the people interested in the job– others could have expressed an interest but didn’t–I am the most qualified.”

Ryan dropped from the ticket in late June and the GOP didn’t pick Keyes as a replacement until early August. Democrats, however, could actually benefit from the early February primary by quickly forging a new teammate for Quinn to try to put Cohen’s nomination behind them before general election voters tune into the fall contests.

Still, Republicans are expected to use the Cohen debacle, on top of the scandal that put Quinn in office—the ouster of disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich—to campaign against the Democrats’ one-party rule of state government.

"It will be among the things we’ll bring up," said Pat Brady, the state’s Republican chairman. "We’ll point out what the Democrats have done to get this state where it is. But it’s more important to have our candidates talk about what we’re going to do."

UPDATE 7:40 p.m. More details on replacement process, Democrats may look downstate.

Scott Lee Cohen, the pawnbroker whose surprise victory in last week’s Democratic lieutenant governor primary was followed by scandalous revelations about him, quit the race tonight at the urging of party leaders.

Cohen made the tearful announcement at the Hop Haus tavern on the Far North Side.

"For the good of the people …I will resign,” he said, adding: “The last thing I ever, ever wanted to do was to put the people of Illinois in jeopardy in any way.”

Cohen’s candidacy was widely perceived as a potential disaster for Gov. Pat Quinn and the rest of the Democratic ticket in the November general election.

Steve Brown, a spokesman for Michael Madigan, the Democatic party chairman and Illinois House speaker, said work would begin soon on picking a replacement.

 

"The speaker is prepeared to work with the members of the (Democratic) State Central Committee, Gov. Quinn and Senate President (John) Cullerton to work on selecting a replacement," Brown said. "We’ll start with members of the central committee and work on ideas."

 

Selection of a replacement to fill the ballot vacancy is the work of the 38-member Democratic State Central Committee, made up of a male and female representative from each of the state’s 19 congressional districts. The state central committee is scheduled to meet March 17, though a meeting could be held sooner.



The state central committee is not bound to select any of the candidates who lost to Cohen in last week’s primary. State Rep. Art Turner of Chicago, a member of Madigan’s House leadership team who was backed by the powerful Southwest Side lawmaker, finished second to Cohen.

 Even before Cohen stepped off the ticket, some Democratic leaders said privately that they would like to expand a search beyond the primary election contenders and look to fill the vacancy to provide some regional balance–namely a downstate resident.

Currently, all of the nominees on the Democratic statewide ticket come from Chicago—a point Republicans have used in the past to contend that city-controlled politics dominates state policy.

 Republicans faced a similar problem on their statewide ticket in 2004, when the primary-elected nominee for U.S. Senate, businessman Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race amid damaging disclosures contained in his divorce file.

The Illinois GOP held an open casting call for the post but ended up settling on controversial conservative Republican activist Alan Keyes from Maryland to run as the nominee. Keyes was swamped by then-state Sen. Barack Obama in the 2004 general election.

 

Posted by Rick Pearson at 5;50 p.m.

Attempting to rebut criticism that the Illinois Democratic Party should have done more to prevent Scott Lee Cohen’s nomination for lieutenant governor, powerful House speaker and Democratic chairman Michael Madigan met with Cohen on Friday and urged him in a “very direct and very frank” way to drop his candidacy, a top Madigan aide said today.

 Steve Brown, a spokesman for Madigan, said he was unable to characterize Cohen’s response to Madigan during the meeting in Madigan’s Chicago law office. He said the meeting had previously been kept under wraps to avoid the appearance of backing Cohen into a corner.

But Brown said he believed the meeting should be publicized after Madigan has become the subject of criticism for failing to do background checks on the candidates for lieutenant governor, including Cohen.

Cohen’s surprise win over five rivals in Tuesday’s Democratic primary vaulted him into the media spotlight because of his career as a Chicago pawnbroker and his 2005 arrest in a domestic battery case. A deeper examination of public records revealed that Cohen’s ex-girlfriend, a prostitute, had accused him of holding a knife to her throat. The charge was later dismissed.

Other public records and interviews show a history of abuse allegations by his wife, tax problems and unpaid bills.

Brown said candidates do receive some form of vetting when the Democratic Party decides to slate, or endorse, candidates in the primary. But Democrats opted not to slate a candidate for lieutenant governor when none of the contenders was going to receive 60 percent of the weighted vote of the party’s leadership, the Democratic State Central Committee, Brown said.

The lieutenant governor field was dominated by Democratic members of the legislature, making slating difficult. State Rep. Art Turner of Chicago, a member of Madigan’s leadership team, was endorsed by the speaker. Others in the race were state Rep. Mike Boland of East Moline and state Sens. Terry Link of Waukegan and Rickey Hendon of Chicago. Thomas Castillo of Elmhurst also was a candidate.

 During a face-to-face meeting with Cohen, Madigan was “very direct and very frank with the man” about getting out of the race, Brown said.

Posted by Tribune staff at 6:38 p.m.; updated at 6:50 p.m.

The ex-girlfriend of embattled Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen put out a statement through her lawyer this evening saying Cohen is not fit to hold public office.

Amanda Eneman, 29, issued the statement through Gloria Allred, a high-profile California attorney. Cohen, a pawnbroker, was accused of holding a knife to the throat of his then-girlfriend Eneman, a convicted prostitute, in October 2005. Charges were dismissed after Eneman failed to show up in court.



Allred said Eneman lived with Cohen for “about a year some four or five years ago.”



“Based on her personal observations during the course of their relationship and his behavior, Miss Eneman does not believe that he is fit to hold any public office, including that of lieutenant governor,” Allred told the Tribune.

The Eneman statement comes after Cohen said Thursday that Democratic voters who nominated him Tuesday needed to hear from his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend before judging him.

“When the facts come to light, after my ex-wife and ex-girlfriend speak, the people of Illinois can decide, and I will listen to them directly. I am asking my ex-wife and ex-girlfriend to come forward and to talk with the media,” Cohen said in a statement Thursday.

Later Thursday, Cohen’s ex wife, Debra York-Cohen, appeared with him during interviews in which she stood by divorce file allegations that Cohen abused her, took illegal steroids and cheated on her.

Now Eneman is declaring Cohen unfit to hold public office.

Cohen could not be reached today through his spokeswoman.

Several top Democrats have called on Cohen to step down after revelations that he has been accused of abusing women, failing to pay child support and spending lavishly on extramarital affairs. In Sunday’s editions, the Tribune looks at Cohen’s tax troubles and other issues.

Allred’s clients have included the family of Nicole Brown Simpson, O.J. Simpson’s murdered ex-wife, and one of Tiger Woods’ alleged mistresses.

Posted by John Byrne at 12:11 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley today declined to join the growing chorus of Democratic leadership calling on embattled lieutenant governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen to withdraw, saying voters elected him.

"People vote in elections. Everybody knew he was a pawnbroker," Daley said. "You knew. The media knew. Everybody knew that, right?"

Several top Democrats have called on Cohen to step down after revelations that he has been accused of abusing women, failing to pay child support and spending lavishly on extramarital affairs. In Sunday’s editions, the Tribune looks at Cohen’s tax troubles and other issues.

"So anybody who’s allegedly — who’s arrested and the case is thrown out, should not run for public office. Is that right? You want that done? I’m just saying, it’s a very complicated issue. It’s much more complicated than you think it is. Just because I don’t like a person, he or she should not," Daley said. "If I did that, you would write editorials that the mayor is a boss, he’s a dictator. That he’s telling people who got elected in the primary that they should not be going to the general election."

Daley would not say Cohen should remain on the November statewide Democratic ticket, but warned that it is a slippery slope to start trying to force candidates not to run because "you don’t like them."

"You have responsibilities. This is not a game. People go to the polls and vote," Daley said at an event to dedicate a new police satellite office at a library in the Clearing neighborhood. "So you don’t like so-and-so, so we should maybe — not for another reason — take that person to not run for office."



Daley said he has long favored a system in which candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run as a team instead of separately in the primary and added that would be the proper way to prevent this kind of situation in the future.



"He’s already elected, that’s your dilemma," Daley said. "It’s a constitutional dilemma. Once you get elected in the primary, no mayor, no newspaper, no citizen can ask you to resign because I don’t like you anymore."

Posted by Rick Pearson at 4:45 p.m.

Republican governor candidate Bill Brady today met with one of his vanquished rivals in the contest as the GOP awaits the formal process of election authorities trying to validate provisional ballots and count absentee votes to be completed.

Brady, who is leading fellow state Sen. Kirk Dillard by about 420 votes according to unofficial totals, met with former state GOP Chairman Andy McKenna, McKenna’s unsuccessful running mate Matt Murphy and House GOP leader Tom Cross of Oswego.

“Andy McKenna wanted to meet with me and congratulate me, and Cross and Murphy came along and we talked a little bit of strategy for the general election,” Brady told the Tribune.

Given the ballot-counting process has placed the contest in limbo, Brady said, “There are certain things I can do and certain things I can’t do, but I’ve got to try to do what I can do.”

Brady, who maintained he expected to be the winner in the contest, also said he talked to McKenna about financial help for a fall campaign. McKenna spent more than $2.2 million in family funds in the primary out of more than $5.6 million that he raised in finishing third on Tuesday, about 8,000 votes behind Brady.



Brady, a state senator from Bloomington, said he respected Dillard’s desire to want every vote counted in the race. Dillard, of Hinsdale, also is a state senator. But Brady also noted that by waiting “it delays our ability, without question, to move 100 percent forward” with the general election contest against Democratic nominee, Gov. Pat Quinn.



Brady said it is difficult to raise money for the fall campaign with the contest still unsettled, though he acknowledged he had received some funding for a possible legal challenge to the final results as well as to help pay for campaign staff.



“We feel, based on expert advice that we’re given, that we will continue to prevail and (gain a) victory,” Brady said.



Brady said the travails of the Democratic ticket because of the controversies surrounding its lieutenant governor nominee, Scott Lee Cohen, were “embarrassing” and “not good for anybody” in a state that has been “stained” by political scandal.

“The Scott Lee Cohen issue is a permanent embarrassment, not just to the state of Illinois but a critical problem for the Democratic Party,” Brady said. “If I were officially declared (the GOP winner) and everyone conceded today, I could hit the ground running right now.”

Dillard held a news conference today to insist that every vote be counted, including remaining absentee and valid provisional ballots. That could take place by Feb. 15 or so, he said. State elections officials could certify the election results March 5, then Dillard likely would be faced with the decision of whether to seek a partial recount.

Posted by Monique Garcia, Rick Pearson and David Heinzmann at 3:28 p.m.; updated at 5:50 p.m.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin today called for embattled lieutenant governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen to drop out.

Madigan, who hadn’t commented publicly since Tuesday’s election of Cohen as the Democratic running mate for Gov. Pat Quinn, issued a statement late this afternoon condemning Cohen.

"Scott Lee Cohen should step aside immediately. It is clear that he is unfit to hold public office. The fact that he thinks he’s ‘done nothing wrong’ just proves that," the statement read.

"His ex-wife and court and police records confirm that he has a recent history of violence against women. His alleged failure to pay child support and his admitted use of steroids are just a few other examples of his complete lack of judgment. This conduct is inappropriate for a public official, and his extreme character flaws are an insult to the people of Illinois," said Madigan, who is on the statewide ticket with Cohen.

Four other Democrats today also called on Cohen to step down: Durbin, Illinois comptroller candidate David Miller and U.S. Reps. Danny Davis of Chicago and Phil Hare of the Quad Cities.

“People clearly needed the media or other politicians to ask the hard questions before the election. Certainly his background is worrisome, it’s troubling,” Durbin said. “I don’t believe he will be lieutenant governor. I hope that he’ll sit down with some people that he trusts with good political judgment who will tell him what’s ahead. This is not going to go away. It’s just going to reach a point where he ultimately will realize he can’t be lieutenant governor.”

Cohen, who said Thursday he’s not going to quit the lieutenant governor’s race, has stayed out of the public eye today.

Cohen spokeswoman Gina Baratta said late this afternoon that Cohen is not dropping out. "Nothing has changed. Everything is the same as this morning," she said.



Cohen also declined to comment through his spokeswoman about Democratic calls for him to step down. Baratta said Cohen is taking the weekend off, won’t be doing interviews and is unavailable for comment.

A spokeswoman for media relations firm Grainger Terry Inc. confirmed today that the company and Cohen have severed ties. Baratta is a new spokeswoman for Cohen.

Democrats are trying to find a way to ease Cohen off the statewide ticket after revelations that Cohen, a pawnbroker, has been accused of abusing women, failing to pay child support and spending lavishly on extramarital affairs.

Miller, a state lawmaker who’s on the statewide ticket with Cohen as the comptroller nominee, said Cohen "does not represent the values of our party and I don’t believe he has adequately disclosed his past history to the voters of Illinois."



"His refusal to step down is not only arrogant, but he is sending a message that domestic abuse is acceptable.  It is completely and totally unacceptable," Miller said in a statement.

Hare, a Quad Cities-area Democrat, also called on Cohen to leave.

“Violence against women is reprehensible and cannot be tolerated. Given the gravity of the allegations against Mr. Cohen, I am calling on him to drop out of the race for lieutenant governor," Hare said in a statement.



"With the Ryan and Blagojevich scandals behind us, the people of Illinois expect and deserve leaders who exhibit the highest standards of personal conduct possible. Mr. Cohen fails that test,” the congressman said.



Davis, a longtime West Side congressman, said he called Cohen today to express the precarious positions Cohen’s candidacy puts the Democratic Party in, but talked to a campaign staff member instead.

"It’s all contingent, quite frankly, on Mr. Cohen," Davis said. "I don’t know that anybody can force him to withdraw his candidacy or get him off the ticket except of his own volition."

Quinn, who on Thursday suggested Cohen consider stepping down as his running mate, has not reached out to Cohen yet, a spokeswoman said today.



“We don’t see a reason to call,” campaign spokeswoman Elizabeth Austin said.

Posted by Tribune staff at 10:04 p.m.

Republican governor candidate Kirk Dillard will hold a Friday news conference to offer an update on his campaign.

Dillard trails fellow state Sen. Bill Brady by about 400 votes in the GOP governor contest, with only a smattering of absentee and provisional ballots uncounted.

Dillard, who has not conceded defeat, has consulted with a top election law attorney as he mulls whether to seek a recount.

After Tuesday’s too-close-to-call primary election, Brady and Dillard found themselves in the awkward position of attending a Republican unity breakfast where the point was to rally around the governor nominee.

On the Democratic side, Comptroller Dan Hynes today conceded defeat to Gov. Pat Quinn.

There was no indication from Dillard’s campaign that he’s going to follow Hynes’ lead on Friday.

From the Breaking News Center:

Blagojevich was indicted last April on 16 counts, including racketeering conspiracy.

The
revised indictment does not allege any new wrongdoing by Blagojevich
but includes eight new counts that do not rely on honest services
fraud.

To read more, please click here.

Update by John Chase at 8:08 p.m.

While many Democratic leaders are suggesting Scott Lee Cohen consider stepping down as the party’s lieutenant governor candidate U.S. Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias is calling for Cohen to exit the race.

"These are disturbing allegations," he said in a prepared statement. "Domestic abuse has no place in our society much less in public office."

UPDATE by David Heinzmann at 6:57 p.m.

Scott Lee Cohen vowed to stay in the race for lieutenant governor today, saying he has shown honesty and courage that will bolster the Democratic Party’s chances in November.

Acknowledging that he behaved badly while taking anabolic steroids in 2005 when his marriage broke up, Cohen said he understands why his past has caused a firestorm within the party. As of Thursday evening no other politicians had contacted him to ask him to step down, he said.

If they do, he won’t.

“I’m going to respond that my honesty and integrity in putting it out there is the best thing that could happen to the party," Cohen said in an interview with the Tribune, part of an effort to respond to growing calls among Democrats that he step aside and not risk dragging down Gov. Pat Quinn, his running mate in the general election.

Cohen did not deny choking his wife, as she alleged in the divorce, but said he had no recollection of it, and it actually took place before they were married.

His ex-wife, Debra York-Cohen, was with him today and said she stood by the allegations in the divorce but said his philandering and volatile behavior took place during a brief period time when he was using steroids. The allegations included him frightening their four children and threatening her verbally and physically.

“It was a short period of time, and it’s certainly not something that the people of Illinois need to be concerned with,” York-Cohen said.

UPDATED AT 6:22 p.m. with Cohen’s media blitz, divorce records.

The Chicago pawnbroker who won the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor ramped up a media campaign this evening to defend himself in the face of growing pressure from party regulars to drop out as Gov. Pat Quinn’s running mate.

Quinn suggested Scott Lee Cohen should quit rather than risk dragging down the Democratic ticket in scandal over his background, including his 2005 arrest on misdemeanor domestic battery case involving an ex-girlfriend with a prostitution conviction. Other leading Illinois Democrats called on Cohen to quit, while acknowledging there may be little they can do legally to make it happen.

Cohen said he had no intention of dropping out and was the victim of false allegations. But as Cohen sought to set the record straight, with his ex-wife at his side for media interviews, the records from his 2005 divorce case portrayed a troubled marriage.

In the divorce records, Cohen’s ex-wife accused him of using illegal drugs, rages and abusive behavior, including choking her.

“Over the past year my husband has been taking injectable anabolic steroids, including but not limited to Winstrol, Cretin, and Steen, and as a result he has an erratic, explosive temper,” Cohen’s ex-wife, Debra York Cohen, said in a petition for an order of protection. She described rages at their children, his admission to several affairs, and alleged he tried to force himself on her sexually.

Cohen responded to some of the allegations in his petition to visit his children during the couple’s separation.

 “Although I may have taken steroids and or performance enhancing drugs in the past I have not utilized any of these drugs in the last two weeks … Although from time to time I have screamed and yelled at my children, that is my parenting style and my prerogative. I have never abused my children, I have never hurt my children and I have never done any harm to them,” Cohen said, according to the records.

The divorce records contain a judicial order for Cohen to submit to periodic urine tests for drugs including steroids and other controlled substances. The divorce  records also indicate money problems for the couple.

The record contains a Sept. 8, 2006 letter from a mortgage company demanding $23,557.26 for unpaid payments on a $650,000 mortgage for the couple’s Northbrook home. The letter threatens foreclosure.

Posted by Monique Garcia, John Chase and Michelle Manchir at 12:05 p.m.; last updated at 3:37 p.m. with John Schmidt talking about 1986

The Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor issued a statement today saying he has no intention of dropping out of the race, just hours after Gov. Pat Quinn said the Chicago pawnbroker should consider stepping aside for the good of the party’s ticket.

Scott Lee Cohen said he wants his ex-girlfriend to talk about her prior complaint against him, which resulted in his 2005 arrest.

Here is the statement, issued through the public relations firm that assisted his campaign.

"I have no intention of stepping down or stepping aside. When the facts come to light, after my ex-wife and ex-girlfriend speak, the people of Illinois can decide, and I will listen to them directly. I am asking my ex-wife and ex-girlfriend to come forward and to talk with the media.

There are questions, and I will provide all answers honestly and openly. I only ask for time to do the interviews. 2005 was a difficult time in my life. I was going through a divorce, and I started running with a fast group. I was in a tumultuous relationship with the woman I was dating. We had a fight, but I never touched her. She called the police, however, she never came to court, and the charges were dismissed. I realized this relationship was not healthy, I ended it, and we parted amicably."

Cohen then released a second statement: “I tried to tell everyone about this early on. I wanted to talk about all of these issues, but everyone wrote me off, and said I didn’t have a chance to win. Now that I’m the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, the day after the election, there are questions. I am happy to answer any and all questions; I just need time to do so.”

Cohen’s statements came after Quinn said today that his new running mate should consider withdrawing from the race because his background could hurt the Democratic ticket in the November general election.

Cohen "has an obligation to step aside" if his past becomes a problem, Quinn said at a news conference.

"I do believe that the person who’s had these matters brought up about himself should at least have a chance to talk about them to the public, but if his explanations are unsatisfactory, and so far they have been, then he has to do the appropriate thing," Quinn said.



"Our country and our state are bigger than ourselves. The Democratic Party is bigger than me or any other candidate. If there are matters that are raised about your conduct that disqualify you from running in a proper way for an election in the fall, then the only appropriate thing is to step aside. And I think that’s what we’re looking at here."

Quinn did not say Cohen’s name once during the hour-long news conference.

Quinn also said he has spoken with Michael Madigan, the Illinois Democratic Party chairman and House speaker, about the process for finding a new lieutenant governor nominee should Cohen step down.

"In those circumstances, then the state central committee has to come together and they have to select a replacement," Quinn said. "Any of those who are interested in vying for something will have to wait."



Quinn also was asked if knew about Cohen’s problems beforehand.

"No one in my campaign staff told me anything about it and I don’t think anybody knew about it, at least I didn’t," Quinn said. "I had no idea of these matters and I learned reading the papers, watching TV. I consider them very, very serious and grave matters. I think any citizen would feel the same."

Quinn said it was not the job of the Democratic Party to vet Cohen, but rather the job of the voters.

While governor and lieutenant governor candidates run separately in the primary, some candidates pool resources and campaign as a team. The idea is that a governor candidate doesn’t want to get stuck with an undesirable running mate in the fall. Among Democrats, neither Quinn nor Hynes took a lieutenant governor candidate under their wings. On the Republican side, governor candidate Andy McKenna teamed up with lieutenant governor candidate Matt Murphy for campaigning purposes.

Democrats might pressure Cohen to drop out, but it’s doubtful that they can outright force him off the statewide ticket as state law now exists. Democratic voters elected Cohen Tuesday after spent more than $2 million of his own money on his lieutenant governor bid. Cohen bested five other candidates, including some state lawmakers.

Election attorney Burt Odelson, who worked for Adlai Stevenson III’s gubernatorial campaign in 1986 when he was paired with an acolyte of political extremist Lyndon LaRouche, said there is nothing in the election law that would allow Quinn or the Democratic Party to force Cohen off the ballot.



“The Democrats and the Republicans are locked in,” Odelson said. “The governor and the lieutenant governor are tied together.”



The only way they can be split, Odelson said, is if Cohen withdraws or Quinn withdraws and formulates a separate party, like Stevenson did in the 1986 campaign he eventually lost.



“This is a very unique situation. It’s another chapter in Chicago and Cook County and Illinois history,” Odelson said.

John Schmidt, who was one of Stevenson’s attorneys in 1986, said he finds the situation Stevenson faced 24 years ago to be very similar to the Quinn is facing today.



“Stevenson decided there was no way you run for governor and say vote for me and oh, by the way, you also should vote for this other guy,” Schmidt said. Although they looked into trying to find ways to force LaRouche follower Mark Fairchild off the ballot, they discovered they couldn’t. So Stevenson eventually decided to withdraw as the Democratic nominee and launch the Solidarity Party.



“Short of him talking Cohen into stepping down…I don’t see how you can run with him given what we’ve known,” Schmidt said. “A guy who was arrested for holding a knife to a woman’s neck?”



Any efforts to try to pass a law in the General Assembly to negate the primary results, he said, “would be unconstitutional on its face.”



“After you’ve been through a process to say we don’t like the guy who won and try to change the law? That just doesn’t work,” he said.



He said Quinn’s best defense from this hurting the Democratic ticket is for him to be clear with voters.



“There’s a lot to be said with standing up and saying either Cohen gets off the ticket or I will run as an independent,” Schmidt said. 

Quinn was faced with the new crisis even as his rival, Dan Hynes, announced he was conceding the Democratic primary nomination for governor.

Cohen, a pawnbroker who was the surprise winner in the little-publicized contest among half a dozen candidates, had previously disclosed his 2005 arrest. He described it Wednesday as an argument with his drunken girlfriend and said he didn’t lay a hand on her, though she called the police and had him taken into custody.

But the official police and court records show that the woman alleged Cohen put a knife to her throat and pushed her head against the wall.

In their October 14 arrest report detailing the complaint from the 24-year-old woman, Chicago police noted they observed “mild abrasions from knife wound” on her neck. They also noted “minor scars on her hand from her trying to defend herself against the arrestee swinging the knife at her.” The report notes the woman was seen by ambulance personnel but not taken to a hospital.

The case was dropped a month later when the woman did not show up for a court date.

Cohen won in large part because his self-financed campaign ran TV commercials late in the race showing him running job fairs to help the unemployed. He only garnered 212,900 votes but it helped him defeat opponents, including state Rep. Art Turner and state Sen. Terry Link.

A little more than a year after former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s removal, the state’s Democratic powerbrokers focused much of their time, energy and money on the top tier race of governor, leaving the less-known lieutenant governor’s race to go well under the radar.

The lack of a Democratic cohesive strategy leaves the party unclear of its options for the general election.

It also adds yet another punchline on Illinois politics, which has been the focus of national jokes and derision since Blagojevich’s high-profile arrest, impeachment and indictment.

In conceding the race this morning to Quinn, Hynes was asked how he’d feel if he had won and been paired with Cohen.

“The first I learned of any of this was when I read the paper this morning,” Hynes said. “But we’re going to let that sort itself out, and figure out, you know, with more information. I think that some decisions will be made. But I’m not in a position to make those decisions, given the fact that I just learned about it this morning.”

Cohen is scheduled to appear on WTTW’s "Chicago Tonight" at 7 p.m.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who would have to appear on the statewide ticket this fall with Cohen, echoed Quinn’s comments.



“We would agree with the governor that Mr. Cohen needs to explain himself," White said in a statement. "He needs to address these issues, and if he can’t adequately, then he should consider strongly getting out."

Posted by John Byrne at 10:27 a.m.; updated at 5:21 p.m.

With CTA service cuts scheduled to take effect Sunday, Mayor Richard Daley today pressured unions representing CTA employees to agree to contract concessions to avoid them.



"So that we’ve done everything we can to avoid service cuts — and to reach an agereement — I’ve asked our CTA leaders to again sit down with representatives of the CTA’s unions," Daley said in a news release issue by his press office.

The mayor is trying to get out front of what’s expected to be widespread public displeasure when routes are scaled back this weekend and riders feel the impact.

Robert Kelly, president of the CTA rail workers union, Local 308 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, called the mayor’s 11th-hour intervention “a public relations act” meant to deflect public criticism when angry riders are enduring long waits to board packed buses and trains.



Darrell Jefferson, president of the bus drivers’ union, said he wants badly to avoid layoffs. But the organization has worked too hard over decades to earn living wages for its members to now give that up when the CTA budget could easily be trimmed elsewhere, he said.

“This is essentially busting the union. I’m not going to help you bust the union. I’m not going to help you make us into Wal-Mart workers,” Jefferson said.

The public stands to feel much of the pain when there will be longer waits between buses on 119 routes, 41 bus
routes will have shorter hours and nine express bus routes will be
eliminated.





The extent of the inconvenience will depend on the routes riders take
and the time of day they travel, officials said. All overnight "owl"
service on buses and trains will be maintained to serve third-shift
workers.





The agency plans to take out of service 287 buses in a fleet of about
2,000 vehicles. It remained unclear whether the downsizing of CTA bus
operations will continue beyond this year as the transit agency adapts
to living within its means during tough times for the economy. CTA
buses provide about 1 million of the 1.7 million rides taken on the
system.





In addition to the bus cuts, service will run less frequently on seven of the eight CTA rail lines, officials said.

In the release, Daley noted the CTA has repeatedly cut spending over the past several years, cutting salaries and asking managers to take unpaid furlough days.



"Last year the governor and the legislature stepped up and made a difficult decision to provide funding to help balance this year’s CTA budget. Now the unions serving the CTA must do their part," the mayor said in the release.



"The people of Chicago are struggling to make ends meet," he said. "They need to get to work. They don’t need serive cuts. It’s time for the CTA’s unions to be part of the solution."

Daley’s remarks came after labor unions at the CTA lost a challenge to the transit agency’s
plans to lay off more than 1,100 employees starting Sunday as part of
major service cuts to reduce a budget deficit.

An arbitrator’s
ruling Wednesday against the unions means that the cuts — an 18 percent
reduction in bus service and 9 percent for trains — will be
implemented, barring any developments to erase a $95.6 million deficit
that remains for 2010, transit officials said.

CTA management
has introduced more than $200 million in internal cuts and other cost
savings, and it said the unions must agree to salary and other
concessions to help erase the rest of the deficit and stave off the
service cuts. The unions representing CTA bus and rail workers have so
far refused, saying they made concessions in the past.

The unions
had contended that the agency violated contract provisions pertaining
to the seniority of full-time and part-time employees. The unions filed
a grievance alleging that the CTA is laying off too many full-time
employees, while an inflated number of part-time employees are being
retained.