Author: Newsdesk

Posted by David Heinzmann at 7:02 p.m.

Gov. Pat Quinn today accused his primary opponent, Comptroller Dan Hynes, of misusing President Barack Obama’s words in a campaign mailing attacking the governor’s tax plan.

The mailing quotes Obama’s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, saying that raising taxes on the middle class during a recession is a bad idea. Hynes has campaigned accusing Quinn of pushing a plan to raise income taxes across the board, including the middle class, while the comptroller wants targeted increases for the affluent only.

The mailing then states that Obama opposes Quinn’s kind of plan.

"Pat Quinn’s 50% tax hike on the middle-class is NOT what Barack Obama thinks we need," the mailing says.

Quinn’s camp said today that the mailer suggests that the president has endorsed Hynes. Obama has not taken a position in the Feb. 2 governor primary.

"Today the Hynes campaign hit yet another historic low," said Quinn spokeswoman Elizabeth Austin, alluding to previous attack ads.

Hynes spokesman Matt McGrath dismissed the criticism and said it was not intended to imply Obama is backing Hynes.

In Springfield, Hynes brushed off a reporter’s question about his own campaign’s use of Obama.

"You’ll have to ask somebody else about the mailers," Hynes said at a campaign stop. "I haven’t been paying attention to that."

Posted by Robert Becker and Hal Dardick at 5:46 p.m.

Trailing badly in voter polls and campaign fundraising just six days before the Feb. 2 Democratic primary, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger today announced he will release his federal tax returns and called on his opponents to do the same.

Stroger said that sometime tomorrow morning he will release the tax returns filed in 2008 and 2009 by him and his wife, Jeanine, a part-time deputy director for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. If the other three candidates don’t do likewise, “it tells me there must be something they don’t want you to see,” he added.

In making what he said was a call for transparency, Stroger was taking a political risk. He has not released his tax returns during his three years as county president. It may also remind voters that a lien was placed on his home last year for his failure to pay nearly $12,000 in federal taxes.

Stroger said today he has paid about half that debt off and continues to work on it. When the issue came up last year, he said he couldn’t cover the tax tab because it swelled with a deferred compensation plan withdrawal.

Stroger suggested today that the release of tax returns by his opponents would clear up questions of conflict of interest raised on the campaign trail.

Several of Stroger’s rivals in the Feb 2 primary rejected his call to release their tax returns.

In a statement released by his campaign, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District president Terrence O’Brien said he is too “busy running my campaign, and I have no time to do a tax research project for Mr. Stroger. Instead of worrying about my finances, he should be worrying about the finances of Cook County.”

Jessey Neves, a spokesperson for Ald. Toni Preckwinkle’s campaign, said the Preckwinkles’ income is limited to her aldermanic salary and her husband’s salary as a teacher

“We have no intention in participating in Todd Stroger’s publicity stunt,” Neves said.

"If President Stroger is so interested in accountability for the citizens of Cook County, instead of his tax return, perhaps he should show us a list of all of his friends and family on the county payroll," said Catherine A. Zaryczny, the campaign manager for Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown.

Stroger continued to insist a recent Tribune poll that showed him trailing the other Democrats in the race was not accurate and he could still win, if enough voters come to understand county government is “in fine shape.”

He said the Tribune is biased against him.

"I don’t believe the Tribune poll,” Stroger said. “I don’t believe anything the Tribune writes. . . . Of course they have a poll that says the person they want to win is out in front.”

While Stroger was calling for his rivals to release their taxes, Preckwinkle’s campaign was disclosing contributions totally more than $102,000.

Preckwinkle’s campaign received donations of $25,000 from media mogul Fred Eychaner—his second such contribution to Preckwinkle’s campaign—as well as $10,000 from Chicago philanthropist Richard Driehaus.

Preckwinkle also picked up more modest donations from current and former politicians, including House Majority Leader  Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, former Ald. Charles Bernardini and Andrea Zopp, former first assistant in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office —and current member of the county hospital’s board of directors.

O’Brien reported  a $130,000 loan from his wife, Julie.  Brown listed $8,500 in donations in her latest filing, while Stroger reported donations of $5,100.

Posted by Bob Secter and Rick Pearson at 5:20 p.m.

Gov. Pat Quinn said today he would soon close a campaign account from his losing 1996 U.S. Senate race that has paid him $24,000 in interest.

Though he got back more cash from the campaign than he put in, Quinn said he “did not make a profit,” adding: “I did not see paying off a campaign debt as a mechanism for an investment. It’s ridiculous on its face.”

The governor’s comments came in response to a Tribune report detailing how Quinn has kept the fund alive by pumping in a series of personal loans and then soliciting political donations so he can pay himself back, at interest rates approaching 10 percent.The end result is that Quinn has made at least $24,000 in interest from the campaign fund he controls, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Quinn has poured a total of $53,650 in loans into the fund, the most recent installment coming just weeks before he was sworn in as governor last year. In return, his fund has paid him at least $77,976 in principal and interest payments, as he has continued to raise money from political donors.

Quinn said he declared interest payments from his campaign account to him as income on his tax returns over many years and paid taxes on the revenue. He said it has all been an effort to pay off loans he can’t afford to forgive.

“One more bill to pay and it’ll be done,” Quinn said. “Hallelujah.”

Quinn’s statement Wednesday was not the first time he has promised to close the account. In May 2007, the treasurer of Quinn’s fund declared in a letter to the Federal Election Commission that the campaign had set a goal of retiring most of its outstanding debt within weeks and quickly shutting down.

Since that letter, however, Quinn’s fund has tapped donors for an additional $38,000 in contributions, half coming since he became governor.

In Springfield, state Comptroller Dan Hynes, Quinn’s Democratic challenger for governor, called the Quinn Senate fund "very peculiar."

"I really can’t understand why it happened, how it happened and what the explanation is," Hynes said.

From the Breaking News Center:

Blagojevich
is set to stand trial starting June 3 on charges he conspired to sell
the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama and took other
actions to improperly profit from his office. He has denied any
wrongdoing.

For more, please click here.

From elsewhere on chicagotribune.com

Broadway Bank ordered to raise more capital

By Becky Yerak

Tribune staff reporter

Struggling lender Broadway Bank, owned by the family of U.S. Senate
candidate Alexi Giannoulias, has been ordered by U.S. and state banking
regulators to raise capital, restrict dividends, review its investment
policies, identify conflicts of interest and hire an outside firm to
assess the bank’s top management.





The consent order was signed Jan. 26 and is being enforced by the
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.





On Monday the Tribune reported that Giannoulias, current state
treasurer, is entering into the final days of the campaign for the
Democratic U.S. Senate nomination with a significant advantage over
rivals Cheryle Jackson and David Hoffman. Despite Hoffman’s attempts to
criticize Giannoulias over loans at Broadway Bank and a $150 million
loss in a state college savings fund, the state treasurer has seen
little erosion in job approval and favorability ratings.

In a letter to workers Wednesday, Broadway executive Kaushik Pancholi
said accounting rules have forced Broadway to write down the value of
many of its loans and real estate assets. He also said the current
economy and struggles by Broadway customers have hurt the bank.





"Additionally, we purchased certain investments that were rated
triple-A by rating agencies when purchased, but have lose significant
value over the past year," he said. "All of these factors together have
caused a significant drop in our capital levels."





Giannoulias said Wednesday he has not been involved in bank operations for nearly four years.





"In the midst of a deep recession brought on by bad decisions in
Washington and lax oversight on Wall Street, hundreds of community
banks are struggling, and Broadway Bank is no exception," he said in a
statement.





On Dec. 2, the Tribune reported online that Broadway was one of nearly
40 Chicago-area banks as of Sept. 30 that had seriously delinquent
loans and foreclosed real estate on their books that exceed or come
close to their levels of loan reserves plus core capital.





A Texas ratio tallies up a bank’s severely past-due loans and
foreclosed real estate and compares them with the levels of a bank’s
core capital, typically shareholders’ equity, and the money set aside
for potential loan losses. A score of at least 80 percent is considered
a cause for concern. A Texas ratio puts a bank’s asset problems in the
context of its capital and reserve levels, so it’s considered a good
predictor of difficulties.





To lower it, banks need to lower their levels of souring loans, sell
the real estate they repossessed, raise capital or set aside more
reserves for potential loan losses.





Broadway’s was the 12th highest among local banks, at 187 percent, according to Loan Workout Advisers.

Posted by Monique Garcia and Jon Hilkevitch at 12:59 p.m.



Less than a week before the primary election, Gov. Pat Quinn today announced a $366 million construction project this morning to completely revamp the north-south section of Wacker Drive.



The three-year project will start in April. It calls for both levels of Wacker Drive from Randolph Street to Congress Parkway to be rebuilt, including creating a separated service drive on the lower level along with increased clearance space and better lighting.

Preliminary work to relocate utility lines is scheduled to start this spring and continue through the year. The Congress Parkway interchange ramps from Wacker leading to the Eisenhower Expressway and Dan Ryan/Kennedy Expressways also will be shut down this spring and remain closed until December 2012, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation.



The impact on traffic will be considerable, officials warned. Lower Wacker will be reduced to one lane in each direction this year.



“It will be a little inconvenient for people, but I think most people understand that putting up with a little inconvenience in order to make things safer is well worth that investment,” Quinn said. “Especially if it creates so much economic activity and jobs that can help us all get back to where we want to be in our Illinois economy.”



Quinn said the project will be funded through the state’s $31 billion capital construction program. While that plan has yet to be fully implemented, Quinn guaranteed the state has the money on hand to pay for the project. Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig said the state may also issue bonds to pay for the project, which will be backed by the state’s road fund.

 

Quinn has used this week to focus on job creation and economic growth heading into Tuesday’s primary election against rival Democrat Dan Hynes, who a Tribune poll shows has been able to close in on what was once a large lead for Quinn.

Posted by John Byrne at 12:40 p.m.



Mayor Richard Daley today said CTA riders shouldn’t expect another last-minute reprieve for the service cuts planned for Feb. 7, contending fewer buses and trains are preferable to higher fares.

 

The mayor said he doesn’t believe anything can be done to stop 1,100 layoffs and less frequent buses on 119 routes and trains on seven lines.

 

"No, because you have — they’ve done everything possible to go to Springfield and tell them the importance," Daley said.

 

"(The CTA has) a highly unionized workforce, about 99 percent, that’s it. And they have contracts, rules and regulations, and like anything else, they need flexibility," the mayor said at an event where he opened a new job training center in the Pilsen neighborhood.
 


CTA unions recently rejected a proposal that they give back a 3.5 percent pay raise this year to lessen the layoffs and corresponding service reductions. Last year, City Hall workers agreed to unpaid days off and many unionized state employees just agreed to skip a pay increase to prevent job cuts.

 

Daley said it would be difficult in these economic times to expect riders to pay higher fares.

 

"That’s hard, because, let’s be realistic, people are suffering very hard," Daley said. "Any nickel they can save is something they can save."

 

These impending cuts have not engendered the public outcry of prior Chicago Transit Authority proposals to reduce service because people realize the state is in dire financial straits, Daley said.

 

"Everybody knows the state’s almost bankrupt," he said.

 

Gov. Pat Quinn brokered a deal to prevent recent fare increases by increasing Regional Transportation Authority borrowing authority in exchange for a CTA promise not to raise fares for two years. You can read about that by clicking here.

Posted by Monique Garcia at 6 a.m.

Early voting for the Feb. 2 primary ends Thursday, and while turnout has been relatively low this year, election officials still expect a last-minute rush of people trying to beat the deadline.

In Chicago, only about 27,000 of the city’s 1.5 million registered voters have cast an early ballot since that option became available Jan. 11. That’s a dramatic drop from 2008, when hometown pride for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama spurred 81,000 city voters to the polls before the primary.

Jim Allen, a spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections, said early voting is catching on. He pointed to 2006, the first year for early voting, when only 14,000 people took advantage of the new perk.

In suburban Cook County almost 22,000 voters have cast early ballots out of the 1.4 million registered voters, said Courtney Greve, spokeswoman for Clerk David Orr. That’s up from the 15,000 early primary voters in 2006, but down from the 51,000 early voters in the Obama-driven 2008 election.



Voters do not need to provide a reason for why they chose to vote early, but must bring a government-issued photo ID in order to cast a ballot.



For information on where you can vote early, visit chicagoelections.com if you live in the city or cookcountyclerk.com if you live in the suburbs.

Posted by Tribune staff at 5 a.m.

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

*Fresh off Tuesday’s announcement of Ford manufacturing jobs, Gov. Pat Quinn is scheduled to spend the morning announcing money for work on Wacker Drive. Mayor Richard Daley often appears with politicians when they announce money for Chicago, but the event is not on his public schedule.

Quinn then heads to Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, where he’ll talk about money for Cole Hall, the site of a Valentine’s Day mass shooting in 2008.

*Quinn’s also is likely to face questions about today’s Tribune story that looks at why he’s still raising money for his failed 1996 U.S. Senate bid. The end result of the unusual practice is that Quinn has made at least $24,000 in interest from the campaign fund he controls, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.

*Democratic foe Dan Hynes is headed downstate to start a campaign swing. He’s at a Collinsville union hall in the late afternoon and his Springfield campaign office in the evening.

*Daley heads to Pilsen for a mid-morning opening of a jobs center. Unlike Tuesday, when he departed a Ford car manufacturing jobs event without taking questions, Daley is scheduled to answer questions on a variety of topics today.

*In the Republican governor’s race, state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale is scheduled to unveil his new TV ad in the morning and rally supporters at an Oak Brook hotel in the evening.

*Early voting ends Thursday. For a look at how many people already have voted early in Cook County, check Clout Street later this morning.

From today’s print edition:

Daley claims strides in cleaning up hiring, but critics voice doubts

By Todd Lighty, Tribune reporter

Mayor Richard Daley’s administration says it has made great strides in
cleaning up the city’s corrupt hiring system, but others say it’s a
muddy record of progress that raises lingering doubts about whether
City Hall has embraced reform.





Daley has said that this year he will seek to end federal court
involvement in city personnel practices, arguing that it is time to
take off the training wheels and let the city manage its hiring,





At stake is how the city’s 36,000 jobs get filled, how coveted overtime
is dished out and how job assignments are made, and whether those
decisions are made free of politics.

Since FBI agents raided City Hall in April 2005 and uncovered a massive
hiring-fraud scheme anchored in the mayor’s office, Daley has promised
reform. The city since August 2005 has paid more than $6.2 million to
lawyers and consultants, including $4.2 million to the court monitor,
to clean up its hiring.





But changing the culture of clout, where for years the fastest route to
a promotion or city job required working for Daley’s political
organization, has proved daunting.





The court monitor and investigators have alleged in a string of reports
since last summer that a handful of politically connected truck drivers
received "disproportionate amounts" of overtime, that the city has been
reluctant to discipline workers who violate hiring rules, and that more
than one top Daley aide has deliberately misled investigators looking
into hiring abuses.





The Tribune in November also revealed that a stealth budget account has
allowed aldermen to put family members, campaign operatives and others
with political connections on yet another taxpayer-funded payroll.





Michael Shakman, who filed suit 40 years ago to end the city’s practice
of trading jobs for political support, said Daley has much more work to
do.





"I am not looking for a personal apology from the mayor, but true
hiring reform won’t come until the middle managers believe the mayor is
committed," Shakman said.





A recent survey found that Chicago city workers are less likely to
report job-related misconduct, including hiring abuses, than their
counterparts elsewhere in the U.S., largely because they don’t believe
the problem will be fixed and they fear retaliation from bosses.





City Hall said it has made meaningful progress under Daley’s leadership.





The mayor revamped the personnel department and created a new ethics
office, the Office of Compliance, to take over the duties of the
court-appointed hiring monitor.





Daley also has issued executive orders prohibiting politics in hiring
decisions, requiring employees to report misconduct to the inspector
general’s office and forbidding retaliation against whistle-blowers.





"The mayor has taken a number of aggressive steps to demonstrate his
commitment to creating a hiring process that is free from political
considerations," said Jenny Hoyle, spokeswoman for the city’s Law
Department.





Hoyle acknowledged federal court monitor Noelle Brennan’s concerns
about the mayor’s Office of Compliance, led by Anthony Boswell, and
hiring violations involving contract workers.





"We recognize that the monitor’s concerns will have to be addressed
before we can advise the court that we are in substantial compliance,
and we will continue to work with the monitor to address her concerns,"
Hoyle said.





As part of a 2007 settlement between the city and Shakman, Chicago
agreed to pay out $12 million to victims of past political
discrimination and to develop a new hiring plan. That plan, not yet
completed, 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.





Brennan, who was appointed monitor four months after the FBI raid,
declined to comment for this report. In July, she had said the Daley
administration made progress cleaning up hiring, but she has since
taken a tougher stance.





In a December report filed in federal court, Brennan outlined her
concerns about Boswell, a lawyer and an experienced corporate
compliance official. She said Boswell’s office violated hiring
regulations and misled her about efforts to deal with hiring abuses.





Brennan’s criticisms are particularly significant because Daley created
that office in 2007 to take over her oversight duties once the
decades-long legal case officially ends.





Shakman also questioned the compliance office’s independence and said
Boswell has a tendency to "downplay significant problems" inside City
Hall. "I’ve lost confidence in Boswell," Shakman said.





Boswell has said his staff acts independently of the mayor’s office,
noting that his office uncovered hundreds of contract workers who were
functioning as city employees in apparent violation of hiring rules,
including one "temporary worker" employed by the Department of Finance
for the last 20 years.





Boswell and his top deputy have other challenges as well. Inspector
General Joseph Ferguson this month urged Daley to give both men lengthy
suspensions for allegedly mishandling a sexual harassment complaint
filed with their office. Ferguson, a former federal prosecutor, is to
give the court his own report assessing hiring as soon as Thursday.





Daley, who says he is eager to get the court out of city hiring, is
considering stripping the Office of Compliance of any role in hiring
oversight and giving that authority to the inspector general, according
to sources in city government.





U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen, who oversees the case and appointed
Brennan monitor, ultimately must determine if City Hall can be trusted.





A truck driver in Streets and Sanitation, who asked not to be
identified because he feared retaliation, said he and fellow drivers
worry about an increase in political favoritism when court oversight
ends. The trucker said there would be a period of uncertainty.





"Then," he said, "it would be business as usual"

Republican governor candidates Kirk Dillard, Bill Brady, Adam Andrzejewski, Dan Proft and  Jim Ryan, debated on WTTW’s "Chicago Tonight" program. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune)

Posted by Rick Pearson at 8:55 p.m.

Five of the six Republican governor candidates spent an hour tonight belittling each other’s credentials for the state’s top job, reflecting the tossup nature of the contest just a week before the election.



Former two-term Attorney General Jim Ryan illustrated the jab-filled atmosphere. He closed the campaign’s final televised debate, broadcast on WTTW, by saying, “I think we’ve got to cool the rhetoric a little bit.” Ryan then proceeded to rip absent rival Andy McKenna for what he said was unethical behavior when he ran the state GOP.

A Tribune poll conducted last week showed McKenna, Ryan and state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale as the top three, though none reached 20 percent.



But the attacks that flew during the event weren’t limited to the top tier as state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, Hinsdale transparency advocate Adam Andrzejewski and Chicago political consultant Dan Proft also sought to sway voters in the final days.



Andrzejewski accused Ryan of retreating to the “soft life” of academia after losing to Democrat Rod Blagojevich for governor in 2002 instead of fighting political corruption. Proft called Andrzejewski “somebody who doesn’t know anything about government,” prompting him to mock Proft as to a “rhetorical heavyweight.”



Brady, the lone downstate candidate, focused his attention on Dillard and Ryan, saying they can’t be trusted as governor because they supported past tax increases.



Dillard said he opposes a tax increase to help the state’s deficit-plagued budget, but called anti-tax pledges a “gimmick.” Dillard, however, also said that after he restores state finances, he wants to consider “tax fairness and tax policy in this state.”



Ryan, who previously refused to sign an anti-tax hike pledge, said tonight that he pledges to oppose a tax increase.



McKenna, whose campaign’s extensive TV ads have been fueled by his family’s wealth, also came under plenty of criticism. Ryan, Proft and Andrzejewski accused McKenna of being distrustful for using state GOP resources for a political poll that included McKenna’s name. McKenna has since apologized.



But Dillard also accused McKenna of going “into the ground like a mole” when it came to facing his GOP rivals and questioned how McKenna would deal with powerful Democratic leaders if he became governor.



McKenna aides said he did not attend the event because he was campaigning in central Illinois.

Posted by Monique Garcia at 7:15 p.m.



Gov. Pat Quinn’s office has reached a deal with the largest state employee union that prevents layoffs of up to 2,000 state workers in return for a temporary pay freeze.



Under the terms of the deal reached today with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a series of raises for union workers set to go into effect in the next year will be delayed until July 1, 2011. In exchange, the state agreed not to layoff union workers through June 30, 2011.



Quinn proposed the layoffs last year as a cost-cutting move, but AFSCME sued to block it. Continued negotiations led to today’s announced agreement, which Quinn’s office said will save the state an estimated $200 million.

"Through the collective bargaining process, the state and AFSCME worked together to settle difference, save money and achieve a constructive relationship going forward," Quinn’s office said in a statement released tonight.



The plan also would prevent the state from closing any additional facilities through June 30, 2011. Employees at Thomson Correctional Center, which the federal government wants to buy to house terrorist detainees currently at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would get priority at other jobs should the sale go through. Union members also agreed to voluntary unpaid days off, though it’s doubtful many will take the state up on its offer.



In a statement, AFSCME Council 31 President Henry Bayer said the deal "strengthens job security for AFSCME members and protests the essential public services they provide."



Saying the "state budget is broken," Bayer called for a tax increase he and Quinn say are needed to properly fund state services.

Posted by John Byrne at 6:05 p.m.



A plan to eliminate the rest of Cook County’s sales tax increase didn’t get a vote at today’s County Board meeting, but it draw plenty of vitriolic debate.

 

The board voted 11-6 to send Commissioner Tony Peraica’s proposal to cut the sales tax by a half-penny to the board’s Finance Committee for more consideration. That move avoided an up-or-down vote.

 

Commissioner Larry Suffredin, D-Evanston, accused Peraica of introducing the ordinance in the hopes of scoring political points with voters angry about the tax hike in the days before the Feb. 2 primary election. "It is really a stunt before the election rather than a serious attempt," Suffredin said.

 

Peraica, R-Riverside, said he hoped to help African-Americans in the county, whom he argued have been hit particularly hard by the economic downturn, avoid paying more taxes. "The way to help those folks is to let them keep their money in their pocket," he said.
 

That prompted Commissioner Deborah Sims, D-Chicago, to accuse Peraica of having made a racist comment.

 

"’Those folks?’ That is just the most racist statement that has ever been made in this board," Sims said.

 

"To say on this board ‘Those people, those folks’? What ‘those folks’ are you referring to?" Sims asked. "You owe the community and the people of Cook County an apology for that one."

 

Sims also called Peraica out for "twittering" messages on his Twitter account during the meeting.

 

Peraica insisted he was simply trying to enact the will of county residents fed up with the higher sales tax Board President Todd Stroger has endorsed.

 

"I think the voters of Cook County, a week hence, are going to look at us and say ‘What did you do for me?’ And we haven’t done enough," said Peraica, who lost to Stroger for board president in 2006.

 

Commissioners voted in December to cut in half the penny-on-the-dollar sales tax increase, which it adopted in 2008 with Stroger’s strong support. That half-cent cut is set to take effect July 1, reducing Cook County’s overall sales tax to 9.75 percent.

 

The sales tax issue has become a central debate in the Democratic primary race for county board president, in which Stroger faces three challengers who all have pledged to get rid of the remaining half-cent increase. Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O’Brien has said he would end it immediately, while Cook County Clerk Dorothy Brown and Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, 4th, have promised to phase it out.

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



Former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar today decried TV attack ads against his favored candidate for governor, saying he thinks “the voters deserve better.”

“It’s unfortunate that we are again in the ‘silly season’ of the campaign,” Edgar said, in defending Republican governor candidate Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Hinsdale lawmaker who was his first chief of staff in the governor’s office.

The former governor largely was sounding off against ads being aired by GOP rival Andy McKenna contending that Dillard won’t rule out higher taxes. In a statement from Dillard’s campaign, Edgar noted Dillard “never voted for a general tax increase.” Dillard, however, did vote for a controversial suburban sales tax increase to help fund Chicago area mass transit.

While Edgar decried attacks ads, he made use of them when he was running for re-election in 1994.

Back then, Edgar created a mantra that Netsch supported a “42 percent income-tax increase” without mentioning that she also backed an accompanying reduction in property taxes. Later, in his second-term, he proposed a similar “tax swap” plan but it failed in the legislature.

Edgar also contended Netsch backed higher taxes “23 times” as a state lawmaker, though Republican lawmakers also often voted for those same taxes.



And Edgar attacked Netsch for wanting to abolish the death penalty as part of an overall soft-on-crime strategy that the Republican incumbent was able to use against the liberal Democrat. At the time, Netsch had said she would sign legislation to abolish the death penalty–but would uphold the law and didn’t expect the legislature to send her such a bill.

I recently sat down with Kristin Coleman, Brunswick Corp.’s general counsel, and one of the company’s outside lawyers, David Rammelt of K&L Gates, to learn more about their fixed-fee billing structure.

Here’s the story I wrote, which got picked up by the Wall Street Journal’s law blog:

Fixed-fee arrangements between lawyers and their corporate clients are gaining popularity, but are they economical for both sides?

For Lake Forest-based Brunswick Corp., its flat-fee contract for national litigation has exceeded expectations, said Kristin Coleman, general counsel. The maker of boats, billiard tables, and fitness and bowling equipment cut the amount it spent on outside lawyers working on litigation by 30 percent in 2009.On the flip side, David Rammelt, a partner at K&L Gates, said the volume of work he did for Brunswick last year quadrupled, a positive outcome in a year that was slow for many lawyers. But Rammelt had to switch law firms to make the arrangement more profitable.

Coleman and Rammelt’s flat-fee contract is in its second year and includes product-liability and breach-of-warranty cases. Their experience provides some lessons to other lawyers and companies considering alternatives to the industry standard of billing clients at an hourly rate.

They debunked several myths regarding fixed-fee arrangements, including the notion that lawyers working under fixed fees will not work as hard.

"The lawyers who provided the service did a great job," Coleman said. "There were some skeptics among my team."

The contract also forced Rammelt and his team of five lawyers to be efficient, an anomaly to the law-firm business model that incentivizes attorneys to rack up hours.

For competitive reasons, neither party disclosed the total fee that Brunswick paid to Rammelt last year. But the amount included the cost of court-reporting fees, experts and photocopies, as well as hiring lawyers in cities where the suits were filed.

"Brunswick said, ‘This is your all-in pot of money. You be efficient now,’" Rammelt said.

The biggest change came for Rammelt. He left Kelley, Drye & Warren in September for K&L Gates because he said he needed a firm with more national offices. Gates has 23 U.S. offices compared with five for Kelley Drye. Now, he doesn’t have to hire a lawyer in San Francisco if a lawsuit is filed there; he can use one of K&L Gates’ attorneys there at a lower cost.

The push for efficiency, though, can be at odds with winning cases. Sometimes winning or losing can turn on hiring an expensive expert or spending an extra hour on legal research. Rammelt said he and his attorneys found ways to work quickly without sacrificing quality.

"If I don’t win cases and protect the brand, at the end of the day, I’m gone," Rammelt said.

Cost savings also came via technology. Kelley Drye built Web-based case management software for Brunswick. The database contained every document for every case Rammelt’s team worked on, eliminating the need to ship documents overnight. Brunswick lawyers could access the system at any time, eliminating the need for quarterly status reports from Rammelt. K&L Gates bought the software from Kelley Drye.

On the downside, using metrics based on the traditional hourly-fee model, Rammelt’s realization rate — the rate of collection versus hours billed — is not as high as he would like. He and his team still keep track of the time they spend on Brunswick matters to have a benchmark to compare to the fixed-fee contract.

The two sides tweaked the contract in its second year to provide some protections for the law firm. For example, if a case hits a ceiling on fees then it gets removed from the fixed-fee program and gets billed by the hour.

"We are committed to being a good client," Coleman said. "They need to deliver good value for quality work."

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

The two Democrats and six Republicans running for governor have collected more than $5.3 million in political donations since the first of the year, campaign finance reports show.

State law requires candidates to report any donation of $500 or more starting Jan. 1. Topping the governor candidates running in next Tuesday’s primary is Republican Andy McKenna, the former state GOP chairman, who piled up nearly $2.3 million in contributions since the year began. More than $1.7 million, however, are loans from his immediate family. McKenna, a prolific TV advertiser, also got $75,000 from the Duchossois family of Arlington Park fame.

Ahead on the Democratic side is Gov. Pat Quinn, who has taken in $1.2 million since the year began.

Quinn still trails his Feb. 2 opponent, Comptroller Dan Hynes, in overall fundraising. Hynes started out with more money in his campaign fund at the beginning of the contest, and he has used that money advantage to air TV ads featuring the late Mayor Harold Washington blasting Quinn’s competence as City Hall revenue director.

Quinn has complained loudly about the ads being unfair because Hynes’ father, Tom Hynes, worked against Washington nearly a quarter-century ago. That, however, hasn’t stopped Quinn from taking $200,000 in loans from committees headed by Ald. Ed Burke (14th). Burke and then-Ald. Edward Vrdolyak headed up the 29-21 “Council wars” opposition to Washington on the City Council.

Quinn also got $100,000 from a loan taken out by his mother, Eileen, and another $100,000 loan from former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr. The Service Employees International Union has chipped in another $114,000 in cash and services since the first of the year.

Hynes has taken in about $626,000, about half of Quinn’s total since Jan. 1. Hynes has gotten donations of at least $100,000 from the Laborers’ union, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association.

From January 2009 through today, Quinn has raised $5.4 million to $3.8
million for Hynes. But Hynes has the money advantage because he had
$2.9 million in cash on hand to start 2009, while Quinn had $83,512 to begin 2009.

Back on the Republican side, state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale got $585,000 since Jan. 1, including $250,000 from the Illinois Education Association and $131,000 in mailing costs and loans from Chicago businessman Ronald Gidwitz, an unsuccessful 2006 Republican governor candidate.



Former two-term Republican Attorney General Jim Ryan of Elmhurst has taken in at least $305,000 since the new year, including $25,000 from Indeck Energy Services CEO Gerald Forsythe and Turtle Wax CEO Denis Healy and $20,000 from former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb.



State Sen. Bill Brady, a Bloomington Republican, has received at least $152,000 so far in 2010, including $50,000 from Springfield insurance underwriter Midwest Financial Holdings.



Chicago political consultant Dan Proft has received $121,000 since the first of the year, $70,000 of which came from Richard Uihlein of Waukegan, the CEO of Uline, a packing and shipping supply company based in Waukegan.



Adam Andrzejewski, a transparency advocate from Hinsdale, reported $41,500 in contributions since Jan. 1. Andrzejewski is hosting a Friday fundraiser in Chicago featuring an endorsement of his candidacy from former Poland President Lech Walesa.

Posted by Michelle Manchir at 12:42 p.m.; last updated at 3:47 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD — House Republican leader Tom Cross today called for limits on how much legislative leaders and political party campaign committees can give to candidates in general elections, saying it was a necessary change that Democrats refused to put into a new state reform law.

The legislation was unveiled at the Capitol just a week before the Feb. 2 primary as Republicans try to show voters this year how they differ with Democrats on reforming the way elections are paid for in scandal-ridden Illinois politics. Democrats control state government and the Republicans are looking to regain relevance for the first time in years.

Cross’ legislation aims to fix what critics say is a loophole resulting from last year’s campaign finance reform measure that Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law. Democrats agreed to put limits only on contributions from legislative leaders and party committees in primary races, which are fights within each party. But they refused to apply those limits to the general election because those races are all-out warfare between Democrats and Republicans. Spending should not be limited when the fight for control of legislative chambers is at stake, Democrats argued.



Cross, of Oswego, contended today that applying the limits only to primary contests does not do enough to scale back the big money poured into rank-and-file races from leaders of both political parties. He called on House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, both Chicago Democrats, to drop their opposition to the limits in general elections because it is the "right thing" to achieve true reform in Illinois.



"Hopefully, the speaker and the president have been listening to the people of this state," Cross said.



Steve Brown, spokesman for Madigan, who doubles as state Democratic chairman, said Cross is "free to do whatever he wishes" but pointed out the issue of contribution limits has been "widely debated for a number of years."

"Whether it makes any sense, whether any of these limits would solve the political problems that have come up through the years, I think the answer to that is ‘no,’ " Brown said.

Rikeesha Phelon, Cullerton’s spokesman, had no comment about the
Cross proposal.

A similar bill for broader limits was filed by Sen. Heather Steans, a Chicago Democrat facing a primary challenge. Steans called the failure to install contributions in general elections a "loophole" that needed to be closed.

CHANGE Illinois!, a coalition of civic leaders and good government groups, issued a statement today urging lawmakers to adopt "this missing ingredient to the limits law."

Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont supported Cross’ legislation, saying the new law will have limited impact and the Cross proposal presents an "opportunity to right that wrong."

Posted by Monique Garcia and John Byrne at 10:50 a.m.; updated at 4:18 p.m. with Hynes comments

Gov. Pat Quinn today credited the 1,200 new jobs at a Ford assembly plant in Chicago to an automotive tax credit program he signed into law late last year.

Speaking at a news conference alongside Mayor Richard Daley to formally announce the deal, Quinn said the state is providing Ford $20 million in tax incentives in return for a $400 million investment by the company in its Chicago plant.



"This is a strategic investment by the people of Illinois," Quinn said. "In turn it’s going to create literally hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity and wages, salaries and new revenue for the state of Illinois."

"We had to compete for this, it wasn’t just awarded to Illinois," Quinn added. "We had to show that out state was the best state to do business in… We showed them that Illinois workers and the people of Illinois and our governor are working together for the common good."

The Ford jobs announcement provided Quinn with a rare dose of positive news as he runs in the Feb. 2 Democratic governor primary. His opponent, Comptroller Dan Hynes, has aired a barrage of TV attack ads that has the contest very close, a new Tribune poll found.

At a campaign event on the West Side, Hynes said Quinn should not be taking credit for the expansion at the Ford plant.



“I think what we’re seeing is that while there have been decisions made by the private sector to locate in Illinois, which I think is a testament to our workforce here, and to the cooperation of local leaders trying to encourages business to stay and expand here,” Hynes said. “But what we’re not seeing the long-term vision we need.”



Hynes also announced the endorsements of six state legislators.



“It courage for these six legislators to step forward on my behalf because it’s difficult to go against a sitting governor,” said Hynes, after hearing praise from lawmakers who represent districts on the West Side, Southwest Side and south suburbs.



At the Ford event, Daley lauded the announcement as evidence that union leaders, elected officials and business representatives can work together to promote the kinds of jobs that strengthen the middle class.



"This news will be heard all the way to Washington, all the way to the state capital," Daley said to applause from the plant workers who packed into the news conference on the factory floor.



The mayor thanked Quinn for spearheading the effort to pass legislation allowing Ford to qualify for the tax credit.



Listening to the comments, UAW worker Andre Linton murmered to himself: "More money, more money, more money. Thank you, Jesus."



Linton said after union workers making heavy financial concessions to help keep Ford afloat, he and others at the plant are hopeful the company has turned the corner.

Posted by Hal Dardick at 10:45 a.m.

Cook County homeowners will have to pay 10 percent more than they used to when the first installment of their property tax bills arrive thanks to a new state law.

The change won’t be lost on taxpayers because County Treasurer Maria Pappas inserted a prominent notice informing them of that detail in the bills mailed out last Friday.

 

“I felt it was my duty to inform taxpayers about this state-mandated change,” said Pappas, who opposed it. “It’s a matter of honesty and transparency about something that affects them.”

It used to be that taxpayers paid 50 percent of their prior year’s property
tax bill in the first installment. They then paid the rest, which
includes annual increases, when the second installment was due later in
the year.

Under the new legislation, which Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law in October, property
owners must pay 55 percent of the previous year’s total bill in the
first installment. That amounts to a 10 percent increase in the first installment.


 


The change should help make the two installments more equal this year,
which will perhaps partly blunt the effect of the expiration of a state
law that limited increases in Cook County residential property tax
bills caused by rising home values before the real-estate bubble burst.



But the change comes at an inopportune time for state legislators facing challenges in next Tuesday’s primary election because it reminds voters of the property tax burden — which many contend is too high in Illinois because of the state’s heavy reliance on that levy to fund education.

 

Legislators, in large part, brought the timing on themselves. In an effort to boost then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s prospects in the presidential primaries two years ago, they moved the primary up a month earlier.

 

Then last summer, they passed the law that increases the amount on paid on the first installment, which is due March 1. Those bills must be mailed at least a month in advance.

Posted by Tribune staff at 5 a.m.

A look at what’s going on Illinois politics today:

*Tonight marks the last time to see the Republican governor candidates in a televised debate. It’ll air at 7 p.m. on WTTW’s "Chicago Tonight" program. No live webcast, so Ch. 11 is the way to see this one.

*Gov. Pat Quinn gets to announce that Ford is bringing 1,200 jobs to its Chicago plant to turn out the new version of the Explorer vehicle. It marks the best news for Quinn in a while as he’s locked in a tight Democratic primary contest with Comptroller Dan Hynes. Quinn’s got no campaign schedule for Tuesday, so this is his press pop of the day.

*Mayor Richard Daley is scheduled to appear with Quinn and the Ford executives. His schedule says he’s going to take questions on the Ford topic only, but with a week before the Feb. 2 primary, reporters are bound to ask him about the governor’s contest.

*Quinn and Hynes debated last night on WTTW. They spent the hour calling each other incompetent.

*Also in the Republican governor’s race, state Sen. Kirk Dillard will trot out popular former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar for a late afternoon appearance at a hotel near O’Hare. Dillard has spent much of the campaign touting his work for Edgar as chief of staff, and Edgar already has endorsed him.

*House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego is holding a late morning news conference in Springfield to discuss campaign finance reform. He’s expected to announce new legislation that would extend campaign contribution limits for legislative leader committees and political parties in the general election. Such legislation could address what critics said was a major loophole in the campaign finance reform legislation Quinn signed into law last year.

*In the U.S. Senate contest, Democrat Cheryle Jackson has an afternoon event highlighting women at her Loop campaign headquarters.