Author: Newsdesk

Posted by John Byrne at 1:35 p.m.



City Hall today announced it will track workplace injury claims more closely in an effort to prevent city workers from fraudulently claiming workers compensation.

 

Under the policy, city departments will be required to report monthly on the status of injured employees to the City Council Finance Committee and the Budget Department. Each department will be required to designate a manager to oversee the process of returning employees to work, according to a Daley administration news release.
 


Employees will have to report their medical treatments regularly. Failure to do so could be cause for disability benefits to be terminated, the city says.

 

Budget Director Eugene Munin said the new policy is meant to get injured employees back on the job "in some capacity" as soon as possible, "either at full duty or performing other limited tasks."

"Our efforts to improve the duty disability system are not punitive to employees who have been legitimately injured on the job and cannot work," Munin said. "We are making these management improvements to ensure that able-bodied workers get back to work as soon as possible, and that taxpayers are better protected from fraud."

Federal authorities subpoenaed city records in late 2006 related to
workers’ claims of being hurt on the job. The subpoena followed an October 2006 Sun-Times series examining the city’s worker’s compensation system. Among its findings, the newspaper said workers with political clout claimed workplace injuries at a rate exceeding that of other professions tracked by the U.S. Labor Department.

Employees injured while on duty are eligible to receive two-thirds of their salary up to a state-established limit while they are unable to work, as well as get coverage of all approved medical costs. The new city policy mandates that workers deemed unable to return to work show evidence to the department manager that they undertake at least 10 job searches per week while collecting disability.

Posted by John Byrne at 11:22 a.m.; updated at 3:26 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley’s new choice to lead the Chicago Park District board said today he expects to face the challenge of providing as many park programs as possible to
city residents in spite of a shrinking budget.


 


"I think we all have to acknowledge that’s what is going on at all
levels of government," said Dr. Bryan Traubert, an ophthalmologist and philanthropist who’s married to prominent Chicagoan Penny Pritzker.

Traubert, however, declined to discuss particular programs he will emphasize and
those that might be in danger of getting cut, citing his newness to the post.

"I would really have to go on a listening tour to get a better idea of
the specifics of the situation in neighborhood parks across the city,"
Traubert said. "It’s too early for me to get into the specifics."

Traubert, 55, is poised to become park board president, replacing Gery Chico, a longtime Daley troubleshooter who’s been tapped to lead the City Colleges of Chicago board. Traubert is on the Noble Street Charter Schools board. And he’s chairman of Marwen, an organization that provides art instruction and college counseling to Chicago Public Schools students.

He also chairs Chicago Run, which coordinates fitness programs for CPS students. Traubert said he thinks it’s that dedication to getting children in shape — rather than his connection to the Pritzker family — that put him on the mayor’s radar. Pritzker served as national finance chair for President Barack
Obama’s successful 2008 campaign.

 

Traubert said he has talked with Daley on several occasions about the importance of getting children involved in exercising in order to keep them from getting fat and to improve their performance in school.

 

"I would like to think that brought me to the mayor’s attention," Traubert said of Daley’s nomination, which must be considered by the City Council and the Park District Board before it becomes official. That process is likely to be a formality.

Posted by Rick Pearson and Kathy Bergen at 4:30 p.m.

Powerful Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan today had a bit of a chuckle at the expense of Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias.

Asked if the problems at the Giannoulias family-owned Broadway Bank would affect the candidate’s voter support in the Senate race, Madigan replied, “I’m glad I don’t have any deposits there.”

Federal regulators
have said the bank must be recapitalized or it could face a takeover
this month. Giannoulias had touted his banking expertise in running for
treasurer in 2006 in winning office and defeating a candidate in the primary who was backed by both Madigan and the Illinois Democratic Party.

Despite the slight jab at the bank’s woes, Madigan noted he’s supporting Giannoulias in the November Senate election against Republican Mark Kirk, a five-term North Shore congressman.





“I’m supporting all the Democratic candidates. (Giannoulias) has been a successful
candidate in the past. You’ll recall he won a contested primary when he
was elected as the treasurer,” said Madigan, referring to the March 2006 primary election.

Madigan reserved harsher words for his foe Cook County Assessor James Houlihan. The speaker said the retiring assessor should “be a man” and accept responsibility for delayed property tax bills rather than accuse Madigan of political chicanery.

Late last month, Houlihan blasted Madigan ally and Democratic assessor candidate Joe Berrios, who is currently a member of the Cook County Board of Review. Houlihan contended Berrios was slowing down work on the tax review panel to delay the delivery of property tax bills until after the Nov. 2 election so as not to anger voters seeing higher real-estate taxes.



Higher tax bills are expected as a result of the end to a limit on property-tax assessments in the city this year. The tax cap also is being phased out in suburban Cook. The cap has have limited property-tax increases for many homeowners.



But Madigan and Berrios have contended the delay in tax bills is due to delays in Houlihan’s own office involving property assessments.



“I don’t believe in finger pointing. I don’t believe in that. So if there was something under my watch in the legislature that I’m responsible for, I stand up and take accountability,” Madigan said after a legislative hearing on McCormick Place. (You can read about that hearing by clicking here.



“Mr. Houlihan ought to do what I do–he ought to look at the operations of his office,” Madigan said. “If there’s something amiss, if there’s something not being done properly, be a man, take the accountability, put the responsibility (where it belongs). He’s about 50 percent behind in the schedule in putting off assessments. I’m not responsible for that. He’s responsible for that. He ought to speak to that question.”

Posted by Tribune staff at 3:15 p.m.

While Chicago government and many of its residents struggled with a
tough economy, Chicago aldermen continued to pay relatives, public
relations consultants and expensive car leases with their city expense
accounts, according to a Tribune examination of 2009 records.





One alderman highlighted
last year by the Tribune for paying rent to his family for a ward
office said he is still looking for an alternate location. In the
meantime, his family’s firm continues to receive taxpayer money.





In another case, more than $40,000 in rent payments was directed by a
now convicted and ousted alderman to a company owned by a businessman
charged with trying to bribe him.





Although the city is trimming personnel and services to cope with
declining revenue, aldermen say they rely on the beefed-up expense
accounts to tend to ward needs. The accounts were more than doubled to
$73,280 per ward by Mayor Richard Daley and the City Council in 2008.

To read more of the story, please click here.

To peruse the aldermanic database, please click here.

Posted by John Byrne at 3:07 p.m.

Street parking will get slightly tougher to find around U.S. Cellular Field under a City Council plan to expand special permit parking areas on game days.

The council’s Traffic Committee today approved an ordinance by Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, to extend the "Comiskey Park area parking permit program" several blocks to the south and east of the ballpark.

Under Dowell’s plan, which will next head to the full City Council for approval, the special parking zone will be enlarged by two areas of about four square blocks each.

One area would be bordered by Pershing Road, Wentworth Avenue, Princeton Avenue and 37th Street.

 

The other would be bounded by 37th Street, Wentworth, Dearborn Street and 35th Street.

Street parking would remain open on both Pershing and 35th, according to the ordinance.

 

Dowell said residents of new housing developments near the ballpark want to be able to park in front of their homes on game days.

 

The parking restrictions around the Cell begin three hours before first pitch and end three hours after last pitch. They also are in effect for concerts and other events at the ballpark.

From the Breaking News Center:

Federal prosecutors today sought a court order that could force former
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s former general counsel to testify at
Blagojevich’s corruption trial.



According to the filing, William
J. Quinlan, counsel to the governor’s office under Blagojevich, has
declined to produce documents or agree to testify because Blagojevich
has not formally waived his attorney-client privilege. Communications
between a lawyer and a client are typically protected from being used in
court.



But in seeking to compel Quinlan to provide materials and
testify, prosecutors cited a 2002 decision in which the 7th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals found that the attorney-client privilege does not
apply in conversations between a public official and a taxpayer-provided
attorney such as Quinlan at the time.

Read more from Tribune federal courts reporter Jeff Coen by clicking here.

Posted by John Chase at 12:24 p.m.



Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mark Kirk raised $2.2 million since the start of the year, his campaign announced today.

It’s the first fundraising totals released since the five-term North Shore congressman won the Republican Senate nomination Feb. 2. Kirk faces Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias for the Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama. It’s currently held by appointed Democratic U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, who is not seeking election.

With the infusion of cash, Kirk’s campaign said it has more than $3 million left ahead of the November election. While the campaign made its money announcement today, it did not make available its financial report.

Giannoulias’ campaign declined to release its fundraising totals today, but criticized Kirk for taking campaign contributions from corporate political action committees and federal lobbyists. Giannoulias has pledged not to accept political donations from those sources.

The candidates have until April 15 to file their campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission.

From today’s print edition:

Blagojevich’s brother wants to suppress recordings

Strategy differs from that of former governor

By Jeff Coen, Tribune reporter

In the first indication of a split in strategy, former Gov. Rod
Blagojevich’s brother, Robert, is seeking to keep undercover recordings
from being aired at their upcoming trial — a sharp contrast with the
former governor, who has repeatedly urged that all the recordings be
played.





In a motion filed Tuesday in federal court, Robert Blagojevich’s lawyer
argued that authorities had no probable cause to undertake the secret
recording in the first place. The brother ran the governor’s campaign
fund for part of 2008.

The lawyer, Michael Ettinger, contended the FBI submitted no hard
evidence that favors were being traded for campaign cash before agents
began tapping the phones of the then-governor and some of his key
advisers in 2008.

"Evidence of Robert Blagojevich soliciting campaign contributions on
behalf of his brother, without proof of an explicit quid pro quo, is not
remotely criminal, but, rather, exemplifies the American political
process," Ettinger wrote.





U.S. District Judge James Zagel, who is presiding over Blagojevich’s
trial this summer, is expected to hear the matter on Friday.





The motion quotes from an application used by prosecutors to obtain
judicial authority to begin the recording. The document contended that
the Blagojevich brothers and other close advisers had discussed raising
funds before the end of 2008 because of an impending change in campaign
finance law that would limit large donations.





The former governor is charged with shaking down potential donors,
including trying to force $50,000 in campaign contributions from the
chief executive officer of Children’s Memorial Hospital before he would
clear the way for the hospital to receive $8 million from the state.
According to the application, the former governor noted that former Cubs
manager Dusty Baker had called him on the hospital’s behalf.





Rod Blagojevich contends he will be found innocent of criminal
wrongdoing if all the recordings — not just the ones the government
wants played — are aired at the trial. His lawyers have sought to play
any and all recordings made of his private conversations while governor.





Zagel has said that if the former governor takes the witness stand —
which he has promised to do — it is likely that the recordings that the
defense believes back up his position would be played for the jury.

Posted by Rick Pearson at 5:27 p.m.



Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin says it’s not fair to hold Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias responsible for every decision at his family’s troubled bank and contends voters are more concerned about jobs and the economy than the fate of the Broadway Bank.



Still, Durbin, the state’s senior senator and the chairman of Giannoulias’ campaign, said it is fair to ask the Democratic nominee what responsibility he bears for the problems facing the bank. Giannoulias worked at his family bank prior to being elected state treasurer in November 2006. Federal regulators have asked family members who own the bank to recapitalize it or risk closure later this month.



“If it’s in trouble today, how much can you blame him?” Durbin told the Tribune’s editorial board this afternoon. “What responsibility does he bear for it? I think that is a fair question and he’s the only one who could answer that. I can’t.”

Giannoulias’ main opponent in the Senate race, five-term Republican North Shore Rep. Mark Kirk, has used the bank’s problems to criticize Giannoulias’ qualifications.

Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in Senate leadership, said Giannoulias told him that he had nothing to do with “over 90 percent” of the loans made at Broadway Bank, where Giannoulias previously served as a loan officer. And Durbin said Giannoulias told him “he did not play a personal or major role” in $20 million in loans given to two reputed organized crime figures during Giannoulias’ tenure at the bank.

Meeting with the Tribune editorial board last month, Giannoulias said he
accepted "my share of the responsibility" for the bank’s problems but
did not discuss specific lending decisions, citing the privacy of bank
customers.

Durbin said today that campaign focus groups show that instead of expressing concern about Broadway Bank, voters are asking, “What about my job? What is going on in terms of the economy and moving forward?” in the contest against Kirk.



“I think at the end of the day, the overriding issue is going to be the state of the economy and whether it’s turned around — whether Mr. Kirk’s position on economic issues is better for the state or Mr. Giannoulias’,” Durbin said.

Asked whether Giannoulias inflated his role at the bank in selling his banking experience to voters during the 2006 state treasurer campaign, Durbin said he didn’t “know enough about banking” to say where the Senate candidate fit on the pecking order at Broadway Bank.

Durbin also said Giannoulias has done a good job as treasurer. Giannoulias came under fire after significant losses in the state’s Bright Start college savings fund used by parents. Durbin said that the fund that lost money was “one of 20 funds there” but “by and large, I think he ran that program well.”

Durbin also credited Giannoulias for getting two longstanding controversial hotel loan properties off the state’s books and for refusing banking related contributions for his campaign.

“He brings more than that personal resume to the campaign. He brings a dramatically different position on major issues than Cong. Kirk,” Durbin said. “I would say to the voters of this state: You can have a lot more experience (with Kirk) and come up with an approach to things that doesn’t work very well for us—and I think that’s the economic philosophy that brought us this recession.”

Posted by Monique Garcia at 12:14 p.m.

The expansion of O’Hare International Airport got a $410 million boost today as federal officials announced money to help build three runways.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Peoria, joined Mayor Richard Daley, Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin at the airport to discuss the federal windfall.

The airport expansion has been running low on money because the major airlines at O’Hare are not on board with paying for the second phase.

Posted by John Byrne at 10:05 a.m.; last updated at 12:30 p.m.

Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool, who announced last year he would quit rather than wage a much-anticipated challenge to Board President Todd Stroger, said today he will instead try to mount an independent campaign for Cook County assessor.

Claypool’s target this time is another fellow Democrat, Joseph Berrios, who is a member of the county tax Board of Review and county Democratic Party chairman. Berrios won the February primary for the assessor’s post and already faces Republican and Green Party candidates for the office that sets the value of private property for tax purposes.

Claypool said his earlier run for board president was focused in large part on reforming the county health care system. With the subsequent creation of the independent county health board, Claypool said he had a less compelling reason to run again.



Claypool said he didn’t run in the Democratic primary against Berrios in large part because he was hopeful another candidate, Raymond Figueroa, would win instead of Berrios.



"Right now there is a different challenge, and that is to prevent Joe Berrios and the Democratic machine from taking back an office that has long been used to support and fund and help insiders at the expense of average taxpayers who are already suffering," Claypool said.

The commissioner was joined today by U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley and Jesse Jackson Jr., who both endorsed him.

Claypool ran unsuccessfully against Stroger’s father, then-incumbent President John Stroger, in 2006. Last year, Claypool opted not to run for the Democratic nomination against Todd Stroger, saying he would resign from the board and return to the private sector.

But rumors began circulating after Berrios’ Democratic primary victory for assessor that he was considering running as an independent.

Outgoing assessor James Houlihan praised Claypool last week during a news conference to make the allegation that Berrios was trying to slow the review process at the tax board to delay bills until after the Nov. 2 general election. Berrios claimed it was Houlihan slowing down the process and said Claypool should have run in the primary if he wanted the job.

Making an independent run for office is daunting because it takes at least 25,000 signatures on petitions to get on the ballot.

Posted by Rick Pearson at 12:30 p.m.

Republican governor candidate Bill Brady says that in the match-up of running mates, voters should look at Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Sheila Simon and ask whether “we want another attorney-academician in politics.”

Speaking on WGN-AM’s “Greg Jarrett Show” this morning, Brady touted his own running mate, 27-year-old Jason Plummer of Edwardsville, as someone who “understands the private sector” and the need to grow jobs. That, he said, was in contrast to the 49-year-old Simon, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s running mate, who teaches in the law school at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.



“I think it’s more the academician against a person who runs a family business—someone who’s involved in that,” Brady said.



Plummer has faced questions about the depth of his business resume, which is largely built upon working in his father’s RP Lumber store chain and related businesses.



“Jason Plummer knows what it’s like to meet a payroll. He knows what it’s like to risk capital to go out and invest in people and jobs,” Brady said. “Sheila Simon comes from a longstanding credible political family but she’s an academician and I think the people are looking for someone who understands the importance of jobs and keeping jobs.”



Plummer has touted his creation and operation of a wireless Internet provider while still a college undergrad, but public records show it was his father who owned the firm and Plummer was never listed as an officer. Plummer also served one term as chairman of the Madison County Republican Party.



Unlike Plummer, Simon has been elected to public office—a four-year stint on the Carbondale City Council which she gave up for a failed 2007 bid for mayor. Simon also served as an assistant county state’s attorney.

Posted by Monique Garcia and Ray Long at 6:35 p.m.

Gov. Pat Quinn made Good Friday a little bit better for 147 people, granting pardons for a variety of crimes.

None of the people who received clemency was behind bars for the crimes in which they were pardoned.

Most of the crimes dated from the 1980s and 1990s, and most of the original sentences were for probation.

The cases ranged from retail theft and stealing a car to theft of state services and prostitution.

The governor delivered the news late Friday afternoon as he continued to whittle the huge backlog of clemency petitions filed under his predecessor, impeached and indicted ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The former governor rarely took action on clemencies during his six years in office and the stack of requests grew to nearly 2,500.

Quinn’s pardons came as he acted on 407 clemency petitions dating from 2003 through 2007. He denied 258 petitions. He authorized two people who had already received pardons to seek expungement.

Quinn has acted on 769 clemencies since taking office in late January 2009. He has granted 321 pardons, authorized eight people with pardons to seek expungement of their convictions and denied 440 petitions, according to a statement the office released Friday.

One of the problems with Blagojevich’s lack of action is that petitioners were put into a holding pattern that prevented them from moving on with their lives. Petitioners have complained that they wanted to see if they could get relief as they applied for a variety of jobs. A person must wait to be denied before he can apply again for a pardon, leaving many hopeful Illinoisans frustrated.

Posted by Monique Garcia and Michelle Manchir at 4:35 p.m.

The director of one of the state’s largest social service agencies resigned today after a seven-year tenure in which the department came under frequent fire as former Gov. Rod Blagojevich sought to expand services against the wishes of lawmakers.

Barry Maram, director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, announced his resignation today via press release. He will remain in his current position until Gov. Pat Quinn names a replacement, which the administration said will happen “shortly.”



Mike Claffey, a spokesman for the health care agency, said Maram simply felt that it was the right time to leave.

“He feels that after seven years in a tough and demanding job, that it was time to move on,” Claffey said. “He feels that he has achieved a tremendous amount in this time, and that this is the right decision.”



Claffey said Maram does not currently have any other career plans, but will assist with the leadership transition and the state’s efforts to implement federal healthcare reforms.



Maram was first appointed to his post by Blagojevich in 2003, at one point clashing with lawmakers during the former governor’s impeachment after he refused to answer questions about efforts to expand health care. At the time he cited an ongoing court case challenging the expansion of state-sponsored health care coverage, which Blagojevich wanted to offer to people with incomes of up to $83,000 a year for a family of four.



Lawmakers shot down the idea, but the administration signed people up anyway. Maram defended the program but said he did not know who initiated the controversial expansion.



Maram was also cited earlier this year for failing to properly supervise his former chief of staff Tamara Hoffman, who was the target of a critical internal investigation.



Maram’s leadership was praised by Quinn and fellow Chicago Democrats House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, who said Maram worked diligently to improve the agency.



“Throughout his tenure, Barry has been a tireless advocate for children, working parents and seniors,” Quinn said in a statement. “The people of Illinois have been well-served by him and we wish him well.”



Maram has an annual salary of $142,000, according to the comptroller’s office.

Posted by Rick Pearson at 8:35 p.m.

Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Sheila Simon of Carbondale acknowledged today she faces a learning curve in trying to lure independent and socially moderate women to vote for her and Gov. Pat Quinn in November. But she said she believed the desire to improve education funding could bridge any cultural or ideological differences between the Chicago area and downstate.

“I think anyone from any part of the state is going to have to grab onto the cultural differences, the geographic differences all across the state and that’s one of the reasons why I’m here–mostly doing listening, because I think that’s an important part,” Simon told the Tribune as she launched an unofficial suburban learning tour today with stops in Elgin, Naperville and Joliet.

Of course the learning curve works both ways. A sign outside a dining room at Quigley’s Irish Pub in downtown Naperville, where she met with about two dozen female Democratic DuPage County candidates and activists, said: “RESERVED. Shelia Simon.”



The 49-year-old daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon heard plenty of concerns from women about the state of education funding. Julia Beckman, a member of the Democratic State Central Committee who voted for Simon’s nomination Saturday, said the governor should make his proposed 33 percent income tax hike a temporary boost.



“Our debt is going to steer our choices rather than us steering our choices,” Simon said of the state’s massive debt and backlog of unpaid bills. “We really need to have that budget in order and I’m very proud to be running with a guy who says we need a 1 percent surcharge for education. It’s again, not popular, but it’s the right thing to do and it’s the right area to prioritize.”



Simon, married and the mother of two daughters, said she believed she could sell the ticket to moderate and independent suburban women despite some concerns that she is socially too liberal.



“I think education really is the key (issue),” she said. “I think that’s what brings everyone together because that’s what everyone cares about, Republican or Democrat and if we don’t address the budget and we don’t address funding for education, then we’re just cutting ourselves out of options on how to improve our kids education.”



Simon entered to camera flashes and a raucous din of conversation in the small dining room but said she expects the attention to her new candidacy to die down in about a week. She was picked by top Democratic leaders Saturday to fill the vacancy left when embattled Feb. 2 primary winner Scott Lee Cohen dropped from the ticket.



“One of the things I want to start doing and continue doing throughout the campaign and continue doing as lieutenant governor is just paying attention to how democracy works,” she told the women in Naperville, “and I think you can tell by the volume in the room that we know how democracy works. Women are good at talking and I want to take advantage of that.”

UPDATE 1:50 p.m. by Hal Dardick and John Byrne — Berrios, Madigan and review board members say Houlihan is to blame; originally posted at 10:11 a.m.

Cook County Assessor James Houlihan started a new round in a war of words with some of his fellow Democrats today by accusing another top county official of trying to delay the arrival of bad-news property tax bills until after the Nov. 2 election.

Houlihan, who is retiring, held a news conference today to make the allegation against Joseph Berrios, a commissioner on the three-member tax Board of Review who is running for Houlihan’s job in the November general election. Berrios is also the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party and an ally of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who Houlihan has often clashed with over tax issues.

 

Houlihan said Berrios is slowing the work of the review board to make sure Cook County voters aren’t angered before the election by higher tax bills. A cap on property-tax assessments will end in the city this year and is being phased out in the suburbs. Those caps have have limited property tax increases for many homeowners.

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Houlihan is trying to deflect attention from his own failure to complete assessments.

 

"Speaker Madigan has nothing to do with the assessment process," Brown said. "Assessor Houlihan has apparently fumbled the ball again. If he wants somebody to blame for any delay, he should look in the mirror."

 

At a news conference to respond to Houlihan’s allegations, Berrios blamed the assessor for delays in the process of determining the tax bills. He said Houlihan has wrongly assessed a large number of properties, leading to a potentially heavy volume of appeal cases.

 

Berrios said he has not discussed with Madigan or anyone else the possibility of delaying the tax bills until after the election. He said he would love to get the bills out before the election.

 

"(Houlihan) is trying to play politics with all the different taxing bodies and the effect that this will have on them," said Berrios, joined by Board of Review members Larry Rogers Jr. and Brendan Houlihan, who is not related to the assessor. "This is not — when you’re looking at the tax system, this is not something you play politics with. If you get it right the first time, then guess what, the Board of Review would not be hearing so many cases."

Under current law, all property tax appeals must be completed before tax rates can be set and bills mailed out to property owners.

 

Rogers said the board is still waiting for a Houlihan’s office to complete a significant amount of work so appeal hearings can be set. There’s "absolutely no truth" to Houlihan’s accusation, Rogers said.



The allegation comes amid a politically charged atmosphere.

Madigan opposes extending the so-called tax cap, something Houlihan has been asking the General Assembly to do for well more than a year.

Berrios won a three-way primary by a much narrower margin than might have been expected and County Board Commissioner Forrest Claypool, D-Chicago, is being put forward by some as a potential independent challenger. Houlihan and Claypool have been allies on many issues in the past.

Houlihan urged voters to think long and hard before voting for Berrios for Cook County Assessor. "Certainly, anybody who is involved with chicanery about the tax bills, the voters should give some serious thought to whether they should vote for him," Houlihan said.

 

He praised Claypool, but stopped short of directly endorsing Claypool’s rumored run for assessor.

 

"If (Claypool) does step in (to the race), it would be an important, I think, step for voters, but I think that’s up to him," Houlihan said. "You know, he’s a very thoughtful (Cook County) commissioner, and has been a very good public servant."



If Claypool wanted to run for assessor, he should have participated in the primary, Berrios said.

 

"If you look at the primary, (Houlihan) did not endorse me. I’m sure the assessor never wanted me to follow him down to the Assessor’s Office," Berrios said. "But guess what? I did win the primary, as a Democrat."

 

"Claypool is supposed to be a Democrat. He sits on the board as a Democrat," Berrios added. "But if he wants to run, he had the opportunity to run. Let him go out and get the signatures, as I did. If he wanted to run for the Assessor’s Office, he should have, number one, run in the Democratic primary, if he is a Democrat. He should have come out. It would have been a four-way race. Who knows what would have happened."

Claypool was not immediately available for comment.

UPDATE 2:40 p.m. by Hal Dardick — Meeting a bust, street sweeper cuts start Thursday.

Mayor Richard Daley’s plan to cut the number of street sweepers working around the city will take effect this week after aldermen failed today to muster enough support to turn it back.



Ald. Eugene Schulter flew in from a Florida vacation to attend today’s special City Council meeting — one that never got off the ground because too few aldermen showed up to debate the mayor’s plan.



Only 25 of the 50 City Council members showed up, and it takes at least 26 to do the city’s business. When it looked like the threshold was within reach, two aldermen left the chambers.

As a result, the effort to keep a streets sweeper in each of the city’s 50 wards failed. Instead, Daley’s compromise plan to put only 40 sweepers on the street will go into effect Thursday, the start of street-sweeping season.



The original plan was to divide up the work equally among 33 sweepers working on a grid pattern coordinated by the Streets and Sanitation department.



After aldermen made it clear they did not want to give up individual control of street sweepers — particularly as next year’s elections approach — Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Thomas Byrne proposed the 40-sweeper system. Under it, each aldermen will maintain control of a street sweeper 32 hours each week.



Drivers who are no longer on sweepers will be shifted to garbage pickup, at a time when Byrne is trying to turn around problems with not enough drivers showing up to work each day. Daley touted it as a way to operate more efficiently and save money.



“I’m all in favor of greater efficiency, but not at the expense of quality service for our taxpaying public,” Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, said after the special meeting. Moore led the effort to overturn Daley’s plan.



“The point of coming here today is to make very clear that we wanted to protect the interests of the public,” Moore said. “We wanted to make sure would be continued to be swept on a regular basis, that we would have the flexibility to address the specific special needs of our constituents and hopefully, as a result of this compromise that’s been proposed by Commissioner Byrne of the Department of Streets and Sanitation, we’ll be able to do that.”



Schulter, meanwhile, planned to return to Naples this afternoon, adding that his wife understood his need to break away from their vacation.

"I felt very strongly about this issue, dealing with service to our communities,” Schulter said.

Posted by Hal Dardick at 8:45 a.m.

It’s spring break, and the mercury is rising, so Ald. Joe Moore, 49^th, may have a tough time this morning trying to get enough aldermen to City Hall in his effort to overturn Mayor Richard Daley’s street sweeper reductions.

The meeting has been called for 10:30 a.m., but at least 26 of the city’s 50 aldermen have to show up to legally hold a meeting.

Moore wants to prevent Daley from implementing the new plan on Thursday, when street sweepers hit the street on the first day of April in a city rite of spring.

Daley initially proposed reducing the number of street sweepers from 50 — one per ward — to 33. They would have operated on a grid system, which  each serving equal sized parts of the city, rather than a one-per-ward system.

After Moore and other aldermen criticized the plan, Daley this week moved a bit in their direction, saying the city would operate with 40 street sweepers under the new plan. Matt Smith, spokesman for the streets and sanitation department, said it was determined 40 were needed to maintain previous service levels.

“We’ve been open to discussion,” said Jacquelyn Heard, the mayor’s press secretary. “We’re trying to deliver the same level of service more efficiently, within our means, which is shrinking. . . . We’re having to deal with a new reality, which is shrinking resources, which affects everyone, and that includes aldermen.”

Aldermen had complained that they would lose control of street sweeping if the city went to a grid system. Under the 40-sweeper proposal, aldermen would still control a sweeper 32 hours a week, instead of 40, Moore said, adding that the details art too complex to work effectively.

“Residents should not see any drastic changes in service, but like all first time programs, we need to implement this new process and see how it works in the field,” Smith said.

Moore’s proposed “order” would block the change, keeping the old 50-sweeper system in place. “We feel it’s important to go forward” with the meeting, Moore said. “And we’ll see who shows up.”

UPDATE 7 P.M. by Todd Lighty and Hal Dardick: Boswell explains his departure.

Mayor Richard Daley’s compliance officer abruptly resigned today after waging a rare battle in which he publicly challenged the mayor’s authority.

Anthony Boswell, an outsider Daley tapped in 2007 to lead the newly created Office of Compliance, informed the mayor  he plans to leave city employment at the end of May.

“I uprooted my family from Dallas, Texas in order to accept a position with the City, with the implicit promise that the City was serious about having a best-in-class compliance program,” Boswell wrote in a one-page letter to Daley. “Given recent events, it has become difficult for me to remain excited about the work of the Office of Compliance.”

Boswell has been embroiled in controversy since Daley suspended him for 30 days earlier this year after the inspector general determined Boswell mishandled a sexual harassment complaint involving a 911 center boss. Boswell, who returned to work recently, sued Daley and the city’s inspector general in Cook County Circuit Court to clear his name.

He alleges Daley overstep his authority by suspending him. Boswell also accused the city’s top lawyer and the inspector general of engineering a “retaliatory power grab” because Boswell questioned what he thought was an improper hiring attempt in the office of the legal counsel.

Daley had moved to strip Boswell’s office of much of its authority and recently shifted responsibility for overseeing city hiring  to Inspector General Joseph Ferguson.

Boswell’s lawyer, Jamie Wareham, said the civil lawsuit against Daley and Ferguson will still go forward. “They drove an honest man with a family out of town and without cause,” Wareham said.

Jodi Kawada, a mayoral spokeswoman, said the administration had no plans to eliminate the compliance office, adding it still has other responsibilities such as overseeing aspects of minority and women contacts with the city. “We’re not aware of a commissioner’s resignation meaning the end of a department,” Kawada said.

It is not uncommon for top mayoral aides to be eased out when they are caught up in controversy, but typically they go quietly.

Boswell declined to talk about his future plans but said the time was right to move on. “This was an attempt to do something new that’s never been done before in city government,” Boswell said in an interview. “ Obviously, I would have liked for it to have ended differently.”

Daley created the office in 2007 to ensure city government complies with legal and ethical guidelines and grew the department to include a budget of $3.5 million and 39 employees.

The inspector general and others at City Hall had opposed the new office, fearing Daley was trying to weaken the inspector general’s authority. Several aldermen, including Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd, believe it’s time to eliminate the compliance office. Fioretti said corporate-style compliance and ethics did not translate well to City Hall.

“This isn’t a normal corporation,” Fioretti said. “It’s an empire that has been built on patronage and political hiring. . . . The power always should have been in the inspector general’s office. ”

UPDATE 3:18 p.m. by Todd Lighty and Hal Dardick; originally posted at 2:52 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley’s embattled compliance officer abruptly resigned today amid a power struggle that pitted two City Hall watchdogs against each other.

Anthony Boswell, executive director of the Office of Compliance, informed Daley that he plans to leave city employment at the end of May, said Boswell’s lawyer, Jamie Wareham. He said Boswell’s future plans were unclear.

“He’s leaving because of the stress and strain on his family and because of all of the unfairness,” Wareham

Boswell has been embroiled in controversy since Daley suspended him for 30 days earlier this year for allegedly mishandling a sexual harassment investigation. In his resignation letter, Boswell said it had "become difficult for me to remain excited about the work of the Office of Compliance."

Boswell, who returned to work recently, sued Daley and the city’s Inspector General in Cook County Circuit Court to clear his name. He alleges the Daley administration’s top lawyer and the city’s inspector general engineered a  “retaliatory power grab” because Boswell questioned what he thought was an improper hiring attempt in the office of the legal counsel.

Wareham said the suit will still go forward. “He’s trying to ensure that unlawful suspensions don’t happen to future directors of compliance or, for that matter, future inspectors general,” Wareham said.

In the meantime, Daley has moved to strip Boswell’s office of much of its authority. He recently shifted the responsibility for overseeing city hiring from the compliance office to the inspector general.

Daley created the compliance office in 2007 to ensure city government complies with legal and ethical guidelines and grew the department to include a budget of $3.5 million and 39 employees. The City Council plans to hold hearings on the mayor’s proposal to realign the powers between compliance office and the inspector general, including giving the inspector general the authority to investigate aldermen.

Posted by Monique Garcia at 12:04 p.m.

Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Sheila Simon greeted commuters today at a Chicago train station, a campaign tradition that in this case comes nearly two months after the primary election.

Gov. Pat Quinn greeted people alongside Simon, his personal choice for running mate after primary winner Scott Lee Cohen dropped out following damaging revelations about his personal life. Democratic Party officials ratified Simon as the party’s nominee on Saturday.



Simon, daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, acknowledged she has her “foot in the door” because of her family’s political legacy in Illinois but said she still needs “lots of introduction” before voters head to the polls in November.

Part of that introduction includes today’s six-city tour, which started in Chicago and is scheduled to end this evening in Carbondale, where Simon is a law teacher at Southern Illinois University.



“I am looking forward to meeting people across the state to focus on all of our families and what we want to do in terms of making this government serve the people of Illinois better,” Simon said, adding she sees her role as supporting Quinn’s agenda.



Joined by her husband and two daughters, Simon noted that one of her strengths is that she is a mother and will be able to connect with women voters.



She has already adopted one of Quinn’s regular talking points, referring to Republican governor candidate Bill Brady as “extreme" and outside of the "mainstream." At the same time, she brushed aside the idea that her views may be too liberal for many voters in southern and central Illinois.



“I don’t believe that government is the enemy, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” Simon said. “I come from a tradition of understanding that government can serve the people, and I think that folks in southern and central Illinois understand that and are looking forward to an open dialog.”



If elected, Simon said she plans to continue to live in Carbondale rather than move to Springfield. She noted her father lived in downstate Troy while he served as lieutenant governor.

UPDATE 1:55 p.m. by Rick Pearson and Ray Long: Turner encourages Democrats to stay engaged.

Simon won in the first round of balloting by the 38-member Democratic State Central Committee, after she and about a dozen other finalists presented their credentials.

Simon was Quinn’s choice and he gave her a hug as soon as the vote was over.

"Sheila Simon is someone who I think is very special to this state," Quinn said.

Quinn also thanked Turner, who came in second in the Feb. 2 primary election and was supported by a busload of people who came down from Chicago for today’s meeting.

The winner needed to get 50 percent of the weighted vote cast by the Democratic State Central Committee members based on the votes cast in each congressional district in the Feb. 2 primary—a number equaling 959,522 votes.

Simon got 1,092,845 weighted votes from committee members to Turner’s 581,813.

Raja Krishnamoorthi, who ran and lost in the Democratic primary for comptroller and then switched his sights to lieutenant governor, got 56,999 weighted votes while Dirk Enger, a DuPage County Board member, got 27,733.

Michael Madigan, the state Democratic Party chairman and powerful Illinois House speaker, did not cast the weighted votes from his 3rd Congressional District on Chicago’s Southwest Side and suburbs. Madigan said he would have cast them if a second ballot was needed, but declined to say for whom he would have cast the votes.

Simon also was boosted when the weighted votes of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush were cast for her instead of Turner.

Some African-American politicians had warned Quinn could face a backlash from black voters for not endorsing Turner.

"I want to encourage people to still keep in mind the Democratic Party and what it stands for," Turner said after the vote. "And so, what happens today should not discourage people from voting, from participating in the process."

Turner acknowledged that it hurt to lose after a long battle, which included preparations for the primary campaign, the second place loss to Scott Lee Cohen, and the new hope when Cohen dropped out over his controversial past. "It may hurt a little bit…I’m prepared for this," Turner said.

"I’m glad it’s over. The committee made their selection and I will go forward."

Simon, who taught Turner’s son at Southern Illinois University, said she voted for Turner in the primary but said circumstances had changed with the lieutenant governor vacancy.

 “The leaders of the party had an opportunity to select a candidate based on what we know about the rest of the ticket and what’s going on now,” Simon said.

Quinn and Simon say her downstate roots will help balance a Chicago-centric ticket for the November general election, as well as bring pro-reform credentials in the first election since the ouster of Rod Blagojevich following corruption charges.

Earlier in the day, Quinn touted the experience advantage he said the Democrats would have over Republicans in the November election.

"I think Sheila Simon has more experience in her little finger than the other candidate from the other side," Quinn said at the Capitol.

Quinn’s barb was aimed at Jason Plummer, the 27-year-old GOP lieutenant governor nominee from Edwardsville. Plummer is a former Madison County Republican chairman who is an executive in his family’s lumber yard chain.

Simon, 49, is a former county assistant prosecutor, former member of the Carbondale City Council and works now as a law school teacher at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She lost a bid for Carbondale mayor several years ago.

"She’s a very accomplished person," Quinn said. "She’s done great things in her life and made a difference in the lives of a lot of other people.

Originally posted by Rick Pearson at 10:25 a.m.

Democratic leaders are meeting in Springfield today to select a running mate for Gov. Pat Quinn and more than half a dozen finalists get to make their case before the votes are cast by the 38-member Democratic State Central Committee.

Gov. Pat Quinn announced yesterday that he wants his colleagues to pick Sheila Simon, a former Carbondale councilwoman and daughter of the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Paul Simon. But state Rep. Art Turner of Chicago is also trying to sway the committee, arguing he should get the job because he came in second in the Feb. 2 primary for the Democratic nomination.

Dozens of Turner supporters arrived in a bus at the Springfield banquet hall before the 11 a.m. start of the meeting. Turner is African-American, and black political leaders have suggested Quinn risks snubbing a key Democratic constituency with his choice of Simon.

Quinn and Simon say her downstate roots while help balance a Chicago-centric ticket for the November general election, as well as brining pro-reform credentials in the first election since the ouster of Rod Blagojevich following corruption charges.

The vote of the 38-member committee is weighted to reflect how much of the primary vote was cast in each of the state’s 19 congressional districts.