You might say that Chicago’s City Council chamber is a high crime district. Since 1973 a staggering 38 Chicago Aldermen have been arrested, indicted, and convicted of a wide range of felonies and misdeeds. One more, Danny Solis, wore a wire for the FBI for TWO YEARS while supposedly serving his constituents. His evidence helped convict the longest serving and arguably the most powerful politician in Chicago, Ed Burke (who will go before Federal Judge Virginia Kendall on June 24 for a sentencing hearing, a hearing where I am seeking to give testimony).
Another three Aldermen were indicted after they left office, including the notorious Ed Vrdolyak, who led the racist opposition to Mayor Harold Washington along with Burke. And another three were indicted but died before trial.
If you have been following my work over the years, you know that I call myself a “Public Defender” and I have been a fierce opponent of privatization. I believe in government – in the role of government to provide great service and opportunity for the people.
I have spent my life in the nonprofit sector, sometimes called the Third Sector, and have built or led 14 nonprofit enterprises in the arts, community development, and civic engagement. I have taught many classes on nonprofit management and leadership at a number of local universities. I have trained hundreds of nonprofit practitioners in dozens of skill-building workshops.
But I do not believe nonprofits can get America out of the crisis she finds herself in. You can not charity your way out of insurrection, hunger, inequality or vanishing Black household wealth. Only government – strong, honest, and focused government can cure those ills. After all, many of our persistent social problems CAME from government actions or inactions.
So, I want to give MORE public money to government. Or, to put it another way, at the federal level I want dollars to be shifted – from the Defense and intelligence budgets to housing, health, the environment, and the arts. I seek the same re-ordering of local budgets – hence my decade plus in the TIF mines, trying to educate people about that corrupt use of local property taxes.
But, you might say, with all the corruption we see in government, is that really a great payoff for the public?
I support the idea and operation OF government, but I strongly disapprove of the jobs that many of our GOVERNORS are doing. I have long advocated for people from the grassroots to run for local office as servant leaders and champions of justice, equity, creativity, and peace.
I would demand that people in public life, especially our local elected officials step and pledge themselves to a sort of compact with the public – with us. If they did so, it would increase our trust IN government. If they did so, then they would have a stronger claim on enlarging and improving the public sector.
1. Elected officials take no campaign cash from companies or unions – just human beings. Taking someone’s money puts you in debt to them. Money grants access and priority. The simple solution for candidates is to declare themselves beholden to the people who elect them. Period. There have been too many scandals with corrupt unions run by white men to name here. Many Chicago construction and trades related unions have long histories of exclusion and feather-bedding. Many local unions have been in bed with the Democratic Machine for decades and regularly sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to corrupt and indicted public officials such as Ed Burke and Michael Madigan. Where there is no corruption, I still say taking a union’s money – especially a union that represents public sector employees – is a conflict of interest. As a local elected official, you will be deciding and voting on contracts WITH those unions. Only the public’s widest interest should be motivating elected officials in bargaining with any union. I am sure many of my progressive allies will disagree with this provision. If want the public to believe that elected officials are ONLY serving the interests OF the public, there is no better way to earn the trust of the public.
2. Elected officials perform no other job other than representing their constituents. No more lawyering, consulting, and holding corporate jobs on the side. One person, one job. If you can’t make ends meet on a legislator’s salary (Aldermen start at $115,560, state legislators start at $89,250, Cook County Commissioners start at $85,000), then do not run. I would extend this ban to the spouses of legislators, but that may be hard to track or enforce. We have so many instances of local elected officials also serving in other government positions – so called double and even triple dippers. There are so many cases of elected doing consulting work and lobbying work for clients who do major business WITH government, that it would fill a book to name them all. From WTTW News:
Jurors have convicted the so-called “ComEd Four” in their high-profile political bribery case, finding they worked to corruptly influence former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist Mike McClain, retired ComEd executive John Hooker and ex-City Club of Chicago president and former ComEd consultant Jay Doherty were each found guilty Tuesday afternoon of bribery conspiracy, bribery and willfully falsifying the company’s books. “The state of Illinois unfortunately has a deep seeded public corruption problem — corruption that erodes and eats away at people’s confidence in their government and in their elected officials,” Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual said. “Rooting out and prosecuting those who participate in corruption has been, is and will continue to be a top priority of the United States Attorney’s Office… Prosecutors argued the four did this through a number of means, including paying Madigan allies as ComEd subcontractors, who in turn would actually do little or no work for the utility company. They also allegedly offered a lucrative contract to a law firm run by Madigan ally Victor Reyes and fought to get Juan Ochoa appointed to the ComEd board of directors at the former speaker’s behest.
Commonwealth Edison was then fined $46 million by the SEC over the bribery scandal, and they also paid $200 million to the federal government as part of the corruption case. Guess who covered THOSE expenses? We, the rate-payers, that’s who. The scandal has taken down a number of elected officials and the legendary Michael Madigan, arguably the most powerful Democrat in Illinois for decades, has resigned his office (as well as being Chair of the Illinois Democratic Party) and is indicted and awaiting trial. If public officials want to convince me that they have no other interest than serving me, do not work for anyone else while you are representing me.
3. Term Limit Yourself – I did not used to believe in term limits, but after seeing so many elderly people stay in office across the land, people who have lost touch with their voters and who seem completely unable to comprehend the needs of their constituents, I now feel that term limits are needed. Until they are mandatory, I would ask electeds at the local level to limit themselves to no more than three terms. Under those conditions, I would ask electeds to work all out for the common good – do what you can in the time allocated and then move on and make way for new leaders.
4. Listen, Learn, and Lead. In that order. If public officials want to earn and keep the trust OF the public they serve, then they should spend more time listening TO their constituents. Hold town meetings regularly. Have open office hours. Use the Internet for polling and listening sessions. Work with your local leaders and create advisory councils for different issues and geographies of your district. Here I would err on the side of the average person and not the business community. I am not saying that electeds need to ignore or be hostile to the businesses in their districts – just that those business already have instruments and agencies speaking and lobbying for them.
Gallup’s annual update on trust in government institutions and actors finds Americans have the most faith in local government (67%) and the least faith in the legislative branch of the federal government, or Congress (32%).
This compact with elected officials is aimed at local representatives. I will meditate on the compact that might be made by people seeking to be Governors, Senators, and Presidents. If you have anything to add to this list of trust-builders, please email me at tom@tresser.com.
Tom, I'm privileged to have been involved in a few "Tresser Enterprises" in my life. I've learned a lot from you and you know we're all grateful to have had you and your confident smile at our side during the toughest times.
After all of the political fallout we've seen from corruption, there remains a massive concern, perhaps the largest, that I hope you can write about. There are so many compromised officials throughout our generation -- and the ones who were found out are probably only a portion of those who are actually on the take. Given this situation, vast swaths of the policy landscape -- many if not most of the laws of our state and city -- have been compromised in turn.
This means that every day, you and I and all Chicagoans will continue to experience a lifetime of inconveniences and difficulties due to the lasting "policy implications" made by these compromised officials on behalf of their clout.
These problems don't go away when the officials are finally put behind bars -- they live on, often forever: selling our streets for parking meter rights permanently impacts revenue opportunities; the TIF (and SSA) circus continues unabated and has even gotten worse; stolen public land remains in the hands of private interests in perpetuity; special zoning and building favors affect quality of life for neighbors for decades to come. I'd like to see a survey of the extent of this damage due to compromised officials who forgot long ago whom they are appointed to represent.
re term limits: I concluded that the real need is term limits for leaders. Some stsrt out with that pledge, then, when the time comes change the rule. I'm thinking specidically of GOP Houjse leader (small "l" deliberate)Tom Cross.
The one financing problem you don't address is the advantage your plan gives to those who are independently rich.
The Feds had a scheme in the `1990's by which one could deduct from Federal taxes up to a $50 political contributi9on. That is worthy of re-enactment, I think.
I was told thar Madigan hung out in the Carpenters Union hall (through someone who worked there, I believe0.