Nonetheless, Jeff spoke for two minutes to the board on the merits, ease and low-cost of becoming fiscally transparent.

Watch a video of Jeff’s presentation here, provided by Liberty Leader Adam Andrzejewski of FortheGoodofIllinois.org

The arrest of Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris may not strike many people as a surprise. Yet upon hearing U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald reveal the laundry list of the Governor’s criminal acts and injustices against Illinoisans, many must feel compelled to 1) take their state back from politicians who run on a platform of reform and then blatantly act in opposition to their promises; 2) enforce accountability in elected officials who currently operate behind a veil of anonymity; 3) end reckless spending and restore common-sense, good government principles; 4) and rebuild a shaken and soured public trust of elected officials serving in the offices of Illinois government.

Who will take a stand? 

The governor – and a likely long list of others that will follow as more information comes to light in this criminal case – has not fought for Illinois. Now is the time for citizens to fight for reform, and for elected officials to implement it. As a citizen, you can start in your own neighborhood, schools, township, city or village. If enough people take action at the local level, pressure will mount on state representatives. 

Where do we start? With transparency. 

As John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, recently remarked, “The Governor’s arrest is likely just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to corruption in Illinois. If there was ever a case for full government transparency, this is it. Illinois—and particularly “Crook County,” as it has become known—has become a national symbol of waste, fraud, abuse and corruption. It’s time to open the books in Illinois so that we can truly root out government corruption.”

After this monumental arrest, how can elected officials possibly say “no” to implementing transparency? Those at the state level should consider taking a serious ear to the alarm bells and step onto the path of reform by implementing transparency in government. The state already has transparency legislation, called the Illinois Accountability Portal (HB4765), introduced by Rep. Michael Tryon and unanimously passed in the House in April 2008. Unfortunately, the Senate Rules Committee keeps hitting the snooze button and the bill sits waiting for approval. 

The Illinois Policy Institute has consistently encouraged a movement towards greater transparency and accountability in Illinois, including reforms like the Accountability Portal, which would establish a comprehensive online transparency program for the state, along with all units of government receiving state funds. This transparency program would open up the books in one easy-access, searchable website—including every check written, every contractor paid, and every consultant hired. It would include all expenditures, with access to the details supporting such payments, their purpose, and who authorized the payment. A single, unified website would serve as a valuable resource for not only citizens, but for policy-makers as well. Second, the Institute supports forming an independent audit and sunshine commission, which would review all aspects of state spending with a focus on rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. 

Third, the Institute has had success at the local level in our state by partnering with volunteer activists to enact greater transparency in every level of local government, such as school districts, city councils, county boards, park districts, and public libraries. The Illinois Policy Institute lists all transparent local government entities in Illinois at www.openillinois.org. Some local government units in Illinois have laudably implemented transparency, such as Illinois Valley Community College and the City of Ottawa. Perhaps LaSalle County will be next and serve as a model of good government for other counties in Illinois to follow. 

“The Blagojevich arrest really brings it home: Illinois is a poster child for bad government. We need real reform now,” Tillman said. “Transparency is a widely popular, bipartisan reform that will inject much-needed sunshine into Illinois state government. Successful states around the nation are moving towards greater transparency. Illinois should do the same. It would serve as a win-win for both legislators and citizens—and stop the corruption cold.” 

The alarms calling for transparency have been ringing for some time, and now, a mega-alarm blares and pleads for Illinois’s elected officials to take a stand. Illinois citizens deserve better. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the Governor has taken us to a truly new low. Now Illinois must rise up and clean up, and the first step to putting us on that path begins with transparency. 

This article appeared originally in the December 15, 2008 edition of the Ottawa Times.

He was right on a great many things, from jesting that he and his associates had achieved a republic “if you can keep it,” to his statement that the only things certain in life are death and taxes.

And sometimes they’re the same thing, as people in the village of Country Club Hills are finding out.

The Neighborhood Star paper reports on the high property tax situation in Country Club Hills:

Farid “Fred” Ellian is considering moving his 8-year-old auto shop out of Country Club Hills and into Chicago.

He said the property taxes in Country Club Hills are making it difficult for his auto-repair business to stay afloat.

Taxes “kill you,” Ellian said.

The property taxes for Ellian’s Lightning Auto Repair business totalled almost $45,000 for 2007, which are paid this year. That’s up from almost $39,000 for 2006. 

I’ve written before on the property tax issue in Country Club Hills and how now is the perfect time for citizens to demand fiscal transparency (and for officials to grant it to show how they’re doing the best they can).

11:00-We’re still waiting for things to get going here…Public comment was supposed to begin at 10:30.

11:16-After a round of applause for Arne Duncan, the meeting has been called to order.

11:32-Amidst much self-patting on the back, board president Rufus Willimas just told us, “The strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the wolf.”

Post Meeting: We were asked to move from the press room to the actual board room around noon. The board room didn’t have cell phone reception, so I couldn’t blog anymore. Not to fret–we’ll have coverage from Jeff Singer’s presentation on this site shortly.

Paul Jacob tackles transparency in the endless federal bailouts in his column today, citing the estimated $7.7 trillion in taxpayer money that is being devoted to propping up failing banks, financial institutions and, possibly, automobile manufacturers. Even our recently-arrested governor Rod Blagojevich has expressed interest in acquiring some of this federal bailout cash (and a fictionalized account of Blago’s appearance on Capitol Hill was depicted in a skit on SNL last weekend).

Paul Jacob writes on bailout transparency:

Paul Kasriel, chief economist at Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp. says, “given that the Fed is taking on a huge amount of credit risk now, it would seem to me as a taxpayer there should be more transparency.”

With the recent Blagojevich corruption case, the need for transparency in state spending and Illinois politics is  clearer than ever. Find the article here.

The News-Gazette reports on the Urbana transparency vote:

A resolution stating the city’s intention to post a number of budget and finance documents on the Internet is coming up for a vote Monday night, and it’s likely to be close…

Documents the resolution calls for posting include the annual budget; the “detailed trial,” which lists the date, amount and description of every payment of city funds except where the disclosure is prohibited by law; the comprehensive annual financial report; the annual treasurer’s report, which lists the total amount of funds paid to each vendor in excess of $2,500 and a listing of all city wages paid the previous year; the budget forecast, which shows a comparison of actual spending against budgeted line items; and a copy of all contracts entered into by the city.

If you’re in or around Urbana, make your voice heard on this important vote. If the council approves the measure, Urbana will push Champaign County that much higher in the rankings of the most transparent counties in Illinois. Kara wrote a couple of weeks ago how Champaign Co. was found to be better than most Illinois counties in terms of transparency.

The Governor’s scandal has caused a flurry of activity and made some people even question the mental health of Blagojevich. That’s pretty bad when people can’t think of anything else but mental illness to make sense of someone’s actions.

What are you going to do about this, and what are you going to do about cleaning up Illinois in general? Everyone needs to pick up broom and start sweeping.

Today David Yepsen wrote in the Des Moines Register about Blagojevich and our state’s reputation for corrupt government. Yepsen also mentioned Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s remarks to him about how closely tied clean government is to economic growth. This point can’t ring any truer, and hits right at home for Illinoisans.

Yepsen had some good points (in bold) Illinoisans should consider:

Political corruption occurs when politics becomes a way of doing business. Instead of political office being seen as a way to serve citizens, it is seen as a path to personal profit. Use of governmental power becomes a way to get ahead. It is sometimes tolerated by voters because “it works” and is “just the way things are done here.”

Don’t tolerate it!

That’s why law enforcement, media people and other public servants need to be vigilant before corruption explodes like it has in this case. There must be new ethics laws, new checks and balances, more transparency, more crusading journalists and fearless prosecutors.

Let’s get to work! Implementing transparency is the first step to cleaning up Illinois.

Most of all, voters have to pay attention. Saying “They’re all alike” is a glib phrase, but it’s short of the mark. Someone’s going to be governor of Illinois. It’s up to voters to sort the honorable from the sleazeballs.

Take responsibility and become part of the process towards a better Illinois. If you would like to help clean up Illinois, contact Richard Lorenc, our Director of Outreach, at richard@illinoispolicyinstitute.org.