McHenry County Blog

The following was written by my former colleague Penny Pullen. She serves as state president for Eagle Forum of Illinois and is active in Republicans of Wheeling Township.

“No man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.”

Penny Pullen

These true words were written in a 19th-century New York court decision, and they are still true today.

It is of some comfort that we have reached the midpoint in the General Assembly’s election-year session without yet being clobbered by a tax increase.

But no Illinois citizen can afford to assume our lawmakers will not yet commit what would appear to us as a rash act of political suicide. A lot of factors go into the collective decisions that beset us from Springfield.

Here are some realities that “we the people” do not automatically grasp:

• The hallways, chambers and offices of a Capitol building are constructed with a unique brand of highly resistant insulation. (It’s only a façade, but it’s convincing to those who enter the cocoon of a legislative session, and too seldom is it penetrated by an aroused citizenry.)
• Lobbyists not only have access to lawmakers to present the unique point of view they are paid to offer; they also have built relationships with the senators and representatives over sometimes years or even decades. (How many ordinary citizens have even bothered to meet their elected lawmakers, let alone developed a relationship?)
• Special interest groups dominate the campaign fundraising for those who hold the power to aid, abet or hinder their particular interest. (Have ordinary citizens shown themselves helpful when the going gets rough, or have they sat out the necessary process of offering financial backing to a candidate who’s doing the right thing?) Campaign contributions are no guarantee that a lawmaker will vote in line with the contributor, but they certainly and understandably open the door to friendly conversation, which can be just one step away from persuasion.
• Gov. Quinn is determined to raise our taxes, and he can wield power to get what he wants. (It’s up to “we the people,” for whom he has always claimed to be speaking, to make clear that this year, on this question, Pat Quinn does not speak for us!)
• Unique tactics are available to the governor, and he is using them: Never before have legislators’ landlords been stiffed by the state for legislative office rent, making the legislators themselves logical participants in the “Enough-already – let’s-raise-taxes-to-ease-the-pain” coalition. (Yes, that looks to the ordinary person like an oxymoron, but the governor is inflicting pain on certain segments – like the government schools lobby – for the express purpose of getting them to beg for a tax increase.)

Having been an elected State Representative for 16 years, I can tell you this: Anything can happen when the legislature is in session; it doesn’t have to make sense to “we the people.”

But, an aroused, engaged citizenry – even if only for these critical days and weeks (though sustained engagement is so much better!) – can produce enough angst in a re-election-driven legislator to bring him to his senses.

The single worst thing a citizen can do right now, though, is to assume that, this being an election year, we’re safe from legislators doing dumb things.

That New York judge knew what he was talking about.

Pressure will fill the House and Senate chambers in Springfield all the way to adjournment, be that May 31 or July 15; the real question is, whose pressure?

Will pressure from the voters exceed pressure from the usual sources of power?

It’s up to “we the people.”

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Penny Pullen served in Springfield from 1977-1993 as an elected State Representative and was a member of the House Republican Leadership from 1983-1993. She authored the legislation which, in 1983, repealed the state inheritance tax and was the leading Springfield lawmaker on pro-life reforms and on public health strategies to contain the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform has released a report on lobbying expenses by units of local government.

I’ve extracted those from McHenry County and present them below:

Carpentersville School District 300
2006-07 $28,347 (Hinshaw & Culbertson)

Elgin Community College
2006-07 $47,500 (Advanced Practical Solutions)
2007-08 $60,000 (Advanced Practical Solutions)

Harper College
2006-07 $84,000 (Advanced Practical Solutions)
2007-08 $126,000 (Advanced Practical Solutions – $60,000; Alfred G. Ronan Ltd – $50,000; Michelle Teresa Olson – $6,000; Zack Stamp Ltd – $10,000)

Huntley
2006-07 $45,000 (Morreale Public Affairs Group)
2007-08 $65,507 (Morreale Public Affairs Group)

Johnsburg
2006-07 N.A. (Advanced Practical Solutions)
2007-08 $35,000 (Advanced Practical Solutions)

And who are these lobbying firms?

Advanced Practical Solutions
Milan Petrovic, Shqipe “Sheri” Osmani, and Matthew R. Pickering were the exclusive lobbyists; the firm also reported contractual relationships with All-Circo, Government Navigation Group, Roger Marquardt, and two other firms. The firm also reported Dan Shomon, Fidelity Consulting Group, Illinois Governmental Consulting Group, and Roger Marquardt, as clients.

Morreale Public Affairs Group
Kim Morreale was the exclusive lobbyist.

Olson, Michelle Teresa
Michelle Teresa Olson is the exclusive lobbyist. The firm also listed Cullen & Assoc as a client.

Ronan, Alfred G., Ltd.
Alfred G. Ronan and Cheryl Axley were the exclusive lobbyists. The firm listed Miguel Santiago and Thomas J. Walsh as clients

Stamp, Zack LTD
Zack Stamp, Kevin McFadden and Steve W. Kinion were the exclusive lobbyists. The firm also reported contractual relationships with B-P Consultants, Cullen & Assoc., Zack Stamp Consulting, and one other.

And long-time Quaker Oats lobbyist Tom Roeser, who writes a quite insightful blog, knows that Mayor Richard Daley’s brother Bill was a lobbyist.

Whether he bothered to register as a lobbyist or not, he exerted political influence on behalf of SBC during the first year of Governor Rod Blagojevich’s administration to pass a bill lickity split. And Roeser saw him often in Washington.

Here’s most of his biting commentary:

“In a TV ad, John McCain listed Bill Daley as a lobbyist which has drawn a shout of anger and resentment from Daley since he has never been registered as a lobbyist. The shout he gave off was that of a wounded animal, unjustly shot at, in a forest.

“Dear me, as one who went to Washington weekly as a lobbyist for Quaker Oats for 27 years and would frequently see Bill Daley on the early morning UAL or American Airlines 7:30 a.m. Red Eye, I am utterly aghast that all the while, big firms were sending Bill Daley to D. C. because of his expertise on the technical end of Big Business…and not because his name was Daley, that he was the mayor’s son and mayor’s brother but because he was so expert in business economics. All the time I thought it was because he was an expert at plying his trade with Democratic power brokers who would recall his surname with fondness.

“That is amazing to me and I apologize fully to Mr. Daley since I…with my cynical Chicago upbringing…figured that a top son of the old Mayor might be hired by SBC and the others for his savvy with Democratic pols.

“All the times I saw him chomping steaks with Democratic power lords at Morton’s of Chicago on the edge of Georgetown and tippling drinks at Hill fund-raisers he was sharing his great knowledge of the economy and his scientific expertise with the telecommunications industry without any political connection…and was not seeking favor with the power people which is what a lobbyist is supposed to do.

“How I misjudged Daley all these years!

“Indeed, John McCain should be ashamed of himself for saying that Daley was lobbyist.

“Ergo: Daley was NOT a lobbyist or applied pressure or gratification to lawmakers in return for favors because Daley never registered as a lobbyist!”

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This photo of Tom Roeser was taken at the Union League Club at a February, 2007, meeting with then-presidential hopeful John McCain.

And long-time Quaker Oats lobbyist Tom Roeser, who writes a quite insightful blog, knows that Mayor Richard Daley’s brother Bill was a lobbyist.

Whether he bothered to register as a lobbyist or not, he exerted political influence on behalf of SBC during the first year of Governor Rod Blagojevich’s administration to pass a bill lickity split. And Roeser saw him often in Washington.

Here’s most of his biting commentary:

“In a TV ad, John McCain listed Bill Daley as a lobbyist which has drawn a shout of anger and resentment from Daley since he has never been registered as a lobbyist. The shout he gave off was that of a wounded animal, unjustly shot at, in a forest.

“Dear me, as one who went to Washington weekly as a lobbyist for Quaker Oats for 27 years and would frequently see Bill Daley on the early morning UAL or American Airlines 7:30 a.m. Red Eye, I am utterly aghast that all the while, big firms were sending Bill Daley to D. C. because of his expertise on the technical end of Big Business…and not because his name was Daley, that he was the mayor’s son and mayor’s brother but because he was so expert in business economics. All the time I thought it was because he was an expert at plying his trade with Democratic power brokers who would recall his surname with fondness.

“That is amazing to me and I apologize fully to Mr. Daley since I…with my cynical Chicago upbringing…figured that a top son of the old Mayor might be hired by SBC and the others for his savvy with Democratic pols.

“All the times I saw him chomping steaks with Democratic power lords at Morton’s of Chicago on the edge of Georgetown and tippling drinks at Hill fund-raisers he was sharing his great knowledge of the economy and his scientific expertise with the telecommunications industry without any political connection…and was not seeking favor with the power people which is what a lobbyist is supposed to do.

“How I misjudged Daley all these years!

“Indeed, John McCain should be ashamed of himself for saying that Daley was lobbyist.

“Ergo: Daley was NOT a lobbyist or applied pressure or gratification to lawmakers in return for favors because Daley never registered as a lobbyist!”

= = = = =
This photo of Tom Roeser was taken at the Union League Club at a February, 2007, meeting with then-presidential hopeful John McCain.

Woodstock lawyer-lobbyist Jeff Ladd finished his testimony on Monday and didn’t say enough new to make the nightly TV news.

He ended Thursday’s time on the witness by admitting he was a “Lobbyist” with a “capital ‘L’” and that he had hired Chicago Democratic ward committeeman Ed Kelly to be “the small ‘L,’” as the Chicago Tribune’s Rezko Blog put it Friday.

Monday the same Tribune source told about Ladd’s meeting defendant Tony Rezko for an October 2003 breakfast at which Rezko said virtually nothing.

Ladd was trying to figure out what Rezko’s role was in the Mercy Hospital licensing, as well with other clients before the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.

Rezko’s silence led to the hiring of Chicago Democrat Kelly for $80,000.

Ladd’s characterization of the meeting:

“It was significant to me because of what did not get said. I would have thought I would have heard Mr. Rezko say to me, ‘I don’t get involved in these matters, why are you talking to me?’ … Or he might have asked me some questions about these applications. The fact that he said neither indicated to me he was a blank slate and I had to go further [and hire Ed Kelly],”

the Tribune blog reported.

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The picture, again, is of Jeff Ladd and Ken Koehler at a Republican Party event. It comes from the McHenry County Republican Central Committee web site.

Woodstock lawyer-lobbyist Jeff Ladd finished his testimony on Monday and didn’t say enough new to make the nightly TV news.

He ended Thursday’s time on the witness by admitting he was a “Lobbyist” with a “capital ‘L’” and that he had hired Chicago Democratic ward committeeman Ed Kelly to be “the small ‘L,’” as the Chicago Tribune’s Rezko Blog put it Friday.

Monday the same Tribune source told about Ladd’s meeting defendant Tony Rezko for an October 2003 breakfast at which Rezko said virtually nothing.

Ladd was trying to figure out what Rezko’s role was in the Mercy Hospital licensing, as well with other clients before the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.

Rezko’s silence led to the hiring of Chicago Democrat Kelly for $80,000.

Ladd’s characterization of the meeting:

“It was significant to me because of what did not get said. I would have thought I would have heard Mr. Rezko say to me, ‘I don’t get involved in these matters, why are you talking to me?’ … Or he might have asked me some questions about these applications. The fact that he said neither indicated to me he was a blank slate and I had to go further [and hire Ed Kelly],”

the Tribune blog reported.

= = = = =
The picture, again, is of Jeff Ladd and Ken Koehler at a Republican Party event. It comes from the McHenry County Republican Central Committee web site.

First a disclaimer: I worked closely with Don Synder, a former county sheriff, when he was Director of the Department of Corrections under former Governor George Ryan. He was the most responsive Director that I worked with on the Prison Reform Committee. One of the men charged along with Synder is John J. Robinson of Barrington Hills.

What follows is the press release from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald:

CHICAGO – A former Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), who allegedly received approximately $50,000 in illegal kickbacks, and two lobbyists accused of paying him the kickbacks while representing vendors that had multi-million-dollar contracts with the state prison agency, were indicted today on federal charges. The defendants, Donald N. Snyder, Jr., who was IDOC director from 1999 until early 2003, and lobbyists John J. Robinson, a former Undersheriff of Cook County, and Larry E. Sims were charged in a six-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Snyder, 52, of downstate Pittsfield, Il., allegedly received the kickbacks while he served in the state cabinet during the administration of former Gov. George Ryan. Today’s indictment stems from an investigation that grew out of the Operation Safe Road probe of corruption during Ryan’s terms as Governor and, earlier, Secretary of State. Snyder, who was appointed by Ryan, had approval authority over the award of millions of dollars in contracts to vendors, including health care providers, who provided inmate health care services in IDOC institutions.

Robinson, 59, of Barrington Hills, who was Undersheriff of Cook County from 1991 until 2001, also worked between 1996 and 2003 as a paid consultant/ lobbyist for several vendors and/or institutions seeking to promote and develop their business with IDOC. Robinson formed J. Patrick Noll (JPN), which developed and promoted correctional business on behalf of clients, including Vendor A, an Illinois health care company that was awarded millions of dollars in contracts to provide health care services at Illinois prisons during Snyder’s tenure at IDOC. Under a 1996 contract with Vendor A, JPN was initially paid $2,500 a month, plus five percent of Vendor A’s income from Illinois corrections contracts, with a provision that the monthly retainer would rise to $4,500 a month when Vendor A’s Illinois prisons contracts exceeded $4 million, the indictment states.

Sims, 58, of Pleasant Plains, Il., near Springfield, was a lobbyist for several vendors, including Vendor B, a Pennsylvania health care company that was trying to promote and develop its corrections business and was awarded millions of dollars in contracts to provide healthcare services to IDOC inmates during Snyder’s tenure.

Snyder and Robinson were each charged with five counts of mail fraud, and Sims was charged with one count of perjury for allegedly lying to a grand jury during the investigation. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of $50,000 from Snyder. All three defendants will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

“As a top state official, Mr. Snyder was bound by various rules governing his acceptance of gifts or favors of any kind. He was forbidden from receiving cash kickbacks from anyone, much less from lobbyists representing companies doing millions of dollars in business with IDOC,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “The indictment alleges that he brazenly violated the duty he owed to the state and its citizens to perform his job honestly.”

Mr. Fitzgerald announced the charges with Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Thomas P. Brady, Postal Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Alvin Patton, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division; and Michelle McVicker, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, all in Chicago.

According to the indictment, Robinson and Sims were involved in separate kickback deals with Snyder, but in both instances – in consideration for the cash payments – Snyder allegedly gave each of them information and assistance on issues and concerns they raised on behalf of their various vendor clients. To conceal the scheme, Snyder allegedly filed false Statements of Economic Interest with the state, failing to disclose the cash payments he received from Robinson and Sims, and Sims allegedly filed false lobbyist registration statements, failing to disclose any of the money he paid to Snyder. All three allegedly lied to federal agents investigating whether Robinson and Sims had given anything of value to Snyder.

Regarding the payments by Sims to Snyder, the indictment alleges that in late 1999 or early 2000, Snyder and Sims discussed the compensation that Sims received from Vendor B, and Sims agreed to pay Snyder a portion of the monthly fee that Sims received from that client. Beginning in early 2000 and continuing until approximately the end of 2002, Sims gave cash to Snyder each month, totaling approximately $30,000, after Sims received his monthly fee from Vendor B.

Regarding the payments by Robinson to Snyder, the indictment alleges that in late 1999 or early 2000, Snyder agreed to accept cash derived from the consulting or lobbying fees that Robinson earned from their representation of one or more vendors doing business with IDOC. From early 2000 until December 2002, Robinson allegedly paid kickbacks to Snyder totaling approximately $20,000, which amounted to about one-fourth of the monthly fees that Robinson’s company, JPN, received from Vendor A. Robinson paid Snyder periodically when they met at various corrections-related meetings or events, the indictment alleges.

The perjury count against Sims alleges that on May 5, 2005, he lied when he testified before a grand jury that he never gave Snyder any cash gifts, and that he could not remember if he ever gave Snyder any gifts at all other than a Green Bay Packers sweatshirt on one occasion. Sims, in fact, had given Snyder cash kickbacks derived from lobbying fees that Sims received from Vendor B.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel Levin and Laurie Barsella.

If convicted, Snyder and Robinson each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison on one count of mail fraud and 20 years in prison on each of the other four counts of mail fraud, and Sims faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted of perjury. All three defendants also face a maximum fine of $250,000 on each count. The Court, however, would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

First a disclaimer: I worked closely with Don Synder, a former county sheriff, when he was Director of the Department of Corrections under former Governor George Ryan. He was the most responsive Director that I worked with on the Prison Reform Committee. One of the men charged along with Synder is John J. Robinson of Barrington Hills.

What follows is the press release from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald:

CHICAGO – A former Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), who allegedly received approximately $50,000 in illegal kickbacks, and two lobbyists accused of paying him the kickbacks while representing vendors that had multi-million-dollar contracts with the state prison agency, were indicted today on federal charges. The defendants, Donald N. Snyder, Jr., who was IDOC director from 1999 until early 2003, and lobbyists John J. Robinson, a former Undersheriff of Cook County, and Larry E. Sims were charged in a six-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Snyder, 52, of downstate Pittsfield, Il., allegedly received the kickbacks while he served in the state cabinet during the administration of former Gov. George Ryan. Today’s indictment stems from an investigation that grew out of the Operation Safe Road probe of corruption during Ryan’s terms as Governor and, earlier, Secretary of State. Snyder, who was appointed by Ryan, had approval authority over the award of millions of dollars in contracts to vendors, including health care providers, who provided inmate health care services in IDOC institutions.

Robinson, 59, of Barrington Hills, who was Undersheriff of Cook County from 1991 until 2001, also worked between 1996 and 2003 as a paid consultant/ lobbyist for several vendors and/or institutions seeking to promote and develop their business with IDOC. Robinson formed J. Patrick Noll (JPN), which developed and promoted correctional business on behalf of clients, including Vendor A, an Illinois health care company that was awarded millions of dollars in contracts to provide health care services at Illinois prisons during Snyder’s tenure at IDOC. Under a 1996 contract with Vendor A, JPN was initially paid $2,500 a month, plus five percent of Vendor A’s income from Illinois corrections contracts, with a provision that the monthly retainer would rise to $4,500 a month when Vendor A’s Illinois prisons contracts exceeded $4 million, the indictment states.

Sims, 58, of Pleasant Plains, Il., near Springfield, was a lobbyist for several vendors, including Vendor B, a Pennsylvania health care company that was trying to promote and develop its corrections business and was awarded millions of dollars in contracts to provide healthcare services to IDOC inmates during Snyder’s tenure.

Snyder and Robinson were each charged with five counts of mail fraud, and Sims was charged with one count of perjury for allegedly lying to a grand jury during the investigation. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of $50,000 from Snyder. All three defendants will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

“As a top state official, Mr. Snyder was bound by various rules governing his acceptance of gifts or favors of any kind. He was forbidden from receiving cash kickbacks from anyone, much less from lobbyists representing companies doing millions of dollars in business with IDOC,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “The indictment alleges that he brazenly violated the duty he owed to the state and its citizens to perform his job honestly.”

Mr. Fitzgerald announced the charges with Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Thomas P. Brady, Postal Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Alvin Patton, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division; and Michelle McVicker, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, all in Chicago.

According to the indictment, Robinson and Sims were involved in separate kickback deals with Snyder, but in both instances – in consideration for the cash payments – Snyder allegedly gave each of them information and assistance on issues and concerns they raised on behalf of their various vendor clients. To conceal the scheme, Snyder allegedly filed false Statements of Economic Interest with the state, failing to disclose the cash payments he received from Robinson and Sims, and Sims allegedly filed false lobbyist registration statements, failing to disclose any of the money he paid to Snyder. All three allegedly lied to federal agents investigating whether Robinson and Sims had given anything of value to Snyder.

Regarding the payments by Sims to Snyder, the indictment alleges that in late 1999 or early 2000, Snyder and Sims discussed the compensation that Sims received from Vendor B, and Sims agreed to pay Snyder a portion of the monthly fee that Sims received from that client. Beginning in early 2000 and continuing until approximately the end of 2002, Sims gave cash to Snyder each month, totaling approximately $30,000, after Sims received his monthly fee from Vendor B.

Regarding the payments by Robinson to Snyder, the indictment alleges that in late 1999 or early 2000, Snyder agreed to accept cash derived from the consulting or lobbying fees that Robinson earned from their representation of one or more vendors doing business with IDOC. From early 2000 until December 2002, Robinson allegedly paid kickbacks to Snyder totaling approximately $20,000, which amounted to about one-fourth of the monthly fees that Robinson’s company, JPN, received from Vendor A. Robinson paid Snyder periodically when they met at various corrections-related meetings or events, the indictment alleges.

The perjury count against Sims alleges that on May 5, 2005, he lied when he testified before a grand jury that he never gave Snyder any cash gifts, and that he could not remember if he ever gave Snyder any gifts at all other than a Green Bay Packers sweatshirt on one occasion. Sims, in fact, had given Snyder cash kickbacks derived from lobbying fees that Sims received from Vendor B.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel Levin and Laurie Barsella.

If convicted, Snyder and Robinson each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison on one count of mail fraud and 20 years in prison on each of the other four counts of mail fraud, and Sims faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted of perjury. All three defendants also face a maximum fine of $250,000 on each count. The Court, however, would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.