When Governor Dan Walker was in office I was in town during the State Fair.
Probably for the State Fair.
I went into the press room and found a release from the Department of Local Governmental Affairs announcing that property tax multipliers would be frozen.
It was Friday afternoon and the mainly your male reporters were at the fairgrounds. Those were the days when young women were not wearing bras.
I was enraged and called the Governor.
Say what you will about how Walker governed (and I will in moment), but he made a pledge to the legislators that he would return calls from them within twenty-four hours.
I called because Algonquin Township Assessor Forrest B. Hare and I had spent almost a full night calculating how much State Aid to Education was misallocated because assessment levels were not equalized by the multipliers applied by state government.
About $89,000 million was going to school districts that did not deserve it.
Conversely, the same amount was being withheld from those–like McHenry County’s–that did.
Walker called on Saturday.
I expressed by disagreement and he said he would not change his decision.
There were no newspaper stories about this violation of state law.
Subsequently, I introduced an impeachment resolution for Frank Kirk, the Department Director.
It was the year impeachment hearings were taking place for President Richard Nixon.
House Speaker W. Robert Blair would not allow me to proceed, even though I had absolute evidence that Kirk, whom I started calling the “Chief Jerk.” was worthy of impeachment.
So, now we see President Joe Biden playing the same announcing the broad pardon of Anthony Fauci and House January 6th Committee members on a day when that news will be buried by Donald Trump’s Inauguration.
A fitting ending, perhaps, to a failed presidency.
