Illinois transparency headlines from 2008
From Sunshine Review
This article is a list of transparency related news from Illinois in 2008. For the most current news, please see Illinois transparency headlines.
Village releases bids
December 24, 2008: Oak Park reversed its decision to withhold the results of a public bid process to privatize the village's streets division.
The public bidding process is protected by sunshine laws to keep the process transparent. The companies bidding on village contracts and their bid amounts are intended to be public information to prevent corruption.
Nevertheless, the village's lawyers told Oak Leaves it was not allowed access to the information, which was read publicly at a previous open meeting, until the Village Board had reviewed it. A Freedom of Information Act request was effectively denied on Dec. 16. Read the full article here.
Illinois Gov. Blagojevich vows to fight
Glen Ellyn officials used village phones to text each other
December 13, 2008: Two Glen Ellyn department heads who faced possible demotion for "excessive workplace interaction" used their village-issued cellular phones to send thousands of text messages to each other during an eight-month period, records show.
Still, several village leaders say they want no disciplinary action taken against Police Chief Phil Norton and Planning and Development Director Staci Hulseberg. Read the full article here.
Illinois Gov. Blagojevich arrested on corruption charges
NIU proton cancer center says it's immune to disclosure laws
December 9, 2008: Although it is spending $13.3 million worth of federal grants and its executive director is drawing a salary from a public university, officials at the Northern Illinois Proton Therapy Treatment and Research Center say it is a private enterprise not obligated to follow public disclosure and other laws that apply to taxing bodies.
Executive Director John Lewis, who also serves as an associate vice president at Northern Illinois University, said because the proton therapy cancer treatment center is organized as a not-for-profit limited liability corporation that is separate from the school, it is exempt from the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Read the full article here.
Financial mismanagement caused Illinois' backlog of bills
November 30, 2008: Recently, state Comptroller Dan Hynes reported that the backlog of state bills has reached over $4 billion.
Several vendors have threatened to stop providing services to the state if they cannot be paid on timely basis.
Many Medicaid patients are finding fewer and fewer providers are willing to give them health care.
Illinois is in a full-blown fiscal crisis that puts IndyMac to shame. Read the full column here.
Even with new law, IL paper denied public records
Appeals court agrees Blagojevich must release subpoenas
November 20, 2008: A state appeals court has agreed with a ruling that Gov. Rod Blagojevich must make public federal subpoenas received by his administration.
The legal decision, which was handed down Wednesday, upheld a trial court ruling that called on Blagojevich to release the subpoenas sought under a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Better Government Association. Read the full article here.
Crime trends, data a public discussion
November 19, 2008: By speaking in closed session about crime trends and trying to prevent documents from being made public, Oak Park may have broken the Illinois Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act.
Discussions about crime trends and data cannot take place in closed session and documentation should be obtainable through the Freedom of Information Act, according to experts who deal with sunshine laws.
However, Oak Park officials have remained quiet about information suggesting street gangs are moving into the village's borders. Read the full article here.
Illinois Press Association Spotlights FOI Violators With 'Worsty' Awards
November 17, 2008: The Illinois Press Association (IPA) is dead serious about its annual
"Worsty" awards that seek to embarrass government officials who ignore the state's Sunshine Law -- but a couple of incidents on this year's roster reads like proposals for comedy sketches.
Take Jackson County’s supervisor of assessments -- please. She told the Murphysboro American the reason she has never posted the required notices of annual meetings is because she didn’t want a political rival showing up. Read the full article here.
Public access watch is everybody's job; you can help
November 15, 2008: When a government body tries to shut citizens out of a meeting that should be open, that is a threat to public awareness.
When a public official refuses to hand over a government record that the law says should be accessible, that is a threat to public awareness.
And newspapers shouldn't put up with that. Read the full column here.
Our Opinion: FOIA needs reform -- now
November 12, 2008: How many stories have to be written about Illinois’ broken Freedom of Information Act before Attorney General Lisa Madigan proposes an overhaul?
The attorney general has received some well-deserved accolades for her work trying to open up government under the current law. Her public-access office, designed to help citizens get access to public records, was a welcome innovation — five years ago. Read the full editorial here.
IL State Police refuse FOIA requests, ask high fees
Feds indict insider with ties to Blagojevich
Residents use public info law with mixed success
October 23, 2008: Four months ago, Hinsdale resident Joe Craig stopped getting his mail.
The Illinois Freedom of Information Act requires public bodies such as villages and school districts to grant residents access to public records, which can be any document, such as a report, letter, e-mail, photographs or record the public body has prepared.
Because he has a master's in public administration, Craig's FOIA request was easy to file, because he knew exactly what he was looking for. But Hinsdale resident Adam Petravicius didn't have such an easy time with his first FOIA request. Read the full article here.
Gov. defies taxpayers on health program
October 23, 2008: First, Gov. Rod Blagojevich gave out state-subsidized health care without permission.
Now, he won’t tell taxpayers how many people are participating, how much tax money has been spent, or even which state account he’s using to keep funds for the program.
The Department of Healthcare and Family Services’ rejection of The Associated Press’ request under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act amplifies the mystery surrounding Blagojevich’s FamilyCare program and the administration’s reputation for secrecy after promising open government. Read the full article here.
Aldermen slam city's publicity spending
October 20, 2008: In the first day of City Council hearings on Mayor Richard Daley 2009 budget proposal, several aldermen questioned why the administration spends millions of dollars to get out its message to the public.
The aldermen today cited a recent Tribune article detailing how City Hall spends $4.7 million on salaries for more than 50 public information officials and has paid millions of dollars more to public relations firms. Read the full article here.
Village in violation of public notice laws
October 9, 2008: After filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Village of Frankfort on Sept. 3, Frankfort Station staff research found the Village in violation of Illinois statutes regarding public notices in at least 28 cases since February 2008. Read the full article here.
Rockford Police Union Wins Lawsuit Against City
October 8, 2008: Rockford's police union wins a lawsuit against Chief Chet Epperson and the city in a case involving an opinion survey Epperson ordered in 2007.
The case started when the union wanted the results of a three-part survey done by Rockford College students. The city said no, claiming the survey wasn't covered by the state's Freedom of Information Act. That, in turn, triggered a lawsuit that was finally decided last Monday by Judge Ron Pirrello against the chief. Read the full article here.
Cook Co. health 'billion-dollar budget' remains a mystery
October 7, 2008: Three days after the Cook County Health and Hospitals System publicly debated and passed a "billion-dollar budget," it continued Monday to refuse to present the document to the public.
The failure to produce the document also comes three days after Cook County Chief Financial Officer Donna Dunnings promised a reporter the document would be produced Monday.
"Whatever's going on, it will be corrected," vowed Dunnings on Friday. Read more here.
Dist. 181 has paid ex-superintendent $198,570
September 30, 2008: After initially denying Freedom of Information Act requests about payments made to former superintendent James Tenbusch following his June resignation, District 181 released the information Tuesday.
Under Tenbusch's resignation contract, the district agreed to pay him one year's salary, 40 days' worth of unused vacation time, membership dues for school administration associations for one year, the equivalent of an annual medical exam and reimbursement for finding a new job. Read the full article here.
OVC Board rescinds information request policy
September 23, 2008: At the prompting of the city's finance commissioner, Ottawa Visitors Center Board members Monday rescinded a recently-enacted policy governing the release of requested information by the public.
Monday's vote provides that OVC staff now must comply with the state's Freedom of Information Act, which is more stringent than the policy the board enacted in July. Read the full article here.
Exposing Illinois' 44 billion dollar budget lie
Road fund questions still unanswered
August 28, 2008: Despite the hiring of a forensic auditor at the beginning of the month, Hawthorn Woods won't know how much money remains in the Special Service Area road project fund until at least mid-September. Read the full article here.
Cook County takes 3% of worker charity donations
Aussem encourages board to comply with FOIA
August 26, 2008: The city's finance commissioner has asked Ottawa Visitors Center Board members to reconsider a policy set last month regarding Freedom of Information Act requests.
OVC Board members, maintaining they are a privately formed, nonprofit corporation and therefore not subject to Illinois Freedom of Information Act requests, last month approved a policy that provides for a longer time frame in which to respond and provide requested information, as compared to the Freedom of Information Act. Read the full article here.
Candidate: Boone not releasing records
August 26, 2008: The Democratic candidate for Sangamon County coroner says the Republican incumbent, Susan Boone, is breaking the law by refusing to release public documents about the operation of her office.
“The taxpaying public has the right to know how she is conducting coroner activities affecting every family in Sangamon County,” said Aby Phoenix, who made the accusation in a press release Monday. She said she filed a request with Boone’s office under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act on June 18 and still has not received a response. Read the full article here.
Group seeks openness in Champaign County government
August 18, 2008: A citizens group wants to make it harder for the county board to go into closed session and easier for residents to succeed in Freedom of Information Act requests.
Dianna Visek is a leader of a nonpartisan group that will go before the Champaign County Board's policy committee Sept. 3 with the proposed resolutions on county open government. They were discussed briefly amid a crowded agenda in August's policy meeting. Read the full article here.
Attorney General reviews La Grange response
August 18, 2008: The Illinois Attorney General's Office is reviewing a response from the village of La Grange regarding a denial of two Freedom of Information requests.
Scott Mulford, a spokesman for Attorney General Lisa Madigan, confirmed the village submitted a response to a complaint filed by Brookfield resident Thom Rae. Read the full article here.
Records back in public office
August 13, 2008: Township public records are back in the office safe.
Faced with criticism and pressure from township trustees and electors, Hebron Township Supervisor Greg Kuhs returned all of the township records and checkbooks that he kept at his home to the township office, saying he will only take out records when he needs to work on something. Read the full article.
Putting public salaries online is a good idea
August 3, 2008: Starting this weekend, the Chicago Sun-Times is making available to any reader with Internet access the names and salaries of every City of Chicago, Cook County and state employee.
That's roughly 145,000 folks, from truck drivers to top administrators.
You can now go online and search by someone's name or position and almost instantly learn that person's salary. Read the full article here.
Watchdog group sues governor and Senate president
July 31, 2008: Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Illinois Senate President Emil Jones are violating the state’s Freedom of Information Act by refusing to divulge information about pork-barrel spending, according to two lawsuits filed today in Sangamon County. Read the full article here.
Public bodies should be posting expenditures online
July 29, 2008: Government spending can be a foggy business, especially in Illinois. A little sunlight, however, could burn off that fog and bring some clarity into the government’s budget process.
What kind of sunlight? Transparency. To most people, “transparency” implies openness and clarity. Unfortunately, for most people, “government” usually generates thoughts of something closed off, hard to understand, and sometimes untrustworthy. As a first step to cleaning up government, restoring faith in elected officials, and showing families and taxpayers how the government uses their tax dollars, transparency sheds light on a characteristically opaque budget process. Read the full column here.
Suspect grant went to dissolved corporation
July 19, 2008: The bulk of a federal education grant that's under investigation went to a non-profit Illinois corporation that was dissolved nearly a year before it got the funding, according to a published report.
The Courier-Journal newspaper reported Friday that the Illinois secretary of state's office confirmed the National Center on Education and Prevention Inc., based in Port Byron, Ill., was dissolved in 2006. Read the full article here.
July 11, 2008: Despite efforts from many interested parties, the IL state budget remains unbalanced. At issue has been a $2 billion gap between spending and revenue. The only things two days of special sessions were able to accomplish was spending $80,000+ of taxpayer money, the estimated cost of a special session.Governor appears to change policy on privacy
July 10, 2008: The Blagojevich administration reversed itself on privacy concerns last week when it released a 2003 memo in which Rep. Jack Franks recommended family members and others for jobs.It was an attempt to embarrass the Woodstock Democrat, who has suggested the House should investigate impeaching Blagojevich. Read the full article here.
City wrong to deny access to tapes, court rules
June 21, 2008: Bob DesPain has won a court victory in his fight to gain access to audiotapes of Collinsville City Council meetings.A state appeals court ruled last month that the city had violated the Illinois Freedom of Information Act by not allowing him to listen to the original tapes of the meetings. Read the full story here.
Ex-school chief's contract is public record, court says
June 17, 2008: Apparently the Freedom of Information Act applies to all government entities, including Community Unit School District 200, according to a recent appellate court ruling.The 2nd District Illinois Appellate Court reversed a circuit court decision that allowed District 200 to withhold former Superintendent Gary Catalani's contract from release to a Wheaton resident. Read the full story here.
Taxes raised to give Stroger's cousin raise
Donna Dunnings, Todd Stroger’s cousin and the county’s Chief Financial Officer, is set to receive a 12 percent raise—higher than any other county employee—which brings her salary to $160,000. This is $5k more than the last CFO, even though she claimed when she started last year that she’d save taxpayers money by taking a lower salary than her predecessor. This is shortly after her cousin passed a 1 percent making Chicago the most taxed city in the U.S.[1][edit lead]Public display of affection criminalized in Illinois
'January 15, 2008: With a vast amount of complaints from many numerous work places throughout the state of public display of affection at work and in public, Illinois has passed a new law that prohibits any and all types of public display of affection (PDA), including but not limited to hugging, kissing, hand shakes, and hand holding. PDA will not be tolerated in any public place. That includes but is not limited to schools, colleges, workplaces, shopping malls, parks, playgrounds, carnivals, parade events, and the neighborhood. Violators face up to 5 years imprisonment.[edit] References
