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In a lot of ways Cook County government is a bureaucracy stuck in another time. For all the good government groups and watchdog journalism shining a light on nepotism, my Tribune colleague Alice Yin has a story about how a county elected leader who hired her cousin to serve as her chief of staff triggered not only an ethics probe but a political battle.
Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Tammy Wendt is now defending the hire after refusing to discuss it during a public meeting last month when the two other board members — fellow Democrats — pressed her on it. Tempers flared and before the meeting was over, Wendt was on the losing end of a vote to amend ethics policy to forbid the hiring of first cousins. Already, the board’s ethics officer said the hire violated policy.
Wendt’s hiring of a relative is not without precedent at the Board of Review, the three-member panel that manages property tax assessment appeals. When Joe Berrios, the onetime head of the Cook County Democratic Party, was on the board, his sister and son worked in the office. When he was later elected Cook County assessor he brought them with him — and faced a similar ethics battle.
Just a few hours into his visit to his Chicago visit yesterday, Attorney General Merrick Garland was pressed by reporters about how the just-launched gun strike force here will be different from previous federal efforts. It’s a question grief-stricken families and residents living in fear of the violence gripping their blocks want answered. While Garland expressed confidence the strike forces will make a difference, he made no claim that they alone are a panacea.
Garland, who was born in Chicago, is on day two of his visit and met with local law enforcement.
And Gov. J.B. Pritzker is going on the air with the first TV ads of the 2022 race for governor. The spots focus on the campaign’s theme: “Strong leadership in tough times.”
In announcing his bid for reelection this week, the governor fully embraced the fact that the race will be a referendum on how he led the state through the pandemic.
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The Tribune’s Rick Pearson writes: “Just days after making his reelection bid official, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker is launching the first TV ads of the 2022 race for governor with three spots looking at Illinoisans’ response to the pandemic that unveil his campaign’s theme: ‘Strong leadership in tough times.’
“The 30-second spots, scheduled to break Saturday, feature Pritzker telling the stories of a nurse who volunteered as part of the state’s COVID response, a National Guard member involved in testing and vaccinations and the owners of a small distillery who shifted their business from bourbon to hand sanitizer.
“The people and businesses featured in the ad are from Downstate — Springfield, Belleville and Rochelle — a region where Pritzker is weakest amid opposition to the phased mitigation restrictions he imposed to deal with the pandemic.” Watch the spots here. Full story here.
Timing: The ads come a little less than a year before the June 2022 Democratic primary and Pritzker isn’t expected to face a serious challenge. But the billionaire governor has the money to at least try and make some inroads in traditionally red pockets of the state.
7-day average for new COVID-19 cases in Illinois up fivefold in past month
The Tribune’s BIll Ruthhart and Joe Mahr have sobering news about the newest COVID-19 data release by the state: “The seven-day average number of daily COVID-19 cases in Illinois has increased by five times in the past month after reaching the lowest point since the beginning of the pandemic in late June.
“Illinois averaged 1,140 new coronavirus cases daily for the week ending Friday, compared with an average of 294 cases during the week that ended July 1, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.”
They also note: “The new figures released by the state Friday also showed an increase in the state’s case positivity rate, up to 3.5% from 1.9% last week. Hospitalizations in regions across the state also continue to show a slight increase, with the highest average in west central Illinois, roughly 10 hospitalizations per 100,000 people.” More here.
Reactions mixed on CPS’s mask mandate: ‘I’d prefer they follow the CDC guidelines,’ the Tribune’s Tracy Swartz writes.
Olympics begin with a somber opening ceremony in an empty Tokyo stadium, reflecting the reality of the pandemic, the Tribune’s Stacy St. Clair writes.
Tax board brawl: Commissioner facing heat over hiring cousin suggests sexism is at play
Alice Yin writes: “A complaint that a Cook County elected official hired her first cousin as her chief of staff triggered an ethics inquiry earlier this year, but the official in question shot down calls Thursday for the relative to resign.
“Questions about the employment prompted an inquiry in May from the board’s ethics officer, who in a letter to Wendt noted the board’s ethics policy restricts the hiring of relatives of agency officials, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Tribune.
“During a June board meeting, Wendt didn’t answer questions about the hiring and then voted against an amended ethics policy that would have more clearly prohibited such a hiring.”
In fact, that June meeting got pretty heated. Before a vote on Commissioner Michael Cabonargi’s proposed ethics policy amendment, he and Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr. asked Wendt whether she would be violating policy if the amendment went through.
Yin writes of the back and forth: “Wendt replied she was not answering their questions and asked whether Rogers’ cousin worked for either of the other two commissioners, which Cabonargi denied and Rogers did not answer. She then implied those two also made questionable hiring decisions.”
Turns out Rogers’ cousin does work for Cabonargi, but the commissioner said that hire does not violate ethics policy.
Wendt defended her hire and said the criticism against it was part of a sexist, male-dominated work culture. She also said she consulted “one of the nation’s top election attorneys” who told her plan did not violate policies.
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Your tax dollars: “Wendt did not respond to Tribune inquiries regarding Thielmann’s salary, although that is a matter of public record,” Yin writes. A reminder that’s a taxpayer-funded salary. “The agency did not immediately respond to a Freedom of Information Act request for that.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland was well into day one of a two-day public relations jaunt as the Department of Justice launches federal gun strike forces here and elsewhere when he was pressed by reporters on a key question: How will this operation be different from previous federal efforts In Chicago?
The queries are less cynical than urgent: At a time when violence is once again on the rise is this part of a longer-lasting solution to tamp it down?
As my Tribune colleague Jeremy Gorner, who covered the attorney general’s visit, and Gregory Pratt write: “Garland said the feds are learning from past initiatives to be more effective here. The aim of the strike force, led here by U.S. Attorney John Lausch’s office with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives coordinating with local law enforcement, is to crack down on all manner of illegal gun trafficking.
“We’re learning from the past. This is a particular tactic,” Garland told reporters yesterday. The strike forces would work against gun-trafficking networks, he said.
The networks are “bringing the guns into the city, (and the strike forces are) trying to take those down,” Garland said.
He also was asked how the new initiative is different from Operation Legend, a federal law enforcement anti-violence strategy instituted by former President Donald Trump’s administration.
“This is just one piece of the overall package, … a set of tactics aimed at a particular kind of problem,” Garland said.
Mayor Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, said she had a “very good visit” with Garland and thinks the strike force will make a significant difference by coordinating federal resources to fight gun trafficking across state lines.
“(Some) have said, ‘Well, there’s no additional resources.’ That’s not the point,” Lightfoot said. “It’s focused coordination, collaboration, across state lines. That’s going to be a game-changer.”
Lightfoot also said people violating gun laws in Chicago neighborhoods are more afraid of federal prison time.
“It’s about sending a loud and clear message: If you pick up a gun, if you shoot indiscriminately into a crowd, not only are we going to pick you up, not only are we going to take you to federal court, but we’re going to ship you off to South Dakota and you’re never going to see your family again,” she said.
ALSO: On second day of visit, AG Merrick Garland meets with Chicago law enforcement to discuss gun trafficking strike force. Gorner has the details here.
Chicago mothers share pain and join hands in a collective effort to halt gun violence as another summer ensues. The Tribune’s Deanese Williams-Harris has the story here.
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The Tribune’s Gregory Pratt reports that it’s been a year since Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered the middle-of-the-night removal of the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park amid growing clashes between activists and police.
Two other Columbus statues were removed, and the mayor launched a review process for controversial city monuments.
But a year later, the city’s monuments commission has yet to issue a final report and recommendations. While a spokesman for the mayor’s office said the review is continuing, some Italian American leaders including Northwest Side Ald. Nick Sposato are ticked off that the statues, which they see as a tribute to their culture, are sitting in storage.
“It’s getting a little frustrating because we’re letting the Commies win. Do I want it to go back? Do I think it should go back? Yes. Obviously, I don’t like to see these people win.”
Activists here and across the country, Pratt reminds, point to the Italian explorer’s mistreatment of Indigenous people after he landed in the Americas in 1492. Full story here.
Programming note and a thanks: After nearly 3 years of writing The Spin newsletter, which was always a team effort, I’m moving on. While today is my last behind the wheel of Spin, the newsletter will continue. After a brief hiatus It will return Aug. 2.
A thanks to the fellow journalists, elected leaders and readers who take the business of governing seriously, knowing that the decisions of our governor, mayor and so many others affect the lives and livelihoods of residents. As for the politics, the war goes on at least until ‘we the people’ demand a truce.
What do you think? Share your thoughts on The Spin by taking this Tribune survey here.
As for me, I’m taking a week off, too, and will return at the start of August in a writing and editing role on the Tribune’s Business desk. And I’ll be writing the newsletter Working Lunch, which features the latest business, health and education news. If you’d like to follow along, sign up here.
Twitter @byldonovan