Public corruption, transparency priorities for Democratic AG candidates
Illinois attorney general candidates running in Tuesday's Democratic primary say they will make battling public corruption and ensuring government transparency priorities if they move forward in their efforts to succeed Democrat Lisa Madigan, who is not seeking re-election.
The eight Democratic candidates proposed solutions - some more specific than others - including establishing a unit within the attorney general's office to investigate corruption complaints, setting up a whistle-blower hotline, and enhancing the resources of the attorney general's public access counselor. The counselor assists people who have been denied access to public meetings and documents.
The Democratic candidates are Scott Drury, Sharon Fairley, Aaron Goldstein, Renato Mariotti, Pat Quinn, Kwame Raoul, Nancy Rotering and Jesse Ruiz.
Drury, a state representative from Highwood, says the attorney general's office has "outsourced" investigating public corruption to the U.S. attorney, the Better Government Association and the press. When governments deny information requests or redact information through the public access counselor, it often stops people from pursing that information because they don't have resources to appeal the decision, he said.
To that end, Drury suggests agencies denying information requests put money into an interest-bearing escrow account while the appeal process plays out. If the person requesting the information prevails, he or she would be awarded $7,500 in addition to penalties imposed by the court. The goal is to deter agencies from denying information requests as a matter of course, he said.
Fairley, a former assistant Illinois attorney general, proposes the office take a stronger stance in pursuing public corruption. Also, she said, she will make sure the public access counselor is funded and staffed to end backlogs.
Fairley also wants to strengthen the attorney general's government integrity bureau and establish a complaint line for misconduct allegations. She proposes revising the statutes governing the jurisdiction of the Office of Legislative Inspector General and Executive Inspector General to ensure more effective, consistent oversight. The former investigates ethical complaints against the governor, state employees and appointees. The latter investigates abuse of authority or misconduct allegations against members of the General Assembly.
Goldstein, a Cook County assistant public defender, says he will strengthen the public integrity bureau to step up efforts against corruption. He says the office should take a more proactive approach to litigation. According to Goldstein, pursuing lawsuits, against polluters for example, could lead to financial settlements that could offset the cost of pursuing political corruption cases.
Insisting he would have "zero tolerance for corruption," Mariotti, a former assistant U.S. attorney, said he would use the office as a "bully pulpit" to draw attention to such issues. Mariotti said he would establish a task force of experts in law enforcements, constitutional law and government ethics to find ways to transform the attorney general's office "into an independent watchdog."
Former Gov. Quinn said he would more aggressively enforce the False Claims Act, which Quinn proposed while serving as state treasurer. It allows a whistle-blower to recover a percentage of any settlement resulting from a successful public corruption prosecution. Quinn also said he would seek additional resources to ensure public access counselor review requests were processed promptly.
Vowing to "enforce strict penalties for officials that betray the public trust," Raoul, a state senator from Chicago, proposed increasing resources to the public access counselor to ensure timely responses to Freedom of Information Act requests. Raoul proposes collaborating with local and federal authorities to root out public corruption and is working to pass legislation that would give priority in the public access counselor's office to cases involving government corruption or police misconduct.
In addition to expanding ethics guidelines for government officials and securing more resources for the access counselor, Rotering, the Highland Park mayor, said she would improve uniformity and access to financial data to help citizens serve as watchdogs.
"Everybody in this state needs to understand what's available to them," said Rotering, who also wants to collaborate with state's attorneys, police and federal prosecutors to combat corruption.
Ruiz, the Chicago Park District president, said he would propose legislation that gives the attorney general grand jury authority and more power to investigate and prosecute public corruption. He advocates seeking grants for improved technology and automation that would make it easier for residents to access information they seek on government officials or agencies.
"Most of the work government does should be out there," he said.