Bianchi and Regna: A study in contrasts

In his successful 2004 campaign for McHenry County state's attorney, Lou Bianchi promised to be an agent of change in an office weighed down by allegations of selective prosecution, claims it spent too much taxpayer money on private attorneys, and lingering controversy over putting a wrongfully convicted man on death row.

Since taking office, the Crystal Lake resident has lived up to that promise: slashing the amount of taxpayer funds private law firms get to fight the county's legal battles, helping create a special court for mentally ill offenders, and creating a new in-house program to get business owners restitution for bad checks.

He touts these and other changes as he heads into next week's Republican primary seeking a second term.

But Bianchi's administration also has brought about other changes -- changes that turned political allies against him, saw veteran prosecutors leave his office on unfriendly terms ,and alienated a large portion of the county's law enforcement community.

Into that fray stepped Dan Regna, a criminal prosecutor under former state's attorney Gary Pack, who moved on to private practice after Bianchi's election.

Regna, 43, quickly took up the cause of anti-Bianchi forces, blasting the incumbent over his spending, his handling of cases and his shaky relationships with the law enforcement community.

Now Bianchi, 64, finds himself in the battle of his political life, fighting not only to keep his job but his reputation in what has become the most bitterly contested McHenry County race in at least a decade.

To win, Bianchi will have to turn back not only a stiff challenge from a political newcomer, but some of his former backers' best efforts to oust him from office.

Their differences

In many instances opponents in party primaries will have at least as much in common as they do things that separate them.

This is not one of those races. Both are Republican lawyers, but that's where the similarities end.

An attorney for nearly four decades, Bianchi also has a background in the business world, having left the legal profession in the late 1980s to operate a successful chain of video stores for 10 years.

Although no longer in the private sector, he brings a businessman's sense to the office. It's an approach that has won him praise from some county officials, but also criticism for things like using county funds to reward his staff with meals.

The most significant difference between him and Regna, Bianchi says, is experience: more legal experience, more experience managing employees and more life experience than an opponent two decades younger.

Perhaps most importantly, he said, he has significantly more experience working the civil side of the law than his opponent, who's spent the majority of his legal career on criminal prosecution.

"No one talks about it, but a big part of the state's attorney's job is to represent the county in civil lawsuits," he said. "This office represents the county, 24 county board members and all the county departments."

While Bianchi has moved from the legal world to the business world and back again, Regna has spent almost all his adult life doing two things: serving in the Army and prosecuting criminals.

A 1986 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Regna says what he lacks in experience he makes up for in leadership ability.

"I was fortunate enough to attend the premier leadership institution in the world," he said. "Our law enforcement community desperately needs a true leader as our next state's attorney. From (Bianchi's) record, I believe he has poor leadership skills."

Before Bianchi's election, Regna spent nine years in the state's attorney's office, working his way up from law clerk to felony prosecutor. Along the way, the Woodstock resident built solid relationships with many of the county's police officers -- relationships that could pay off on primary day.

Billing himself as "law enforcement's candidate," Regna has won endorsements from most major police organizations in the county, along with influential Sheriff Keith Nygren and Coroner Marlene Lantz.

Nygren, a former Bianchi ally, even sent a letter to county residents urging them to vote for Regna.

Bianchi downplays his opponent's law enforcement support, saying it is the result of friendships Regna built as a prosecutor rather than a reflection on his office.

And while Bianchi appears to have frayed relations with many in law enforcement, he's won high praise -- and the support -- of many county officials, including a majority of the county board and Chairman Ken Koehler.

Koehler said Bianchi deserves credit for cutting how much taxpayer money goes to outside lawyers to fight the county's legal battles. He also praised Bianchi for leading the charge on the county's mental health court and helping craft new ordinances governing dangerous dogs.

"I cannot find fault with what Lou Bianchi has done for the county board or the constituents here who count on good legal representation," Koehler said.

Others, however, say they find plenty of fault.

Some of it came last fall when the Daily Herald published that Bianchi's office spent $17,000 in county money for meals, snacks, flowers, parade candy and other questionable items.

Bianchi defended them as legitimate business expenses and the Illinois attorney general found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Nonetheless, Bianchi says he has since started paying for those items out of his own pocket.

A frequent criticism from both Regna and the police officers backing him is that Bianchi has driven off many experienced and respected criminal prosecutors in a purge of Pack's staff.

Since December 2004, 29 assistant state's attorneys have left Bianchi's office for jobs elsewhere, including all but a few who worked under Pack. The number is all the more striking when one considers that Bianchi had just 24 lawyers on his staff when he took his oath of office.

Losing those people means a loss of relationships with local police departments and a loss of institutional knowledge, Regna said.

"I don't care if you're in government, the military or business. You can't experience that kind of turnover and expect to perform effectively," Regna said. "Mr. Bianchi's leadership and purging of that office has led to an organization in mission failure."

Bianchi denies there was a purge of Pack assistants, attributing the exodus of attorneys to several factors. Most moved on to better-paying jobs in private practice. Some sought opportunities prosecuting in other counties.

But Bianchi also said some former assistants left because he added 2½ hours to their work week. "I raised the bar," he said. "Some people didn't want to work that extra half-hour (daily)."

Regna disputes that, saying that from his experience in Pack's administration, assistant state's attorneys frequently worked more than 40 hours a week without expectation of additional benefits.

Bianchi argues that those who have left have been replaced by equally skilled prosecutors, including several from the DuPage County state's attorney's office.

"We have more experienced people now than we've ever had," he said. "I think it's a great staff with great lawyers."

Their plans

While accusations from Regna and responses from Bianchi may have dominated the campaign, both men have offered glimpses at what they hope to accomplish over the next four years.

Working off the success of the mental health court, Bianchi says he wants to create similar programs allowing nonviolent drug offenders and first-time offenders a chance to pay for their crimes without having a permanent stain on their records.

"The goal, where appropriate, is to provide counseling and rehabilitative measures that are unique to those with drug problems," he said of the drug court.

Regna said he considers those laudable goals, but first wants to start a domestic violence court with specially trained prosecutors and a full-time victim's advocate. He wants a redesigned courtroom and secure waiting area for domestic violence victims.

"We must do a far better job for our domestic violence victims and their children," he said.

Regna said he also hopes to improve relations between the state's attorney's office and local police departments by assigning prosecutors to field duty with patrol officers.

The ability to work with police and others in law enforcement, Regna said, is what makes him the best candidate for state's attorney.

"I have firsthand experience on the front lines of McHenry County working with the men and women of law enforcement," he said. "We need a leader who inspires and motivates people, and that's not occurring right now in our state's attorney's office."

Asked what makes him the better candidate, Bianchi said people should look at his accomplishments and decide.

"If you want to know what people are going to do in the future, look at their past," he said. "I've made promises and I kept them."