Yes we can clean government here
Inauguration Day Tuesday was quite an amazing day in our history, but something also happened Thursday that is a significant step worthy of every Illinoisan's attention.
The Illinois Reform Commission met for the first time Thursday. Maybe you missed it, but Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn created this group and named Lisle resident and former assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Collins to chair it.
Collins, you may recall, was one of the key prosecutors who spearheaded successful investigations into hired truck corruption in Chicago and driver's licensing fraud in the Operation Safe Road probe that resulted in the conviction of former Gov. George Ryan.
Collins has gathered together an exceptional, geographically, ethnically and vocationally diverse group of citizens whose mission it is to truly find ways to end pay-to-play politics and corruption in Illinois.
Joining Collins is: Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, Blagojevich administration whistle-blower and Naperville's Edward Hospital CEO Pamela Davis, Northwestern University football coach Pat Fitzgerald, former Chicago Tribune Managing Editor Hanke Gratteau, education activist Tasha Green, former U.S. Attorney and current Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman, DePaul University President Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, U.S. Marine Corps Commander and DuPage Neurosurgery's Douglas Johnson of Glen Ellyn, Greater Chicago Food Depository Executive Director Kate Maehr, Bradley University's Institute for Principled Leadership Executive Director Brad McMillan, former legislator and current Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives CEO N. Duane Noland, The Boeing Company's chief investigations counsel Lawrence Oliver, Southern Illinois University clinical associate law professor Sheila Simon, and Baptist minister Rev. Scott Willis, the former Chicagoan whose six children were killed in a fiery crash that was the result of corrupt driver's licensing.
Just from that brief listing of who's who, it is clear this is a diligent dozen. A stellar group of committed, if not average, citizens who _ we can't help but think _ also could have done a wonderful job vetting and recommending someone to have been Barack Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate. But that's history.
This group is our future. This group is volunteering to take on the herculean task of cleaning up governments in Illinois. Those serving need our help, our concentration, our ideas and our constant support. They are operating in the open. You can monitor their work and submit your own ideas at reformillinoisnow.org.
This dozen will not succeed at deodorizing and disinfecting our governments unless we continue to demand it. Republican Ryan sits in prison. It surely seems Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich won't be in office much longer. But the money-obsessed system that fueled theirs and others' greed and misdeeds remains. Others, who begin with all good intentions, surely will continue to be seduced unless we sanitize the system.
Another long-standing group, the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, set out a start on agenda items this new commission could take up on the day after Blagojevich's arrest. It called for campaign contribution limits, banning contributions by unions and corporations, prohibiting large transfers of cash from one politician or campaign fund to another, legislative redistricting that isn't done by politicians looking to preserve their careers and interests, strengthening rules for lobbyists and improving campaign, lobbyist, contract and bidding transparency.
Already we've seen a backslide as some legislators attempt to carve out a loophole for road builders in the law just enacted that attempts to curb pay-to-play shenanigans in this state.
While change has come to Washington, the dozen members of the Illinois Reform Commission represent our best hope ever to end corruption and bring positive change home here in Illinois.