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We strongly commend the Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner and Alderman Rick Lawrence for their mutual rationale and effort to save costs and simplify the confusing multiple election authorities by eliminating the Aurora Election Commission.
On August 10, the Aurora City Council voted unanimously to add the question of eliminating the Aurora Election Commission to the November 2010 ballot.
However, turns out Alayne Weingartz, the city's so-called corporation counsel, failed to follow the proper rules and take appropriate steps to make sure the process of putting the question on the ballot complied with the law and applicable rules.
One of those rules involves a simple petition of 1,000 City of Aurora voters, but there are also reports materials were not provided to the board for the Aurora Election Commission in a timely manner and deadlines were missed.
This would not be the first time Alayne Weingartz has created more complications than solutions for the Mayor Tom Weisner and taxpayers, but we hope this is one step closer to her voluntary resignation and/or involuntary termination.
A federal jury has found ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich guilty of one count of lying to federal agents. The judge says he will declare a mistrial on the remaining 23 counts and prosecutors say they will redo the case.
Illinois State Rep. Linda Chapa-LaVia (D-Aurora) had recently sponsored legislation to take recent changes to the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) backwards to hide information from taxpayers, specifically performance evaluations of public employees.
Apparently, even though taxpayers must pay for the employees, Chapa-LaVia doesn't believe taxpayers should have the right to know, see or review for themselves important information.
Open and transparent government are more important than ever in a state with corruption and an economic crisis.
For this issue and going against taxpayers, Linda Chapa-LaVia's performance evaluation should receive and "F" and we urge her to not make the same mistake again.
101 year old Marie Wilkinson of Aurora recently passed away. We encourage those who wish to discuss her life to use this open thread, but we also are interested to hear from our viewers if bias and discrimination has truly changed in Aurora or is it alive and well.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is a two-time OpenlineBlog Person of the Year and we strongly opposed the election of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but as the jury appears deadlocked on various counts in the Blagorama corruption trial, it's becoming increasingly clear there is no slam dunk by prosecutors and the defense may have various counts acquited and/or force a "do-over."
Blago could still be found guilty on some counts now or in a retrial, but unlike many other corruption trials, the government's theory is based upon the idea that talking about things is a crime in itself. Everyone knows there is a corruption epidemic in Illinois, starting with Chicago's City Hall and Mayor Richard Daley, the King of Corruption, but one of the reasons he hasn't been indicted (yet) is because of the difficulty in proving criminal activity for what is often politics-as-usual in Illinois.
There is no doubt Blago was a lousy governor, although his temporary replacement may actually be worse. And, there is no doubt that if Blago is guilty, there are MANY elected officials, including both Michael and Lisa Madigan, who play the game in much more deeper and devious ways. However, in terms of the law, Blago is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And, there appears to be plenty of reasonable doubt.
Fitzgerald's prosecutors didn't call a lot of people from Tony Rezko to Stuart Levine to Rahm Emanuel to Jesse Jackson to Valerie Jarrett to Roland Burris to Lisa Madigan and yes, even that Barack Obama guy. If there is a do-over, we urge the US Attorney's Office to call EVERYONE directly and indirectly associated with the political games played, including from the White House.
The much bigger crime is that politics-as-usual is currently thriving in Illinois by the usual suspects. Even if Blago is convicted on any counts, this trial isn't doing much to effectively deter that by letting so many members of the political mafia off-the-hook from a public trial of what really goes on.
So, Patrick Fitzgerald, if you get a do-over in the Blago trial, we challenge you to force the political mafia's underworld to be fully exposed. From Mayor Daley to the Madigan(s), there are plenty of fish to fry in addition to Blago.
As for Blago, if there's another trial, instead of going on a publicity tour, he should go on a campaign between now and November and explain to voters the truth about how the political mafia of Illinois operates. If he is found guilty of any counts, that should be part of his sentence.
The best result of this trial won't be to send to Blago to prison, but to throw the political mafia and their cronies out in November and next February.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp (PBGC), a federal corporation within the United States government, will take over seven pension plans involving 2,360 employees and retirees of the Aurora Beacon-News and Sun-Times Media publications (old media fishwraps).
Because the plans are only 53% funded with approximately $106 million in pension liabilities, the PBGC will bailout about $49 million to cover most of the shortfall.
The old media company had gone into bankruptcy after years of poor journalism, declining readers and declining advertising. An investor group purchased the assets, including the existing newspapers (aka "fishwraps"), for $5 million in cash and assuming $21 million in debt. The rest of the company's many problems were left in bankruptcy. The poor journalism has continued for the suburban fishwraps.
Brian Caputo, the City of Aurora's Finance Director, says it's likely there will be another $18 million deficit in 2011. This is after the deficit this year and despite various cost reductions for 2010.
With revenues down, including property taxes and gaming taxes (15% drop from last year), combined with labor contracts and pension costs, 2011 is a clear financial challenge.
What would you like to see the City of Aurora adjust for 2011?
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