Candidates 1997

I'm wondering if you think there is one issue that separates you from the other three Democratic candidates for governor. You know if I had to pick one thing I think it would be my. Demonstrated capacity to get things done. I really have a history at the local level at the state level at the national level of being able to get some things done that really matter. Setting up the federal cops program that put additional community policing officers into communities all across the state acting as chief United States negotiator for the World Trade talks bringing 118 countries together in the biggest trade agreement in world history leading the Navy Pier redevelopment the McCormick Place expansion in Chicago two of the biggest public projects in the history of the state I think I do have a demonstrated ability to actually get things done. And I think that's what we need in Springfield. What do you think needs to be done about education funding. Well I think we need to fundamentally change the way we finance education in the state I think we need to take some of the burden off of the property tax payers property taxes are too high. We rely

too heavily on property taxation as a source of funding for education and we have to shift some of that to a state wide tax which realistically has to be the income tax there is no other state wide tax source that can allow us to provide real meaningful property tax relief and provide funding for education in all districts around the state that will bring every district up to a minimum level. So I'm in favor of that kind of fundamental reform. I would add to that as a very very important element a system of accountability for the results of the educational process. I think we need to do statewide what we've been doing in Chicago where we hold schools accountable measure the performance of graduating students and if they don't measure up over a period of time and somebody is given the authority to go in and make changes if we're going to provide the money they need to educate children then we should also demand that the end of the day that children be educated. Do you worry that voters are not going to be inclined to accept a candidate who calls for an income tax increase.

I think if people understand that what we're talking about is a shift. From property taxes to income taxes and I think that's an attractive idea for people I think most people realize that property taxes are too high or too high particularly for people who live on fixed income senior citizens people whose property represents a very large portion of their overall assets. And there are people out in the suburbs of Chicago who pay property taxes that are phenomenally high. So I think when people understand that what we're talking about is shifting some of that burden from property taxes to income taxes I think that is an attractive idea for people and I think that's something that that I can sell to the voters. Governor Ed you couldn't sell that plan to the state legislature what makes you think you could sell a plan like that to lawmakers who seem to not be too inclined to support it. I think the evidence is that there was in fact a majority in both houses in Springfield in support of that kind of a plan. The problem the governor had was was one person in particular who happen to be the president of the Senate a president of his own party. I think a governor has to be prepared to use all of the powers and leverage and persuasive powers to educate the

public and then in the end also the more specific powers of a governor's office to get the legislature to act on something that is central to the to the future of this state and I think I can do that. Strategy wise how do you win a four man race are you looking to win big in Cook County or are you looking at the northern part of the state more so than the south it seems like in primaries most of the voting happens in Cook County in the collar counties. Well about 65 percent of the vote in most democratic primary statewide is in Cook County and other close to 10 percent is in the Chicago area broadly speaking. So clearly any candidate in order to win has got to run very very strongly in that area. And I expect to do that. But that doesn't mean that I concede the rest of the state to anybody I have a lot of support right here in Champaign Urbana for example as evidence by the people who are here tonight as evidenced by the fact that the mayors of all champagne and her band are actively supporting me I have support even in. Far south of elemental in the area that they've planned for Charlotte has represented for years in Congress there are people who don't agree with him

on issues like choice or like gun control and who are supporting me so I expect to get support all across the state. But clearly I expect to get most of my support as any candidate is going to have to in order to win in the place where the voters are in Democratic primaries which is in the in the Chicago area. Quickly it's positions on gun control and abortion. Well I'm strongly pro-choice. I respect the personal convictions often religious convictions that women bring to their own choices but I believe very very strongly it's a woman herself not any government that has the right to make that choice I think we need a governor who is strongly committed to that position we've had governors Republican governors for two decades who have taken that position I think that's what the women of Illinois want and I'm gun control I'm strongly in favor of banning all assault weapons. I was responsible for implementing the federal assault weapons ban I favor going further than that here in Illinois and banning the sale of any assault weapon regardless of when it was manufactured. I strongly support a waiting period and a

background check prior to any sale of a handgun and I favor amending Eleanor laws to make certain that any sale of a gun in Illinois be done either through a licensed dealer or through the state police so we're sure that we have either a background both a background check and a waiting period before anyone can get a handgun in Illinois. OK I know you've got a all right speech and I think that with independent leadership leadership that's not beholden to all the special interests who are trying to line their pockets at our expense. We can clean up some of that. And I see that is the greatest problem facing our nation right now as we enter the 21st century. Is it going to be a problem for you not to have the state party fully behind you I mean maybe eventually they will be but it doesn't seem like I guess the insiders as you would call them are really that excited about your hand who's saying it was going to be a problem or can you exploiting that. I am not the insiders candidate. And I think that the day I become the

insiders candidate maybe something's wrong. I am a candidate who fights for the folks back home. I believe that all public officials as soon after they're elected. Just whose team they're on. They either play for the insiders the power brokers the powers that be that fund campaigns or they play for the folks back home. I decided long ago I was going to play for the folks back home and I would rather have the trust of one honest decent man or woman. Who respects my leadership and my willingness to stand up to the insiders who every day are trying to wrest subsidies or handouts from the state or federal coffers. Then all the inside support for all the inside money there's no. No amount of money no amount of inside support can compete with the trust of one honest decent constituent back home. One more

question. Give me an example of how you've fought against the insiders in Springfield. Well I could give you a lot of examples. I'll give you three if you'll give me time number one. When I first got down to Springfield I noticed there was just a line of lobbyists lining up trying to get riverboat gambling licenses for their clients. And I did research into the financial results of the riverboats in Illinois. And what I found was that these are phenomenally lucrative licenses that whoever was lucky enough to wind up with one of these licenses could in some cases make 50 to 100 million dollars a year. But what was the state doing with those licenses. It was giving them out on a no bid basis. And they wound up largely in the hands of long time big dollar contributors from both parties. I thought that was wrong. It was indefensible and I proposed every time there was a proposal for the expansion of gambling I always proposed competitively bidding out those new licenses and all of a sudden the insiders who wanted those license didn't want if they had to pay the

taxpayers for number two I shed a spotlight on that hotel loan deal. Whereby back in the early 80s the state lent millions of dollars to politically connected insiders to build luxury hotels in Springfield in Collinsville Illinois and then later on the state government in 1990 early in the 80s they released the personal guarantees of those insiders who got the loans. Then in 1990 they rewrote the loan documents to make it difficult if not impossible for the state ever to collect those loans. In fact the state waived the right to foreclose until 2010. It said no payments were due except out of available cash flow it cut the interest rate in half and said in the case of the Springfield hotel that that hotel could pay its second mortgage ahead of the state's first mortgage. I shed a spotlight on that deal. I was unable to stop that but I was able to inhibit more insider dealing like that. I also was

instrumental and a chief co-sponsor or a co-sponsor of legislation to repeal the incentive waste incinerator subsidy that we had in Illinois was known as a retail rate law. If you came to Illinois and you wanted to build a waste incinerator the taxpayers had to subsidize your waste incinerator. You had a lot of insiders getting very rich very quick with that scandalous subsidy that was coming out of the hides of the working families in Illinois. And I think it's wrong for state government to raise the taxes as high as they've done and then to rub salt in the taxpayers won't by effectively taking that money and giving it away to politically connected insiders. All of those cases I have not been afraid to stand up and speak out against very powerful people in the city of Springfield even when those people were members of my own party. So those are some of the examples and the people of Illinois

can look at my record and know from my record in Springfield that I will be the same kind of senator in Washington that I will be independent. That constant vigilant independence will be the hallmark of my career. If I'm elected as a senator in Washington and that I will always play for the folks back home I will play on their team and not the team of the politically connected insiders. OK thanks a lot. Thanks. Good to meet you Alex good luck right. Yeah thanks a lot. We'll be talking to you again OK. The rise where they desire and where the need exists for local authorities to use that money in combating child abuse and neglect. And finally there's a non-tax one and not appropriated to fund the Crime Victims Fund which I would like to

see more of that money used for the health and welfare of the victims of child abuse and neglect. Well what I have suggested is an ambition is an ambitious agenda. I think when we look back at what we've been able to accomplish in the last three years we can do that. And I would say in all fairness or it would be really unfair if I didn't say that the accomplishments that we have achieved in the last three years were not just Republicans but in the end they were bipartisan accomplishments between the Democrats and the Republicans in Congress and the Clinton administration. And if we're going to make the type of headway the type of progress that we want and I envision in the next Congress we will again have to use a bipartisan approach. I think when I

look at this district I'm very thankful for the district I have to represent and I believe that a majority of the voters in the 15th district have placed their trust in me four times because they know that I trust them more than I trust the Washington bureaucracy. I trust them to be able to solve their problems. If we give them the tools and let them have the ability to do it without too much government interference. I also hope and believe that the constituents of this district realize that I care about the district and that I am in touch with their issues and concerns. On July 10th 1991 when I was first sworn in on the House floor to fill the unexpired term of former Congressman Ed Madigan I said and I quote. As we look ahead

let us remember the future belongs to those committed to turning ideas into action. The hopes and dreams of our children and grandchildren will depend on our ability to make a difference. I hope I have made a difference. I believe in my heart. I have made a difference and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the next Congress if I'm re-elected to continue to make that different for America. Thank you all very much. If I didn't say that that is my announcement for re-election to the 15th District seat in Congress if any of the press ask questions afterwards I'll be glad

to answer. Thank you very much. OK. You know I like to ask a couple questions like. First of all do you know how much you have spent on the last election and maybe what you would be planning to spend this time around. I think you have 400 and some close to five hundred thousand dollars. Well it was our total campaign budget. The one difference between sometimes an incumbent and a challenger is that. I make contributions to our party organization in Washington called the

Republican Campaign Committee. And I also hire a staff and I run a separate office all of which I pay for on my campaign fund. Many times those are some of those expenses are not ones that nine incumbents have to pay. John it is about spending about the same and I would anticipate spending no more than I spent last night. You're right I'm I mean let me let me say also what we spend in the 15th District is below the national average. When I'm assuming to be who I'm assuming to be your likely opponent or crossing is probably going to make an issue of packing. Yeah and I really want to get into it today. You know who gives you money necessarily I just like a clarification about you or your attitude about you know what is your attitude is it is it a bad thing to take back or use just depends which side of it.

Well if it was a bad thing I wouldn't do it. PAC money comes from individuals who work for you normally in a union or a company who give in to their Political Action Fund. So they just like all of your listeners. Individuals who instead of saying I'm going to give so much money to Tom yelling or to George Ryan or to any candidate give it to their company Political Action Fund who then gives it out. So they're they're good people. They're individuals and I think that PACs have a place and probably are protected under the Constitution Second Amendment. Do you think it's a problem to accept money from industry organizations and if you don't really have any connection to those districts and I know I don't I don't think that's at all because whether whatever your industry is many things that I vote on.

Concerns that I have are just for the 15th District. But you see attacks don't just give to you because you vote their way. They if you are pro-business pro-trade pro-conservative pro-education whatever it is they know that and they want to keep you in Congress as compared to somebody who is pro tax pro liberal pro federal government doing everything and so they don't want somebody like my past opponent to be there and vote on bills all the time that they know will be harmful to them. I think it's important in talking about the PACs and what my last opponent said about him is Tasker. Does she consider unions to be PACs they are PACs and is she not taking their money. She took a lot of it last

time. And the fact that she was really almost the highest spending district for state legislature and took a quarter of a million dollars from one person. I think it's a little ingenuous. But I wish her well in whatever she decides to do. I think it's hard to understand how there's any credibility in what she's done because because of the facts. If you look at her history during all she would be a different reaction to those issues. You know another crossing uing campaign. Well this is trying to involve more individuals in the campaign a more grassroots orientation rather than the Battle of the 30 second TV ads. 30 second TV ads can be very misleading. And I don't know if it will work but I think it should be tried because I think this is the way politics should be.

Less emphasis on money more emphasis on person to person contact. Hard to do in a congressional district. But I'm going to try it. And then you know. Yes no I have not heard your name pronounced before I was gentle. Can you give me just an idea first of all why why you are running for this particular office. Well I've been a two term mayor of the city of game and city. I was the youngest mayor elected in the in the state of a larger city city 40000 of 400 employees and balanced five budgets in a row improved our bond rating and I feel I have something to offer to the Democratic Party its a new generation of leadership that's arising now at the age of 34 and there are some other young candidates in the race I think that together we can really make a difference and bring in other young people of the party. Specifically what would you like to do ask your lawyer goals. Sure I've got a very clear program on how I'd like to run the office of state treasurer.

First is the the Community Investment Program which was dramatically cut by the current Republican treasurer. She brought it down from 500 million to just under a hundred sixty million a year now. I want to reestablish that strong community linking program linking investment into the community with the Treasurer's office. The first is community investment and where I want to focus on Tax Increment Financing districts enterprise zones and brown fields areas where there are contaminated lands and blighted properties. There are almost a thousand cities in Illinois and I think if we focus on hundreds of millions of dollars I'm injecting those dollars in the communities that need real rehabilitation. I think that'll be a great a great boon for Illinois. Also the first time homebuyers program something I want to aggressively go after I set a goal of 5000 a year for people who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford a home. And again they make better better taxpayers better citizens. Also I want to target small businesses and women and minorities with the record not recognizing that everyone deserves a chance and an overall and above and

beyond these things I promise a conservative fiscal policy for the state of Illinois linking those dollars again to job creation spurring the Illinois economy and making us more competitive with other states. How much control with these programs you're talking about I'm assuming you're talking about programs where you take state money and put that money into investing in small businesses things like that. How much control does the Treasurer really have over what happens to that money whether treasuries the state's banker and its unilateral control no legislative action is required to implement the programs that I'm talking about. In a strong economy we can count on between four and six billion dollars a year for investment purposes. The Linc program that I have outlined which also includes agricultural expansion. This program will will boost the Illinois economy when you inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy you create jobs you create infrastructure. And I think it's just a positive program that can be done unilaterally.

You mentioned one of the programs the Topeka has. Well the link program is sort of the umbrella program for all of these deposits. That's the program the umbrella for all of these programs under the past Treasurer Pat Quinn and frankly from Adley Stevenson to Pat Quinn the Democratic philosophy is to use these dollars to spur the economy growth make us more competitive while helping people the average person the common person the farmer the the first time home buyer the small business person and I think those dollars can be used very effectively without an impact on the state's money coming in interest. Basically you lower the interest rate somewhat to allow business to come into the community. So under the Republican administration that the money flowing into that program has been cut dramatically again from 500 million a year to just under a hundred sixty million a year. Why has that taken place. I do. I can answer for the for the current state treasurer. But I can say that the Illinois General Assembly can

appoint a CPA to simply place money in a bank and pay accounts. I think we need to take an aggressive approach to investing the States Dollars and again with a focus on spurring the Illinois economy and helping people in the process. Actually I'm going to get a chance to talk to her this week she's going to Campos What if you had a chance to ask her a question. What would you ask. I I actually wouldn't would have my intention on more than one class. I would have any questions about my intention basically is to run a positive campaign and distinguish ourselves on on her record in my record. You know I'm not really asking you didn't give me a negative question there I'm just curious. I'm trying to what I'm trying to do is get a better sense about how this relates to the voter. These offices sometimes get lost in well shuffle. Right. Well why not. Why not expand the grant program the program for farmers why not and we should ask her why not help 5000 families a year to buy their first time home. Why not help small businesses minority people and women and why not look at districts and enterprise zones

and brownfields areas so that we can we can clean up areas insists the mayors and the counties and the townships throughout the state of Illinois. Distinguish myself from that again that the legislature can appoint a CPA to do what's currently happening now. I think we require a more aggressive program. I have heard her say that I think and maybe you know this is whether this is right or wrong. Talk about possibly combining the comptroller vs Treasurer is that I think that's that's actually I think is is quite outrageous if you look at it objectively the 970 Illinois Constitutional Convention mats and an actually deliberated on that very question. In the late 60s a gentleman by the name of Hodge a Republican appointee absconded with some two and a half million dollars of the state's money. The the reason there were no checks and balances of the comptroller's office the Treasurer's office the auditors provide checks and balances the Constitutional Convention was a bipartisan meeting. They have agreed very clearly that we need those checks and

balances. And I would recommend that the current treasurer look back in history and look through those notes and actually determine why in fact they they concluded that we need two separate offices. I agree with their conclusion. Yes it's easier if you're officially in the race now. Yes you know and I guess I'm wondering just a general question about why why you're running for secretary of state. My name is Jesse White I'm to cook county recorder of deeds and I've held that position since 1992. I was elected office in 1902 by 500000 votes was re-elected in 1960 by 750000 votes. And I would have been able to modernize streamline and computerized the office of the kind of record of deeds to the point whereby people are coming in from all over the United States three foreign countries to see how we were able to put a computer system into place. Most people know me as coach and follow the Jesse White tumbling team under 16 young people in a number of blacks whites the team as I called about family and I

believe that when you come to this one you're successful you get back. And so that's been my life's work for exactly 38 years. And with about 900 and 50 shows 175 push up baseball basketball football and soccer games. Back in 1982 great bright idea of winning for me a record of deeds and to replace Moseley Braun and now I'm officially a candidate for the secretary of state's office and the function of the secretary of state is almost identical to that of the record of the sector staged a repository with vehicles the record of deeds offices of repository for property or real estate. They parallel each other and I feel as though based on my track record as record of deeds that I would do quite well in being the secretary of state. Any particular ideas that you have to make that office better under your leadership. Yes we have no record of details as we're able to put things on the fast track we were able to establish a customer service area

whereby the customers would come in it would be service in an expeditious manner they would be directed to the areas that but the office said that they need to be serviced. A few of the things that I would like to do in that office and that is to maybe stagger the hours so that there are people working mothers and fathers could get to the office and. But if it's 8:00 o'clock at night 9:00 o'clock at night when cost of only the additional dollars because when you stagger your staff you're not talking about it. Percent of the budget in any shape form or fashion. We have some license plates that are not legible we can't read them and so I would like to do what we can to make sure that we bring those letters those numbers up to par so that they can be read as a temporary sticker that is now placed on a vehicle newly purchased vehicle. And in Chicago there are the gangbangers and the drug dealers have made a science of how to alter those numbers and as a result of it some of those people have been driving while putting two and

three years without ever having purchased a license and then I'd also like to put a bar code on your driver's license so that they cannot be tampered altered those are just some along with the fact that the secretary of state of the river is the head librarian for the state of Illinois. And we want to make sure that we get some programs and that a wonderful institution such as mentoring where kids can come and be help with their homework and also have a sort of surrogate father surrogate parent there to assist them and. There are a few other things that hed like to do in that office and that is make sure the people who drive vehicles and we talk about the kids they spend a lot of time reading in what is called driver's education. I like to spend a little bit more time behind the wheel. It speaks to the old Greek philosophy that you learn by doing a little more time.

Behind the wheel while your or you're running for treasure. Well I decided as after being mayor for five years and village trustee in Oregon for eight years I've had 13 years of municipal government working and or experience working on 13 different budgets and just getting a little closer to financial and government. So I started going to state treasurer a while ago and as I went through a thought process of should I or shouldn't I I just decided I wanted to run for treasurer because the current treasurer I believe has a completely different philosophy what I've done what I think the treasures are have and I'd like to get back into people programs and even though I know the state treasurer's office is the state banker so to speak. And the main function is to invest the state's money and look for the highest interest rate. I also think there's some room for to be creative and come up with some programs like the Linc deposit programs that are used to help. Kids that can afford to go to college go to college and people try to start small businesses that need some low interest loans and that so if something has been done in the past quite a bit but the current state treasurer has cut that program by two thirds by three

hundred million dollars so I just thought it was an office that I could use some of my creativity and do some things to help people could give you some examples of maybe some things you don't as mayor as mayor I mean part part. Yeah. Translate into what you could do is Richard as you know I don't park I have a well you know I don't know how much of a list you have we've increased quite a bit of service and we put 25 percent we increased our police force by 25 percent. We've been doing more improvements to our neighborhood streets neighborhood parks have done been done in years. But at the same time we reduced our tax levy our property tax levy five years in a row. And increased our general revenue fund balance so I think I've shown that you can you can provide services or increase herbicides and at the same time watch the bottom line. So we dived on several creative things in Oregon that are a little bit away from the financial end tool but I just like to be able to have a position where I can be creative and. Come up with some new programs.

How do you separate yourself from any other community or race in this kind of you know primary. What kind of strategy only strategy. I think I'm just just to go out and talk about my philosophy for the office and the Democratic voters that come out in a primary and have to make the decision my my biggest difference is my 20 years of running of two different family businesses. Eight years running the plumbing contractors Association of Chicago the county which is a nonprofit association and 13 municipal years ago 13 years of useful experience are doing. Being a businessman working a nonprofit association as well as 13 years of municipal experience I think that's what separates me from my opponent the primary. You've been elected mayor up there how many times. Twice. Twice and Village Trustee twice. OK. He's been elected twice twice as well. Yeah. Did he serve in the you know it was just before. Anything else you'd like to mention. Well you got the microphone I just think it's a good it's going to be a good year for debt for Democrats I think they think the one party control for 20 years I think people have had enough of that and I want to see some

change so I think it's going to be good year for Democrats. Well this year is going to be in this district. Education funding. I'm curious. I know when you made your campaign announcement he says things about education funding I'm wondering what your thoughts are on what should be done if you were governor what would you push for in terms of funding reform. Income tax increases property tax declines what. What kinds of things when she was or. Was governor I would guarantee that every child in the state of Illinois would have that foundation or baseline level of. 40 to 25 per student that I believe is a number that is widely accepted. And we want to make sure that. Every school in the state is pulled up to that level those that are below that line

and looking at the present surplus in the state treasury which is several hundred thousand of the millions of dollars. Some are estimating 800 to 900 million looking at a growth rate of over 3 percent which is I think of a fair number to peg. There's no need to raise a state income tax in order to guarantee that baseline or foundation level of funding for our school children. So that's what we'll do but it's not all about money we're going to be talking a lot about accountability as well. Standards of what we should do in terms of our teachers and our children and performance so that our schools are are doing what they are supposed to do. Another area that I want to look at too is it is waste and inefficiency and that ties into my background as a federal prosecutor. I know we had several cases up in the Chicago area involving public schools where vendors and others were ripping off the public schools and the taxpayer so there are several things to look at but as far as the guaranteed

funding the money is there to do that without having to raise a state income tax. How do you separate yourself from the other three candidates in the Democratic race. Well the two of them are talking about. Tax hikes. And they're also talking this massive property tax swap I'm not talking a property tax swap I'm talking about guaranteed funding for education and one of my opponents has also. Recommended a hike in the gas tax as well so there are some differences. I'm very strong pro choice one of the candidates is not he's pro-life. My position on. Guns is his strong arm. For the assault went weapons ban for the Brady Bill. I don't believe in concealed carry. So I think those are import but I think. The big difference is my background. And. My experience as U.S. attorney because what we're going to be talking about is this business as usual that we're seen in government almost at all levels but

certainly at least we saw it in Springfield recently with the MSCI case the pay to play politics is going to be over because we're going to set a totally different tone. We'll be talking about strong ethics reform and campaign financing reflecting the things that that are important but critical will be the message that we've got to restore confidence in government we just absolutely have to do it because when you have to make tough decisions in government it's so much easier to do that when there is some degree of credibility and that the citizens. Actually have some some confidence in their government. Thank you work for you normally in a union or a company to give in to their political action fun. So they're just like all of your listeners. Individuals who instead of saying I'm going to give so much money to Tom yelling or to George Ryan or to any candidate give it to their company

Political Action Fund who then gives it out. So they're they're good people. They're individuals and I think that PACs have a place and probably are protected under the Constitution Second Amendment. Do you think it's a problem to accept money from industry organizations that really have any connection to this district. And I know I don't I don't think that's at all because whether whatever your industry is many things that I vote on. And concerns that I have are just for the 15th District. But you see PACs don't just give to you because you vote their way. They if you are a pro-business pro-trade pro-conservative pro-education whatever it is they know that and they want to keep you in Congress as compared to somebody who is pro

tax pro liberal pro federal government doing everything and so they don't want somebody like my past opponent to be there and vote on bills all the time that they know will be harmful to them. I think it's important in talking about the PACs and what my last opponent said about him is Tasker. Does she consider unions to be PACs they are PACs and is she not taking their money. She took a lot of it last time. And the fact that she was really almost the highest spending district for state legislature and took a quarter of a million dollars from one person. I think it's a little ingenuous but

I wish her well in whatever she decides to do. I think it's simply hard to understand how there's any credibility in what she's done because because of the facts. If you look at her history. Thank you very much. She would be a different reaction to those issues. You know there are crossing you in campaign. Well this is trying to involve more individuals in the campaign a more grassroots orientation rather than the Battle of the 30 second TV ads. 30 second TV ads can be very misleading. And I don't know if it will work but I think it should be tried because I think this is the way politics should be. Less emphasis on money. Thanks for being here. Appreciate your time today.

I always enjoy it because it's like coming home for me my son is a graduate of the University of Illinois and not only was I a University of Illinois mom but I was named the first woman University of Illinois dad. I remember that right we saw here earlier you talked about right and I'm always proud of that I still run my dad's sweatshirt. But you have my dad's sweatshirt. You're very much a proponent of the move to combine the Treasurer's office in the controller's office and that legislation has been passed out of Senate committee now. Why do you think that would be a good idea. Well because it's timely the first discussion of this this is not a new topic by a long shot comes out of Governor Stratton's administration in 1956. It's been kicked around for 41 years. It was the subject of discussion in the Constitutional Convention of 1070. It is something that I think when you look at the proponents those that would argue against it really I don't think have have any place to stand. If the time is right the electronics make the office the two offices much easier to run together. Forty five states

are already combined So I mean this is hardly our cheeking we have so much duplications on an administrative basis between these two offices. We figure it would save to the 12 million dollars a year which is pretty nice I can think of a lot of other places including the US buy to put their 10 12 million dollars a year and for all purposes you can explain to the public what the differences. Basically I'm the treasurer is the banker and the controller is the chief fiscal officer who writes checks in the private sector. And again in 45 other states. That's all no one Rove totally. The old idea of checks and balances which came out of the Orval haad scandal of 1952. It doesn't exist on that front. There are checks and balances Now elsewhere that are built into the system that more than adequately provide for this and it's just time to do it it would be a constitutional amendment. Go on the ballot in 1998 and if the public agreed to that would go into effect in the year 2002. There certainly will be opposition in the house where you've said the speaker especially likes

to use these offices as political breeding grounds do you think it has a chance to get out of the house. Well I think it gets out of the house. If the public contacts their individual representatives and makes the case because in much the same way that Ronald Reagan made cases to the public when Congress with him. I'm trying to make the same case to the public which says look. It's time to do this. I mean 41 years is too long to debate this kind of an issue and let it go on. You work hard for your money. I don't think anybody minds paying taxes if they think the money is being used effectively but to just fritter it away wastefully and inefficiency and duplications for no good reason to the tune of 10 to 12 million dollars a year. You can do a lot for 10 to 12 million dollars a year. I mean there are far better causes and I think if they write their representatives or call their representatives It is amazing you know people always figure it takes just a huge rush of mail file. I'm a former state senator and representative. Five good handwritten well-thought out letters automatically flagged an issue for me is being of something of interest

to my constituents. Form letters don't count. Legislators don't react to them. But I think if the public just makes good sense gets participatory here they can do something it's a no brainer. It doesn't take a lot of work maybe a 32 cent stamp but it's worth the 32 cent stamp to say that 10 to 12 million dollars. I had a chance recently to talk with the two gentlemen who are running on the Democratic side for treasurer. Yes and both of them mentioned that you had cut funding or the Republican Party or the Republican ministration had cut funding to the Linc deposit program. And that was something that they wanted to reestablish if they were elected president or treasurer. What's the status of the link deposit program and has funding for that program been reduced. Well listening to one of them who charged me is making too much money for the state of Illinois. I'm hoping he'll go out and campaign on that issue because that's what I'm supposed to do as the state banker that's my fiduciary responsibility. The Treasurer's office is supposed to try and make the most amount of money it can so we charge the best rates that we

can. When we do have projects that we can we can do that or be helpful for instance today I'll be breaking ground with the company in our band here called flex and gate. It's going to create 275 new jobs to keep this company here rather than going off to Indiana. They're very good sound manufacturing jobs people will make a good living for them have good benefits. Is there a project to be puzzling about something through going to penciling to posit that in NC I cannot give I have no spending authority. I cannot give a grant a direct grant or direct loan I have to work through a financial institution. We discount our money going in. They keep the discount maybe jacket a little up a little bit to cover their expenses and they loan it out. So in effect this will go off from a bank to flex and gate but it's state money through a link deposit. Where has the money that's been devoted to going to posit in the past been reduced. Oh sure it's been reduced and it should have been reduced because it when you're discounting money you're losing money on the front. So to stay basically loses money on these link Topo Yes but to my way of thinking if you're going to lose money on the front end then show me I'm going to get something on the back end. What I'm going to

get here on the backend is two hundred seventy five more solid jobs with people who know will be investing that money into education into homes into retail services. I mean this is what I think Link deposits deposits were created for in my previous answer. And his predecessor had linked deposits all over the place. They weren't well documented. They didn't have performance standards. They didn't have compliance standards. They didn't have an Forsman standards. I couldn't even take him to court and break the contracts because they were locked in and were poorly handled. They just quote made deals and of quote and I don't know the deals where we want to be we want something in response. For instance we've done link deposits with homes for battered women we've done alink deposits for orphanages we've Delling deposits for nursing homes for daycare centers because that's going to be especially important in the welfare to work change over here for the federal what kind of standards do those organizations have to meet in order to live up to the Linc deposit. We have a formula which has never been created before so now there is a standard against which

you have to you have to be judged in the past if the Treasurer just said hey I like you I like the color of your nose your eyes your ears you know you got it. Well no no no they have to meet some standards. They have to show us too that they're going to use this money in the way they said they were going to do it in the fashion that they were going to do it in the time frame that they were going to do it that they're going to get whatever they're going to do. Like for the social service situations. We have to make sure that they can document what they are doing and also so us how much this will save the state in terms of money quantitatively For instance if we and we did this as a late deposit I did a home in Will County A for young people who are sexual predators and cannot be put into foster homes cannot be left at homes but are too young for prison and cannot be put there where do you put them. So we have that we helped to get this home up. It will save us or the taxpayer assuming that they can be straightened out at this youthful age 30 to 40 thousand dollars a year because going to wind up in prison. That's what it's going to cost on the back in. So if you

try and evaluate what it's going to save on the front end I think you know that then. Then you can use a formula. But there was no attempt to do this it was just wholesale throwing around of money and usually throwing it around to voters blocs they couldn't even be ascertained as legitimate groups. I mean there they were and register they had no corporate officers we couldn't track them at all. But man they got money. And not only did they get money but there was money also being laundered through that to people's favorite charities and things like that. We're not going to do that. Wherever possible I'm going to make the most amount of money handed over to the legislature which is the function that I have I have again no spending authority. And it's up to our representatives who are duly elected by the public from their region. To decide where that money should go in an in an appropriated fashion nobody elected a treasurer to be a social engineer. So if these guys are looking for an issue. Sorry this one is not an issue. Speaking of money how much has how much have those bad loan deals to the Collinsville and Springfield hotels cost the state of Illinois do you think. When I came into the office two years ago they had already lost about 30 million

dollars that was gone. What's the status of those. At this point now that we are in court we also about two months ago had gotten a tip that there was some extreme refurbishing going on and we sent our inspector general who by the way is the first one ever in this office created now by statute. Went on there did a very thorough investigation discovered that we were being underpaid. Send all that information over to the attorney general's office because that's our chief legal arm and we have worked and are working with the attorney general's office to take appropriate action. And I think we will see some appropriate action soon. I don't know that we will ever be able to make as much money back off of those hotels as I would have made two years ago in trying to do a settlement. Bad why didn't that settlement happen at that point the attorney general felt we should get more money which is fine and good but you can only get more money if someone's willing to pay it. And unfortunately the USVI School of Finance who came up with the figure of 19 million

dollars no one has ever met that figure we've never seen that figure duplicated again. It came from nowhere. It went back to nowhere. You know again you can only get what people will pay who owes the state that money who's responsible for those bad loans in it's very difficult to explain because this is such a convoluted contract contractual situation which was then restructured and made even worse. So in a normal contract it would be the investors. But in 1990 them Treasurer Jerry Cosentino restructured this and basically cut free all of the investors from any personal fiscal responsibility and that will really have a target. I don't I can't I can't take them into forfeiture as I would under a normal contract for instance there were also school shopping centers involved in that deal. One of them I just sold and made a profit of and got rid of it which is pretty darn good out Geneva Illinois. I have another one in Freeport that we now have in forfeiture because there I had a

traditional contract where you have one you can do this. This is the contract from hell and the only way you can get out of it I say it is still to try and work the contract against itself because that's all you have to do. We are just just stopped at every normal channel of being able to get our money back on these hotels they were of they were a bad investment to begin with. In normal banking and business circles you would try and get rid of those immediately. We've we're now on our 17th year and it's and we're bleeding roughly at about $50000 a month in lost interest that we could have had from the 10 million I could have settled for and already had in investments for two years. If you got a bad debt you got to get rid of it early your first hit is the worst it is the cleanest it is the fastest to let it drag on. All you do is bleed. And you know it's a very difficult situation to explain you can put it into a 30 second sound bite. I wish I could because it would be more explainable to the public. It is just as I said the contract from hell. The deal from hell but I

promised as a Treasurer I would I would end this and I intend to end it and find the best possible way. But I will guarantee you that nothing will ever make as much money as I could have made on those hotels. From my original deal it seems to me that it's one of those things that helps to erode voter confidence citizen confidence in what government can do and we just saw something similar to that with the you know Messiah scandal and what do you say to a voter or citizen who has lost their faith in what the state government can do. I feel badly too because I still had to think like a tax payer more than a government official and stuff because I like to think I work real hard for my money and I like to kind of keep it and I like to see it used correctly and I've got a long reputation for that in the legislature. It's just you have to continue to try and elect good and honorable people. And I think too that our tax payers have to kind of think in an honorable fashion themselves. It's not right to try and cheat your insurance company. It's not try to ride to run yellow lights.

It's not right or you're asking the voter to think about being accountable him or herself. I think it's to make us all accountable because basically politicians are only extensions of the public at large. I mean if you put garbage in you're going to get garbage out. Believe me they don't improve by holding public office. I don't think too that we have a very easy electoral system. We make it so difficult for good people to run for public office that they don't do it. Well because we make it so expensive we make it such a long time period where it's you almost deny a normal honorable person the opportunity to run unless you hit you or you are self-funded a multimillionaire. I mean like I'm just normal Ivanhoe. Markets like anybody else and so on. We make fundraising so difficult you know that type of thing that it's just very very hard. But there's always people who will run for office who could always sneak in and when good people abrogate their interest in government. And what is what I feel should be a noble profession. You kind of leave the field

to those who are mediocre or those who would wish to twist and corrupt the system. You'll have crooks in any business believe me it's not limited to politics. Speaking of a long election cycle there will be a primary next next March and there are two Democratic candidates and it also looks like from what I've read that you might have a challenge in the primary as well. And I apparently am. What's the what's the deal with that if it seems to be a sort of a little political infighting going on there. It's a unique situation. As a former state trooper Senator I represented 20 communities in west suburban Cook County and he's to Page County and one of the communities involved was the town of Cicero and there in a year ago the Cicero Republican organization had an internal scuffle and the organization split in both sides kind of went at each other and. Both sides asked for my support keeping in mind that both sides had always been helpful to me I had friends on both sides and I said I really didn't want to get into the middle of this let them settle there in intra family. Problem here and life would go on

the winning side which involved the township chairman who in Cook County they refer to as like a committee man has decided that since I did not openly support her that she will put up a challenger to me for state treasurer and she is doing so. So it's more of a revenge type of thing which I think is rather silly it's a silly way to run run candidates. It's also I think there could be a better way to. Well yeah back at you than that because what chance really does somebody have in the primary Well it's not even that why even go through this for those reasons you run people and people run because again it should be the right thing to do not because you throw in a brick bat at somebody. I made no secret about that's why they're running this person. Oh yes oh yes and which I think makes it even sillier yet. And I'd to certainly you know don't cast any aspersions on the precinct captains there of the Cicero township Republican organization. But I really wish the committeemen would kind of rethink her position here I don't think anything is accomplished by it and it makes us all look silly. If

I had to do the situation again I would do it again because again I have friends on both sides. I don't think it's it's. The best thing for a constitutional officer to be getting into local primaries. If I had to get into local primaries all over the state which are plentiful. That's all I would be doing and I would not be making beaucoup bucks for the state including by the way over 1 billion dollars in profit which I turned over to the state roughly about 17 days ago. Not too bad. Anything else you'd like to mention this afternoon and since you're here with us. Well I think we've tried very very hard to clean up the office to make it accountable. We have the first investment policy ever that the state has had. We've just held hearings all over the state in places other than over and above Springfield and Chicago because the world and the sun does not rise and set in those two places alone and have discovered that really there there is quite a bit of flexibility for want of a better word in terms of how public bodies are investing monies around the state

some of which are possibly dangerous. I would question whether there's enough oversight whether there's enough accountability. We're trying to work together with the county treasurer's Association the municipal treasures Association miscellaneous other groups who are involved in that investment companies and so on. Two pension funds also which makes me really worried because if you lose pension funds they're gone. I mean some people are not going to find their nest egg at the end of the rainbow here and that's not good. And we're going to try to put together some legislation that would indeed bolster some accountability and make sure that appropriate oversights are provided. That's where it's at. I mean you just can't keep taxing people. But the trick is I think what all families learn early on if you want to make money you do it by saving money by cutting corners internally in terms of making sure that you get the best amount of work but you don't take the long way of having to do it if there's a better way a more efficient way to do it. You try and get the best bang for the buck. It takes a little work but we have a lot of hands on where the

smallest the smallest constitutional office in the state we only have one hundred sixteen people one hundred sixteen people generated one billion dollars worth of profit profit profit profit which I think is an interesting concept for government for the state of Illinois. Now when the governor came up with a 25 percent tax increase for education to generate 1 billion dollars the press went absolutely crazy and everybody went crazy and said Oh my gosh we make one billion dollars with our own money. So. Doesn't cost anybody anything and handed over. And you know what nobody cares if this is an office that's like. I compared to Rodney Dangerfield but gets no respect while she works if you're making them much money at that. That's another reason why people are not really excited about hearing about increases in taxes because it seems like the state has enough money to do the things that are established as priorities and education is a priority and so folks wonder well you know the state seems to have enough money why can't they just apply some of some of that money to education instead of asking continually asking for higher taxes on gasoline or cigarettes or the income tax or

whatever. Is that something that frustrates you. It does because there's there's other ways of getting money out of the system. There is there is waste that can be identified very quickly that could save millions of dollars. It's not rocket rocket science is there. It has been pinpointed. It can be done but it takes a little while you got to plant your feet you just gotta do it and the other thing is is that I think before you look at putting more money into education. And I have no argument with that as long as I get a product at the end of it. I'm very practical that way. If we don't deal with a school school formula that's out there no one's even discuss that that's inequitable by its very presence. So I don't care how much money you put into it you automatically skew the system right out of the box. But even touch the school aid formula that's still out there which means some schools are going to get more and some schools are going to get less Isn't that what we just said we didn't want to do. So all we've done is made an inequitable situation bigger. We have not made it better. And I think until we start looking at consolidating some school

districts we have over 900 school districts in the state each of which carry a huge bloated administration. And you know it's pretty close to home here too on that front. I mean how many administrators do we need how many how many can dance like angels on a pinhead You know I mean well I guess the argument against I would be you're taking away local control if you start consolidating the smaller districts together. I mean you're not you're taking you're you're removing some levels of local. You still have a locally elected school board. But but there are just some economy of scale economies of scale which have to be met. And you know the public can have as many school districts as they want as long as they're willing to pay for them and be taxed to death for them. Now they're telling me from what I hear they don't wish to be taxed to death for them. And but you can't have it all. You just can't have it all the public can have it all. They can have as much as they want of whatever they want as long as they're willing to pay for it. If they are not you're going to have to scale it back into some kind of a practical solution and that's just the facts of life. Common sense.

Well I want to thank you very much for speaking with me today. Any time I always enjoy it you run a very very good radio station I really enjoy it. We appreciate that. We got that on tape so we'll use that during our next phone dry hot dog. All right Judy Baar Topinka is the treasurer of the state of Illinois government. I am. Going. The book.

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The bad. News. The big. Red. Red. Roses. With a concluding section or coda which shows the influence of Beethoven this was Symphony Number two indeed by Clemente Which brings us to the end of this concert by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra conducted by Claudio Simone. But before we part in honor of this all Italian program I'll conclude with my collective tribute to Italian composers in all honesty I presented the same tribute in a previous broadcast

season. However knowing that some of you may have missed it here again is the poetic offering which I call Vivaldi. There's Vivaldi First of all the summer teeny Antonelli rose at the Dragon at the Caribbean Corelli more Tucci and musk Anya and Melanie and marine Emaar N.C.O. Asensio Manzoni Antarctic Eeny Marcelo pies yellow man for the DENI envy altie beach and you know Pelligrini and Scarlatti. There's look at telly Gabrielli Rowsley and Rossini and I'll be known emotive Coney Lundy in London any There's Doenitz at the month of verity Qahtani No-No Carissa Mika cine Valentini Sonny Bono. There's petty petty Pogany but pricey and by Cheney and peachy nian Puccini Booker ini Bunky area and the man who murdered Mozart Mr Tony Sully Harry there's better Yoda speak pickle us pontine lot Sally and let's ask enjoy a million Bellini and now you've probably had enough so I'll just call it Feeney. We enjoy hearing from our listeners even if it's only to critique my poetry you can write to us at L.A. Chamber Orchestra care of KUSA see P.O. Box 7 7 9 1 3 Los

Angeles 9 triple 0 7. This program is a production of The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in association with an Kona audio. Broadcast is made possible by a generous gift from the men and women of McDonnell Douglas West and additional funding from the McDonnell Douglas foundation. Are opening and closing themes are by use of Haydn from the Los Angeles Chamber orchestra's recording of Haydn symphonies on the Dorian label Ted and Kona is our technical director and as producer writer and host of these broadcasts. I'm Alan Chapman thanking you for being with us today and inviting you to join us next week as Christoph Parry conducts the Beethoven Violin Concerto with soloist Robert McDuffie and Schubert Symphony Number nine in C. The Great C major. These. Are. Public. Radio.

International. Welcome to the Los Angeles Chamber orchestra's post concert reception. This is where you can hear selections from the orchestras recorded repertoire and you can also catch up with what some of the orchestras members are up to. We're going to spend this reception in Eastern Europe beginning with a 1982 recording of the idol for string orchestra a Laotian object the L.A. Chamber Orchestra conducted by Gerard Schwartz. Damn. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah yeah.

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We heard in 1902 performance of the idol for string orchestra. Again I checked the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra was conducted by Gerard Schwartz. This is the Los Angeles Chamber orchestra's post concert reception and right now principal clarinetist Gary Gray joins pianist Clifford Benson in a performance of the sonatina by HBO's Martinu. We heard in 1056 work by Martin knew the sonatina for clarinet and piano. With our

principal clarinetist Gary Gray and pianist Clifford Benson. And that concludes this Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra post concert reception. Join us for next week's concert as Christoph Pera conducts the Beethoven Violin Concerto with soloist Robert McDuffie and Schubert Symphony Number nine in C. The Great C major. Match.

International.

I'm showing you the Berto and you're hearing echoes. Sometimes musicians careers take

different paths even when they start from the same place. Take Thomas Walken and Steve Roach in the early 1980s they both played synthesizers in a duo then a speech California. Since And Steve Roach has released dozens of albums to become one of the leaders of modern electronic music. Thomas Rankin on the other hand has just released his first CD. Music from Thomas Roch. In the second half of this hour we'll talk to this late comer about his slow gestation and his new album within distance. We'll also hear music from two musicians who played together back on June 1st 1974. It's coming up on echoes. From his album before reality. Here's David.