December 9 in Retrospect

Cross posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

It was one week ago today that federal agents appeared on the governor's doorstep to take him into custody. That event, so shocking and yet in many ways so anticipated, has plunged Illinois simultaneously into new levels of paralysis and fervent action. In the blinding glare of national attention, our path to the future is temporarily harder to see.

But before we move too far ahead, we should also note two other reasons for commemorating December 9.



It was five years earlier, on December 9, 2003, that the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act was signed into law. The 2003 Ethics Act, as it is commonly known, was enacted, like the 2008 Pay-to-Play law, by the legislature over the governor's veto. The signing ceremony on December 9, 2003 was for an enhancement crafted after a storm of public opinion overcame Senate reluctance, resulting in a law that formed the apparatus of ethics enforcement: the Executive and Legislative Ethics Commissions, the Inspectors General, routine ethics training, and a host of other internal changes designed to ferret out corruption before it reached the scale and scope that typified George Ryan's tenure in public office. Rod Blagojevich signed the new law, the strongest in a generation, on December 9, 2003, five years to the day before he himself was arrested.

The other reason to note December 9 is that on that day, also in 2003, ICPR's co-founder Paul Simon passed away. Though Paul Simon is no longer here with us, his legacy of inspiration continues to guide many who believe that government can be ethical, responsible, and above board.

Now we have a third, far tawdrier, reason to recall December 9. We hope that the date will be remembered mostly not as another step in the final demise of one governor, but in Illinois' forward progress toward a more responsible government. If we in Illinois learn anything from history, it should be that removing one actor from the system will do little to change that system. The events of December 9, 2008, confirmed for many that Rod Blagojevich must go before Illinois' government can right itself. But removing the governor is only one step among many. Until we deal with the culture that embraces unlimited campaign contributions, that allows lobbyists to hide their relationships with clients and officials, that tolerates scorn for FOIA and economic interest disclosure, we as a state will be counting the days until the next Rod Blagojevich comes along.

To comment, please visit ICPR's blog, The Race is On.

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A new direction

Mike Lawrence, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is retiring from the institute November 1. He started in 1994 as associate director and became director in 2004, shortly after the unexpected death of former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon.

"You can’t really replace in some senses either Paul Simon or Mike Lawrence, but we’ve got to find someone who will carry on. And we have some very capable, accomplished people in the pool," says John Jackson, political science professor at the university and head of the search committee to replace Lawrence.

An interim director will be announced shortly, and the search committee expects to publish the top three candidates some time in November. A new director may not start until January, according to Jackson.

The new director will take over as the economic downturn continues to manifest itself in new ways. Lawrence told us in the spring that one reason he felt comfortable retiring is because Simon's goal of building a $10 million endowment had been accomplished and then some. But Jackson says just as universities throughout the state are experiencing lower returns on their investments, so too is SIUC. “The endowment is fine," Jackson says. "It’s the income off the endowment that’s not quite what it had been. So right now, we have what we hope is a short-term cash flow problem. Not huge, but it’s a headache for us.”

While Lawrence is packing his books into boxes, the university will continue to benefit from the stamp that Lawrence put on the institute and its agenda, Jackson adds. "He’s focused us more on Illinois issues, Illinois concerns, and I think that has been his forte because that’s where his network and his contacts were."

Before spending a decade with the Edgar Administration, Lawrence spent 25 years as a journalist, including 20 years with Lee Enterprises and its Statehouse bureau that he helped start and another year as Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. He plans to return to writing political commentaries, which he has said he stopped after being pressured to do so in the interest of the institute and of the university. He remains vice chair of the Illinois Issues Advisory Board.

We wish him the best of luck and look forward to seeing his byline again.

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Marathon Pundit comes to Metropolis

Back in Metropolis, circuses and elephants
Where the oranges grew
Back in Metropolis nothing can ever topple us
When I'm standing with you
The Church, "Metropolis," 1990

Near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers is Metropolis, Illinois. Superman's hometown. Of course Superman's real hometown is the mythical Smallville, Illinois, which of course isn't too different than Ray Bradbury's equally mythical Green Town, Illinois. Clark Kent, Superman that is, moved on the the make-believe Metropolis, a stand-in for New York..


The people of Metropolis came up with a unique idea to market their town, which predates the casino boat there. Since the southern Illinois town is believed to be the only municipality named Metropolis, they declared themselves the home town of the immigrant from the planet Krypton. So they erected a statue of the superhero, in front of the courthouse, this statue. Across the street from the statue is a Superman memorabilia shop--this statue makes a contribution to the economy of the small town. Of course, once in the town, Superman fans might fill up their gas tanks, grab something to eat, or try their luck in the casino.

The late Senator Paul Simon (D-IL), once remarked on a town in Illinois that turned a gravesite of a circus elephant into a tourist attraction, claiming it added to jobs to the town that wouldn't have been there otherwise. Simon said something like this, "Find out what is unique about your town, and capitalize on it." I couldn't figure out what town the bow-tied one was talking about, as Taylorville and Oquawka have circus elephant memorials. The Oquawka elephant was killed by a lightning strike, my guess this is the town Simon was referring to--the memorial is in the center of the small town.

Later in this series, I'm going to touch on a similar theme about a larger town in Mississippi.

Related Marathon Pundit post:

My Mississippi Manifest Destiny--The Trail of Tears (in Illinois)

To comment on this post, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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