Heart of the Matter . . .

Citizen’s Rights & Representation Jeopardized at County and State Level

By Tom Kocal, Publisher

I don’t believe in coincidence, those strange, uncanny, accidental chain of events that occur with the most unexpected timing. Without getting too philosophical, I believe that everything happens for a reason.

It is not a coincidence that there are three events taking place - two that will affect all of Illinois, and the other, a Carroll County issue - that pertain to government accountability and citizen’s rights and representation during Sunshine Week, a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.

An Illinois issue

In this week’s Letters to the Editor (Section One, pg. 4) David Porter, Director of Communications and Marketing for the Illinois Press Association and Illinois chair for National Sunshine Week, states, “Let’s face it. The government really doesn’t want you, the taxpayer, knowing what it’s doing with your money. It really doesn’t.” Porter is speaking of the proposed Illinois House Bill 1869 that, if approved, would make it A- OK for every governmental entity in Illinois to circumvent your right to know.

Their claim that they have found a better and less expensive way to post public notices is nothing more than another “government takeover” - a takeover of public notices. The Illinois Press Association says, “This legislation would, for the first time in the history of Illinois, allow a government body to completely bypass the taxpayers and, instead, post critical taxpayer information on their own Web sites, rather than in a newspaper that is published in the government body’s area.” HB1869 contains no independent third-party verification, no certificate of publication from the newspaper that the information actually got published, and no accountability which, unfortunately, is the way government seems to like to operate these days.

Every year, even after the elections that kick out some of the politicians that voters feel aren’t doing the job, legislation is introduced by the new General Assembly to try to whittle away at the public’s right to know. How likely is it that the public will learn of such corruption when the information is legally shielded from public disclosure?

In honor of Sunshine Week, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan noted that new, stronger open-government laws are beginning to change Illinois’ culture of government secrecy.

In a press release, Madigan urged Illinoisans to learn about the changes to these laws and how to use them. She claims that “Improvements to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are making it easier for members of the public and media to access government documents and are helping to shine a light into how government works.

“Sunshine Week serves as a reminder of the importance of the public’s right to know how their tax dollars are being spent,” said Attorney General Madigan.

If that were true, then AG Madigan would be publicly opposed to HB1869. But of course, that’s not the proper protocol - we must remember the separate roles of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches, right?

I urge you to contact our local Representatives Jim Sacia (D-89, Pecatonica), Rich Morthland (D-73, Cordova), and Jerry Mitchell (D-90, Rock Falls) and ask them to reject this bad legislation.

Exempt privacy rights of gun owners?

On the other hand, Madigan is stretching the “sunshine” argument to the extreme by attempting to allow a Freedom of Information request filed in the fall of 2010 by the Associated Press, a notoriously anti-gun news organization, for the names and addresses of gun owners, for what purpose one can only imagine. Fortunately for us - and law enforcement officers across the state - the Illinois State Police are refusing. (Remember: they have to have a FOID card, too).

This has quickly become a showdown over the privacy rights of gun owners. State Police are refusing to release a list identifying all firearm permit holders - as well as information about the weapons each permit holder is authorized to carry - after Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan determined that the information “must” be made public.

The “public safety is more important than citizens’ rights” rhetoric is the only thing that is transparent according to Madigan’s logic. Not only would this provide criminals with a list of unarmed victims, it would also provide those same criminals with a shopping list of homes they could burglarize for possible weapons.

Where will this release of private citizen’s information end - or will it? Better let AG Madigan and your Representative know how you feel about this constitutional issue as well.

A Carroll County issue

In Carroll County, the issue is not so much one of a lack of openness or transparency, but a lack of proper citizen representation. It is my view that they are practically one in the same.

The proposed redistricting of the county, based on 2010 Census results, is addressed in this week’s issue, complete with a before-and after map of the three county district boundaries. The issue is not the maps. It’s the proposal that may be voted on at this week’s Carroll County Board meeting.

In the November 2010 elections, Carroll County voters approved a non-binding Advisory Referendum to reduce the number of Board members from 15 to 9. Right now each of the 15 board members represents approximately 1110 county residents. Should the board decide to downsize to 9 county board members, that would mean that each one of the 9 would represent approximately 1850 county residents.

For Pete’s sake, the smallest community in the county, the Village of Chadwick, with its 6 trustees and one Village President, has a representative-to-citizen ratio of 1 to 70. The largest, the City of Savanna, with 6 aldermen and one mayor, is at 1 to 450. It’s no different than a teacher with a class of 25 students one year, then finding out they will be teaching a class of 100 students the next. The quality of education due to reduced time with each student would certainly be reduced, as will our representation.

As a Carroll County “community,” the Board is proposing to reduce our representation on the Board by 40% - a net gain of 740 citizens per County Board member, but a net loss in our representation. What is the justification for this proposal? Certainly not an “advisory” referendum I hope.

Could it be money? This reduction in representation saves the county a pittance, about $3600 per year. It’s not a meaningful cost savings measure and will have practically no impact, one way or another, on this or future years’ budgets.

Could it be “politics”? County Board member Kurt Dreger (D-1, Savanna) addresses the issue that will have an impact in another Letter to the Editor this week. Dreger wants to keep the Board representatives at 15. He supports his recommendation as follows:

“I refer to an incident that pertains to the dismissal of two Board Members, and myself (Democrats, mind you), from several committee posts. I believe we were not only treated unfairly, but we were replaced with less experienced people. It appears that this practice, if not discouraged, will lead to a one-sided Carroll County Board.”

I must agree with Dreger. It is apparent that Republican Chairman of the Board Rod Fritz wants Republican control of the Carroll County Board. If approved, this goal will take a huge step forward for one party in Carroll County, but a huge step backward for the citizens.

There is a Republican majority in Carroll County - that is a fact. But this county is too small for partisan politics of any kind, at any level of government representation. I believe Chairman Fritz sees the day when at future elections, Republican candidates will have the edge simply by eliminating the number of potential candidates from 15 to 9, potentially six less Democrats to tap into the votes cast by the already shrinking voting public.

I hope you will take the time to contact your County Board representative with your opinion, or attend the Board meeting on Thursday morning, March 17, at 9:30 a.m.

With all three of these important issues, it’s time to speak up, or you won’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.

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