On Tuesday, former Governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to fourteen years in prison on corruption charges – including his attempted sale of President Obama’s former U.S. senate seat. In doing so, Judge James Zagel sent a message to Illinois’ pay-to-play politicians. But were any of them really listening?

 

No Illinois resident believes that Gov. Blagojevich alone is guilty of these corrupt pay-to-play schemes. They are commonplace in Illinois. They are part of the political fabric. They are part of the accepted political culture. Part of the reason Gov. Blagojevich continued to proclaim his innocence throughout the trial is that he probably didn’t believe that he did anything wrong, meaning anything that he hasn’t seen incumbent office holders in Illinois do for decades. It is sad but true.

 

The pay-to-play culture is even legislated into our state and Cook County ethics laws, enabling politicians to continue to participate in the very schemes that have destroyed the peoples’ faith in their government. For decades, Cook County Board of Review commissioners have both accepted and aggressively solicited the very property tax attorneys that appear before them in order to secure reduced assessments for their clients. This practice, by its very nature, is a conflict of interest.

 

A June 2007 Cook County ethics ordinance tried to limit the amount of political  contributions of attorneys who earn more than $10,000 in legal fees per year from business before the board to $750 in non-election years and $1500 in election years. But that was a threat to the pay-to-play system. But, back in June of this year, bending to both legal and political pressure, the Democrat-controlled Cook County Board commissioners approved a measure eliminating the $1500 election year cap for attorneys. Apparently, attorneys appreciate the benefits of the pay-to-play system as well.

 

So what rules are left to stop the fox in the chicken coup?

 

The Cook County Board of Ethics is charged with enforcing “the rules.” But everyone claims the rules are difficult to enforce…on purpose. Most property tax attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, taking a fee equal to one-third of their client’s first year tax savings. Since these attorneys are not paid by directly by Cook County government, the fees are not listed on county comptroller’s list of contractors and not policed by the Cook County Board of Ethics. It is a convenient excuse.

 

Consequently, we have a system in which the attorneys and their firms must report whether they have earned in excess of the $10,000 threshold. Regular contractors who donate beyond the contribution limits are banned from doing business with the county but attorneys who violate the ordinance are not.  Consequently, you make a donation to Board of Review commissioners; you are more likely to get a reduced assessment and a generous fee from happy clients. The ordinance also requires the Board of Review to make attorneys that appear before it aware of contribution limits but it doesn’t. Such is the Circle of Life in corrupt Cook County.

 

How is this different from the pay-to-play scheme that Gov. Blagojevich was just convicted of? It’s not. Except that it is legal.

 

We need to limit contributions in election and non-election years to $250 per attorney and establish a general cap for property tax law firms that do business with the Cook County Board of Review. If the Cook County Board of Ethics and the Cook County Board of Review continues to shrug its shoulders on this blatant ethical conflict, we need to take the step to limit unethical contributions and stop pay-to-play-politics on every level of Illinois government – from the county level up to the Illinois Governor’s mansion. 

Sean M. Morrison