From the Rock Island Argus and Moline Dispatch:
 DeLeo makes governor 'ethics' offer he can't refuse
Sep 28, 2008 12:01AM
Scott Reeder
SPRINGFIELD -- Who on earth would have a fellow once implicated in one of Illinois worst scandals spearhead ethics reform?
Rod Blagojevich would.
Last week, the Legislature stuck a finger in the governor’s eye and overrode his veto of an ethics bill. The governor soon won’t be able to take $50,000 contributions from folks who want to do business with the state, thanks to action taken by the General Assembly.
Not to be outdone, the governor threw out his own half-baked ethics plan and called the Legislature into special session. Some of the ideas in the bill are good ones, but even the bill’s supporters say the measure needs work -- a lot of it.
The sponsor of the bill is state Sen. Jimmy DeLeo. Not only is he one the most charming and best-dressed people in the Legislature, he also has one of the more colorful pasts.
DeLeo was accused by the federal prosecutors of spending $93,000 more than he earned between 1980 and 1982.
They contended that the source of the cash was bribe money collected while working as supervisor in Cook County courts, according to newspaper accounts at the time. The indictment stemmed from the Operation Greylord judicial corruption investigation.
“A bagman for the Mob? I have never heard anything so ridiculous,” DeLeo told me Thursday in response to newspaper articles printed about him during the era.
The jury couldn’t reach a verdict and DeLeo ended up pleading guilty to a minor tax charge instead.
Instead of prison, he ended up in the Illinois State Senate.
Now, he has taken on the mantle of “reformer.”
“Sen. DeLeo is not someone usually associated with political reform. For that matter, this governor is not someone we usually associate with reform,” said Cindi Canary, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. “Frankly, I think the only reason the governor picked him was he couldn’t find anyone else.”
The Blagojevich administration says DeLeo asked to sponsor the legislation.
“Do you have to be a do-gooder to see what is wrong with the system?” DeLeo asked me. “I think my life experiences dictate better. Allegations, you can say whatever you want. I have heard every allegation -- that I was in the Kennedy assassination. Everyone loves to do character assassination. That’s what people do in Springfield.”
Nonetheless, it is a bit odd to have someone with such a colorful background pushing ethics legislation.
“This isn’t about reform. It’s about politics,” Canary said. “This isn’t about making improvements, it’s about making headlines.”
DeLeo, for his part, says he is the victim of ethnic stereotyping.
“I guess because I believe in true reform, let’s go attack DeLeo -- a member of the Soprano family. … I haven’t whacked anybody this week. I haven’t dropped the gun and taken the cannoli.”
Scott Reeder is statehouse bureau chief for the Small Newspaper Group, which includes The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus.