From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Time to lay down the law on ethics

March 26, 2003

BY CINDY RICHARDS

In a world that seems overrun with bad news--everything from friendly fire deaths in Iraq to more job losses here at home--it is difficult to find good news these days. But there it was, tucked away on Page 26A of Sunday's Sun-Times: ''Concern over ethics blooms in Springfield.''

And to think that all it took was a high-profile federal conviction in Chicago and a regime change in Springfield.

It seems the folks running our state are nervous these days. Most telling was what an unnamed lobbyist told reporter Dave McKinney: ''I've had guys say to me, 'Every conversation I have, I treat it like the person across from me is wearing a wire.' What was accepted 20 years ago isn't accepted anymore.''

That should be good news for those on the federal jury that convicted Scott Fawell, chief of staff for former Gov. George Ryan, and Citizens for Ryan, the former governor's campaign committee, of corruption on March 19. Later, some jurors told reporters they hoped the verdict would help to clean up Illinois politics.

Certainly, state pols are reeling from the one-two punch of a voter backlash that swept Democrats into office and a push from the federal prosecutor that has resulted in 59 indictments so far. But will the Democrats hear the message delivered by voters and prosecutors and create a culture of ethical behavior in Springfield?

Cynthia Canary, a longtime crusader for political reform in Illinois, believes a few laws could help. She has a list of 10 reforms she believes could correct the most egregious ethical breaches. Included are the formation of a single ethics commission empowered to investigate ethical breaches and punish perpetrators; training in proper ethical conduct for all state employees; a system that protects whistleblowers, and a ban on state workers doing political work on state time.

High on her list is a law that would stop politicians from strong-arming their employees for campaign donations.

She noted that when Ryan announced his plan to run for governor in 1998, he promised to stop soliciting campaign donations from state employees. His last contribution report as secretary of state listed $919,464 in donations of less than $150. His first post-promise report listed just $2,085 in small donations. Since the campaign isn't required to name people who contribute less than $150, it's impossible to know whether the money came from employees who were bullied into contributing. But such a significant drop certainly raises the question.

Blagojevich has made a similar promise not to solicit donations from employees. But Canary is right: It's not enough to issue an order. She believes there ought to be a law, and it ought to apply to every constitutional officer and every member of the Legislature.

But even that won't stop corruption if the folks who pass the laws aren't committed to honoring the spirit of them. Canary agreed. ''Theoretically, you can change the laws under which people live, but changing the way people think is a much harder challenge.''

There's always the option of changing the people. Voters did that when they elected Rod Blagojevich, et al, to run the state in a different way. How is Blagojevich repaying that trust? On the day Fawell was convicted, G-Rod appointed Mike Chamness full-time director of the state's terrorism task force. Chamness was head of the Illinois secretary of state's driver's services division under Ryan and was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony at Fawell's trial.

Chamness told the court he was expected to sell a quota of tickets to political fund-raisers. In accordance with the Manual of Standard Operating Procedure, he delegated the task to subordinates. Did he ever complain about the arm-twisting? No, Chamness said, ''It had been done for years.''

Who knows? Maybe a former sports editor and state bureaucrat is just the guy to save us from the next terrorist attack. But his appointment certainly begs the question: How long before the ethics bloom wilts in Springfield?