Thursday, Aug. 8

Lack of funds no reason for
closing LDC, Bomke says

[AUG. 8, 2002]  Allowing budget considerations to play the deciding role in the decision to close Lincoln Developmental Center is wrong, according to state Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield.

The report given by the Department of Public Health to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, which recommends that LDC be closed, says that "economics play the deciding role in this application. … the lack of funding for this facility in the State budget means that the only way care can be maintained for these patients is to move them to other facilities which have the necessary funding."

On Aug. 15, the planning board will decide whether to give the Department of Human Services a permit to close LDC. DHS and Gov. George Ryan, citing continuing allegations of abuse and neglect, have set Sept. 1 of this year as the date to shutter the doors of the 125-year-old facility.

"Basing the recommendation for closure on lack of funds is wrong," Bomke said Wednesday. "That’s not an issue. It’s just a question of reallocating funds."

Even though current funding for LDC runs only until Sept. 1, Bomke says money could be found to keep the embattled Lincoln facility open.

"We know that funding will have to be increased at other institutions to care for LDC residents being transferred there," he said. "DHS is the largest agency in state government, and I guarantee they don’t calculate their budget to the penny," Bomke said DHS has the ability to transfer 3 percent of its budget from one facility to another.

 

Even if DHS was not able to fund LDC for another year, the legislature could always appropriate additional funds, he said.

"Last year’s budget was based on an $800 million year-end balance in the general revenue fund. It is not uncommon for the legislature to make supplemental revenue available if an agency runs low on funds. They could do that either in the November veto session or in January," Bomke said.

Bomke, who will represent southwestern Logan County and most of Lincoln if he wins in the November election, is a party to the lawsuit that has forced DHS to seek the permit before permanently closing LDC.

He said he was disappointed in the DPH’s report. Closing LDC, he said, is not a good thing for Logan County, but it is even worse for the parents and families of LDC residents and for the residents themselves.

Spokespersons for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the union that represents most LDC workers, also disagreed with the DPH report.

"What I can’t get over is how the planning board staff seemed to miss the most obvious point," said Anne Irving, spokesperson for AFSCME Council 31. "There are just not enough services in this planning area to serve the residents of LDC."

During hearings in front of a House committee early this year, DHS representatives said there were 168 LDC residents who had families ties to central Illinois, but now they are listing only 63 residents in the planning area, she said. These 63 residents could be accommodated at Jacksonville Developmental Center, according to DHS.

 

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However, many families live just outside the planning area but are close enough to Lincoln to visit their relatives often. These include families in Peoria, Tazewell and McLean counties.

"By excluding LDC residents whose family members are outside the planning area but who are still closer to LDC than to other state-operated facilities, they are distorting the picture," Irving said.

For example, she said, an elderly parent, Clara May, recently widowed, has a daughter at LDC. May lives in Peoria and visits her daughter often, bringing her home at least once a month.

Irving said May specifically asked that her daughter be transferred to Jacksonville but has been told she will go to Howe Developmental Center in Tinley Park because she will get better care there.

"She is asking how her daughter can get better care if she isn’t able to see her mother," Irving said.

Irving also questioned the objectivity of the DPH report.

"The planning board staff, employed by the governor, analyzes the data provided by the DHS staff, also employed by the governor, which includes a statement by an attorney in the Bureau of the Budget, also employed by the governor. There is no critical analysis," she said.

Dan Senters, spokesman for AFSCME Local 425, said he was also disappointed in the conclusions DPH reached.

"It’s more of the same. DHS is trying to make Lincoln look bad when it isn’t." He said several former Lincoln staff members who have transferred to other state-operated facilities are being cited for the good work they are doing.

Senters also agreed that DHS understated the number of people who need facilities in the area.

"The criteria for closure have not been met. I would hope that the board would be more objective than the staff whose paychecks are signed by Gov. Ryan."

 

The criteria which the Health Facilities Planning Board will consider include the DPH staff report, a petition signed by approximately 10,000 people opposing the closure of LDC, several letters from parents opposed to the closure, a letter from AFSCME, several letters from provider groups in the area offering placement to LDC residents, letters supporting closure from several groups representing developmentally disabled individuals, and a letter from Melissa Wright, associate director of the Office of Developmental Disabilities.

Reginald Marsh, spokesperson for DHS, could not be reached Thursday morning.

[Joan Crabb]


Training offered for
county board candidates

[AUG. 8, 2002]  URBANA — Candidates for county boards and commissions will have the opportunity to "hit the ground running" if they win in November, thanks to a joint program of the University of Illinois Extension and the Illinois Association of County Board Members and Commissioners. Offered at four locations in September, the program will provide information on the duties and challenges of serving in public office.

"Every two years, many men and women are elected to county boards and commissions for the first time and immediately face an array of questions and responsibilities," explained Jeri Marxman, U of I Extension public policy education specialist who is heading the project. "We thought that if we provided them the opportunity to learn about the requirements and gain the insights of longtime, retiring board and commission members, they would be able to hit the ground running if they win in November."

For many years, Extension has provided post-election training for county board members and commissioners.

Marxman said a representative of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs will be present at the programs to explain the fiduciary duties of board and commissioner members. Ethics and potential conflicts of interest will be addressed by a representative of the Illinois attorney general’s office. Extension specialists will provide information on parliamentary procedure and meeting management.

 

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"We are particularly excited about a panel of veteran board and commission members who will share their experiences with the candidates," said Marxman. "They’ll discuss the things they wished they had known before they began their service and how board and commission members can most effectively serve the public."

Registration for each meeting begins at 3:30 p.m., and the training commences at 4 p.m., concluding at 8 p.m. The $45 charge per person includes materials and dinner. People interested in attending one of the sessions should contact their local Extension office for further information.

Dates and locations are:

•  Sept. 5 — Galesburg, Prairie Inn (formerly Jumer’s)

•  Sept. 11 — Springfield, Northfield Conference Center

•  Sept. 19 — Morris, Jennifer’s Garden Center

•  Sept. 26 — Mount Vernon, Holiday Inn

[U of I news release]


Abraham Lincoln Marovitz
collection donated to state

[AUG. 8, 2002]  SPRINGFIELD — Illinois first lady Lura Lynn Ryan announced earlier this week that the estate of the Honorable Abraham Lincoln Marovitz has donated an extensive collection of Abraham Lincoln-related items to the state of Illinois for inclusion in its Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Judge Marovitz’s collection includes 450 book and pamphlet titles, more than 100 prints and photographs, more than 30 busts, and numerous other pieces.

The collection contains a number of interesting rarities. Several early Illinois law books, such as Sidney Breese’s 1831 "Reports on Cases at the Common Law and In Chancery" and the 1839 edition of "Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois," are found in the collection. Of special significance is Judge David Davis’ copy of the "Laws of the State of Illinois Passed by the Tenth General Assembly." Davis was judge of the 8th Judicial Circuit, where Abraham Lincoln practiced law from 1837 to 1861. Lincoln appointed Davis to the United States Supreme Court in 1862.

The collection also reflects the many friendships and themes that characterized the life of Abraham Lincoln Marovitz. In Robert W. Johannsen’s 1973 biography of Stephen A. Douglas, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley inscribed the following: "I thought you would enjoy the new biography of Stephen A. Douglas, the ‘Little Giant,’ who in my opinion is the outstanding Democratic leader in the history of Illinois." Illinois authors such as Carl Sandburg, Lloyd Lewis, Benjamin Thomas, Paul M. Angle and Harry E. Pratt sent copies of their Lincoln studies to Judge Marovitz with inscriptions of gratitude.

Judge Marovitz owned every book written about Lincoln’s legal career, reflecting his keen interest in Abraham Lincoln’s legal practice and thinking. Anyone who visited Judge Marovitz’s chambers saw the vast array of framed prints and photographs of Abraham Lincoln. Bookends reproducing the Daniel Chester French seated Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial graced the judge’s bookshelves. Assorted busts and bas-reliefs of the 16th president were scattered on shelves and desktops.

 

Every significant scholarly Lincoln biography is contained in the collection, along with the important studies of Lincoln’s Jewish friends and associates by Bertram Korn, Isaac Markens and Emanuel Hertz.

The Marovitz materials will become part of the Illinois State Historical Library’s 46,000-item Henry Horner Lincoln Collection. Marovitz was a trustee of the Illinois State Historical Library from 1961 to 1969. The State Historical Library and its collections will become part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum now under construction in downtown Springfield. The library portion of the two-building complex will open Nov. 18, and the museum portion is scheduled to open in mid-2004. The section of Marovitz books will be recognized by a special book plate acknowledging this generous gift.

Judge Marovitz’s parents, Rachel and Joseph Marovitz, were Lithuanian immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island. When Abraham was born, on Aug. 10, 1905, the family had relocated to Oshkosh, Wis. Rachel, recalling the impressive character of the 16th president recounted at a New York settlement house lecture, named her son after him. Judge Marovitz often remarked that his mother thought Lincoln was Jewish because John Wilkes Booth shot him in the temple. The family moved to Chicago’s Maxwell Street area when Abe was 5.

 

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Marovitz enrolled in Chicago-Kent College of Law at age 16, using money loaned to him by Alfred S. Austrian, the attorney for whom he worked at the law firm that is now known as Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. Since he was only 19 years old when he graduated from law school, Marovitz had to wait two years to take the bar exam, because state law prohibited anyone under 21 from becoming a lawyer.

At age 22 Marovitz became the youngest person to work as a Cook County assistant state’s attorney. During this time, he met a young Richard J. Daley, a city council clerk, and the two began a lifetime friendship.

Marovitz teamed up with his two brothers in private practice. He represented labor leaders and some of the most notorious gangsters of the day.

Marovitz was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1938 and was the first Jew to serve in that body. Remembering the prejudice he suffered as a youth, he helped introduce the first Fair Employment Act that barred discrimination based on race, religion or sex. His friendship with fellow state Sen. Daley was strengthened during this time.

Marovitz’s Senate service placed him in Springfield during the golden era of research and writing about Abraham Lincoln. Paul M. Angle, then director of the Illinois State Historical Library, stated on several occasions that the library’s best friends were Marovitz and Richard J. Daley.

Marovitz left the Senate in 1943 to join the U.S. Marines and saw combat during the invasion of the Philippines. He was wounded but refused the Purple Heart, saying his injuries were far less serious than many soldiers who had lost limbs.

Marovitz remained in the state Senate until 1950, when he became a judge in the Cook County Superior Court. He was sworn in by the new county clerk, Richard J. Daley. He served from 1958 to 1959 as chief justice of the Cook County Criminal Court. In 1963 President John F. Kennedy named him a federal judge in the Northern Illinois District, a position he held for several decades. He earned a reputation as a fair and impartial judge.

Marovitz had many famous and influential friends besides Mayors Richard J. and Richard M. Daley, including Hubert Humphrey, Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Sophie Tucker, legendary fan dancer Sally Rand and comedian Joe E. Lewis. Chicago had an honorary street-naming ceremony in his honor, and a forest in Israel with 200,000 trees bears his name.

Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz died March 17, 2001. He was 95 years old.

[Illinois Government News Network
press release]

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