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 As an ongoing corruption probe sweeps across Illinois state and
local governments, another Chicago suburb has found itself on federal
investigators’ radar.
Bloomingdale Township Highway Commissioner Robert Czernek is the latest Illinois
public officeholder to come under federal scrutiny. Agents executed a search
warrant at his office Jan. 21, prompting the township supervisor to call for
Czernek’s immediate resignation.
Federal agents were seeking information on Czernek’s financial dealings and
relationship to vendors, Township Supervisor Michael Hovde Jr. said in a written
statement provided to the Daily Herald.
“The Bloomingdale Township office was not the subject of the federal search
warrant, which related solely to alleged conduct within the Bloomingdale
Township Highway Department and a handful of its vendors,” Hovde wrote.
While those vendors were not identified, Bloomingdale Township does not contain
any red-light traffic cameras. Politically connected red-light camera vendor
SafeSpeed LLC has been the common thread in much of the federal corruption
probe.
Czernek refused comment. He is serving his second term as highway commissioner.
The ongoing corruption probe in Illinois has ensnared political power players
near the top rungs of state government. But a host of federal raids concentrated
in the Chicago suburbs has reminded Illinoisans that the relative obscurity of
smaller government bodies – such as townships – can encourage corruption,
allowing abuses to go largely undetected. Illinois is home to nearly 7,000
government bodies, more than any other state by far.
In 2018, three separate townships in McHenry County were each under
investigation simultaneously. A seven-month investigation led the county state’s
attorney to conclude that townships were “deeply flawed” as a form of government
and recommended the consolidation of at least one of the targeted townships.
The Bloomingdale Township investigation follows the resignation of nearby suburb
Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci, after the Chicago Tribune reported he was
under federal scrutiny for his involvement with SafeSpeed.
In September 2019, a series of raids involving the FBI and IRS targeted the home
and offices of former state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago, and the village
halls of Lyons, McCook and Summit, each of which dealt with SafeSpeed. Federal
authorities confirmed at the time that the company was one subject of those
probes.
An analysis by the Illinois Policy Institute in October 2019 found Chicago and
other local governments across Illinois have banked over $1 billion combined
between 2008 and 2018, and that the presence of red-light cameras outside
Chicago has increased threefold during that time.
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Reversing the trend
The FBI’s investigation of Czernek is only the latest tale in
Illinois’ ongoing corruption saga. Fortunately, there are steps
state leaders could take to reverse Illinois’ ranking as the
second-most corrupt state and restore Illinoisans’ record-low trust
in their state government.
Reforms should include:
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A revolving-door restriction. Currently,
lawmakers could retire on Tuesday and be in the Statehouse
working for a lobbying firm by Wednesday. The lack of a
cooling-off period encourages lawmakers to prioritize building
relationships with special interest groups that can help them in
life after the legislature, rather than to serve constituents.
To combat this, the Institute recommends requiring lawmakers to
wait at least two years before becoming lobbyists.
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A ban on lobbying for sitting lawmakers.
There’s an absurdity to the fact that state law allows lawmakers
to be registered lobbyists with local governments. When a state
lawmaker lobbies local government for a client, the members of
that body know the lawmaker might be voting on measures that
will affect the municipality. Furthermore, when municipal or
regulatory issues come before the General Assembly,
lawmaker-lobbyists are in the position of potentially casting a
vote to curry favor with government entities they hope to sway
to benefit their clients.
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Mandated disclosure and voting recusal.
Lawmakers are trusted, not mandated, to give notice when they’re
voting on an issue with which they have a potential conflict of
interest. Public disclosure and recusal when a lawmaker has a
personal stake in a bill should be required.
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More legislative inspector general power. The
state’s legislative inspector general has been described as a
“toothless tiger” – lacking the power to publish reports without
approval from an ethics commission made up of eight legislators.
This commission also grants or denies permission to the
inspector general to open investigations or issue subpoenas.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, himself the subject of a
federal probe, campaigned in part on a pledge to transform
government ethics. Illinoisans would benefit from turning that
campaign rhetoric into political action.
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