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 In 2018, voters ran then-Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios out
of office on a wave of frustration with insider political dealings.
He now faces federal authorities interested in the same.
A federal grand jury has subpoenaed the former chairman of the Cook County
Democratic Party and several of his former employees in the assessor’s office,
according to a Dec. 17 report from the Chicago Sun-Times.
The subpoena demands information regarding contributions to Berrios’ retirement
party; documents related to his 31st Ward Democratic Organization, the Friends
of Berrios campaign fund, and the Mexican American Political Action Committee;
and items “related to any official action taken in exchange for a benefit.”
Among those official actions are “assessor recommendations, certificates of
correction, certificates of error, property valuations and re-reviews.”
What sort of benefits are authorities looking into, exactly?
Airplane tickets, alcohol, barbecue grills, boat access, books, cigars, golf
outings and event tickets, among other items, according to the Sun-Times.
Investigative reporting from the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois found
the Cook County property tax system headed by Berrios disproportionately harmed
lower-income residents, due in part to the appeals process.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of that system was Illinois House Speaker Mike
Madigan. From 2011 to 2016, Madigan’s law firm, Madigan &
Getzendanner, appealed property taxes for more than 4,200 parcels totaling more
than $8.6 billion in assessed value, according to the Tribune. No other firm
handled more value in commercial and industrial properties over that time.
On those parcels, Madigan’s firm won $1.7 billion in assessed value reductions
from the Cook County assessor, a 20% reduction overall. That tax burden was then
shifted to other property owners throughout Cook County.
While Madigan has never fully disclosed his sources of income, the House speaker
gave a clue regarding his earnings in 2015, when a reporter asked him whether
he’d be subject to a proposed millionaire’s tax.
“Do I make a million dollars in a year? … In a good year I would be subject to
this [tax],” he said. No. 4 on the list of biggest players in
the property tax appeals game was Chicago Ald. Ed Burke’s law firm, Klafter &
Burke. Burke pleaded not guilty on a 14-count corruption indictment in June and
stepped down from his law firm earlier in the year.
 Federal authorities are investigating Madigan’s money trail and political clout,
according to reporting from the Chicago Tribune. But Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Dec.
16 said he has not spoken to Madigan about the federal anti-corruption
investigations blanketing the state.
“The speaker knows where I stand on all of these matters related to corruption,”
Pritzker said, according to NPR Illinois.
Illinois is the second-most corrupt state in the nation, costing its economy at
least $550 million a year, according to Illinois Policy Institute analysis. But
Pritzker has not championed or signed any major ethics reforms in his first year
in office. In fact, the governor as of April was under federal criminal
investigation for a scheme to avoid property taxes by taking toilets out of one
of his Chicago mansions.
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Like Madigan, Berrios rose through the ranks of the
Cook County Democratic Party decades ago, with a string of
corruption convictions paving the way.
Berrios first became the 31st Ward Democratic committeeman after the
previous committeeman, Berrios’ close friend and mentor state Sen.
Edward Nedza, D-Chicago, was convicted on federal extortion charges
in 1987. Nedza originally received that political post from his
mentor, Chicago Ald. Thomas Keane, who in 1974 orchestrated the
handoff from a federal prison cell in Kentucky. Keane was serving
time for mail fraud and conspiracy charges.
Berrios was the first Hispanic American to serve in the Illinois
General Assembly. He worked as an Illinois state representative with
Madigan from 1982 to 1988, after which he was slated by the party
organization to run for commissioner of the Cook County Board of
Review, then known as the Cook County Board of Appeals. That’s where
for more than 20 years, Madigan’s law firm lobbied Berrios to gain
property tax reductions for its clients.
With Madigan’s backing, Berrios became chairman of the Cook County
Democratic Party in 2007 and Cook County assessor in 2010. Among
other ethics concerns, Berrios faced constant criticism for hiring
family members to high-paid positions in the assessor’s office.
In addition to knowing the faces of corruption, Illinoisans should
understand the structural factors that give rise to misconduct in
government, and know that the state could go a long way toward
shedding its corrupt image by adopting policies that are common in
other states.
 The following anti-corruption reform measures, many of which were
recommended in a 2009 state report released following the indictment
of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, would be a good place to start:
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Adopting revolving door restrictions on state
lawmakers becoming lobbyists.
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Empowering the Illinois legislative inspector
general to investigate lawmaker corruption. As is, this muzzled
watchdog office must seek approval from a panel of state
lawmakers before opening investigations, issuing subpoenas and
even publishing summary reports.
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Mandating state lawmakers recuse themselves
from votes in which they have a conflict of interest. There is
no current state law or even parliamentary rule requiring
Illinois lawmakers to disclose a conflict of interest or to
excuse themselves from voting on issues where they have personal
or private financial interests.
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Reforming the Illinois House rules, which grant
more concentrated power to the House speaker than any other
legislative rules in the country.
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Using objective scoring criteria for capital
projects, akin to Virginia’s Smart Scale This ensures
infrastructure dollars are directed by need rather than clout.
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Passing a bipartisan constitutional amendment
to end politically drawn legislative maps in Illinois.
Illinois state lawmakers should act immediately to
pass substantive anti-corruption reforms. Until then, residents can
only expect more federal raids, indictments and convictions.
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