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The [Wednesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

Clout’s consequences can be deadly. Some pols don’t care.
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Meanwhile:
“Former Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez wants to run for Cook County Board Commissioner, but he could be tossed off the ballot in a Wednesday hearing – in part, the argument goes, because he can’t run for office while on probation for a federal conviction,” the Sun-Times reports.

“For some reason they think I can’t run in a contested primary because of my conviction,” Sanchez said in a recent interview. “I think that people know that when I was employed by the city that I did a good job and cared about people and we did good things.”

For some reason – possibly the law!
But I’m a good guy so that shouldn’t matter.
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Memo to Al: The “people” have never heard of you.
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“I got the same as Jesse Jackson Jr.,” Sanchez complained to the Sun-Times. “He stole $750,000! I didn’t take money,” Sanchez said, adding he thought Jackson’s prison camp in North Carolina was cushy. “He got to go to Butner. Aww man, everyone wants to get in there. That was where people would say, ‘C’mon man. I gotta get to Hawaii.'”

Whining about your prison bid is not a good look, Al.
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“Convicted felon, former city official and current Cook County Board candidate Al Sanchez asks, in the Jan. 5 Sun-Times, how he ‘violated the public trust’ when he was convicted of devising and participating in a scheme to defraud applicants for city of Chicago jobs by rigging the job process to deny jobs to qualified applicants,” Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin writes in a letter to the Sun-Times. “He claims to be an innocent victim who just happened to get caught being a crook.

In fact Sanchez knowingly violated employment laws and court orders, including the well-know Shakman decree, in criminally fixing hiring practices to hire political hacks. The Shakman decree is intended to protect the public from this type of political corruption. Sanchez knows exactly what he did and that he defrauded many innocent job applicants. He can’t claim now to not understand how he ‘violated the public trust.’
Sanchez wants to represent the 4th District on the Cook County Board because he thinks he was such an outstanding city official. Felons with a history of defrauding the public do not deserve to be elected to any office. The people of the 4th District deserve better than another convicted felon after William Beavers vacated the office last year upon his conviction.
Commissioner Stanley Moore was appointed after the Beavers’ conviction and he has represented the 4th District with integrity, energy and distinction.
As a member of the Cook County Board I am proud of the role I played in modifying our hiring process through the Shakman decree. Today all applicants for county jobs have a fair and equal opportunity to be hired and serve our citizens. The current county president and board have established a high ethical standard for hiring fairness. We have reformed the bad politics and government of the past. The County Board does not need a convicted felon whose history is one of dishonesty and corruption to tamper with this solid reform.

Al Sanchez still doesn’t seem to understand what he did wrong. For that reason alone, he shouldn’t hold public office.
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Reminder: Al Sanchez is a Democrat.
Barack Rauner
“Like many other programs for the poor, the federal government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) has been steadily whittled down over the last few years,” Yana Kunichoff reports for the Chicago Reporter.
“And that means many Chicagoans could be frozen out of getting much needed help with their heating bills during a winter that’s seeing record-breaking low temperatures.
“Between 2010 and 2013, LIHEAP funding fell 17 percent, leaving 1.5 million households without necessary financial assistance to pay their energy bills, according to the National Energy Assistance Director’s Association, the primary policy organization for LIHEAP directors.”
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Think twice before simply blaming Republicans.
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Back to Kunichoff:
“The state’s portion of LIHEAP funding also has declined in recent years, falling from $268 million in 2009 to $176 million in 2013, according to the Campaign for Home Energy Assistance.”
Democrats hold the governor’s office and both chambers of the General Assembly.
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“Cook County saw a similar fall in funding, from $122 million in 2011 to $85 million in 2012. The county requested only $68 million in 2013.”
Cook County is obviously run by Democrats.
Dodgy Doctor Discipline
“In 2012, the agency responsible for protecting the public from dangerous doctors disciplined fewer than 30 Illinois physicians in cases where the department cited medical errors or failures to properly diagnose a problem, according to a Tribune review of state data.”
Click through to find out way.
What If A Drone Strike Hit An American Wedding?
We’d vow vengeance, no?
Rhymefest The Radio Host
“The show will discuss current events, serve as a platform for investigative reporting, take on the issues of the day and get Chicago talking.”
In our Local Music Notebook, along with news from Common, Sasha Go Hard, Chance the Rapper and Buddy Guy.
Luol Deng Too Good To Be A Bull
Unlike Derrick Rose, Luol Deng is a leader and great humanitarian – and a player the Bulls didn’t care to keep.
Snowy Conditions Proving Hazardous For Nation’s Idiots
The local TV weather follies.
Is The Velveeta Shortage A Hoax?
Plus: Velvet Taco Coming To Town, The Death Of Bacon and The Peanut Butter Pop Tart. In our Random Food Report.
JFK Won’t Go Away!
Plus: Agate Eats Hot Doug’s, Mama Hoosier Pie and the Chicago Diner. In our Local Book Notes.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Competitive rates.

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Posted on January 8, 2014