Constitutional Convention for Illinois

My comments are from being a former Vote Yes organizer of the 1989 con con and now 40 years later an organizer for a 2010 con con.

Ballot questions allows our voter citizens to really think and give their opinions about issues of the day. I do not believe voters in Cook County are only concerned about recall or election reform, however many are.

Having helped to get both precinct and countywide advisory referendums on the Novemebr 4 ballot is real working democracy at the grassroots level. On a grander scale the 1969 con con was brillant in that those citizen delegates allowed us to vote for a binding referednum every 20 years. We don't have to collect 250,000 statewide signatures to see this binding referendum on the ballot.

Collecting signatures for recall or election and public campaign funding reform questions gives us a chance to speak to our neighbors and friends about the Nov 4 binding referedum. It helps to draws the needed media and citizen voter focus on these ballot questions--- because the main focus will our electrifying presidential candidates.

I would emphasize "don't be fooled" by the national politcs of the day --important as they are--- what really puts organizers for a con con into category 4 winds is trying to shout above all the roaring presidential storms.

Thanks to folks like United Power and Illinois Yes for a con con and many many other good government groups laying the ground support for a Yes Vote.

We really have a great chance to get a convention off the ground after 40 years....Waiting 60 more years for such a pivotal opportunity for Illinois' future would be a disaster ALL OF US should fear.

Andrea Raila, Catholic Worker Movement & H.E.R.E. Union Member
www.FairTaxes.net

In Cook County, recall alive for November
August 31, 2008In Cook County, recall alive for November
Southtown Star - Chicago,IL,USA

There is a huge sea of people enthusiastically supporting recall," said Andrea Raila, a property tax expert who collected signatures for the Cook County ...Recommend (1)

KRISTEN MCQUEARY
Consider it the "baby brother" of an official recall amendment.

The November ballot in Cook County will include a question that asks: "Shall the Illinois Constitution be amended to establish a recall process for the office of governor and other statewide elected officials?"

Voting "yes" will not spur formal action. The question is advisory only, serving little purpose other than a poll of Cook County voters. But it will be interesting to see the results, which I expect to be overwhelmingly in favor. The results will parlay nicely into the campaigns of gubernatorial challengers in 2010.

Community groups, organized with the help of longtime activist and reformer Quentin Young and recall proponent Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, gathered signatures earlier this month to place the question on the Cook County ballot. They did so quietly. Few people are aware the question will appear, according to sources.

Although petition circulators fell far short of the signature requirement of 8 percent of the total ballots cast in the last governor's election, no one challenged the petitions. The collectors filed about 900 names, a fraction of the required 104,703. But because no one challenged the paperwork by the Aug. 25 deadline, setting in motion a review of the signatures, the ballot measure will appear, according to Cook County Clerk David Orr's office.

"People got excited when the recall legislation (in Springfield) passed the House in the spring. There is a huge sea of people enthusiastically supporting recall," said Andrea Raila, a property tax expert who collected signatures for the Cook County proposition. "There was tremendous disappointment when it didn't get through the Legislature."

That recall provision, sponsored by state Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock), would have placed a question on the statewide November ballot, asking if voters supported a recall amendment being added to the Illinois Constitution. Three-fifths of House and Senate members needed to vote "yes" to start the process. While the House voted in favor of the recall bill, the Senate fell three votes short.

Many Southland lawmakers voted against it, citing concerns that the recall movement targeted one person - Gov. Rod Blagojevich - and that voters already have a mechanism to dethrone public officials. They can vote them out of office.

Blagojevich's term is up in 2010. He already is laying groundwork for a third four-year term, telling reporters at the Democratic National Convention he believes he's an excellent governor. The guy is obviously taking too much Prozac.

Some Southland lawmakers supported the recall bill in April, including Reps. Renee Kosel (R-New Lenox) andKevin McCarthy(D-Orland Park), and Debbie Halvorson (D-Crete) in the Senate.

But when it failed to get a super majority, Raila and other recall supporters resorted to Plan B - a countywide ballot question that is certain to keep the issue in play.

Circulators of the Cook County ballot question include at least two people who work for Quinn's political action committee.

Young, a retired physician and respected social justice activist, filed the petitions with Orr's office Aug. 18. He is listed as the principal supporter. He did not return several phone calls to his home and office.

So Cook County, now that you have the chance to support recall, how will you vote?

And can we vote twice?

Kristen McQueary covers government and politics for the SouthtownStar. She can be reached at kmcqueary@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5972.
Cook County voters to weigh in on recall amendment
Advisory question makes Nov. 4 ballot
By Monique Garcia | Chicago Tribune reporter
7:28 PM CDT, September 2, 2008
Flying under the political radar, supporters of a constitutional amendment to allow the recall of the governor have placed an advisory referendum question on the Nov. 4 ballot to let Cook County voters weigh in on the issue.

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, historically not a politician to avoid the media spotlight, quietly spearheaded the drive to ask voters if the Illinois Constitution should be altered to establish a process to boot the governor and other statewide elected officials out of office. Even if voters agree, the referendum won't result in any official changes. It could, however, potentially provide a show of support for the recall concept two years before the 2010 statewide elections.

"In my opinion, it's better than any poll because it's votes at a ballot box and that speaks a language any politician would understand," Quinn said Tuesday.

Earlier this year, House lawmakers pushed to include the recall question on ballots across the state, citing frustration with Gov. Rod Blagojevich and an ongoing federal corruption investigation surrounding his administration. But that proposal was stymied in the Senate under the leadership of President Emil Jones Jr., one of Blagojevich's biggest allies.

A Blagojevich spokesman said Tuesday that the governor supports giving voters the power to recall. The issue received national spotlight in 2003 when California voters used it to replace an unpopular governor with action-movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"There's no question that [Blagojevich's] rocky performance over the last year has underlined the need for recall in Illinois," said Quinn, who was Blagojevich's running mate in 2006. "Between [convicted former Gov.] George Ryan and Gov. Blagojevich, they are exhibit A and exhibit B for the need to be held accountable at all times, not just at election time."

The referendum question landed on the ballot after supporters collected about 900 signatures and submitted them to Cook County Clerk David Orr's office.

The number of signatures was far short of what is usually required to include a proposal on a ballot, but no one challenged the submissions by the Aug. 25 deadline.