Thursday, June 5, 2008 2:29 PM CDT
Lawmakers: Rezko verdict black eye for Blagojevich, state
By KURT ERICKSON, JG/T-C Springfield Bureau
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers said the conviction Wednesday of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s former top adviser, Antoin “Tony” Rezko, gives the corruption-challenged state another black eye.
And, they said the embattled Democrat from Chicago faces tough times ahead as he tries to govern.
State Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, said the trial exposed the underbelly of insider politics in Illinois.
“Throughout this trial, citizens have had an opportunity to see how slimeballs have been allowed to enrich themselves at the expense of taxpayers and this has probably been going on in a variety of ways,” Flider said. “It’s great that these slimeballs have been exposed. It’s unfortunate that they’ve been able to get away with what they have been able to get away with.”
State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said things may only get worse for Blagojevich because another former adviser, Christopher Kelly, also is awaiting trial on federal charges.
Brady, an unofficial candidate for governor in 2010, said the conviction will further weaken Blagojevich, who has battled with fellow Democrats since taking office in 2003.
“The credibility of this administration was near zero anyway,” Brady said.
“Maybe this will be the root canal that Illinois politics needed,” said state Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa.
The verdict had state Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, renewing his call for Blagojevich to step down.
“The governor should resign. A lot of these counts were closely tied to the governor,” Jacobs said.
State Rep. David Miller, D-Lynwood, cautioned that the governor is not facing criminal charges.
“The governor still hasn’t been indicted of any wrongdoing, but it does tarnish his administration and it does start to raise questions about how much involvement he did or did not have with Tony Rezko,” Miller said.
State Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, said Blagojevich should completely explain what was going on in his office.
“Any kind of charges like this don’t help him. It’s just an issue that he’s going to have to face up to and tell the people what’s right, wrong or indifferent,” Forby said.
“The people of the state of Illinois deserve better,” said state Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion. “The allegations and evidence were very concerning to me not only as a steward of the state government but as an individual citizen and taxpayer.”
Lawmakers’ lack of trust of Blagojevich has been an issue all year, with many unwilling to turn over billions of dollars for special projects to the governor without hard promises. State Rep. David Reis, R-Willow Hill, said the verdict reinforces that issue.
“I think it underscores why we’ve had so many concerns,” Reis said.
State Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, said Blagojevich should act quickly on legislation that seeks to ban some types of pay-to-play politics.
“If I was the governor, I’d sign that ethics bill right away and try to start getting myself on the side of righteousness before the whole thing collapses,” Boland said.
Republican state Rep. Chapin Rose of Mahomet agreed.
“(Blagojevich) needs to make some pretty definitive statements very fast,” Rose said.
Added state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington: “It’s another dark cloud over the governor.”
Mike Riopell, Kenneth Lowe and Kartikay Mehrotra contributed to this report.
Kurt Erickson can be reached at kurt.erickson@lee.net or 217-789-0865.
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