Nov. 26, 2019
The (Springfield) State Journal-Register.
Our View: Remember to ‘shop small’ this holiday season
Small businesses set our communities apart.
You can find the same chain restaurants and big-box retailers in many cities throughout the state. It’s the small businesses that give our communities character.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s your favorite sit-down restaurant, a hot-dog stand, a bike shop or a hardware store. Small local businesses make visiting our cities unique. They’re run by local people who know that if they don’t provide great customer service or create a superior shopping experience, they won’t be in business long.
Shopping at a local small business is something you should do all year long. If, however, you don’t know much about your local small business scene, Saturday is the day to check it out.
Small Business Saturday, sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, was created by American Express in 2010 to help small businesses get more exposure during the holiday shopping season.
It’s worked well. According to the results of the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business and American Express, 104 million customers spent $17.8 billion at small independent businesses on Small Business Saturday in 2018.
Seventy percent of American adults are aware of Small Business Saturday, and of those who said they “shopped small” on the daylast year, 42% reported shopping with family and friends at independently owned businesses, and 83% reported encouraging others to also shop or dine small. A separate survey found that small business owners expect an average of 29% of their total annual sales to take place during the holiday shopping season.
The impact small businesses have on our communities goes well beyond our shopping needs. Small businesses are big economic engines - especially in Illinois.
The Illinois Policy Institute found businesses with fewer than 50 employees created 83 percent of new jobs in Illinois during 2017, while businesses with more than 250 employees cut more than 1,000 jobs.
Nationally, 60 percent of new jobs were created by small businesses. Small businesses employ 58.9 million, or 47.5 percent of all private-sector employees. Companies with fewer than 20 employees showed the biggest growth in 2015 by adding 1.1 million net jobs, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Small businesses produced 16 times more patents per employee than larger patenting firms, according to the Small Business Administration. Small businesses account for 43 percent of high-tech employment.
Local small businesses create jobs and recirculate money back into the community. Surveys consistently show that for every dollar you spend at an independent local business, more of that money stays in your community than if you spent that buck with a national business. About 48 percent of what you spend at a local business is recirculated into the community. A chain store recirculates less than 14 percent.
It’s even more for local restaurants - 65 percent to 30 percent. Anyone hungry?
Healthy communities depend on healthy economies, and small businesses are the backbone of local economies.
Small Business Saturday coincides with the Old State Capitol Holiday Walks this Saturday. Other local communities are holding their own events. Most of us have just started to think about Christmas shopping, and there are people on our lists for whom we have no clue what to buy. But we’ll probably find that special gift at a locally owned small business.
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Dec. 3, 2019
The (Champaign) News-Gazette
Probes starting to take toll
Another one bites the dust.
First, it was state Rep. Luis Arroyo, the Chicago legislator who was charged with bribery.
Now, it’s state Sen. Martin Sandoval, another Chicago legislator whose offices and home were recently the subject of a search warrant executed by the FBI?
It’s impossible to say which esteemed member of the Illinois General Assembly will be the next to submit a shotgun resignation as a consequence of alleged or suspected criminal behavior. But it’s a virtual certainty there will be a next one - it’s just a matter of time.
Arroyo announced his departure after Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan made it clear that he was persona non grata in Springfield.It’s unclear who pushed Sandoval out the door - Senate President John Cullerton made it clear he doesn’t have the stomach to confront suspected corruption within his caucus. But someone - either inside or outside the General Assembly - must have because Sandoval’s well-deserved reputation as among the most marginal of the state’s many marginal public officials makes it clear he would never have done so as a matter of personal honor.
But last week, the onetime legislative power broker - chairman of the transportation committee and part of the Senate’s Democratic leadership team -reluctantly submitted his resignation after 16 years in the Senate.
“It is with a heavy heart, I, Martin A. Sandoval, do hereby resign the office of state senator” effective Jan. 1 at 12:01 p.m., Sandoval said in a letter to the secretary of the Illinois Senate.
In a statement that has zero credibility, Sandoval writes that “respect for my constituents and the Senate convinced me that this action is necessary in order to proceed without distraction to the important work that needs to be accomplished for working families throughout the state of Illinois in the future.”
Of course, if Sandoval really had any respect for either his constituents or the rest of the people of Illinois, he never would have engaged in the conduct that has federal investigators coming down on him like a ton of bricks.
The resignation announcement was Sandoval’s first public comment since the FBI agents ruined his upcoming holiday season by raiding his home and offices as well as the homes and offices of an array of Sandoval associates.
Sources have indicated that Sandoval is under investigation for taking payments in exchange for lucrative government contracts, probably construction.
News of the Sandoval raid sent Gov. J.B. Pritzker into a tizzy - he was openly expressing concern that his $45 billion public works program would be viewed with suspicion as a consequence.
That’s why the governor demanded that Sandoval be removed as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, where he used his influence to approve road building contracts.
The Sandoval probe is just one of multiple pending federal investigations that appear certain to sweep up public officials in Chicago, Cook County and the General Assembly.
One Chicago bigshot - Alderman Ed Burke - already has been charged with using his public office to gain favors and business from those who do business with the city.
That multi-year investigation, which featured a compromised former alderman who wore a wire to conduct thousands of conversations for federal agents, appears to be in its infancy.
Then there’s state Sen. Thomas Cullerton, who’s been charged in connection with a no-show Teamsters job. He was implicated by a top Teamster boss who’s cooperating with the feds.
Finally - at least it appears so - federal gumshoes are examining the broad lobbying apparatus employed by Exelon/Commonwealth Edison, and its ties to close political friends of Speaker Madigan.
Just as was the case in past public corruption investigations involving former governors Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan, the feds are reviewing a target-rich environment.
Ultimately, it may be that Arroyo and Sandoval represent the smaller of the fish to be caught in the feds’ expansive net. Whatever their status, they’re now gone and won’t be missed.
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Dec. 3, 2019
Chicago Tribune
After #MeToo and Madigan, the rise of Alaina Hampton
Alaina Hampton, one of several women who came forward with sexual harassment allegations that rocked Illinois Democratic circles, has settled a lawsuit against political committees backing House Speaker Michael Madigan. Yet in some ways, Hampton is just getting started in demonstrating what change looks like.
While the former campaign worker’s settlement precludes her from disparaging specific individuals, including Madigan, she isn’t going quiet on the broader issue. Hampton was set to host a #MeToo meetup on sexual harassment in the workplace Tuesday night in Chicago.
“Since speaking out publicly nearly two years ago, we have seen positive changes in this state,” Hampton said in a statement. “The legislature has passed sweeping legislation to deal with sexual harassment, which achieves important gains - although there is still more to be done. Others have come forward as well, leading to multiple firings and resignations of abusive men. Lastly, a space has been created for an open and honest dialogue about sexism and abuse in the workplace that I’m confident will continue.”
Hampton filed the federal lawsuit in 2018, accusing Madigan’s political operations of retaliating against her and throttling her career after she reported inappropriate behavior by Kevin Quinn, who asked her on dates and repeatedly pressured her to accept his overtures.
“I need you to stop,” she told Quinn, a Madigan aide, in one text. “I have dedicated a lot of time to this election cycle and I will continue to do so, but I need to be able to do my work without you contacting me like this. I’m not interested. I just want to do my work.”
This is the unassailable response of someone whose Twitter bio would one day read, “document everything and get a lawyer.” Yet Quinn pressed on, undeterred by her unequivocal responses or by the #MeToo movement’s rise. Madigan failed to respond to the situation until Hampton spoke with reporters. Quinn was ousted.
The settlement is relatively small - $275,000 in total, $200,000 of which will go to Hampton’s attorneys, not an amount that will cause pain to Madigan’s political treasury - and does not include admissions of wrongdoing.
But Hampton’s story, along with those of Denise Rotheimer and Sherri Garrett, inspired news laws in Illinois, extending harassment protections to state contract workers and consultants, and requiring employers to train employees on sexual harassment.
While these women brought change with their bravery and openness, Madigan’s friend Michael McClain was arranging for ComEd lobbyists to sign contracts with Quinn, funneling $30,000 his way, and urging secrecy.
“I cannot tell you how important it is to keep all of this confidential,” McClain warned Quinn in an email. “These men are sticking their necks out knowing full well if it goes public before you are exonerated they will get the full blast from the ‘MeToo’ movement. So, please honor the confidentiality.”
Armed with wit and a Twitter account, Hampton has been a study in strength and exemplar of the #MeToo era’s mission. Keep silent about harassment and other dubious behavior in the corridors of power? No way, not when fighting back is an option. As Hampton tweeted recently: “Springfield doesn’t respect me? Let me try to feel crushed while a significant number of them are under federal investigation.”
No hiding, no shame, no feeling tainted by association for Hampton. Instead, vocal leadership and a commitment to fair, equal, respectful treatment.
“I just want to do my work” is a slogan worthy of a T-shirt.
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