Good Cop Bad Cop

Ha ha, that isn't a new roundabout in Waukegan. They were circling the wagons at the office of the Lake County State's Attorney. The wagons were being circled to throw a twenty year assistant state's attorney under the bus.

The wheels started turning on November 25 when the New York Times -- the newspaper of record in Lake County -- published an investigative story that provided a glimpse into Michael Waller's Lake County State's Attorney's office. One assistant state's attorney, Mike Mermel, was profiled with regard to some recent high-profile & controversial prosecutions. Mermel apparently does not think highly of DNA evidence, and demonstrated its limitations with statements like this one, which raised some local eyebrows ...

"The example I like to give people is next time you go to a motel room, bring a plastic bag, because the dirtiest thing in that room is the remote control. Everybody has sex and then rolls over and goes, 'I wonder what's on?' " he said. "O.K., so you can find DNA in the form of sperm from 10 different people in that room from that remote control or even on a person who has touched it."
The Prosecution’s Case Against DNA

The Lake County State's Attorney is up for election in 2012. While Michael Waller is retiring, Mermel's public statements are embarrassing to those members of Waller's team who want to succeed him on the ballot.

Damage control in the form of a big gun was rolled out on December 2. The News-Sun reported that Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran ...

called for prosecutor Mike Mermel to be fired for remarks he felt undermined law enforcement and the justice system. The unusual move was prompted by a recent story in the New York Times concerning some Lake County murder cases where DNA evidence pointed a finger away from suspects who confessed to crimes after long interrogations.
Sheriff wants prosecutor fired

With Curran playing bad cop, Michael Waller had the cover he needed. Good cop Waller wasted no time on the same day, December 2, to telegraph this message to the Daily Herald ...

Comments made by a top Lake County prosecutor in a New York Times article are being addressed as a personnel matter, according to a statement issued Friday by the Lake County State's Attorney's Office.
Waller: Lake County prosecutor's comments a personnel matter

On December 7, five days later and according to the News-Sun, the embarassing problem in the midst of the Lake County State's Attorney office was wiped cleaner than a Lake County crime investigation scene:

One of Lake County's top prosecutor's is retiring after comments he has made concerning cases involving DNA angered Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran who asked for Michael Mermel to be fired. Mermel's last day on the job will be in January.
Prosecutor retiring after sheriff called for his firing

The end.

Party to a Crime?

The Newton bomb exploded at last week's Lake County Board meeting. Operatives familiar with this blog will already know that Jim Newton was handpicked by Board Chair Michael Stolman to replace Board member Suzi Schmidt, who resigned to take a higher-paying job in Springfield. The devil however is in the details, and this devil in particular is Netwon's party affiliation. Illinois law stipulates that Schmidt, a Republican, is to be replaced by another Republican. Newton however, for the purposes of the same Illinois statutes, is a Democrat. He is a Democrat in the opinion of Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller, who interpreted the statutes that way for the Board when a similar appointment was made in 2009. This issue actually led to about 25 minutes of discussion during the 2009 Board meeting. The video can be watched on this blog:

The Finagle System

Since Newton is legally ineligible to replace Schmidt, it was no small surprise that Netwon's appointment had been scheduled, last Wednesday, to a vote before the Board. Your LakeCountyEye at least looked forward to a thorough and rigorous debate. Here is the transcript:

STOLMAN: Number One, the resolution recommending the appointment of Mr Jim Newton as a member of the Lake County Board Representing District Three. Is there a motion? Diana O'Kelly? Second by Ms Carter. All in favor?

COUNTY BOARD: Aye.

STOLMAN: Any opposed?

CRICKETS: Chirp.

STOLMAN: We do have a new board member. Mr Newton if you can come forward we would like to swear you in.

The video can be watched here, although operatives are advised not to blink if they do not want to miss a thorough and rigorous debate:

Lake County Board 03-15-2011

It is unclear to your LakeCountyEye whether Sheriff Make Curran is now required by law to arrest Newton for impersonating a Republican, or arrest the County Board for malfeasance.

The Finagle System

Operatives familiar with this blog ...

Newton's Law of Promotion

know that Jim Newton will likely be Lake County's newest Board Commissioner. Ops, though, may not know that Newton is likely to be Lake County's latest illegally appointed Board Commissioner. Newton, hand-picked by Board Chair David Stolman, will replace Board Commissioner Suzi Schmidt, who resigned. According to the Daily Herald, however ...

By law, her replacement had to be a Republican living in her district. Newton voted in eight GOP primaries between 1992 and 2006, according to the Lake County clerk’s office. In 2008, however, he voted in the Democratic primary, and that was the last time he voted in a primary election, Clerk Willard Helander said. Stolman was aware of Newton's voting record and doesn't think it disqualifies Newton from the post. Newton has professed to being a Republican, Stolman said, and his record shows a predilection for the GOP.
Reporter tapped to join Lake Co. board

Absolutely. But we are a nation, if not a County, of laws. Is Newton, in the eyes of the law, a registered Republican or Democrat? Your LakeCountyEye is but a simple county blogger, and will defer a legal question of that nature to the experts with the Lake County State's Attorney.

Operatives may recall that the County Board tackled a strikingly similar case back in 2009, when Collin O'Rourke was appointed to replace Bob Sabonjian. The issue then was whether O'Rourke was a member of the Democratic or the Green Parties. In 2008 O'Rourke voted with the Greens but in 2009 he took a Democratic ballot.

Then County Chair Suzi Schmidt solicited the opinion of the county State's Attorney. Michael Waller's office obliged with an unambiguous opinion that since O'Rourke last voted in a Democratic Primary, O'Rourke was a Democrat. No ifs ands or buts about it. Move along please.

The unambiguous details were reported on this blog ...

A Blink of the Eye: 07.14.09

Operatives demanding video proof can tune in to about 09:45 for the State's Attorney's unambiguous opinion:

Lake County Board 07-14-2009

Now fastforward to 2011. Jim Newton, by the State's Attorney and the County Board's own criteria, is a Democrat. Full stop. And appointing Newton to replace Schmidt would be a violation of Illinois State Statutes. Operatives are urged to call Michael Waller's office and demand that he arrest the County Board before they embarrass everyone again and vote to illegally appoint Newton to their Board. Send Waller the video!

Ha ha.

Your LakeCountyEye said it before and will say it again: The Lake County Board makes up its own rules as it goes along. Because Michael Waller can be counted on to carry water for the elephant. If Jim Newton says he's a Republican that's good enough for Chairman Stolman: Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!

A Blink of the Eye: 07.14.09

Your LakeCountyEye has been conducting a seminar on how to protect the corporate brand during times of adversity. To Charlie Sheen. All night.

In the meantime, please enjoy this encore presentation of a 2009 post:

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 Will O'Rourke be Borked? For operatives just tuning in: With the defection of Bob Sabonjian from the County Board (for that executive figurehead position in his dad's organization), County Board Chair Suzi Schmidt is increasingly desperate to find a suitable replacement. One recent candidate has evaded attempts at contact and is believed to be in the Federal Witness Protection Program. The latest applicant, Collin O'Rourke, is thought to be a member of the Green Party. Illinois law stipulates that Sabonjian -- a Democrat -- must be replaced by a member of the same party. At issue is O'Rourke's voting record. In the 2008 Presidential Primary he voted for a Green candidate. In the 2009 Municipal Primary, O'Rourke took a Democratic ballot. Is O'Rourke a Green or a Democrat? County Commissioner Angelo Kyle thinks Green. Kyle, carrying water for the donkey, argues that the 2009 Waukegan Primary didn't have any Greens on the ballot; or Republicans or Whigs or any other party besides the Democrats. So the 2008 Primary ballot would be the true indicator of O'Rourke's party loyalties. But, not so fast, says an Assistant State's Attorney speaking on behalf of Michael Waller's office. The ASA argues that they're the ones with the law degrees and they say the last ballot is the one that matters. And that makes O'Rourke a Democrat, case closed. So move along, there's nothing here to see. Tune in to about 09:45 for the actual exchange between Kyle and the ASA: SAS (10:55) The focus when we're trying to answer the question as a matter of law -- is this person a Democrat -- is: what was the last political party ballot that he pulled? And we're focusing on him, his voting record, not whether someone in some other municipality might have been able to vote or not vote a partisan ballot at that time. We looked at his last vote, his last political party ballot. And I have spoken with the County Clerk and she has told me that the last party ballot that he pulled was a Democratic party ballot. And for that reason I told the Chairman and I told the other County Board members who have asked that I think he is qualified, he is a Democrat for purposes of Illinois law. And the fact that he once voted a Green Party ballot in a primary would not disqualify this person from being appointed to the vacancy created by Sabonjian's resignation. SAS (15:15) I think what's important here is Mr O'Rourke most recently voted as a Democrat. Lake County Board 07-14-2009 Note to operatives: the Lake County Board can make up its own rules as it goes along, because Michael Waller can be counted on to carry water for the Suzi. So be careful how you vote in that next Primary. That party ballot you ask for -- Democratic, Republican, Green, whatever -- is your legal & binding declaration of Party affiliation. No exceptions! For the record, the County Board went on to approve the O'Rourke appointment by a vote of a zillion to nothing. Posted by Barney Baxter at 12:19 AM 121 comments Labels: Suzi Schmidt, Robert Sabonjian, Michael Waller, Collin O'Rourke

Your LakeCountyEye: keeping an eye on the past since 2011!

Fact Checking

If one needs to catch up in a hurry, one could do worse than consult the excellent CapitolFaxBlog and TeamAmerica blogs. So it was to your LakeCountyEye's surprise to see a shout-out while reading TeamAmerica today. The shout-out was directed toward fellow scribbler Redtail, who had some trenchant observations on the Dick Keller kerfuffle here. Redtail speculates that TeamAmerica had some advance notice about Michael Waller's ongoing investigation of the Coroner.

A TeamAmerica post from July 6 had prompted Redtail to say ...

If you read the entire post and between the lines, it's hard not to suspect that TeamAmerica was tipped off in advance about the investigation.

TeamAmerica not surprisingly begged to differ here, on Monday ...

Of course, LakeCountyEye implies that Team America was tipped off about the investigation when he wrote this post, and knew then that there was more to Keller's announcement than met the eye. While TA's sources are many, I will also say that it was a pretty darn obvious conclusion from the circumstances and TA's research into Keller's fundraising record that raising money was never something that he spent a lot of time on, which LakeCountyEye fails to mention.

He said, she said? Your LakeCountyEye decided some sniffing around was in order.

The TeamAmerica post in question here is ostensibly about Keller's early July announcement that he won't be seeking re-election in 2012. Keller mentioned his poor fundraising efforts as the reason for the decision. TeamAmerica was rightly suspicious of the excuse. Everyone knows Keller has been an indifferent fundraiser, and your LakeCountyEye doesn't think anyone really believed Keller's explanation.

An obvious conclusion to make & end of story? Well, first take a look at the title of that TeamAmerica post:

Do Dead Men Have Tales to Tell? Lake County Coroner Richard Keller's Decision Not to Seek Re-election Should Raise Questions

Which dead men might TeamAmerica be slyly referring to?

TeamAmerica says ...

Something here smells like a corpse the coroner forgot to put back into the freezer for a few days. TA suspects there is much more than just a re-evaluation of Keller's life priorities behind this decision.

A corpse -- who mentioned anything about a corpse? No one as of July 6.

There are also some interesting comments from the peanut gallery. The prolific Anonymous has this to share:

It seems clear that Keller is in trouble and trying to get out. My guess is that he stays in office until Terry "Dead Guy" Link can appoint a successor - maybe "Sneaky" Pete Couvall, his bankrupt sidekick.

A dead guy? Pray tell us more!

TeamAmerica replies ...

In the wake of any scandal that forced Keller to resign, that would probably be a boost to the GOP candidate for the office, not to mention Republicans Willard Helander, Mark Curran, and Bob Skidmore, who are all also up for election in 2010(I forget if Roycelee Wood is up this cycle; I think she might be). If Keller and the Dems were smart, he would exit sooner rather than later to allow as much time as possible for any taint to pass, and get the new person settled in. Of course, this is all assuming there is some scandal brewing just beneath the surface...

Now Keller could have privately decided to retire in 2012 for a raft of reasons. Why would one assume that Keller was in trouble -- that some scandal was brewing just beneath the surface?

To another commenter TeamAmerica says ...

Bottom line: Let's give Keller a few weeks and see what happens. Perhaps we'll be seeing some more announcements soon...

And we wait a few weeks and mirabile dictu we see some more announcements! Your LakeCountyEye's magic crystal ball is in total awe of TeamAmerica.

Finally, TeamAmerica confides to another commenter:

let's put it this way: Leaving aside the fact that Keller's fundraising history does not support a claim that it was too much of a burden to deal with every four years, I have other sources for my suspicion that it's not the whole story. Nothing I can print (yet). But give it a few weeks and let's see if anything develops. Perhaps I'm wrong. But we shall see.

And see we shall.

He Said, She Said

The circus that steamrolled Lake County Coroner Dr Richard Keller has pitched its stakes on both the MSM and the blogosphere this week. A lot of high profile players, like Michael Waller, Terry Link, Dan Venturi, have jumped in with their talking points. Adding to the circus atmosphere is a partisan troll who has been predictably showing up on this blog demanding Keller's scalp.

The odd thing, to me at least, is the both the timing and the source of the story. Steve Vaughn, who was being treated for drug addiction, died on Dec 3 of last year. Now eight months later we're all talking about the investigation. What happened between then and now?

Investigations obviously take time, but this investigation is far from complete. The press is usually not notified when an investigation is in progress for obvious reasons. When the press does learn about an on-going investigation it's because someone leaked it. The investigation is being conducted by Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller. Who leaked the Keller investigation and why?

According to the News-Sun:

State's Attorney Michael Waller said his office began investigating Vaughn's death in February at the request of Vaughn's family.

But according to another News-Sun story on the same day, the deceased's mother

said she is unsure who initiated the investigation into her son's death, but said investigators from the Lake County State's Attorney's Office told her they were looking into an increase in heroin and methadone deaths.

Did the Vaughn family contact Waller's office? Or did the State's Attorney contact the Vaughn family?

As reported in the News-Sun Keller maintains it's all a political witch-hunt. Keller announced last month that he did not plan to seek re-election in 2012. And Keller admitted to the News-Sun that the investigation contributed to his decision. Was Keller coerced? Or worse, was the threat of an investigation in some way an occasion for political blackmail?

Keller's announcement last month was also noticed by the partisan blog TeamAmerica:

Something here smells like a corpse the coroner forgot to put back into the freezer for a few days. TA suspects there is much more than just a re-evaluation of Keller's life priorities behind this decision.
Do Dead Men Have Tales to Tell?
Lake County Coroner Richard Keller's Decision Not to Seek Re-election Should Raise Questions

If you read the entire post and between the lines, it's hard not to suspect that TeamAmerica was tipped off in advance about the investigation.

According to the News-Sun, the State's Attorney says he is just doing his job:

Waller, a Republican who has served as state's attorney for nearly 20 years, denied that the investigation had anything to do with politics, saying his office is merely investigating what they're tasked to do. He said it may take some time before his office comes to any conclusion.

Stay tuned, I'm sure we haven't heard the end of this one.

Q the Eye/07.26.09

Dear LakeCountyEye,

I'm the ex-mayor of a small town. So small, my wife ran the municipal daycare center. Now I've been indicted because I voted a couple times while in office to OK my wife's paycheck. I've heard of being in hot-water, but this is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater! Any suggestions?

Take it Out of My Hide

Dear TOMH,

Your LakeCountyEye salutes the hard work and dedication of our underpaid and underappreciated daycare workers. For every little one under the caring and watchful eye of one of these unsung heroes, there is one less unsupervised little one riding their bike over your LakeCountyEye's front lawn.

So your LakeCountyEye has taken a personal interest in your predicament. The bad news is that had you been reading Q the Eye™/07.18.09 you would never have gotten into the stew you're in. In that tale, a local mayor was caught pilfering health insurance for himself from his municipal employee's plan. Still, the State's Attorney's office (overseen by Michael Waller, a Republican) declined to pursue that case because they found no evidence of criminal intent, only an honest mistake. The moral of that sorry story was if you get caught with your hand in the municipal cookie jar, make sure you're in good standing with the GOP establishment. Lake County Republicans take care of their own.

If you're anything like the hapless ex-mayor in this Daily Herald story, you're doubtless convinced you did nothing illegal. And even if one of those annoying conflict-of-interest laws was trampled on, you acted in good faith. But take it from your LakeCountyEye, the difference between criminal intent and an honest mistake in the eyes of a State's Attorney's office is often a judgment call with lots of latitude for play, knowwhatimean?

Your LakeCountyEye is not about to name names regarding who the GOP establishment is. But Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller's D2 filings are a good place to start looking. His donor list is a cornucopia of local movers & shakers. Waller has pocketed re-election dollars from local Mayors and Trustees and Township Supervisors and Judges and State Reps, and many, many more GOP heavyweights.

Waller had a tough election in 2008 and only managed to win by less than a percentage point. Your LakeCountyEye is sure all those contributions were greatly needed. And if human nature is what it is, greatly appreciated.

So if you ever decide to run for office again, before you do, you might want to consider throwing a few bucks toward your State's Attorney's re-election PAC. Think of it as insurance money.

If you are an elected official, or a previously elected official, or just a private citizen under indictment, send your political questions to Q the Eye c/o ... LakeCountyEye@gMail.com