by Jerry Agar

Okay, so it is a bit ambitious to assert that we could stop corruption, but perhaps we could cut into it a bit.

Since 1970, more than 1500 individuals have been convicted, and the cost to Illinois taxpayers is estimated at $500 million a year.  If we had that money back, instead of just watching an endless perp-walk, we would be in much better shape on several levels.

Here are ten ideas that, if acted upon, might help.

10. Appoint the Sunshine Commission.  Governor Quinn signed an executive order establishing a Sunshine Commission, stating that as "Governor of the State of Illinois, it is my duty to ensure accountability, transparency and efficiency in the State's operations, streamlining, restructuring and economization are essential to any effort to solve our budgetary problems."  He signed the order and then didn’t do anything about it. So it’s essentially useless.

9.  Pass the “Fumigation Bill.”  The House passed it, but Senate President John Cullerton killed it.  It would have removed 750 high-ranking state employees and members of boards and commissions who were appointed by Blagojevich and Ryan.  The idea is to weaken the ability of unelected patronage appointees to conduct scams such as the Hired Truck Scandal.

8.  Term limits.  It is the quest for re-election that drives many politicians.  They spend much – perhaps most – of their time fundraising.  Additionally, power corrupts, and power is built over time.  Term limits would also bring about the beginning of the end of machine politics in Chicago.

7.  End no-bid contracts.  Make all bids competitive and all procurement entirely transparent.  Too many no-bid contracts go to the friends and family of entrenched power-brokers.  Open the bids to the public after they are submitted, but before a decision is made.  If contractors don’t want to bid openly online, where the tax-paying customer can see the bids, they can forego the opportunity for the business.

6.  Audit State and Local Agencies.  Most government entities are full of redundancy and waste.  Many departments do not know how many projects they have.  Politicians don’t know how many agencies they are responsible for.  It is time for a thorough forensic audit and a housecleaning.

5.  Recall.  The argument against a recall of politicians between elections is that it would make the political environment a “wild west.”  Experience in states that have it shows otherwise.  The public has to be engaged for a recall to happen, but a politician should live in fear of that possibility.

4.  Get Involved.  Run for office, work a campaign, or champion an issue.  Go through state government expenses at IllinoisOpenGov.org, and if you find questionable expenses and practices, alert the public.  Or you can just accept the status quo and do nothing except get the T-shirt.

3.  Self-Reliance.  Stop asking government to solve all your problems.  Believe in society's ability to find and adopt solutions.  It is to the benefit of the corrupt politician to have us say, "Please help."  The politician's help is invariably another government program, full of money and faceless bureaucrats he can appoint and control.

2.  Smaller Government.  More government requires more money.  The more money there is, the more there is to manipulate and steal.  The more government there is, the harder it is for anyone to know what is going on.  (See #3 and #6.)

1.  Openness.  Nothing disinfects like sunshine.  Illinois has made progress in this regard, thanks to Governor Quinn opening up a state accountability portal and to the Illinois Policy Institute's Illinois Open Government site.   People will never do in the sunny outdoors what they might do behind closed doors.  The Internet has opened a lot of doors.  Let's find more doors and kick them open.