In a state notorious for its troubles with public corruption, the loss of a leader like Dave Schmidt will leave a void that will be difficult to fill.

Illinois is known for its culture of government corruption, fiscal mismanagement and cronyism. That reputation is backed up by hard statistics that say Illinois is the third most corrupt state in the country and the Chicago region is the most corrupt area in the country. Illinois’ citizens deserve better.  Illinois’ government culture on the state...

At least 84 corruption-related stories have been reported from across the state of Illinois in August alone. Atop August headlines is the recent revelation that a federal grand jury subpoenaed the emails of Gov. Pat Quinn’s ex-chief of staff in relation to Quinn’s anti-violence grant program. The case, which has been referred to by some...

The bad news keeps piling up for Illinoisans. Illinois Policy’s “corruption watch” blog series hit a new high in the month of July with nearly 100 corruption-related stories. Chicago and Springfield are the two cities most synonymous with the state’s corruption woes. Unsurprisingly, both cities dominated headlines with the top two corruption stories of the...

by Brian Costin Park Ridge Mayor Dave Schmidt wants to improve online transparency and is using the Illinois Policy Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist as a best practice benchmark for his city in northern Cook County. As mentioned in the Park Ridge Journal: Schmidt has four items on his list including the city meeting the transparency checklist created...