XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: absolute-moron@cookcountygov.com   
      
   A legislative panel on Monday voted to issue a series of   
   subpoenas to Gov. Pat Quinn’s inner circle — including his   
   onetime chief of staff and two cabinet members — as an inquiry   
   into a derelict anti-violence program that he launched broadens.   
      
   A subcommittee of the Legislative Audit Commission took two   
   votes, both 4-0, in favor of sending subpoenas to a total of   
   seven top-tier Quinn administration associates. Those subpoenas   
   order their testimony in the midst of a high stakes, highly   
   volatile re-election campaign.   
      
   It was the first time in 33 years that the commission exercised   
   its subpoena powers, lawmakers said.   
      
   “This [subpoena] is an extraordinary tool that should only be   
   used in extraordinary circumstances like this,” said state Sen.   
   Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, who co-chairs the commission.   
   “This is over a hundred million dollars — taxpayer dollars — for   
   which we do not know yet today whether we even had an effect on   
   preventing violence in the communities that were targeted.”   
      
   The proposition of assembling Quinn’s top people and trotting   
   them out to answer questions about a troubled program, which has   
   been the subject of a scathing audit and a series of   
   unflattering headlines, sets the stage for an ugly summer for   
   Quinn as he intensifies his campaign against his well-funded   
   Republican opponent, Bruce Rauner.   
      
   Under scrutiny is Quinn’s now-scrapped Neighborhood Recovery   
   Initiative, a $54 million anti-violence program he launched just   
   before the 2010 gubernatorial election against Republican Bill   
   Brady. The program is under federal investigation and Cook   
   County prosecutors are looking into an aspect of it as well.   
      
   The panel moved to subpoena Barbara Shaw, the former director of   
   the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority. Quinn and fellow   
   Democrats have portrayed the Violence Prevention Authority as a   
   now-defunct agency that did a poor job of overseeing the   
   Neighborhood Recovery Initiative.   
      
   The authority was disbanded in late 2012, and its functions were   
   folded into the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.   
      
   Shaw’s attorney, John Theis, said late Monday he had not yet   
   seen the subpoena.   
      
   “We’re certainly going to review the subpoena,” he said, adding   
   that her testimony is “the likely result, that’s still true.”   
      
   Theis, however, was cautious.   
      
   “We’ve got these other investigations going on out there. I have   
   to make sure that whatever happens is the right thing not only   
   for the audit commission but for my client,” he said. “We know   
   that there is an investigation going on because of actions they   
   have taken.” Theis would not comment on whether Shaw had been   
   subpoenaed or had spoken to authorities.   
      
   Also on the subpoena list: former Chief of Staff Jack Lavin, who   
   is now a lobbyist; Toni Irving, former deputy chief of staff;   
   Malcolm Weems, head of the Central Management Systems under   
   Quinn; Warren Ribley, former director of the Department of   
   Commerce and Economic Opportunity; Andy Ross, top aide to   
   Ribley; and senior adviser Bill Ocasio.   
      
   The big caveat coming with the subpoenas: Democrats wanted a   
   quick-fire hearing at which the seven would be questioned over   
   two days, July 16 and 17. Republicans reluctantly agreed but   
   warned it was unlikely they would get through seven people in   
   two days. If they run out of time, there will be another vote to   
   issue new subpoenas.   
      
   On Monday, a political tug-of-war played out during the Chicago   
   hearing, where lawmakers on the subcommittee, made up of two   
   Republicans and two Democrats, accused one another of allowing   
   politics to dictate their actions. Democrats warned they would   
   not allow Republicans to drag out the hearings so they could   
   dominate headlines in the run-up to the November election.   
   Republicans in turn warned they did not want a rush job in which   
   witnesses don’t fully answer their questions.   
      
   State Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, repeatedly asked Republicans   
   about their “endgame,” saying that the anti-violence program   
   already had been eliminated and a bill mandating greater   
   oversight on state grants had passed both houses.   
      
   Rita questioned whether Republicans’ intent was really to get to   
   the truth or are they just “playing politics?”   
      
   Quinn said he launched the anti-violence program in 2010 to   
   target high-crime areas in the city. Opponents have likened it   
   to a “political slush fund,” charging it was a way to get out   
   the vote in critical Cook County neighborhoods before the   
   election.   
      
   On Monday, Quinn told reporters that combating gun violence   
   remained “a serious cause to me.” After he was pressed about   
   Monday’s vote, Quinn said lawmakers “should do what they think   
   is right” when it comes to whether the subpoena should be issued.   
      
   http://politics.suntimes.com/article/springfield/legislative-   
   panel-votes-subpoena-key-figure-quinns-program/mon-06232014-334pm   
      
       
      
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