There’s no violation of state law if a
toxic-waste landfill — or even a nuclear-waste dump, for that
matter — is partly owned by one of the governor’s
in-laws.
There’s no problem with the law if a
member of the governor’s family owns stock in a regulated
monopoly such as Commonwealth Edison or SBC. A family member could
be a state-licensed cosmetologist, real-estate agent, or even a
farrier.
The governor can have relatives in the heavily
regulated banking and insurance industries or in medicine or law,
which involve state oversight.
So why is Gov. Rod Blagojevich now proposing
legislation that would make it illegal for any of his in-laws to
partially own a construction waste landfill?
Could it be that he suspects his
father-in-law, Chicago Ald. Dick Mell, of lying when he denies an
ownership interest in a controversial construction-debris landfill?
The landfill, ostensibly owned by one of the governor’s
cousins, was temporarily shut down by the last winter. Back then,
the governor claimed that his cousin was bragging that he could
accept any sort of waste at the facility because he was
“protected” by the governor and Mell.
State police and Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency inspectors were dispatched during the holidays to
check on the situation. The landfill was shut down, but it reopened
after a court hearing.
Could it also be that the governor wanted yet
another opportunity to jab the knife deeper into the back of the
guy who literally made him what he is today? Were it not for Mell,
Blagojevich might still be working for “Fast Eddie”
Vrdolyak’s law firm or stuck in a dead-end job at the Cook
County state’s attorney’s office. Mell ran his new son-in-law for state
representative, then Congress, and then pulled out all the stops to
help install the “kid” in the governor’s mansion.
Ever since then, the governor has tried to
put as much distance as possible between himself and his former
mentor. That’s not all bad. Blagojevich and Mell both swore
during the 2002 campaign that Rod was his own man and that Dick
wouldn’t play any role in his administration. Mell apparently
didn’t take those promises as literally as Blagojevich,
however, and the feuding started almost on day one.
Despite repeated denials that an amendment
adopted by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee last week to
ban the governor’s in-laws from partial ownership of
construction landfills had nothing whatsoever to do with the
governor’s ongoing feud with his father-in-law, the truth is
that if the governor were truly concerned about potential conflicts
of interests with his family, he’d bar them from partial
ownership of all other state-regulated businesses.
Should there be tougher restrictions on
construction-waste landfills? Absolutely. They haven’t been
under state EPA control but should be, even though most of them
just handle things such as concrete, wood, and nails. Did the
governor need to go this far? Absolutely not.
Mell is not exactly what you would call a
sympathetic character. He’s a big boy, and he can take care
of himself. But this all-too-public family soap opera needs to end.
People talk about their private lives in
Hollywood and on the Jerry Springer
Show, and that’s considered
entertainment. But very few of us want to see that sort of conflict
played out on a public stage by our elected leaders. It’s
unseemly and not worthy of their positions.
The governor should either quietly make peace
with the grandfather of his children or silently walk away.
Whatever he does is his business. I just want him to stop making it
ours.
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2005.
