Lake County Gazette

Lawyer Kathy Myalls said reports of corruption and insider deals in Illinois politics is old news. Bad news, but old news.

Myalls, an attorney for Interpublic Group of Companies, an advertising holding company, said federal investigations into Gov. J.B. Pritzker and House Speaker Mike Madigan have not stunned anyone who has been paying attention.

Commonwealth Edison has agreed to pay a $200 million fine on a single count of bribery for working for several years to influence legislation by providing jobs, contracts and favors to people close to Madigan, who has been the speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives for all but two years since 1983.

Attorney Kathy Myalls. | File

Now federal prosecutors are looking into connections AT&T lobbyists had with Madigan.

Meanwhile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is being investigated due to a $330,000 property tax break he received for his second home on the Gold Coast. He had five toilets removed, rendering the house vacant for tax purposes.

Then-Assessor Joseph Berrios reportedly approved the change in tax assessment. Although Pritzker repaid the disputed amount in the closing days of the race, it did not end the matter. Federal prosecutors are taking a close look at communications between Pritzker and the assessor’s office.

Myalls said this was all on the table during the 2018 campaign.

“Former Gov. Bruce Rauner was talking about this during the election. Berrios' corruption ran deep, and it would surprise nobody that he gave a break to a powerful Democratic family,” she said. “Madigan became a millionaire on the backs of the ordinary homeowner while his clients engaged the powerful speaker to get them tax breaks.  The head of the Democratic Party in Illinois worked with the head of the Democratic Party in Cook County to give their donors and supporters breaks while residential property taxpayers watched their taxes rise to the second-highest in the nation.”

There’s more.

“Public union beneficiaries of those property tax dollars hit the streets in droves to get their Democrat favorites elected,” she said. “See how it works here in Illinois?”

Pritzker needs to clean up his act personally and politically, in Myalls’ view.

“He should lead by example and begin a healthier lifestyle,” she said. “His morbid obesity puts him at risk for adult-onset diabetes and heart-related illnesses. More vegetables and fiber, coupled with more exercise, would work wonders immediately.

“Oh — and he should resign.” 

Myalls has a theory on why this culture of corruption and insider deals exists in Illinois. 

“Because people are paying attention to presidential, U.S. Senate, and U.S. congressional races, but not so much local school boards, assessor, and state rep races,” she said. “Madigan's stronghold on these races is evident.”

Will residents finally grow tired of this long run of crooked politicians and favorable deals?

“They are. Illinois has had a net loss in population for the last six years straight. They are voting with their feet,” Myalls said. “Our home values are significantly depressed because property taxes are so high, demand is down and corruption in the state is so commonplace that they make TV shows about it.”

Myalls, who describes herself as a “political junkie” on her Twitter page, was elected as a New Trier Township Republican committeewoman in 2018 in her second bid for the office. In 2014 she ran for state representative.