Darren Bailey thinks the only thing that can save Springfield from itself is an informed and determined voter.
“When voters in my district hear about everything that’s happening, they are disgusted and become determined to make a change,” he told the SE Illinois News. “We’ve got to continue to shine a light on everything that voters tell us they want to see changed.”
The latest debate stems from the ongoing sexual harassment scandal now plaguing Springfield and how at least four close associates to House Speaker Mike Madigan are still considered eligible for a full state pension despite being ensnared in the controversy to the point each of them has been forced to relinquish at least some of the responsibilities they were publicly entrusted with.
Illinois State House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago)
Madigan's former Chief of Staff Tim Mapes, political operative Kevin Quinn and Sen. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago) have all been accused of harassment, as has Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), Madigan’s No. 2 man in Springfield.
Mapes is the latest to go after fellow Madigan staffer Sherri Garrett stepped forward to accuse the longtime chief of staff of harassment and bullying.
The Chicago Tribune reports, however, that after 40 years in state government Mapes is still eligible to collect a pension of more than $135,000 per year with annual pension increases of 3 percent.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) estimates that Quinn is in line for a $750,000 payout from state taxpayers after contributing roughly $26,000 to his pension over 17 years of service.
Finally, Silverstein recently passed the 20-year threshold, making him eligible for a yearly payment of 85 percent of his final legislative salary. In 2017, around the same time activist Denise Rotheimer came forward with her harassment allegations against him, Silverstein's yearly salary totaled almost $88,500, according to the comptroller's office.
“You see how so many politicians grow to become more concerned with the perks and benefits of the job than they are with the welfare of their voters” said Bailey, running against Democrat Cynthia Given of Olney in the 109th House District. “It’s left many voters apathetic to the point of simply accepting that things are just going to be this way.”
Bailey said a large part of his campaign platform has become about reassuring voters that things can be different and that an overriding sense of entitlement that seems to have seeped into every aspect hasn’t permanently ruined everything.
“You have to keep the message in front of people, expose this system by peeling away all the layers of corruption,” he said. “It can be tiresome, but the reward is when people start to get the message and understand that they can make a difference.”
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