WurfWhile

It is hard to believe the story in yesterday’s Daily Herald, so I’ve put it below for you to judge. It seems that, depending on whom you believe, either

1. Corner Richard Ballinger was given a couple hours to accept $4,000.00 a year in increased retirement in exchange for retiring a month after the upcoming election, so that he could be replaced by a handpicked Robert Schillerstrom appointee. If he did not do this he would have his office/position removed by the County Board, in favor of a medical examiner, which is an appointed position.

OR

2. Ballinger was seeking a better deal for his retirement than that offered above, and the discussions have been going on for quite a while.

Either way, Ballinger has indicated he plans to retire, possibly before the general election, or maybe before the end of his term, if elected. The message to DuPage voters is clear: Ballinger, Schillerstrom and the DuPage County Board hold their vote in contempt. DuPage voters should not, we are told, expect to elect a Coroner for the office’s full term. It is not the DuPage voters in the primaries and possibly the general election that will decide which candidate should be elected, but DuPage Republican officials that will make these decisions. Republican officials clearly believe the public vote for Coroner does not matter.

I can’t think of a better message to send to these Republican officials than for DuPage voters to elect Democratic candidates this election starting with the very qualified Mike Kisler for Coroner. Mike is a former licensed funeral director who assisted the downstate Mason County Coroner as part of his duties. He also has over 20 years experience in Emergency Medical Services to round out his impressive credentials.

It is time for DuPage voters to vote for change by changing their vote, and making it count. The Daily Herald article below tells you why.

GOP rift seen in coroner controversy

By Christy Gutowski Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer
Posted Saturday, June 5, 2004

Here’s how it all came down, according to DuPage County Coroner Richard Ballinger.

Reached late at night at his Wisconsin vacation home by an operative of county board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, Ballinger was given two hours to take or leave a deal offered by party power brokers:

Resign a month after getting re-elected to the post he’s held since 1987, paving the way for a hand-picked successor. In turn, his pension would be sweetened by $4,000 a year.

He refused, and the next day the county board resurrected an old idea to dissolve the coroner’s job.

But the people accused of trying to muscle Ballinger into retirement give a markedly different version.

They say Ballinger wasn’t nearly as offended by the deal as he’s indicating now. In fact, he gave his own terms to the county power brokers - an arrangement that would have sweetened his retirement considerably.

Further, they say, it was hardly a two-hour ultimatum; discussions had gone on for some time. And, Ballinger was telling everyone he was likely to retire. So why did he persist in running again?

Either way, the behind-the-scenes deal-making has sparked a volatile rift among once-united county Republicans at a time when they’re still licking their wounds from a devastating fall from power in the 2002 election.

Once a loyal GOP soldier, Ballinger said he isn’t playing by the party’s rules any longer. When he leaves office, he said, it’ll be on his own terms.

“They want to be monarchs,” Ballinger said. “They want to be king. They like people who say, ‘How high?’ when they say to jump.

“Well, I won’t.”

Ballinger, 56, who ran unopposed in the March primary, has considered retirement since undergoing quadruple bypass surgery nearly two years ago. He has worked in the coroner’s office since 1973.

His differences with party leaders erupted May 24 when Ballinger said his old friend, Addison Township GOP Chairman Patrick Durante, telephoned him in Wisconsin.

Durante offered Ballinger a 5 percent raise if the coroner agreed to resign a month after his presumed November re-election. A Democrat has never been elected to countywide office.

The deal would mean Ballinger, whose pension is 80 percent of his $116,000 salary, gets an extra $4,000 annually for the rest of his life. It also would allow Schillerstrom to appoint veteran county board member Bill Maio, an Itasca Republican, to the position of coroner without voter approval.

Ballinger said Durante gave him until midnight to accept the offer. Ballinger didn’t bite.

The next morning, the DuPage County Board resurrected Schillerstrom’s long-held idea of dissolving the coroner’s office in favor of a medical examiner. Although Schillerstrom said it may prove to be cheaper, Ballinger suggests the county board chairman is full of hot air.

“It was all a political ploy to push me out,” Ballinger said. “It has nothing to do with saving money. It’s politics. They just want to get rid of me and put their own person in.

“I don’t work for Bob Schillerstrom,” he added. “I work for the citizens of DuPage County. They (the party) want me to go through the political process and then drop out. I won’t. If I don’t intend to be coroner, I will not run.”

Ballinger said he’ll inform GOP leaders this month or next of his likely retirement. That would force the troubled party to hold an election within its own ranks. The victor would face Democrat Mike Kisler, a former licensed funeral director, in November.

Durante confirmed he tried to “mediate” the retirement deal between Ballinger and Schillerstrom, since the two no longer communicate. The two have feuded over Schillerstrom’s funding of the coroner’s office, with Ballinger recently complaining he faced the prospect of bodies piling up on the sides of roads because of staff shortages. And before that, Ballinger didn’t support Schillerstrom’s run for state Senate and, afterward, for county board chairman.

Schillerstrom could not be reached for comment. But Durante and Maio deny Ballinger’s charges. They say their conversations about what to do with the elected position began only after Ballinger started talking about retirement.

They said Ballinger would have gone along with their plan had Schillerstrom agreed to the coroner’s terms, which included continued insurance coverage, converting unused sick/vacation days to his pension and consulting work.

“They are things that really enrich him at the taxpayers’ expense,” Maio said. “That’s not right.”

After decades of controlling state politics, DuPage Republicans are struggling with a reduction in power. Their charmed life ended with a disastrous 2002 election in which two DuPage politicians lost election for governor and attorney general. Republicans lost control of the state legislature, too. Illinois Senate President James “Pate” Philip of Wood Dale announced he’d retire rather than be demoted to minority leader.

Before that, former House Minority Leader Lee Daniels of Elmhurst stepped down from his leadership post and job as state GOP chairman after becoming the target of a federal probe regarding his campaign practices. He hasn’t been charged with any wrongdoing.

An in-party election to find a coroner’s candidate for the November election is the last thing the party needs, Durante said.

“This will tear the party apart,” he said. “The party doesn’t need a fight between now and November. You don’t do this to a party that has supported you year after year at a time when the Democrats want our heads on a platter.”

Meanwhile, Schillerstrom has faced other battles with countywide elected leaders. Sheriff John Zaruba had a highly public fight with Schillerstrom when he suggested getting rid of the sheriff’s patrol unit.

And county employees, worried about salary freezes, rising medical premiums and job security, are talking about unionizing. Nine deputy coroners are among them.

“There is much more to this medical examiner baloney that they are trying to force-feed the public,” said Joseph Andalina, president of the Metropolitan Alliance of Police. “They want to eliminate a coroner who doesn’t kiss their rings and investigators who are seeking job protection.”

Sen. Kirk Dillard, who chairs the DuPage Republican Party, denied any conspiracy to get rid of Ballinger in favor of Maio. Dillard said he and Schillerstrom talked only briefly about eliminating the coroner’s job.

Converting to a medical examiner would require a state law or voter approval, which takes time. Even if successful, this election’s victor would serve as coroner during the interim.

So far, Schillerstrom’s only action has been asking the county board’s government efficiency committee to study the savings of such a switch.

Maio chairs that committee.

He acknowledged he’s interested in the coroner’s position, which he said Schillerstrom approached him about filling should Ballinger leave.

There’s no love lost between Ballinger and Maio, either. Ballinger accused Maio of being too political to run a professional office; Maio argues Ballinger shouldn’t have run in the primary if he planned to retire, anyway.

“That’s being less than honest with the voters and with the party,” Maio said.

Ballinger said his health, more than the party infighting, is the reason behind his decision to likely retire. Still, he concedes the hard feelings aren’t helping matters.

“Are they scaring me out? Absolutely not,” he said. “This is really hard. I’m upset. I’m hurt. I love what I do and want to protect my employees but, I have to worry about my health, too.

“If I didn’t have these problems with politics, my health would be a lot better.”