2nd Annual ForTheGoodOfIllinois Event
“Meet The New Faces of Illinois Good Government”
Speech Title: Good Government
November 13, 2008
Downers Grove, IL
Thank you… Thank you very much.
We have a lot to celebrate tonight. We are the “New Faces” of Illinois Good Government. We are 120 strong in the room tonight. It is my opinion that good people need to stick together and work together. So please get to know your neighbor tonight. Network with each other…
Good people working together- certainly describes the story of John Tillman and I. Our organizations, Illinois Policy Institute and ForTheGoodOfIllinois have created a lot of synergy- we don’t fight each other- and pushed forward good government here in Illinois. John Tillman, thank you for all that you do. Thank you for your kind words, your introduction and for being our Master of Ceremonies this evening. Let’s have a big round of applause for John Tillman…
I am going to speak for the next 10 minutes: Then we are going to publically honor and recognize 60 people that have moved our movement forward. People who have helped us network, people who we have trained so they could ask their school district to become models of good government in their own communities. And I appreciate your sacrifice to be here. It’s really good to bring my favorite friends and family together at least once a year. That’s what life’s about- spending quality time- And tonight is that special night.
And speaking of special people: Here is my lovely wife Kerry. I want to tell you about Kerry: when 2008 started, she was 3 months pregnant. Spending the first half of the year pregnant, she gave birth in June to our 3rd daughter. And after that, of course, we needed a new home. In September we found it, we bought it and moved in- all in 30 days. It’s been a busy household, and we’ve been a busy family. Kerry and I have 3 girls age 4 and under. Kerry has shown discipline, courage and fortitude; holding our family and household together. Please honor our movement by honoring the commitment of my wife Kerry with a big round of applause!
As many of you know, I come to the public policy arena- developing my public policy ideas- from my experiences as an entrepreneur. In 1997, My brother and I co-founded a publishing business. Starting from our apartments we grew our business until we were headquartered in DeKalb, IL in a 27,000 square foot brick building. Over a ten year period, we built nearly a $20 million sales organization. And as any good salesman will tell you- myself included- often times your customers don’t care how much you know- they just want to know that you care…. Well friends, I care…
I was taught Good Government at a young age by my parents. In 1976 and 1978, my father ran for office against one of the most powerful and most corrupt politicians in Illinois state history. 30 years ago, My father ran against George Ryan for Ryan’s state representative seat. My father took on Ryan in Ryan’s hometown, on Ryan’s home turf. And Even though my father was endorsed by major newspapers, he lost those races. But, I learned a lesson- Good people have an obligation- when and where they can, to influence their government.
I founded ForTheGoodOfIllinois because I CARE about bringing Good Government to our Illinois. And that’s our mission. When I started on this task 12 months ago, many people thought that this was an impossible task- they said Adam, this is Illinois- you can’t fight city hall. And I told those people, I know where your coming from- To Bring Good Government to Our Illinois- It Is Impossible… But it’s achievable. AND THIS YEAR, together, You Believed and I believed and WE PROVED THAT- You can fight city hall. You can win. And you don’t need to be a giant to do it!
Many of us, here in the room, have fought city hall and won!
Take for instance, Scott O’Connell- Scott is the super minority on his school board. Scott is known as the ‘reformer’, the only reformer! So, Many times the vote on his board goes 6-1; AND Scott’s the one. But, Scott has hung in there- and finally the board adopted one of his suggestions. Scott properly negotiated the health insurance of his school district and saved the taxpayers in Downers Grove $1.5 million!
Consider another gentleman here in the room: Bruno Brehend. Bruno noticed the lack of transparency within the Illinois Board of Elections. This past election, The Elections Board had approved ballot language for the proposed Illinois Constitutional Convention- which had the effect of preventing a free and fair election. To fight that injustice, Bruno then filed a law suit. On the other side of the case was the Illinois Secretary of State, the Illinois Board of Elections as defended by the Illinois Attorney General's office, Lisa Madigan. Bruno, who graduated from law school in 1990 and who had never set foot in a court room, ended up beating Lisa Madigan, in his first case!
The impossible in Illinois has become achievable!
You can fight city hall, you can win, and you don’t need to be a giant to do it!
Abe Lincoln at Gettsburg said, Of, by, For People. And we’ve all heard that, but Ronald Reagan took the logic a step further, he said, That government ‘of, by and for’ people works the best when the people work on it. And that’s exactly what we’ve done this year…
Kathy Tanner is here in the room- lives in Kankakee County. Kankakee County, historically, to say the least- does not have the reputation of good government! Kankakee has given Illinois 2 governors and they’ve both gone to jail. Kathy is a teacher in the public schools- and saw first-hand mis-allocation of resources. She saw students that did not have textbooks in the classroom, schools that had beautiful football fields with the latest equipment, but not the money for PE! So Kathy decided to ask her local school district to post their check register- to see where the money was being spent. And at first the superintendent was against it, but over the course of 3 weeks, he began to see the world her way. That superintendent announced at his own school board meeting that he would post his own check register. And that’s good government! Great job Kathy…
And Kathy’s story is representative of many of our successful stories here in the room tonight.
The People are leading and the leaders are following… And of course, we have leaders, here tonight, that are also leading!
Take for instance…
David Carlin- Dave is an elected trustee at the College of DuPage. I met Dave in April, in May, working with me, he convinced his board to post their check register. The College of DuPage was then held out on the editorial page of the National Examiner as a model for transparency and good government. But that wasn’t good enough for David Carlin! In September, we came back and convinced the board to post all of the employee salaries. The College of DuPage will now show the taxpayer exactly where it spends the operating budget of $146 million. And That’s good government! Great job, Dave..
We- here in the room- operated by a simple principle, that government spending, public spending by definition- should be done publicly. Public spending should not be cloaked in privacy.
And so Together, we are responsible… for posting online the check register of nearly $1 Billion of government spending. We identified and convinced 36 school districts to proactively post their check register- and if you added up all their checks, it comes to nearly $1 billion of government spending. That’s good government!
Now, I’m still of the opinion that $1 billion is a lot of money! I remember growing up in Herscher, IL and walking beans and detasselling corn for $3.35 per hour. Walking those mile long rows, in 90 degree July and August heat, in long sleeve shirts and jeans- because if the pollen from the corn hit your skin- you’d itch. At the end of the summer, I’d have $500 after taxes- and by saving that $500 each year, I was able to pay for my first year at Northern Illinois University.
I am still of the opinion that $1 Billion is a lot of money. A famous politician used to describe it this way: If you gave your wife $1 Billion to go shopping and if she spent only $1,000 per day, your wife would be gone for the next 3,000 years!
Friends, a billion dollars is still a lot of money… We have done a great job. Who would have ever guessed that we’d post nearly $1 Billion this year? The impossible has now become… the achievable!
As the sign says: We are Regular People. We have Common Sense. And it’s our principles. Our values. And our leadership that our state needs now.
When they write the history of Illinois, let them write that we were the people who reversed the reputation of our Illinois government. Let them write that we were the people who ended politics as it was practiced in Illinois. That we ended the smoke-filled backroom, the pay to play, nepotism, cronyism, specialism, AND… that we ended that famous Illinois handshake.
And so I ask you again as I ask you each time that we meet:
Stand with me.
Let’s bring good government to Illinois.
For The Good Of Illinois!