Editorial: 'Gotcha' politics not getting us anywhere

Editorial: 'Gotcha' politics not getting us anywhere
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
August 25, 2010
http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/2634042,CST-EDT-edit25a.article


Bill Brady, the Republican candidate for governor, is saying the events that led to the resignation Sunday of Gov. Quinn's top aide raise "myriad" questions.

We think there's just one: Who really thinks sending three e-mails from the wrong account is a serious offense?

We're all for clean government and conducting public business in an open manner. But we hope the legacy of scandal under former Governors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich is not leading us to a "gotcha" culture in which the state's leaders are so focused on abiding by minor rules that they stop being effective in their jobs.

That would be like keeping your eyes glued to the speedometer to make sure it doesn't go a half-mile over the speed limit while failing to notice your car is heading directly toward a steep cliff.

Jerry Stermer, Quinn's chief of staff, last year sent three e-mails from his state-issued BlackBerry or personal computer.

Stermer realized that the e-mails violated state ethics law, which prohibits using government equipment for political uses. The law protects taxpayers from paying the expenses for incumbents who are running for re-election. Stermer voluntarily reported the e-mails to then-Executive Inspector General James A. Wright's office on Jan. 12.

But anyone who uses multiple e-mail accounts knows it's easy to slip up and send a message from the wrong address. Had Stermer deliberately been trying to sneak political e-mails through government systems, he would have done it a lot more than three times.

Instead, the inspector general's office searched more than 38,700 Stermer e-mails and couldn't come up with any other violations.

Stermer resigned on Sunday, saying he didn't want findings against him by Wright to be used against Quinn in this fall's election. Quinn accepted the resignation, and on Tuesday, he appointed Michelle Saddler to replace Stermer.

But the e-mails led to an election issue anyway because Quinn fired Wright on Aug. 13, the same day he was briefed about the findings against Stermer.

Quinn says he already was in the process of replacing Wright, a holdover from the Blagojevich administration. He says Wright had been notified that he would be replaced.

Wright was fired early in the day, and Quinn says he didn't know about the report until he returned from the Illinois State Fair late in the day. The sequence of events has made headlines partly because the report uses strong language in its conclusion. Wright wrote that his office "recommends that . . . Stermer be subject to discipline for engaging in the prohibited political activity in violation of Governor's Office policy and the Illinois Ethics Act."

Wright also requested that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan file a complaint against Stermer before the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission.

Even Quinn says he was researching the appropriate discipline when Stermer decided to resign, and he says he probably would have suspended his chief of staff.

All this over three messages that easily could have been sent from the correct e-mail addresses.

Republicans are trying to find significance in the fact that Quinn fired Wright on the same day he received Wright's report.

A spokesman for Bill Brady said Quinn "put his political interests before citizens."

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said: "We have a governor who has picked right up where Rod Blagojevich left off."

But those are false issues.

If the e-mails didn't amount to much, then a report with no additional findings has no additional significance.

Why would Quinn fire an inspector general for saying, in essence, he couldn't find anything?

Illinois is in desperate need of good leadership, and playing gotcha over minor issues won't get us there.

For those who don't understand that, maybe someone should send them an e-mail.