Daily Archives: February 24, 2017

* He doesnt have an ownership stake in his law firm, he says his salary at the firm is less than his legislative pay and that his total compensation is less than the governors official salary and he doesnt work for or financially benefit from state-related clients. And yet

State Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, is one of the most powerful people in Springfield, talked about as a possible future president of the Illinois Senate.

Hes also a partner in a Chicago law firm thats been paid more than $9 million in the past five years for doing legal work for state agencies, government workers pension funds and local governments whose citizens he represents in the Senate, a Chicago Sun-Times examination has found.

That covers work done for more than 20 government bodies, including the city of Chicago, Cook County, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and the agency that owns McCormick Place and Navy Pier.

The firm Burke Burns & Pinelli has done work for agencies whose budgets Harmon votes on, including the Illinois Department of Transportation, and government pension funds regulated by Harmon and his fellow legislators, as well as the village of Rosemont, one of the suburbs he represents in the Illinois Senate, according to records and interviews. []

Harmon who once worked as deputy legal counsel to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago was elected to the state Senate in 2002.

Theres a whole lot of sizzle and not a lot of steak in that piece, not unlike an eerily similar BGA story from 2012

Since bringing an influential state legislator on board as a partner in 2005, a small Chicago law firm has secured at least $6.3 million in legal work from state agencies that receive funding and oversight from the General Assembly, the Better Government Association has learned.

While that relationship smacks of a conflict of interest, its not the only curiosity involving the legislator, state Sen. Don Harmon, and the firm where hes a partner, Burke Burns & Pinelli Ltd.

The BGA also found that Harmon a Democrat from Oak Park who once served as deputy legal counsel to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan voted earlier this year on a casino bill that his firm helped craft on behalf of its client, the City of Des Plaines. []

A BGA review of state financial records shows Burke Burns, a firm of 10 or so attorneys, was paid more than $1 million in each of the past two fiscal years for state-related work.

Overall, the firm was paid more than $6.3 million or an average of $900,000 a year from 2006 to 2012 for state-related work, according to interviews, and documents obtained under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. (Fiscal year 2006 was Harmons first full year with the firm.)

By contrast, in the four years before Harmon joined the firm, annual payments exceeded $575,000 only once, topping out at $711,734, records show. However, those totals may be incomplete because several state agencies indicated they no longer had data for fiscal years 2001 and 2002. In addition, some records relating to bond work are not always tracked by state agencies.

Harmon says if all payments were included it would show the firms state work hasnt increased dramatically since his hiring, especially given the rate of inflation. But he declined to disclose actual payments or turn over financial records to the BGA.

* One of the reporters who wrote todays Sun-Times story was with the BGA when that 2012 story was published. An opinion piece above his name was also published back in 2012. It threw the kitchen sink at Harmon

Harmons street cred as a reformer or progressive has to be questioned.

Why does his law firm advise public-sector clients not to speak to the media?

Why did he vote to water down the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, which ensures journalists and regular citizens can access most government documents?

Why did he accept $300 in campaign donations just a couple months back from D & P Construction, a waste-hauling company thats repeatedly (and publicly) been linked to the Chicago mob?

Why did he introduce a piece of legislation that would allow office holders to double dip hold two elected positions at once?

Peter Silvestri, a Cook County commissioner and Elmwood Parks village president, told the BGA that Harmon fronted that bill at his request. After the BGA learned of the legislation, Harmon relayed that he changed his mind and was withdrawing his support.

But about a month later he quietly resurrected the bill in the form of an amendment to an unrelated piece of legislation. When we tried to ask him about the flip-flop, Harmon wouldnt return our calls. He later told the BGA he regretted getting involved in the matter. The legislation was never approved.

Lastly, although were not into branding people with guilt by association, its worth noting Harmon started out his career as an aide to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who is the ultimate Machine guy one of the most powerful political figures in the state and one of the largest obstacles to reforming our troubled government system.

This isnt to say Harmon hasnt done good things. In fact, hes worked with the BGA on legislation, including a successful effort to kill the misused and abused legislative scholarship program.

But judged through a larger prism, Harmon isnt challenging the status quo. He is the status quo.

Ergo, todays piece.

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Dj vu all over again - The Capitol Fax Blog (blog)

County builders who have had projects on hold due to lack of technical review will finally be able to start construction.

Rowan County Fiscal Court unanimously hired Richie Newton, county surveyor, to a two-month contract as the official in charge of enforcing the countys subdivision regulations during Tuesdays monthly meeting.

Those technical reviews are necessary before the Morehead-Rowan County-Lakeview Heights Joint Planning Commission can approve design plans.

With the retirement of city planner and building inspector Joe Parson last month, those wishing to construct within subdivisions in the county havent been able to begin.

Parson would approve the technical review before it moved to the Commission.

We are just looking for answers on what needs to happen because we have been on hold for months, said Cliff Lewis, area developer.

Lewis said he and his partner Greg Blackburn submitted plans to the city in November, meeting the 21-day requirement of submitting before Decembers commission meeting.

The commission did not meet again until February due to lack of a quorum.

I hope you all understand how big of a bind that this puts us in, said Blackburn. We have put a lot of money into projects in this county and we are really wasting a lot of time, especially with this great weather we are having now.

County Attorney Cecil Watkins said the county was only made aware of the ramifications of Parsons retirement after he had left.

We didnt know this would be the case and my correspondence with Cliff earlier this month was the first time that we were made aware of this issue, Watkins said. Thats something that I believe we need to make a decision on during this meeting so these guys can get to work.

Newton now has the authority through the county to approve the technical reviews so they can be sent to the Planning Commission.

He will be compensated $500 a month for his services.

The county does not having any zoning laws in place; however, there are certain restrictions on how subdivisions are constructed.

After Parson announced his retirement, Mayor Jim Tom Trent said they would begin a search for a new building inspector and city planner with the hopes of hiring someone by March.

In the past, the county has paid the citys building inspector $500 a month to enforce those subdivision regulations.

In other business, Fiscal Court appointed Ashley Adkins and Joe Sartor to the Rowan County Arts Board.

The Court also changed Eagle Trace Road (CR 1459) to Ben Lowe Drive. They added an extension to Rosedale Road (CR 1114).

Fiscal Court also approved Danny Knipps request to insure Freedom Park at $675 a year.

Knipp thanked the court on behalf of the 3,500 veterans in Rowan County.

Also unanimously approved was for all Rowan County dogs at the Tri-County Animal Shelter to be taken to Rowan County Veterinary Clinic to be spayed and neutered.

Brad Stacy can be reached at bstacy@themoreheadnews.com or by telephone at 784-4116.

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Solution created for county builders - Morehead News

Published Feb 24, 2017 at 12:00pm

NEW YORK (AP) JCPenney said Friday that it will be closing anywhere from 130 to 140 stores as well as two distribution centers over the next several months as it aims to improve profitability in the era of online shopping.

The closures represent about 13 percent to 14 percent of the department store operators current store count, and less than 5 percent of total annual sales. The company said that it would also initiate a voluntary early retirement program for about 6,000 eligible employees.

The company stated it will not announce which stores are to be closed for a month. Locally, there are two locations in Oneida County. One is in Rome in the Freedom Plaza on Erie Boulevard West. The other is in Sangertown Square mall on Commercial Drive in New Hartford.

The news came as the Plano, Texas-based chain posted a profit in the fourth-quarter compared to a loss a year ago. But total sales were down slightly, and a key revenue metric declined slightly as well.

Penney is trying to recover from a catastrophic reinvention plan under former CEO Ron Johnson that sent sales and profits into a free-fall in 2012 and 2013. Business stabilized under Mike Ullman, who took the helm in 2013 after Johnson was pushed out. Under Marvin Ellison, who has been CEO since 2015, Penney is looking for new ways to increase sales while playing catch up in e-commerce. Like other department stores, JCPenney is trying to adjust to changing shopping patterns, and is joining other department stores like Macys, which are shrinking their store footprint. Consumers are shifting their spending away from clothing and toward experiences like beauty treatments or toward furnishing their home. And when they do pick up clothing, its more often at off-price stores or online as Amazon moves more into apparel.

Penneys results capped a week of weak fourth-quarter results from a string of department stores. Kohls Corp. reported Wednesday a drop in fiscal fourth-quarter profit as total sales declined. Revenue at stores opened at least a year dropped 2.2 percent in the quarter. Nordstrom Inc., the department store recently scolded by President Donald Trump, reported late Wednesday a better-than-expected quarterly profit with help from strong sales online and at Nordstrom Rack. But at the Nordstrom brand, comparable store sales decreased 2.7 percent. Macys, the nations largest department store chain, says its earnings for the quarter that includes the holiday period dropped nearly 13 percent as results were dragged down by lower sales, store closures and other costs.

Given the environment, Penney wants to be less dependent on clothing, and is focusing its efforts on its home area and rolling out major appliances in it stores. It has expanded the Sephora beauty shops and is updating its beauty salons, now branded Salon by InStyle. It is also beefing up its store label brands like St. Johns Bay. In the fourth quarter, top performing areas included home, Sephora, its salon business and fine jewelry.

The company is aiming to be more competitive in the digital arena. Penney is arming its store associates with mobile devices to help check out online shoppers who are picking up orders in the store.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, JCPenney reported net income of $192 million, or 61 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 64 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were calling for earnings of 61 cents per share.

Revenue totaled $3.96 billion in the period, down 0.9 percent from a year ago. Analysts polled by Zacks expected $3.97 billion in revenue.

Sales at stores opened at least a year, a key gauge of a retailers health, were down 0.7 percent. This figure excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

Penney expects full-year earnings in a range of 40 cents to 65 cents per share.

Its shares fell more than 3 percent in premarket trading.

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JCPenney to close 13 to 14 percent of stores - Rome Sentinel