Illinoisans may be seeing red again reading about some state lawmakers’ latest exercise in hypocrisy.
After backing legislation that bans campaign contributions from the troubled red-light camera industry and its executives, these elected officials didn’t waste too much time in taking money from such entities, the Sun-Times’ Robert Herguth reported over the weekend.
Most of the amounts accepted were relatively small sums and dispersed before Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the reform bill into law in late July. But that doesn’t alleviate the concerns. Green-lighting these campaign contributions after signing off on a measure that clearly spells out they are forbidden is a red flag.
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon took two contributions totaling $5,000 from the Lombard-based red-light camera contractor Redspeed Illinois just six weeks after he and others in the General Assembly approved the bill in May, according to Herguth’s investigation.
Smaller Redspeed contributions were also accepted in June by state Rep. Bradley Stephens, R-Rosemont; state Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Chicago Heights; and state Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago.
Redspeed, meanwhile. gave state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Belleville, $1,000 last month when the campaign contribution was officially prohibited by law, which also bars state, county and local officials from working or receiving compensation from red-light camera companies for two years after leaving office.
Harmon maintained in a statement that he “holds the highest ethical standards and will continue to do so.” DeLuca said he did nothing wrong because he took the money before the law took effect. And Hoffman modified a campaign report so it no longer showed the Redspeed contribution.
Such excuses are unacceptable. They’re a clear indication the law may need to be amended to include penalties for violators.
That state leaders accepted Redspeed money also raises the question of whether campaign contributions by lobbyists for the red-light camera industry should be banned as well. That’s a pretty easy “yes” for us. Why leave open a loophole here?
From the Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. bribery scheme in Chicago, the ongoing bribery and kickback scandal involving SafeSpeed LLC and convictions and charges of local and state officials, the red-light camera industry has been mired deep in controversy.
Politicians should know how to keep their distance when even the appearance of impropriety is on the line. They can’t impose rules on paper, only to do the exact opposite because they don’t expect to be caught red-handed.
The Sun-Times welcomes letters to the editor and op-eds. See our guidelines.
