By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – The office of legislative inspector general in Illinois does not have as much power as some would like. One of those people is the current inspector general, retired judge Carol Pope, who has submitted her resignation to the Legislative Ethics Commission.
Pope called the position a “paper tiger.”
“She is frustrated, as many of us are, about how slow things are to change in Springfield,” said the LEC chairwoman, State Sen. Jil (cq) Tracy (R-Quincy). “She had testified at several hearings about the shortcomings she saw in the commission.”
Among the problems: the process is complaint-driven, and the job carries no subpoena power.
A written response from the two House Democrats on the commission, State Reps. Kelly Burke (D-Evergreen Park) and Maurice West (D-Rockford), says, in part, “The ethics reform package which passed nearly unanimously this spring, is an excellent first step.
“We do thank Ms. Pope for detailing some of the concerns in her registration letter, but we feel confident that many are addressed in the new ethics package — or through law enforcement, which is the proper and just avenue for criminal activity outside the purview of official duties.”
Back to Tracy, who joined the legislature fifteen years ago and who says the problem is simply a few bad apples: “Most people just want to see a better Illinois.
“They don’t want to see people wearing wires, or people going to jail,” she added with a chuckle.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]
