Poster Throws Stones: Hits Himself in Foot and Mouth

This post is in response to the individual who has posted a completely false contention in reaction to the Richard “Dick” Leibovitz FBI probe.  Apparently, this person thinks that “the best defense is a good offense.” Therefore, “Easgle” felt it necessary to accuse me of dishonesty, ludicrous  in light of recent front-page newspaper (and other media) revelations about the County Clerk’s office. (The “Easgle” poster should be railing aginst our papers and Chris Minor of Channel 8 who actually interviewed the County Clerk, who admitted on camera some things his attorney probably wishes he had not admitted.) Riiiiiight. I’m really in a position to be “rigging” anything inside the County Clerk’s office. (Another HA!) I wouldn’t know the first thing about “rigging” an election. I don’t have specially developed software, paid for with federal funds, that I can use to target voters or disenfranchise voters or whatever the software was going to be doing. [If you want to develop better software, go for it…but do it on your own dime, not that of the taxpayers!]

The individual who posted (Easgle?) this slanderous remark (my contentions have names and addresss attached and can be verified; keep that in mind. The Judge saw them all, and they’re still in the files of Nelson, Keys & Keys) is obviously desperate.  To suggest that I was or am the dishonest individual and “Dick” Leibovitz was a knight in shining armor, riding forth to make sure that elections remain honest is contrary to fact and absolutely stunning in the light of recent revelations about his County Clerk office practices.

This person is really reaching! When reality sinks in for him or her, perhaps he (or she) will realize that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating Richard “Dick” Leibovitz, not some ex-English teacher who ran openly and honestly without any ties to the Democratic machine.

I had a children’s campaign of a few high school students. I paid for all campaign expenses myself. I owed no one and ran with no one.  I remember (fondly) that incumbent Alderman Louis Moreno (a former student in Silvis; no relation to Joe Moreno) spent the morning of HIS election making phone calls for me. (Thanks, Louis!) I was, in fact, swept up by a surge of enthusiasm from some young people in the community (many of them former students), who volunteered to help me (“We’ll help you, Mrs. Wilson!”) A young bus-boy at the Village Inn Restaurant whom I didn’t even know (Thanks, Brandon!) volunteered to help distribute flyers. It was wonderful to see young people enthused about electing someone who really wanted to see the city improve and didn’t plan to make a career out of public office (I said I’d run once and once only) simply to collect the stipend. (I was so naive, I didn’t even know there WAS a stipend…lol.) I wouldn’t know how to “fix” an election (OR a car)…but the County Clerk and Democratic County Chairman would know how and might be in a position to abuse the public’s trust, IF they were not honest individuals.

If you read the newspapers and have any reasoning ability, you can make up your own mind as you watch things unfold in Peoria. I had no “insider” status, no “helpers” or acquaintances who would “do dirt” to anyone, (nor would I ever stoop so low.)  And I’m honest (which is, apparently, a huge disadvantage in politics).

In order to secure a recount, names, addresses and instances of abuse were submitted to a (Republican) Judge who ordered the recount of the popular vote which showed that the incumbent did not, in fact, carry the popular vote in the 1st ward.  This is fact. (The absentee vote count is a separate issue, and, as the officials around the state who monitor cheating in elections told me, “You have to look at the absentee ballots. That is where they cheat.” (Historically, it has been ever thus.)

This was where and when the County Clerk did his best to hide the absentee ballots from view, knowing that the count would not be accurate (it wasn’t.) If you care enough to become informed, go find the earlier post about “the Illinois law of proportionate reduction” on this blog. It is an intrinsically unfair law,  designed to keep challengers from overturning elections, because it would be inconvenient for the County Clerk’s offices (who are already preparing their slate of candidates and ballots).

This law basically means (short version) that, for every invalid, fraudulent vote discovered that is thrown out as dirty, one vote is ALSO taken away from the person who is challenging. It makes no sense, I realize. It sounds “wrong” and it sounds “dirty” and it is. However, if you have spent as long on the phone with the state’s leading experts in election law as I did, (and as Nelson, Keys & Keys did), you soon learn that the statute is written to keep the “status quo” in place whenever possible. And, of course, everyone has to hope that the person counting the votes in any election is honest and will count the votes honestly (Remember the movie “Election”? Not good.)

I’m not going to go into the long drawn-out explanation of “the law of proportionate reduction” in Illinois, because it is posted elsewhere on this blog and, really, it is not germane to the poor misguided person who chose to throw stones at me, a citizen of the city and county who is merely watching the corruption be revealed and the story unfold from the sidelines.

I had and have nothing to do with the mess  in Richard Leibovitz’s office.  I didn’t notify anyone of anything, because I am not a politician, and I think I’m too honest to ever become one, after my experiences. [My father, a Democratic County Treasurer of Buchanan County (IA) always warned me, “Politics is a dirty business” and told me to steer clear. I should have listened.]

But I didn’t, swept up in a children’s crusade of enthusiasm for the cause of trying to do some good in our dilapidated, struggling city.

The angry writer of the post should be writing  to the local papers (or television stations) that are covering the story daily, or to the intrepid investigators who have found the many incriminating documents, such as the “none” signature of Richard Leibovitz on documents filed with the state, saying he was not involved in any other businesses that made more than $1200,  when, in reality, he was President of the software firm mentioned in all the newspaper stories (and merely re-mentioned in my article.) I can’t take credit for discovering those documents; I can only relate what happened in one very small and insignificant East Moline Ward election, reporting it as truthfully as possible (not that anyone cares any more).

We are now seeing what went on “behind the scenes” of the elected Rock Island County Clerk’s office. This has been front-page news for days now in both newspapers. The quotes in the blog article, far from being my opinion(s), were taken from the Quad City Times and the Moline Dispatch, with which “easgle” needs to take up his argument. The personal anecdotes I related ,which are completely true,  were submitted to a Republican judge, with documented names and addresses, and this is why the recount was ordered in the first place. One does not simply say, “I’d like a recount.” It has to be DOCUMENTED before a Judge (with names, dates and instances) to justify a recount because there is a preponderance of evidence (not opinion, but evidence) that something “fishy” happened in the election. This has to be proven  to the Judge’s satisfaction before a recount is ordered. It was proven to the satisfaction of the Judge that there were instances of impropriety on the part of the incumbent. End of that particular story. If the Judge had not seen specific instances of abuse, there wouldn’t have BEEN a recount showing Helen Heiland losing the popular vote at the polls in her ward in that long-ago election.

Second, the firm of Nelson, Keys & Keys was one of the few firms courageous enough in the Quad Cities to take on John Gianulis. Incompetent they are not. Most law firms told me, haltingly, that they couldn’t afford to ‘anger’ the then-Democratic County Chairman. The firm did a great job in the short time we had, and I had to go door-to-door (with a lawyer in tow) to secure authorized, notarized affidavits from voters. It was really an experience! Brett Nelson said, “Sometimes, I like to take cases that make a difference.”

I also (now) know that I would have had to have had a team of lawyers standing by at the time of the election to challenge immediately, as was done in Minneapolis in the Al Franken disputed election. If you aren’t prepared ON THE SPOT, the incumbent tank and installed machine rolls over youl.

I haven’t talked to Brett Nelson or Rick Keys lately, but I’d like to hear their comments on the recent newspaper articles.  I have the utmost respect and admiration and gratitude for this firm, which could definitely see the tank rolling on and recognize that  it was a miscarriage of justice, but could not stop it because of the way election law is specifically stacked against challengers….(and, possibly, because of other abuses of the public trust in the County Clerk’s office.)

I challenged not because I wanted the job that badly, but  (hopefully) to reveal the corruption that was endemic in the Rock Island election process. Unfortunately, the reporter assigned to be present during the recount in Rock Island by the “Dispatch” (Jenny Lee), stood in the room and heard that the poll count was wrong, and then went off and did not write one single word about it.

When the Feds get involved, stuff gets written…by both papers (the “Times” did not have a reporter present during the recount.)

I have a longstanding reputation for honesty and integrity. I do not have a reputation for using federal grant money to line my own pocket(s) to develop software that I then profit from, etc. Some have told me that I was merely “collateral damage” in an attempt to unseat Jose “Joe” Moreno, an attempt to ‘teach him a lesson’ by others more highly placed in the party. Since Joe was runing on HIS own, and I was running on MY own, that may or may not be true, but the voters for Joe….(and I think those votes were counted about as well as Gore and Bush in Florida)…were probably voting for me, goes the theory.

When I am subpoenaed to appear before an FBI Grand Jury (they don’t charge you unless they’ve got the goods, Folks), then this individual can question my honesty. Anyone who knows me knows that I was naive and idealistic, yes, but I was and am honest (which is more than can be said for some elected officials.)

I wandered onto a 2005 archived document while googling for some information. There were the names of many prominent men (Gary Andersen of MetroBank, Dr. Craig Whitlock, etc.) who were all part of a Committee to Rejuvenate East Moline in 2005. I remember what a nice and successful Centennial Joe Moreno engineered, with the frogs and the traffic the ceramic sculptures brought to the downtown area, which is sorely in need of traffic and support for the few remaining businesses. I am reminded of the many businesses (Country Manor, etc.) that have shuddered to a halt since 2005, a time when architect’s rendering(s) of a potential Farmer’s Market Forum were shown (one of Mayor Moreno’s ideas) at a meeting I attended. The proposed location would not only sell fresh produce, but also serve as a social gathering point. Mayor Moreno  sincerely wished to serve the community to make it a better place. I think the ideas his people had put forth, if implemented, would have helped the downtown’s sad plight.

However, to “teach Joe Moreno a lesson” (and don’t ask me who was teaching what lesson ,because the lesson learned is that the Mayoral position can be used as a stepping stone to the County Treasurer’s post or some such, and the city can be left “out of the Loop” (see previous article) and struggling) all of Jose “Joe” Moreno’s plans went down the tubes.

In the years since that election none of those good ideas have been championed by the man who unseated Joe. East Moline  also faces the prospect of an unnecessary and expensive ambulance service, spearheaded by the 1st Ward Alderwoman and others,a move  being forced down residents’ throats with or without their/our consent, to the point that former Mayor Dussliere’s son (I believe it was Al Dussliere’s son who came to my door; if not, apologies, but kudos to the individual doing the organizing, which was also not me) went door-to-door to gather signatures for a petition to put this ambulance proposal on a ballot for the people to decide. [Still, there was a certain cadre of aldermen who tried to sneak the ambulance proposal through.]

I don’t mind letting this illiterate person’s post stay up, suggesting (laughably) that I “rigged” the election, because I think it’s pretty clear who has been “rigging” things for years.  If I’m ever subpoenaed to appear before a federal Grand Jury, if the FBI comes after me,  then you can start throwing stones. Until then, learn to spell and read a paper once in a while.

The “irresponsible” are those who trashed our fair city and county for their personal gain and , have accomplished little or nothing noteworthy since 2005 to try to fix what’s broken in the cityof East Moline, specifically. Because of those folks, East Moline is “out of the Loop” (see previous post). Some of those elected officials have now used up their moment in East Moline, merely a stepping-stone for political ambition(s), and they are now moving on down the road….or to jail, in some cases….whichever comes first.

It’s a sad, sad thing, when you look back at the 2005 “Rejuvenate East Moline” committee posting and think, “What if…..”