Tony Peraica, cook county commissioner in the 16th District, arrested and jailed in McCook

11:45 am SUNDAY

Tony Peraica, cook county commissioner in the 16th District, arrested and jailed in McCook

Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica was arrested late Saturday night when he was caught ripping down political signs from private property.

Peraica is planning his own press conference later today to call the arrest and jailing a set-up, claiming that the arrest was made in McCook where his opponent, Jeff Tobolski is the mayor.

But Tobolski reports that Periaca, who was dressed in black, and another man, were driving around in a white van tearing down signs when a Stickney police officer observed them tearing down the signs and pulled them over. They were given a warning and allowed to leave, according to Tobolski.

About 15 to 20 minutes later, the same van was seen driving through McCook in what many would describe as a last-minute political trick, tearing down signs. The van was observed by a McCook Police officer pulling out of private property with several signs destroyed on the ground.

"The police officer stopped the van. It was late at night. And as he was questioning them about what they were doing on the property and if they had anything to do with destroying the private property, the owner of the property came out yelling that they destroyed his signs," Tobolski said.

The property in question is the McCook Bohemian Restaurant on Joliet Road.

Peraica was charged with criminal trespass and destruction of private property. The complaint was signed by the owner of the bar. Peraica was held in the McCook Jail until McCook authorities allowed Peraica to be released on an I-Bond without having to post money.

The fact that Peraica was in McCook driving around in an unmarked van in black clothing is evidence enough that Peraica was up to his old mischief. He'll do his best to claim it was a political set-up but you have to be an incompetent imbecile to be allowed to be put in to a position of being caught like that.

"Peraica should resign from office immediately. When you drive through McCook you will see several large signs for Peraica and no one has bothered them or destroyed them or taken any of them down because I believe every candidate has a right to campaign without the fear of your property being destroyed," Tobolski said.

"There are many signs out there for many candidates and we don’t touch any of them. I’m not taking any signs down because I respect the right of the voters to vote for whomever they are right. Obviously, Tony Peraica doesn't feel the same way. What’s he going to do next, storm my home? His erratic behavior of a strange man is outrageous and I think every voter in Cook County and the 16th District must question his ability to run a county district and to represent anyone in this county. I am shocked a man who ran for state’s attorney and a lawyer would knowingly break the law like this.

Peraica was unavailable for comment, but he told the media he was putting his signs up late at night and on public property, even though there are laws in most municipalities that prohibit the placing of political signs on public property.

This event shows Peraica to clearly be one of the most unethical, most despicable candidates running for office. On Tuesday Nov. 2, voters can throw that kind of dirty politics out the window."

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

Maher: A campaign strategy "Out of touch with reality"

Maher: A campaign strategy "Out of touch with reality"

A lot of political flyers have been landing in our mail boxes these past few weeks. The race between 17th District Cook County Board member Liz Gorman and challenger Patrick Maher president of the Orland Fire Protection District is by far the hottest race out there.

Gorman and Maher have been duking it out accusing each other of distorting the facts. Gorman's campaign benefited from the mother of the young man who Pat Maher brutally beat up while he was a student at Illinois State University. She did a telephone audio robo-call to every voters in the huge county wide district.

Maher has been telling everyone the charges are false, which is the most outrageous response. Maher was charged with felony assault and then after a deadlocked jury, he plead guilty to misdemeanor battery. The mother of the student he and one of his friends pummeled is the voice behind the robo-calls.

But the biggest lie came out when Maher sent out a mailer to voters alleging, again falsely, that Gorman has supported Todd Stroger's tax increases.

Are you kidding me? I don't know who is advising Maher but he has run one of the worst campaigns I have ever seen. The best strategy they can come up with to respond to the disclosures of Maher's past conviction (and his lying about those convictions) is to lie about Gorman.

The latest flyer falsely claims:

"Two times, we elected Liz Gorman to the County Board on her promise to cut taxes. Two times, she's let us down by voting YES on Todd STroger's bloated budgets. Gorman supported almost $3 billion in Stroger spending in 2007 and another $2.9 billion last year."

What Maher is saying is that he would reject any budget adopted by the county and bring the county to a standstill?

Gorman fought EVERY tax increase Stroger has proposed and led the fight to repeal the one percent sales tax hike and is leading the fight to repeal the second half, a sales tax she voted against.

The ridiculous assertion that Gorman is an ally of Stroger is so stupid, it makes Maher look like a neophyte, inexperienced leader. It's just dumb.

The flyer is intended to target voters who are out of touch with reality. And those voters rarely vote anyway. So why did they waste their money on a lie like that? Well, first, they have few issues. Second Maher's consultants are in fact the big shot Machine form the 19th Ward which has turned Orland Park in to one of their satellite machine territories.

The only people out of touch with reality are Maher and his political consultants.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Worst candidate I have seen in years

Worst candidate I have seen in years

By Ray Hanania

As voters, we’re used to bad choices. But the Nov. 2 election for the Cook County Board presents residents in the suburban 17^th District with one of the worst candidates to seek public office, Patrick Maher.

Maher is in a mudslinging battle with two term incumbent Liz Gorman. Maher has claimed that Gorman is a puppet of the hated outgoing Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, alleging she supported Strogers many tax increases, which is all a lie, of course.

Gorman single-handedly kept the board from giving up and despite several failed attempts, and she put together the votes by pure stubbornness to repeal half of the Stronger 1 percent Sales Tax hike. She has been the strongest voice against tax increases on the board.

Maher has to lie because Maher has a bad secret. And in political life, there are no secrets. When he was a college student, he brutally beat up a fellow classmate over a girl, who later became his wife. Maher was charged with aggravated felony assault but the jury deadlocked over the fate of a rising star of one of the state’s most powerful political families. Instead, he plead guilty to one count of misdemeanor battery.

The man he beat at Illinois State University in 1991 is Curt Bellone. Bellone is from New Lenox.  (Click HERE to read a story on the conviction.)

This week, Bellone’s mother voiced a robo-call (a political term for a phone call that plays a recorded message to targeted voters) telling the story and urging voters to reject Maher’s candidacy.

In the passioned phone call, which I received and heard, Bellone’s mother, Karen Peterson (who is now 65), says:  "Patrick Maher brutally beat my son and has spent 19 years trying to hide that fact. Patrick Maher has spent his campaign for Cook County commissioner lying about this crime, refusing to be accountable for the crime to which he pled guilty and denying the damage he did to another human being. ... He should never be put in a position of public trust such as Cook County commissioner."

Click HERE to listen to the entire audio message from Karen Peterson about the beating of her son.

Maher is a decent person. I’ve met and spoken with him. He’s just surrounded by the usual rabble of cheerleaders looking to find their place at the public trough, and has the oppressive weight of a political dynasty on his shoulders.

He is the cousin of Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, a scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful Machine Organizations, the 19^th Ward. His father  is Orland Park Village Clerk Dave Maher. The Hynes family and friends funds much of their elections.

Maher was put in charge of the Orland Fire Protection District, quickly transforming it in to a Chicago-like bureaucracy with one of the most bloated budgets of any fire protection district in the state.

But to go higher, Maher had to bury his criminal past. He never mentioned it in media candidate questionnaires (except once, after FOX News reporter Dane Placko started investigating).

(Here is Placko's news report)

(Click HERE to view it on the FOX 32 Web Page.)

Maher’s birthdate was also changed by one day. He says it was a mistake. But everyone knows that without an accurate birth date you cannot find a criminal record.

Maher’s past is not the issue. But covering it up, is. And covering up a past instead of being a man to address it makes him a poor choice for public office, one of the worst, in fact.

When this election is over, he should quit the Fire Protection District and instead of listening to the pressures of his political aristocracy, find his place in society, one where he can raise his head up and find respect.

It’s not there, though, in this election.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist and Chicago radio talk show host. He can be reached at www.RadioChicagoland.com.)

Ed Vrdolyak's hand slapping: Is there any doubt the system is corrupt?

Ed Vrdolyak's hand slapping: Is there any doubt the system is corrupt?

By Ray Hanania

Let me get this straight.

Ed Vrdolyak, one of the slipperiest politicians in Illinois who everyone assumed was guilty but had a Teflon career for years until this week, gets 10 months in jail for his role in a $1.5 million kick back scheme involving a Gold Coast property.

And the same Feds are trying to put Rod Blagojevich in jail for 30 years for never taking one cent for his personal use, but did what every politician (including Vrdolyak) in pushing contractors and friends to donate to his campaign.

This is the poster image for Illinois’ infamous and oft cited “culture of corruption.” The culture of corruption isn’t just about the politicians who slip through the cracks and eventually get caught – it only took 30 years to finally put Fast Eddie in a cushy prison after another federal judge – and friend – sentenced him to probation and community service that had him making calls from his limousine to raise money for his clout-heavy cronies.

The culture of corruption in Illinois is endemic to the state government and applies more directly to the system in which the corrupt politicians play.

It’s the system that is corrupt and the people who haven’t gone to jail and the ones pulling the strings.

So what Vrdolyak got caught. Ed Vrdolyak is Mr. Personality. Mr. Popular. The pal of friend and foe. He is one of the smartest politicians in Illinois and pal-ed up to politicians he supported and fought with.

He was well-liked by the political establishment which made it easy for him to rise to the top of the grunge when he led the infamous Vrdolyak 29 to lead a race-based campaign that succeeded in stymieing the administration of Harold Washington during his first term as mayor.

This was the Ed Vrdolyak who found it so easy to bring judges of all sorts to his home for the annual private picnic in a backyard partially built on a Chicago street he managed to acquire without raising one eyebrow from the Feds.

This was the Ed Vrdolyak, who when he lost his power in the Democratic party, slipped easily into the comforting leadership of the Republican Party.

He was liked. And because Ed Vrdolyak was liked, he got a pillow slap from the first judge, who doesn’t deserve to remain on the bench. And now he is getting a slap on the wrist to make the public feel better.

Even the prosecutors, who failed to get the three and one-half year prison term for Vrdolyak that they originally sought, were excited that Fast Eddie was sent to prison at all.

Meanwhile, the unliked and woefully disdained Rod Blagojevich is being forced to defend himself against trumped up charges from the U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Oh the Vrdolyak decision to go to summer camp for 10 months must have made Fitzgerald feel extra good, considering that things haven’t been going his way as of late.

Fitzgerald’s crew failed to win a conviction of Blagojevich in the first trial on the 23 of the 24 charges. They did get the jury to agree that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. But they couldn’t get a unanimous jury nod of the serious charges of corruption.

But Blagojevich is easy to attack and Vrdolyak is difficult. The public doesn’t care too much for either, although Blagojevich has gained much support by going public to respond to the public outcries by the federal government that characterized their 18 months of pre-trial public lobbying.

Blagojevich is disliked by the politicians and Vrdolyak is held in high esteem despite his political shenanigans.

I liked Vrdolyak, too. He was a crafty shell game manipulator. But he always went too far, including in his role in the Town of Cicero with former President Betty Loren-Maltese who was sent to prison for 8 years for her role in stealing $10 million – another injustice in that the sentence was too lenient considering how much she stole from the taxpayers there.

Vrdolyak had a pattern similar to that of Loren-Maltese. While they stole, they were doling out favors to many. And in Vrdolyak’s case, many in the public who benefited from Vrdolyak’s charity wrote letters on his behalf that “swayed” the federal judge.

Vrdolyak gets 10 months and Blagojevich gets threats of 30 years.

Did you need anything more to demonstrate the state’s culture of corruption and how bad it really is?

(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist, media strategist and morning radio talk show host. He can be reached at www.RadioChicagoland.com.)

The Chicago Newsroom Weekly TV Program: The old and new media

The Chicago Newsroom Weekly TV Program: The old and new media
Hosted by Ken Davis
In this week's program, Ken Davis is joined by Sun-Times columnist, Esther J. Cepeda, Thom Clark, President, Community Media Workshop, Ray Hanania, independent columnist, and Neil Tesser, Chicago jazz writer. The panel discusses "The New News", a report on the state of Chicago's online media.This program was produced by Chicago Access Network TV.



# # #

Here's what your five page ballot looks like for Orland Park

Here is what your ballot will look like for most if not all residents of Orland Park. You can vote early now through the election. I recommend voting no against any judge for retention unless you know the judge personally. Please vote no for retention on Bill Kunkle.

The rest is up to you.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Senator, U.S.

6 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Mark Steven Kirk	Republican	1
Alexander "Alexi" Giannoulias	Democratic	2
LeAlan M. Jones	Green Party	3
Mike Labno	Libertarian	4

Senator, U.S. (Unexpired Term)

Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Mark Steven Kirk	Republican	9
Alexander "Alexi" Giannoulias	Democratic	10
LeAlan M. Jones	Green Party	11
Mike Labno	Libertarian	12

Governor and Lieutenant Governor, State of Illinois

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Bill Brady & Jason Plummer	Republican	17
Pat Quinn & Sheila Simon	Democratic	18
Rich Whitney & Don W. Crawford	Green Party	19
Lex Green & Ed Rutledge	Libertarian	20
Scott Lee Cohen & Baxter B. Swilley	Independent	22

Attorney General, State of Illinois

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Steve Kim	Republican	24
Lisa Madigan	Democratic	25
David F. Black	Green Party	26
Bill Malan	Libertarian	27

Secretary of State, State of Illinois

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Robert Enriquez	Republican	30
Jesse White	Democratic	31
Josh Hanson	Libertarian	32

Comptroller, State of Illinois

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Judy Baar Topinka	Republican	35
David E. Miller	Democratic	36
R. Erika Schafer	Green Party	37
Julie Fox	Libertarian	38

Treasurer, State of Illinois

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Dan Rutherford	Republican	41
Robin Kelly	Democratic	42
Scott K. Summers	Green Party	43
James Pauly	Libertarian	44

Representative, 1st District

2 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Raymond G. Wardingley	Republican	47
Bobby L. Rush	Democratic	48
Jeff Adams	Green Party	49

State Senator, 19th District

2 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Adam Wojcik	Republican	50
M. Maggie Crotty	Democratic	51

State Representative, 37th District

2 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Jeffrey L. Junkas	Republican	52
Kevin A. McCarthy	Democratic	53

Commissioner, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, MWRD

6 Year Term, Vote For 3

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Paul Chialdikas	Republican	55
Jimmy Lee Tillman II	Republican	56
Mariyana T. Spyropoulos	Democratic	57
Barbara McGowan	Democratic	58
Michael A. Alvarez	Democratic	59
Diana Horton	Green Party	60
John "Jack" Ailey	Green Party	61
Nadine Bopp	Green Party	62

Board President, Cook County

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Roger A. Keats	Republican	63
Toni Preckwinkle	Democratic	64
Thomas Tresser	Green Party	65

Clerk, Cook County

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Angel Garcia	Republican	66
David D. Orr	Democratic	67

Sheriff, Cook County

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Frederick Collins	Republican	68
Thomas J. Dart	Democratic	69
Marshall P. Lewis	Green Party	70

Treasurer, Cook County

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Carol A. Morse	Republican	71
Maria Pappas	Democratic	72

Assessor, Cook County

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Sharon Strobeck-Eckersall	Republican	73
Joseph Berrios	Democratic	74
Robert C. Grota	Green Party	75
Forrest Claypool	Independent	76

Commissioner, Cook County Board, 17th District

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman	Republican	77
Patrick Maher	Democratic	78
Matthew J. Ogean	Green Party	79

Commissioner, Cook County Board of Review, 1st District

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Dan Patlak	Republican	80
Brendan F. Houlihan	Democratic	81

Judge, Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District (Vacancy of McNulty)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
James R. Epstein	Democratic	84

Judge, Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District (Vacancy of O'Malley)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Aurelia Marie Pucinski	Democratic	85

Judge, Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District (Vacancy of South)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Mary Katherine Rochford	Democratic	86

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Berland)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
William H. Hooks	Democratic	87

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Bronstein)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Terry MacCarthy	Democratic	88

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Dolan)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Susan Kennedy Sullivan	Democratic	89

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Hayes)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Raymond W. Mitchell	Democratic	90

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Kelley)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
John Patrick Callahan, Jr.	Democratic	91

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of McCarthy)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Maureen Masterson Pulia	Republican	92
Daniel J. Gallagher	Democratic	93

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of O'Malley)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Thomas V. Lyons	Democratic	94

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Vacancy of Riley)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Sandra G. Ramos	Democratic	95

Judge, 15th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Lipinski)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
Linzey D. Jones	Democratic	96

Judge, 15th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Panichi)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
George F. Scully	Democratic	97

Judge, 15th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Phelan)

4 Year Term, Vote For 1

Candidate Name	Party	Ballot #
John C. Griffin	Democratic	98

Judge, Illinois Supreme Court (Retention)

Candidate Name	Yes	No
Charles E. Freeman	200	201
Thomas R. Fitzgerald	202	203

Judge, Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District (Retention)

Candidate Name	Yes	No
Joseph Gordon	204	205
Shelvin Louise Marie Hall	206	207

Judge, Cook County Judicial Circuit (Retention)

Candidate Name	Yes	No
Sophia H. Hall	208	209
Irwin J. Solganick	210	211
Alexander Patrick White	212	213
Donald J. O'Brien, Jr.	214	215
Vincent Michael Gaughan	216	217
William D. Maddux	218	219
Robert W. Bertucci	220	221
Richard J. Billik, Jr.	222	223
Jennifer Duncan Brice	224	225
Thomas Michael Davy	226	227
David Delgado	228	229
Deborah Mary Dooling	230	231
Timothy C. Evans	232	233
Allen S. Goldberg	234	235
Susan Ruscitti Grussel	236	237
Cheyrl D. Ingram	238	239
Raymond L. Jagielski	240	241
Dorothy F. Jones	242	243
Daniel E. Jordan	244	245
Carol A. Kelly	246	247
Bertina E. Lampkin	248	249
Jeffrey Lawrence	250	251
William Maki	252	253
William D. O'Neal	254	255
Robert J. Quinn	256	257
Leida J. Gonzalez Santiago	258	259
Daniel J. Sullivan	260	261
Sharon Marie Sullivan	262	263
Susan Frances Zwick	264	265
Susan Jeanine McDunn	266	267
James Patrick McCarthy	268	269
Paul P. Biebel, Jr.	270	271
Nancy J. Arnold	272	273
Arnette R. Hubbard	274	275
Thomas L. Hogan	276	277
Nicholas R. Ford	278	279
Charles Patrick Burns	280	281
Thomas P. Fecarotta, Jr.	282	283
Denise Kathleen Filan	284	285
LaQuietta J. Hardy-Campbell	286	287
Nathaniel R. Howse Jr.	288	289
John Patrick Kirby	290	291
Diane Joan Larsen	292	293
Daniel Joseph Lynch	294	295
Kathleen Mary Pantle	296	297
Kevin Michael Sheehan	298	299
Paul Stralka	300	301
John D. Turner, Jr.	302	303
LeRoy K. Martin, Jr.	304	305
Paula Marie Daleo	306	307
Laurence J. Dunford	308	309
Robert Balanoff	310	311
Jeanne R. Cleveland Bernstein	312	313
Kathleen Marie Burke	314	315
Kay Marie Hanlon	316	317
Michelle Jordan	318	319
Thomas J. Kelley	320	321
William J. Kunkle	322	323
Clare Elizabeth McWilliams	324	325
Mary Lane Mikva	326	327
Patrick T. Murphy	328	329
Timothy Patrick Murphy	330	331
Sheryl Ann Pethers	332	333
Jim Ryan	334	335
Edward "Ed" Washington, II	336	337

Here is the Referenda:

itle	Question	Yes	No
Proposed Amendment to the Illinois Constitution	The proposed amendment, which takes effect upon approval by the voters, adds a new section to the Suffrage and Elections Article of the Illinois Constitution. The new section would provide the State's electors with an option to petition for a special election to recall a Governor and for the special election of a successor Governor. At the general election to be held on November 2, 2010, you will be called upon to decide whether the proposed amendment should become part of the Illinois Constitution. If you believe the Illinois Constitution should be amended to provide for a special election to recall a Governor and for a special election to elect a successor Governor, you should vote "YES" on the question. If you believe the Illinois Constitution should not be amended to provide for a special election to recall a Governor and for a special election to elect a successor Governor, you should vote "NO" on the question. Three-fifths of those voting on the question or a majority of those voting in the election must vote "YES" in order for the amendment to become effective. For the proposed addition of Section 7 to Article III of the Illinois Constitution."
Village of Orland Park - Pension Reform Referendum	Shall the Illinois General Assembly and Governor take immediate steps to implement meaningful public safety pension reform which will relieve the extensive burden on local taxpayers now that the General Assembly and Governor have reformed the pension systems for all other public employees?