GlassHouse » Ruth Munson

Necessity = Mother of Invention

Ruth Munson — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:43:38 +0000

- $5.1 billion in unpaid bills to schools, social service agencies, hospitals, small businesses and others,

- $11 billion budget deficit,

- Highest unemployment in decades leading to lost revenue in retail sales and income taxes,

- Runaway spending and borrowing.

Let’s face it: Illinois government is a mess. Seven years of spend-and-borrow policies, coupled with current economic woes, have brought us to this point. The governor and the political party in power haven’t been able to fix it. Moreover, it doesn’t look like they’ll be bringing forth solutions anytime soon.

While a change in leadership becomes an option in the November General Election, our schools, hospitals and social service agencies simply can’t wait. So, I’m suggesting another idea.

Crowdsourcing. According to Jeff Howe, author of Crowdsourcing: Why the power of the crowd is driving the future of business, “(c)rowdsourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.”

Crowdsourcing relies on the old maxim; two heads are better than one. It requires using the internet and social media to tap into the collective minds of interested individuals, all working together to solve a specific problem. In this case the state’s budget.

I am a huge fan of collaboration. Collaborative efforts have worked well in my community: neighborhood organizations, Elgin Day, community-built playgrounds, Crisis Overnight, United States Run and so on. So why not take it a step further? Why not use the collective intelligence and energy of the peoples of the state of Illinois to address the state’s budget crisis?

Effective crowdsourcing in Illinois requires greater transparency then we currently have in the state. In this case, to be successful, those involved in crowdsourcing would need access to raw data that includes the state’s income, expenditures, assets and debt.

Thanks in large part to Rep. Michael Tryon and the Illinois Policy Institute, some state expenditures are available through the Transparency & Accountability Portal and Spotlight on Government Spending websites. While these sites do not provide information about outstanding debt (vendors who have not yet been paid) or provide data about revenues, they do offer a glimpse into where the state spends some of its money.

For crowdsourcing to work, all of the state’s budget information must be online. Crowdsourcers will need access to the income side of the ledger, as well as the balance sheet (assets and debt). Since that data is not readily available to the general public it means asking legislators and the governor to put it on online in an easy to use format.

Once we have a general understanding of where the state receives its income we then have to decide where to spend it. That’s the hard part. Prioritization. And, that’s where the politics comes into play.

We’ve elected 177 legislators from around our diverse state to work together with the governor to craft a final budget that takes into consideration all of our needs, including jobs, education, public safety, transportation, healthcare, social services, etc. It’s not an easy task for policymakers from the rural, suburban and urban parts of Illinois to agree on priorities.

Perhaps crowdsourcing can help by providing lawmakers with data unaffected by politics to ensure they have the information they need to make the best decisions. While crowdsourcing can come up with likely solutions, the fact is the people elected to make the decisions, still have to decide.

If you think this approach is worth pursuing, contact your legislators and ask them to expand the state’s Transparency & Accountability Portal to include revenue streams, debt and assets.

Let me know what you think?

Side note: Don’t know your legislator? The Illinois State Board of Elections provides a legislative look-up feature on its website to help you identify your legislators. Once you have identified your lawmaker, you can access their office contact information or go to Tweet Illinois to find your legislator on Twitter. A growing number of General Assembly members are on Facebook as well.

A portal to accountability

Ruth Munson — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:54:21 +0000

From time-to-time I will be highlighting individuals who are working towards greater transparency and ethics reform in Illinois state government. Illinois State Representative Michael Tryon is one of those individuals. Rep. Tryon has worked hard over several years to secure passage of ethics reform legislation that created the Illinois Transparency & Accountability Portal. Unbelievably, even against the backdrop of the Blagojevich fiasco, this legislation faced some challenges. Rep. Tryon stayed tough and his effort to provide Illinois residents with information about how their tax dollars are spent was signed into law last year. I’ve asked Rep. Tryon to share a bit about his legislation…

Getting to Transparency – a Portal to Accountability
by State Representative Michael Tryon

It’s hard to believe that just one year ago, then Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office. His impeachment stemmed from federal criminal corruption charges, which shed light on the pay-to-play allegations that plagued Blagojevich since the moment he took office.

Following his removal from office, public trust in government and elected officials was at an all-time low, and Illinois was placed in the punch line of late night comedians across the nation.

So where do we go from here? What steps can we take to restore the public’s trust in state government? The first thing that had to be addressed was transparency, specifically transparency in government spending. If we’re ever going to eliminate wasteful and unethical government spending, we need to shed sunshine on the state’s checkbook and see where taxpayer money is actually going.

That’s why last year I joined with the Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) to craft sweeping transparency legislation which would put state spending on the web. AFP is a grassroots taxpayer watchdog group leading the charge for transparency throughout the nation. Together, we authored House Bill 35 which created the Illinois Accountability and Transparency Portal, a searchable website that creates a central location for the public to access state expenditures, tax credits, state contracts and state employee salaries.

The governor signed HB 35 into law in August, and the Illinois Transparency & Accountability Portal web site was launched soon thereafter at accountability.illinois.gov.

Going further, however, we must take similar steps to address the campaign finance laws in Illinois.

The campaign finance bill approved by the legislature last October was nothing more than a sham. It protects the interests and the power of party bosses by failing to place campaign contribution caps on party bosses or legislative leaders during the general election. Instead, the legislation places caps on individuals, corporations, unions, and political action committees.

I voted against the legislation and questioned Speaker Madigan on various components of the bill like the transparency of the disclosure requirements. I could not in good conscience support a bill that does not provide the optimum amount of transparency or reduce the influence party bosses can have on the political process and the legislature.

As Illinois continues to increase its reputation as one of the most politically corrupt states in the nation, we have the opportunity to learn from the past and build on our successes to make Illinois national leader in transparency.

Zep & me

Ruth Munson — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:01:51 +0000

The alarm went off at its usual time: 4:46 a.m. It was one of those mornings that I could have easily justified turning off the alarm, pulling the covers over my head and going back to sleep. I had already put in four days at the gym this week, my body ached, I stayed up late the night before and had a busy day planned that would go well into the evening. Another hour of sleep was earned…

I hit the snooze.

Then I remembered.

Zep would be waiting for me. On my driveway. In the cold. At 5:10 a.m. Darn, I had to get up!

Zep is my neighbor. She and I have joined forces to keep each other accountable to, well, ourselves and to our five-day-a-week regimen of cycling, weight training and other activities in a class dubiously called, Guts, Butts & What.

Zep is a stay-at-home mom with two young children and this is the only time she has to workout. My workday is filled and often goes late. Early morning is our only option. We made a commitment to each other that – barring illness, injury or some other defensible excuse – we would support each other in this morning madness. No saboteurs here.

My neighbor and I keep each other focused on those days when we just want to pull the covers over our heads. I wish I could say that I would get myself to the gym even if Zep weren’t waiting. The fact is most days I would, but every once in a while, it’s only that I made the commitment that I make the extra effort.

I take my commitments seriously and so does Zep.

So, I rolled out of bed. Brushed my teeth. Threw on some clothes. Grabbed the gym bag and headed out the door. She was there. Right on time. We made it to class yet again.

Commitment honored.

*Note to my political opponent: No need to photoshop my pic for your next campaign mailer. Come to the gym at 5:30 a.m. – no make-up, lots of sweat, uncombed hair and the painful grimace on my face is genuine.

90 days

Ruth Munson — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:17:05 +0000

On January 15, 2010 Bruce began his 3,000 mile run across the United States in Jacksonville FL. He hopes to finish it on April 15 in Morro Bay, CA.

Bruce Johnson is a new friend of mine. We’ve met a couple of times in person over the last several months, but my communications with him of late have been via Facebook and e-mail. Bruce is running 3,000 miles across the United States to build awareness about domestic violence and to raise funds for the Community Crisis Center, our local domestic violence shelter. He did it once before in 2005, but most of us didn’t know about it then. The newspapers wrote an article or two but we just didn’t have the tools to follow along on his journey and keep his efforts front and center in the public’s mind. Twitter didn’t exist and Facebook was used by college students, not by the general public.

His 2010 run started last week and now thousands of people are aware of his effort because of Twitter, Facebook and Cinch. His fans are cheering him on, donating to the cause and getting the word out through their networks.

This time around his efforts are even more important to the Community Crisis Center.

Like all of the social service agencies in our state, the Community Crisis Center is feeling the impact of the budget mess in the State of Illinois. While it continues to provide services to families, the state has not paid its bills and lived up to its obligations. Last summer, when the Crisis Center was on the verge of severe service cuts and feared it would be unable to keep its doors open, the community sprang into action, raising more than $160,000 in three weeks—a good deal of which came from a social media campaign. Traditional fundraisers—along with new, smaller efforts have helped fill-in the gaps. Coupled with budget cuts, employee layoffs and staff furloughs, those funds were just enough to keep the doors open for a little while longer.

And now, Bruce is running to ensure the Crisis Center is there for a few more months.

Our local community is doing all we can to keep a valued and vital resource available to those most in need. Now, the State of Illinois has to step up, pay its bills and fix its budget problems.

You can help. Talk to your lawmakers about your spending priorities for the state. Let them know about the organizations in your communities that need their help. The Illinois State Board of Elections provides a legislative look-up feature on its website to help you identify your legislators and you can access contact information for legislators at Illinois General Assembly site.

Bruce Johnson is committed to completing his 3,000 mile run in 90 days. He hopes to motivate enough individuals to contribute to a cause that is so important to him that he is willing to not only donate months of his time – but also his body, heart and soul. While I wouldn’t last 5 miles as a runner, I have made a contribution, I can make sure others know about his efforts and I will be advocating on behalf of our social service agencies during the 90 days that Bruce is running…and, throughout the rest of the year.

Hope you will too.

Oh, and: Go Bruce!

Motivating factors

Ruth Munson — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:27:24 +0000

January 2009 saw the impeachment of Gov. Blagojevich.

Two weeks into my first term on the Elgin City Council, I arrived at city hall to introduce myself to employees. I wanted to get to know staff and was anxious to learn about the institution for which I would be making policy.

Shortly thereafter I received a phone call from the city manager’s office. Seems that one of the employees was intimidated by my visit.

By me?

It wasn’t my words that caused the employee to feel intimidated. It was his perception of the motivation behind my visit. Where I just wanted to say hello and make connections—you know, put faces to the names—he saw me as flexing muscle.

I never thought of myself an intimating character, but by virtue of my new position I had just become one. There were many lessons learned that day, but the one that stuck with me all these years was that I possessed a level of power inherent in my political position and that I had to take care in using it.

Throughout the next 10 years of public service, I remained cognizant of the power that I wielded and used it to benefit my constituents, not intimidate them. Being a good custodian of the public trust requires knowing your role and respecting that power. Whether as a City Council or General Assembly member, voters had given me proxy to act on their behalf. I worked for them, not for a personal desire to wield power, and not expecting anything from them in return.

When I hear about elected leaders requiring some kind of payback before providing representation, it sets me off. Those elected to represent you should not require donations, letters to the editor, fundraising assistance, volunteers for campaigns, or anything else for that matter before they do their jobs! Period. Some think this type of behavior is a foregone conclusion. They’ve even come to expect it.

They shouldn’t. This behavior is not pervasive and it is certainly not a given. Not if voters reject it. Empowered voters are the key to transforming government and ridding our community of leaders who think voters owe them.

Individuals and organizations should not to give into intimidation and pay-for-play politics. Look what it did for our last two former governors; one is in jail and the other was impeached and facing jail time if convicted. Refusing to give into political leaders’ demands may present a dilemma for some who need government funding to provide vital services. But, in not giving in to intimidation, we send a strong message for the politicians to come. We can have a role in changing the culture of corruption in this state simply by rejecting the notion that a little bit of corruption is expected.

It is NOT okay to be pressed for favors by elected representatives as an incentive for them to do their jobs. If it happens to you, please tell someone. Contact the states attorney, a journalist, or the Better Government Association. Or, if you’re unsure where to go or how to handle the situation, send me a message.

Power is in the ability to influence outcomes. As a voter, you have considerable power to influence what politics will look like now and in the future.

What if the Illinois statehouse were made of glass?

Ruth Munson — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:29:46 +0000

The Illinois State Capitol Dome image titled Capitol bulding (sp) dome (www.flickr.com/photos/mklingo/166435302/) was created by Max Kingensmith (www.flickr.com/people/mklingo/) and is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-No derivative Works 2.0 Generic License. (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/deed.en)

Serving in politics is a bit like living in a glass house. As a politician, your every move is scrutinized and your well-meaning motives are often questioned. I know. Four years on the Elgin City Council, followed by six years in the Illinois House of Representatives, has made my life an open book. The time served also clarified for me why it is important for government to be transparent. After all, it’s not easy keeping secrets while living in a glass house.

But, a glass house is not where Illinois government resides. Backroom deals, pay-for-play, and prison terms for governors have been the norm for far too long. Ethics reform has fallen short and the call for greater accountability is getting louder.

There is much more that needs to be revealed so that the public can hold its elected officials accountable. A strong and impartial fourth estate, media, is part of the solution. Gov 2.0 is another part. More voter participation is also a vital component.

We also need candidates who are not afraid of transparency, who will stand up for what is right for their constituency, and who are willing to put themselves on the line for the benefit of their community.

It is the “putting oneself on the line” that gives many prospective candidates pause. But it’s more than just the public scrutiny that turns them off to the idea; it’s the negative campaigns that they really fear. Negative campaigning has had its intended effect, scaring off qualified candidates who might otherwise challenge the status quo. Political courage is great, but when your friends, family and co-workers are subjected to truth-twisting it would give even the bravest individual a reason to have second thoughts.

I admit the simple threat of going negative can be intimidating. It certainly was a factor when making my decision to run again for the House of Representatives. Did I want to put my family through another grueling campaign? It was hard for my husband and children to see me get hit with negative campaign pieces but after family discussions our answer was an overwhelming – yes! Yes, because the passion to serve outweighed any potential negative consequences and we just wouldn’t buckle under to this threat.

So, I’m moving back into the glass house and turning on the lights by chronicling my run for the Illinois House of Representatives. I hope in doing so that I might in some small way help others make the decision to take the political plunge and challenge what’s not working in their community. Win or lose there is merit in trying. Because in trying you provide voters with a choice – not a foregone conclusion. In trying you raise the bar and force a debate on the issues. In trying you keep democracy alive and turn status quo on its head.