House candidate seeks transparency in state spending incentives

Herald & Review –Tuesday, October 27, 2010

When the state announced last week it would give Tate & Lyle $15 million to move some jobs to Hoffman Estates, it seemed to some like pouring taxpayer-funded salt in Macon County’s wound.

The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity said it provided the money as an incentive for Tate & Lyle to stay in Illinois, as the company reportedly considered moving to Nashville or Indianapolis.

That explanation apparently did not ring with Adam Brown, the Decatur City Council member who is running for state representative against Democratic incumbent state Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion.

Brown, a Republican, criticized the state’s actions at a news conference Tuesday and said he was drafting legislation to avert such situations in the future.

“We need to incentivize moves into the state of Illinois, not within the state of Illinois,” Brown said. “My new bill is to say simply, if the state wants to subsidize a move by a corporation, it needs to make public an out-of-state provider who has also made an offer.”

Joined by state Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, Brown called for “transparency and accountability” when the state provides money for companies to move within Illinois. Mitchell is also running for re-election.

The state agreed to provide the money to Tate & Lyle as part of a $58 million project, which the company said last week could eventually take as many as 120 jobs from Decatur.

When asked if his proposed legislation would create any new hoops for the state to provide such incentives, Brown said, “Just make it public.”

Mitchell said the department could still provide incentives for a company to move to another community in Illinois if there was an out-of-state competitor but “they’d have to be very specific about it. They can’t just allude to the fact.”

Mitchell said he asked for state resources in August to entice Tate & Lyle to keep all its jobs in Decatur, but representatives from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shot him down.

He criticized what he said was a lack of transparency about Tate & Lyle’s other options, and suggested Gov. Pat Quinn might have political motives that spurred the incentive package.

“They haven’t presented Mr. Brown or I one scintilla of evidence that we had an out-of-state competitor for this thing,” Mitchell said. “Oh, it’s in Cook County, and the governor’s up for re-election and needs Cook County. Guess who gets a gut punch? We do. And I’m tired of it.”

Both Brown and Mitchell clarified that they were not criticizing Tate & Lyle or its business decision.

McCarter, Brown pick up pro-business endorsements

Herald & Review – Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

 Two Decatur-area Republican candidates picked up a raft of endorsements Wednesday from a number of pro-business groups.

Representatives of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, National Federation of Independent Business and Illinois Chamber of Commerce gathered at Deco Mfg. to endorse state Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, in his 51st Senate District race against Democrat Tim Dudley of Decatur.

Speaking over the sound of welders and saws in the factory’s interior, Federation state director Kim Maisch said her organization supports McCarter because of his experience as a small-business owner. McCarter’s Lebanon-based business manufactures plastics.

“(McCarter) is a small-business owner,” Maisch said. “He lives and breathes these issues, because he knows how these policies affect small business every day.”

McCarter likened the work done at Deco to his own company’s and spoke about changes he said must be made to the way the state deals with businesses, including reforming workers compensation laws and reforming the laws governing lawsuits.

“Just saying ‘I want jobs’ is not good enough,” McCarter said. “We have to structurally change the way we do business in this state.”

Cory Daugherty, general manager at Deco, said McCarter understands the position he’s in as a business owner. Daugherty said workers compensation issues in particular are of great concern to him.

Adam Brown, the Decatur Republican challenging state Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, in the 101st House District, met with Maisch and business owners at TCR Systems to receive Federation’s endorsement.

“We have a lot of politicians who say they support small business, but their voting record proves otherwise,” Maisch said. “We need lawmakers who will stand up and fight for jobs, and Adam is that person.”

Brown, a farmer, said he was proud to have the endorsement and would work with the group on helping small businesses.

“Our area has so much to offer potential employers,” Brown said. “We must work together in order to attract new businesses to our area.”

 

Flider’s campaign ad stoops too low

Herald & Review – Tuesday, September 21, 2010

It didn’t take long for state Rep. Bob Flider to move his race against Adam Brown away from the issues and into silliness.

Flider’s campaign sent out a mailer last week that showed Brown’s face with a fake mustache and glasses superimposed on it. The headline said, “Adam Brown is politics as usual in disguise.” The mailer was paid for by the Democratic Party of Illinois.

At issue is a $250 contribution Brown’s campaign accepted in June from Dunn Co., a local construction contractor. Before being named to run for Flider’s seat, Brown voted on a couple of street reconstruction contracts that were awarded to Dunn Co. Another vote in favor of another Dunn Co. contact came a week after his campaign contribution.

All projects were bid out by city staff, and many of the votes appeared on the council’s “consent agenda,” which means they are considered a routine item. None of the votes by Brown swayed the decision in Dunn Co.’s favor.

Flider said that Brown is “misleading voters. The fact is, Adam Brown claims to be a fresh face, but he is just more of the same. Adam Brown’s actions stink of pay-to-play politics, and that’s something we need to leave behind in Illinois.”

Brown’s record as a city council member is fair game as he tries to move to the state legislature. But it’s a stretch to call this anything like “pay to play” politics.

That phrase was adopted during the tenure of Gov. Rod Blagojevich and referred to campaign donations being linked to state contracts. In Blagojevich’s case, these contracts were often of the “no-bid” variety, and there was little oversight by state government.

In the case of the construction contracts, however, the issues are different. The bidding process was open and transparent and the city staff selected Dunn Co., as the best of the available bids. While the city council isn’t necessarily a “rubber stamp,” a council member should have adequate reasons before questioning such a bidding process.

In a technical sense, it would have been better if Brown would have abstained from the one vote he took after accepting the campaign contribution. But this is not a worthy campaign issue, especially since the state is facing a $13 billion deficit and the last two governors are convicted felons.

It’s easy to appreciate the desire to “go negative” in a campaign. The sad fact is that negative approaches work with voters.

But we still find it disappointing that an incumbent such as Flider allows his campaign to stoop to such levels.

 

Herald & Review: Candidates for 101st state House District meet in first debate

Herald & Review – Friday, September 10, 2010

DECATUR – The two men running for state representative in the 101st House District that includes parts of Decatur had their first chance to go head to head Thursday at a debate hosted by the Decatur Area Technical Academy.

State Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, faces Republican challenger Adam Brown, who last year won election to the Decatur City Council. Flider, a former mayor of Mount Zion, has held the position since 2003.

The school’s broadcast studio, where it produces Channel 22, served as the venue for the debate, with all the equipment being run by students. Talk 101 FM’s morning show host Scott Busboom, Richland Community College advertising director Chris Pulec and MacArthur High School senior Bailey Schomperlen served as panelists.

The panelists pitched the candidates questions, including whether they would support Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed income tax hike, what their top spending priorities would be if elected, how they would address low levels of teen employment and whether they would be in support of school vouchers.

“I have consistently voted against tax increases in my position as a state representative,” Flider said. “I’ve had protests outside my office by people who think we should’ve had a tax increase. I think now is not the time, during the downturn in the economy.”

Brown’s answers to budget-related questions centered on cutting “waste” and eliminating “welfare handouts,” citing the All Kids health insurance program and calling for better regulation of LINK cards.

Brown and Flider agreed on school vouchers, both stating that they would be against them. Brown said fixing the education funding in the state should start with proper funding of teacher pensions.

“We have to keep good educators here in Illinois, and the trend in the state of Illinois has been to raid the pensions to pay for other obligations,” Brown said. “We need to get that money back in the pension system so we can draw good teachers here over the long term.”

Those hoping for blood didn’t get any. The candidates debated without any apparent rancor or jabs at one another and kept their responses focused on themselves. Flider made several references to his experience as a state lawmaker and mayor, while Brown touted his youth and willingness to “buck the system.”

Gayle Bowman, the tech academy’s broadcast production teacher, praised her students and the candidates afterward.

“I feel that tonight went very well,” she said. “The candidates were cordial and very well-spoken, and I was so proud of my students.”

The technical academy is set to host a second debate next week between candidates for the 51st state Senate District, state Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, and his Democratic opponent, Tim Dudley of Decatur.

 

 

Prairie Farmer Magazine: Homegrown politician seeks Springfield

Prairie Farmer – July 2010

When Adam Brown was 15 years old, he watched as an acreage decrease forced his uncle off the family farm to pursue employment elsewhere.  That left his dad, Bill, to farm the family’s 750 acres in Macon County, near Decatur.  That year, Adam started volunteering to help with former state Sen. Duane Noland’s campaign. More…

 

Herald & Review: Mitchell, Brown propose illegal immigration bill, say state is ignoring high cost of problem

Herald & Review – Friday, July 9, 2010

Illegal immigration is costing Illinois taxpayers more than $4 billion a year, according to a recently released study by an immigration reform group.  State Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, and Adam Brown, Republican candidate for the 101st House District seat, announced Thursday that they plan to ease this burden by introducing an Arizona-style bill in the state legislature. More…

 

Decatur Tribune: Adam Brown supports U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturns unconstitutional Chicago Gun Ban

Decatur Tribune – Monday, June 28, 2010

Decatur City Councilman Adam Brown issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McDonald v. Chicago, which overturns Chicago’s decades-old handgun ban.  ”I applaud today’s Supreme Court decision, which protects the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, regardless of where they live.” More…

 

Decatur Tribune: Adam Brown applauds legislators for refusing to use state money to print ‘End of Session’ Reports

Decatur Tribune – Thursday, June 24, 2010

Adam Brown, Decatur City Councilman and candidate for State Representative, applauds legislators who refuse to use state money to print “End of Session Reports.”  It has long been a practice of state legislators to design, print, and send out the costly reports to every registered voter in their districts, but in these difficult financial times, Adam Brown thinks its incumbent on legislators and state officials to “tighten the belt strings” to do their part to save money. More…

 

Decatur Tribune: Councilman Brown hosts neighborhood cookout to hear concerns of residents

Decatur Tribune – Friday, June 18, 2010

Decatur City Councilman Adam Brown held a neighborhood cookout at Kiwanis Park on Thursday to give community members an opportunity to voice their thoughts and concerns about local issues.  The event gave residents the chance to speak candidly about problems that are important to them, including education, local infrastructure, and corruption. More…

 

Herald & Review: Adam Brown opens downtown Decatur campaign office in bid for state House

Herald & Review – Friday, May 28, 2010

Decatur City Councilman Adam Brown opened the doors of his highly visible campaign office in downtown Decatur Thursday, welcoming supporters of his race for state representative in the 101st District to his new headquarters. More…

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