* It’s always wise to take a deep breath during horrific scandals like the ghastly Burr Oak cemetery debacle before pointing too many fingers…
I thought I might see [at the Sheriff Dart press conference] another prominent politico with 19th Ward Democratic organization connections: Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes.
A few years ago Hynes campaigned on cemetery rip-offs and made news splash after news splash about abuses in what he calls the “death care industry.” He vowed to fight them. His Web page is full of such vows.
Though Hynes’ office is responsible for the oversight of privately owned cemeteries like Burr Oak, he wasn’t at the news conference. His office said he has oversight but little legal authority to enforce cemetery upkeep.
Perhaps Hynes was busy making plans to get into the U.S. Senate race. Sen. Roland “Tombstone” Burris, who cozied up to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich for the Senate appointment, has apparently decided to drop out of politics.
* From Pam Zekman’s report last night…
It’s hard to believe, but state regulators say that other than checking out records, they literally have blinders on when it comes to checking out conditions at cemeteries. It’s not their jurisdiction, they say. […]
[Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart] was shocked to learn how little oversight there are for cemeteries in Illinois. So were we. Cemeteries are licensed by the Illinois comptroller and required to keep 15 percent of the cost of a grave in a trust fund for cemetery care. Documents show Burr Oak had almost $2 million in its trust funds.
The comptroller’s office says the law only allows them to audit the cemetery care trust funds. Critics argue that when they come to inspect the books, they should take a look around. If they had, they might have found the desecrated graves at Burr Oak before the body count reached 300, and it’s still climbing. […]
Talk about lack of enforcement. The comptroller’s office, which investigates misuse of burial trust funds, says it’s had 20 complaints about Burr Oak but referred them to the cemetery. [emphasis added]
* OK, first of all, the comptroller’s oversight is, indeed, limited, as Zekman pointed out. Here’s the official explanation…
The Comptroller’s Office has limited legal authority over cemeteries, specifically focusing on consumer funds accepted by the cemetery that may be held in trust. The office licenses all funeral homes and cemeteries that sell arrangements in advance of death to ensure proper safeguards are taken with the consumers’ monies. The office requires annual financial reporting and conducts audits to ensure financial compliance.
Larry adds an important point…
…[Hynes] has very little power to enforce the law. Why? Because the industry wanted it like that.
True. From a 2000 story in Illinois Issues…
More specifically, Hynes would require an owner to provide “reasonable maintenance” of the property. […]
The plan has received bipartisan support in the General Assembly, but it faces some hurdles. The Illinois Cemetery and Funeral Home Association is opposed to the package as drafted. The 200-member trade group argues that cookie-cutter standards are unrealistic.
As Larry also notes, the Senate Majority Leader back then was a funeral director, which made it tough on Hynes.
* OK, well, what about those “20 complaints” about Burr Oak? Turns out, that’s 20 over the past decade. The problems apparently started four years ago. There was just one complaint filed this year, according to the comptroller’s office. That complaint was about maintenance of the facility. It was filed in April and it concerned potholes in the road and standing water, the comptroller’s office said.
* And Zekman’s claim that if the comptroller’s office had just “looked around” while they were auditing the books they might have found something? Well, a Google search shows a major Chicago Tribune story about the maintenance problems at the cemetery back in May of this year…
Burr Oak Cemetery — known as an historic resting site for a number of prominent African-Americans — has been drawing complaints from visitors appalled by the apparent lack of care and upkeep.
Sunken or tilting gravestones, unmanageable roads, rivers of rainwater, and an abundance of uncut weeds dot the Alsip cemetery where Emmett Till, blues legend Dinah Washington and heavyweight boxing champion Ezzard Charles are buried along with many other famous figures.Complaints over the years have led to reprimands from the state and a bevy of fines issued by village officials. But little has improved, probably because laws regarding the cemetery don’t come with enforcement powers.
So, a reporter and a photographer both visited the cemetery looking for a story, but neither noticed that graves had been dug up and resold. I’m not completely sure that the “look around” criticism has much value. It took a pretty intense police investigation to find those problems. Just looking around obviously wasn’t enough.
* From the Southtown Star…
The scam came to light after someone who paid [former Burr Oak general manager Carolyn Towns] cash asked another cemetery employee about the purchase of a plot. When no record of the transaction could be found, the Perpetua Corp. president questioned Towns in March. Court documents show Towns confessed to stealing the $8,400 cash deposit and showed company officials all the other cases in which she kept the cash.
The general manager’s firing was reported to the comptroller’s office. The report included notification that the local police had been called into the case, the comptroller’s office said today.
Also, since the stolen cash was “off the books,” the comptroller’s office says, it wouldn’t show up in an audit of the official records.
* Without a doubt, Hynes should’ve been all over this thing once the cemetery scandal story broke. He wasn’t. That’s not good for him at all. But whether he’s actually to blame for this mess is entirely another matter The fact that he’s from the 19th Ward shouldn’t automatically mean he’s guilty, no matter what some may think.
Still, his office should immediately release all 20 complaints. Were there any hints over the past four years? If so, I, for one, would like to know about it.
And, considering the Tribune story back in May - which was bad enough as it was even without the dug up graves aspect - Hynes should’ve been a whole lot more proactive.
But I’m not sure we should be burning him at the stake just yet.
Yet.
*** UPDATE *** From the comptroller’s office, here is a list of the complaints filed…
5/13/02 Care related complaint regarding flooding.
5/6/05 Inquiry regarding an exhumation.
5/9/05 Care /professionalism complaint against CBOC staff.
11/1/05 Consumer received 2 headstones with wrong design.
12/13/05 Consumer wants to change the design on grave marker.
5/26/06 Care complaint regarding drainage/pot holes in roads.
6/15/06 Care complaint regarding raising of markers and potholes in roads.
3/5/07 Mother’s grave was not opened on time.
4/23/07 Care complaint regarding pumped water making her parent’s section inaccessible.
5/16/07 Care complaint regarding potholes.
10/16/07 Care complaint regarding poor upkeep in cemetery.
10/22/07 Consumer’s mother was temporarily displaced by CBOC staff.
10/26/07 Family spaces occupied by non-family members.
10/30/07 Care complaint on overgrown grass and fence down.
2/19/08 Contract dispute regarding open/closing fees and Saturday burial fees.
5/29/08 Care complaint regarding mud and water in cemetery.
6/3/08 Care complaint regarding water drainage.
6/9/08 Care complaint regarding sitting water, potholes, and poor grass cutting.
11/19/08 Consumer feels his mother was not buried deep enough. Cemetery verified that depth was sufficient.
4/23/09 Care complaint regarding standing water and potholes in the road.
[CBOC stands for the cemetery staff]
- John Bambenek - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:30 pm:
Hynes couldn’t enforce the laws because “he didn’t have the authority”.
Lisa Madigan couldn’t stop Blago scandals and investigate because “she had limited authority”.
Maybe its time to stop electing politicians who find excuses not to enforce the law and elect politicians who find a way to fight for the rights of citizens.
At the very least he could have looked around and then castigated them iin the press. Sometimes law enforcement can be done without having to go to the courts.
- Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:35 pm:
Bambenek,
Or maybe it’s time to give them that actual authority instead of having it get held up by the legislature…
And Rich pointed out the fallacy of the “look around” argument.
The Trib was out there last spring literally looking around and didn’t notice any desecrated graves and dismembered remains themselves.
…I have to wonder, if Hynes and Madigan were conservatives if you’d be posting the same blinders-on remarks.
- Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:37 pm:
PS Bambenek,
Lisa Madigan WAS investigating Blago up til 2006 when Fitzgerald told her the Feds were also investigating and (A) he asked her to stop her investigation and (B) requested the evidence she had found in order to bolster his Federal case.
Bottom line, you’re lying by saying she wasn’t investigating. She was and she helped the Feds make their case to boot.
- Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:42 pm:
The 10/26/07 complaint jumps out… but hindsight is 20/20.
That said, what sort of protocol does the Comptroller’s office have?
Do they have staff to go inspect physical properties?
They’ve said they don’t have jurisdiction which the legislative history seems to comport with … so even if they had staff and budget to go physically inspect a complaint what could they do? Just refer to the county sheriff?
- Concerned Citizen - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:43 pm:
Wayne Straza, a Coutryside alderman, and a holdover from Lolita Diedrickson days, had the oversight responsibility in Hynes office.
Hynes failed, Wayne Straza failed, and many before and after them failed.
They placate the industry and hustle them for political donations, and damn the taxpayers.
This is an investigation for AG Madigan or SA Alvarez.
But, don’t hold your breath on either of the doing anything. Both are part of The Club and will maintain status quo.
That leaves, as usual, only one last possible resort, and that is the FBI and US Attorney.
Why are all of our public prosecutors useless except for the US Attorney?
No need to answer. Just a rethorical question.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:43 pm:
Hynes isn’t responsible for Burr Oak. Yet, this emotional issue is going to burn him into voter’s minds in a bad way. No one likes to think about death, so having the issue up-front isn’t a winner.
Hynes needs to announce the formation of a new commission, (The Guardian Angel Commission) to investigate how his office handles cemetary issues. Put some important people on board, (I’m sure his dad will help find the right people), and then follow through. Hynes is known as an adult, so he has to go with his strength and maintain that public image. Doing nothing isn’t an option, and not showing up at Dart’s side also hurts him. He has to start controlling this.
It is a bad situation. Hynes cannot allow the idea of rotting cemetaries and his name to link, and that link is now forming. The best he can do now is to link his image to one where he is Illinois’ guardian angel regarding cemetaries.
Do it!
- Princess - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:46 pm:
No burning Hynes from me. While the incident is beyond belief disgusting habits and incidents have been going on in active and inactive cemeteries for years.
Okay, so this one seems to top the list of horrors but stealing from cemeteries and graves can be found across the headlines of many an old newspapers. There’s nothing in the list released just now to give any indication that horrors were being conducted.
Our the state’s new call of ‘cut, cut, cut’ is there anywhere in the budget suggesting Mr. Hynes’ office get huge increases to staff the ability to actually go out and tour and monitor each and very cemetery? Not trying to be heartless to this case, because I’m not, it’s terrible and shocking, but reality tells me there is little Hynes could have done with the limitations of the regulations.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:50 pm:
To any Hynes critics and cynics,
In defense of Hynes…
Hynes did not act because he did not have the authority to act. That’s interesting paritcularly when others in state government are more apt to resort to gimmicks and exploit situations/suffering for years on end for purely political purposes, particularly in places where they have no real (constitutional) oversight/authority.
So, Hynes did not seize upon an issue and grandstand with it. My, how refreshing that is seeing that he is a politican and all.
Now, is any evidence that Hynes was ever derelict in his actual consitiutional duties? (go on. take your time. I’ll be patient)
- John Doe - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:54 pm:
In fairness to Dan Hynes, I am not so sure that Dan was derelict in this particular situation. Granted, perhaps Dan Hynes should have been talking to Democrat state legislatures years ago to make them aware and convince them that they should enable him to have the teeth necessary to enforce current funeral industry and burial laws. If Dan is guilty of anything, his apathy toward rectifying this situation would seem to be his major fault. Has Dan Hynes ever taken political contributions or favors from members of the funeral and cemetery industry? If he has, then Dan will be looking pretty bad right about now. But, I doubt if that is the case.
At this point, it is more important that someone down in Springfield should initiate legislation that would give Dan’s office a “Big Hammer” to enforce current and future burial laws dealing with the funeral and cemetery industry. It doesn’t seem like our elected representatives down in Springfield are getting anything constructive done down there anyway. This will at least give them a project to work on that maybe they can do without hurting Illinois residents?
- John Bambenek - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:55 pm:
Rob_N
You aren’t paying attention if you don’t think I bag on conservatives. I spend most of my time work on reform with progressives because most conservatives would rather complain than work in this state.
As far as Lisa goes, she doesn’t work for the feds and she is under no obligation, even if that’s true, to drop her investigation simply because feds ask.
Now that Rod is under indictment and the Fitz has said what parts of corruption are out of scope to him (I.e. Hiring), where are her prosecutions now?
- Will County Woman - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:59 pm:
vanilla man,
I have family burried at Burr Oak, at least I thought that I did. Last summer I went there for the first time and was steered to a section where there was no marker to indicate that my loved one was burried there (it’s a long and painful story that I won’t get into here). Looking back, I now suspect that my loved one is among those thrown into the mass grave.
I would advise Hynes to stay out of this, and let Dart handle it. Having personal stake in the matter, as I do, I have no bad taste in my mouth so far as Dan Hynes is concerned.
I understand that this is an emotional issue for many, and it’s no less emotional for me, but I would hope that certain people don’t let their emotions cloud their intellect. Unfortunately I know that with certain types of people this is not always possible.
Dan Hynes, if you read this blog:
DO NOT GET INVOLVED ON THIS BURR OAK ISSUE. Make a stament about how deplorable it is, but do so only if asked.
- Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:06 pm:
I didn’t say you don’t complain about cons also, John.
And this quote is also quite frankly untrue, “As far as Lisa goes, she doesn’t work for the feds and she is under no obligation, even if that’s true, to drop her investigation simply because feds ask.”
You’re not known for having the brightest grasp of the law given all the frivolous complaints you’ve lodged with various authorities over the years so I’ll just chalk that one up to ignorance (intentional or not).
Besides, you originally wrote that Lisa Madigan “couldn’t stop Blago and investigate”.
That’s wholly different than your second equally fantasy-laden post in which you claim “she’s under no obligation to drop her investigation”.
Either she was investigating him (which is true) or she wasn’t as you first, falsely, claimed.
- Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:07 pm:
Vanilla,
Good point… and he could certainly introduce it by way of reminding folks he wanted the Comptroller’s office to have more authority but a funeral director elected to the State Senate and a lobbyist for the cemetaries blocked him…
He had the foresight to know that cemetaries weren’t being supervised and he wanted to take on that supervision as part of his duties.
He was denied.
If ever there was a time to give that authority to the Comptroller or even another constitutional officer, this is that time to try and prevent a desecration such as this one from ever happening again.
We regulate and inspect hair salons more than we do our cemetaries.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:11 pm:
If Hynes was aware of the situation and did not call anyone’s attention to it, then he deserves all of the bad press he is getting. Was he aware of it? That remains a bit unclear right now.
Coupled with the pre-paid funeral scandal which his office also oversees, cemeteries may turn out to be the albatross around his neck concerning his future political ambitions. Especially when jerks are digging up graves and tossing the remains off to the side like garbage. Anyone would be pretty heartless not to get extremely upset over the situation at Burr Ridge, even if you do not have a relative buried there. Where are the owners of this cemetery in all of this? Aren’t nearly all cemeteries in this country owned by a tiny handful of corporations these days?
And to Rob N, the “they don’t have appropriate authority to act” defense for Hynes and LMadigan only goes so far. So what is stopping the Democratic controlled government of Springfield from giving them such authority? Have the two of them asked for such authority?
- VanillaMan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:13 pm:
From the comptroller’s office, here is a list of the complaints filed…
5/13/02 Hunchback with shovel found wandering.
5/6/05 Vampire chases young lady.
5/9/05 Underground lab found.
11/1/05 Unexplained lightening coming from site.
12/13/05 Large pits found.
5/26/06 Virgin lovers chased away by mummy.
6/15/06 Democratic voter registration drive held.
3/5/07 Sound of chainsaws overheard by woman.
4/23/07 Shrouded figures vanished in fog.
5/16/07 Large black vans arrived with “U-Bury-Em” logos on side.
10/16/07 Burris’ team of sculptors arrive, looking for Taj Rolando.
10/22/07 Baying of wolves overheard.
10/26/07 9′ tall man arrested, named “Frank”.
10/30/07 KFC employee arrested with “giblets”.
2/19/08 Frat party held.
4/23/09 Massive pile of bodies found unburied.
[CBOC stands for the cemetery staff]
- John Bambenek - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:20 pm:
Rob_N-
My first comment was sarcastic, she could have done SOMETHING to stop Blago.
Second, in almost every high profile crime where federal and state laws apply there is often very public fighting of who gets first trial but in end they all do. Point still remains that there is plenty that Fitz is not looking at that Lisa is not taking up.
And every case I’ve brought into court has won (except the Rule 382 suit in which Lisa and I argued the same side).
How are winning cases frivolous again?
- wordslinger - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:21 pm:
Am I the only one who thinks it surreal that we’re talking about whether the state comptroller should be patrolling cemeteries looking for piles of bodies?
It seems to me that some bad people committed some criminal acts, and some people who knew about it were forced by their consciences to inform the proper law enforcement agency, namely, the sheriff.
- David Ormsby - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:21 pm:
–Maybe its time to stop electing politicians who find excuses not to enforce the law…–
What, did you attend law school with Blago?
If an elected official is not authorized by law to enforce a law they can’t disregard the lack of legal authority and act in defiance of the law.
Blago did that. Hynes is no Blago. He’s a competent and diligent public official.
- John Bambenek - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:24 pm:
Acting only in the courts is not the only way to remediate wrongs or to respond. I said that.
You can rake the cemetaries over the coals in the press, for instance.
- Potbelly Lou - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:25 pm:
This wasn’t Hynes’ fault at all. He doesn’t have the authority, staff or budget to inspect cemetery grounds. Even if he had, the complaints his office received seem infrequent and pretty minor in nature.
Not to mention, in that Trib story from May, a local inspector from the Village of Alsip visited the cemetery, yet she didn’t notice anything unseemly going on with the gravesites.
Just out of curiosity, if the sheriff’s office knew for six weeks that this was going on, why did it take them so long to shut it down?
- Greg - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:26 pm:
Worldslinger, it’s coming from a bunch of people who think that government is either the cause of or solutions to all problems. Maybe that’s what happens when one’s a full-time political operative.
- Cosmic Charlie - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:27 pm:
Wouldn’t the world be a better place if all reporters would do what Rich Miller did and actually take some time to get facts straight before reporting?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:28 pm:
===That remains a bit unclear right now.===
To you, perhaps.
- How Ironic - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:29 pm:
@ Potbelly,
Just because they were aware of the problem doesn’t mean they storm the gates in riot gear. There is a difference in “knowing” a crime has been committed and being able to “prove” said crime was comitted.
6 weeks doesn’t seem out of line to gather information/evidence in order to enact a successful prosecution.
No offense to the dead and familys that were victimized by this horrific crime, but they were “dead”. It’s not like they were going to get away from the scene.
I think it was prudent that they took their time. I wouldn’t want the people responsible to be able to get off on a technicality.
- Amy - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:35 pm:
the desecration scandal is not Hynes’ fault. it’s the fault of those who are now awaiting judgment. Hynes just seems to have a very passive approach to problems that now have a big tragedy
attached to them. at a time when he seems to aspire to higher
office, when he could have done some good, he did not show that he is a leader. it is possible to be severe in criticism of Hynes and say that others are responsible for the scandal.
you shouldn’t expect a promotion when your performance is not
stellar.
- Amy - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:45 pm:
did Hynes’ office release all the complaints received about all
cemeteries? one wonders if 20 is standard, or if 20 should
have make one wonder more. also, just because they are both from the same Ward, 19, doesn’t mean they are on the same page. in fact….one wonders about that too.
- Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:46 pm:
Louis,
Rich has answers to your questions in his post if only you’d read it…
Louis asks, “So what is stopping the Democratic controlled government of Springfield from giving them such authority?”
Rich already quoted Illinois Issues, “The Illinois Cemetery and Funeral Home Association is opposed to the package as drafted. The 200-member trade group argues that cookie-cutter standards are unrealistic.”
And, “As Larry also notes, the Senate Majority Leader back then was a funeral director, which made it tough on Hynes.”
Louis also asked, “Have the two of them asked for such authority?”
Answer: Rich’s post is about Hynes. Bambenek brought up Madigan.
Re Hynes, clearly, yes. He went to the legislature and asked for authority. He was rejected.
…Read Rich’s post.
Re Madigan, I’ve already answered that Bambenek’s assertion that she wasn’t investigating Blago is false.
She was investigating him. She did have authority to investigate and she was collecting evidence against him (though the state AG does not have as much authority as the Feds — she couldn’t tap Blago for instance whereas the Feds clearly could and did).
The Feds asked her to stop and turn over the evidence she collected to them.
–
Back to Bambi,
I was talking about the stupid FEC complaints you’ve been filing against blogs, etc. despite the fact that you and your allies do the EXACT SAME THING as the people/entities you’ve filed complaints about.
Your sarcasm aside … MADIGAN WAS DOING SOMETHING ABOUT BLAGO.
Fitz asked her to step aside so as not to interfere with the Feds’ case.
If you want to expand on that to include other things Madigan did to try and stop Blago she went to the Supreme Ct to ask them to declare Blago unfit to govern. They denied her motion.
…But you’re moving goal posts as it is. You first mentioned Blago and lied by saying Madigan wasn’t investigating him even though she did.
Now you’re expanding your argument to include the entire state and any and all corruption and implying Madigan is somehow avoiding that too.
You want to move goalposts? Fine.
The Feds are also investigating Chicago city workers, suburban mayors, etc. and if the Feds were not bringing those cases to trial those types of matters AS YOU OUGHT TO KNOW BEING THAT YOU BRING SO MANY CASES TO COURT are typically taken up by the local States Attorney, not the Attorney General (which is why the now-defunct Burris perjury charge was investigated by the State Atty in Springfield … and he, not Lisa Madigan, was the one who said there’s not enough evidence to pursue a trial).
–
…John, clearly given your past it’s not in nature but might I suggest you stop digging your hole of inanity and ineptitude deeper.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:46 pm:
“Hynes just seems to have a very passive approach to problems that now have a big tragedy
attached to them”–Amy
Amy, I hate to dispute you there. Dan Hynes has been wisely and rightly vocal about the current budget crisis. has he been carrying on like a raving lunatic? no. but he has been behaving like an executive. And, fiscal issues (e.g., the state budget) are directly related to his office. I can think of no bigger tragedy than our state budget at present.
Furthermore I think that you are confusing Hynes with the legislature. the latter be it federal, state or local always seems to be more reactionary than proactive, or not reactionary enough (”day late and dollar short”).
I agree with you 100 percent here:
“the desecration scandal is not Hynes’ fault. it’s the fault of those who are now awaiting judgment.”
- Zombie - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:47 pm:
Hynes’ political career is kinda like a rotting corpse. I think he wants to dig himself out of the grave that is the Comptroller’s office, however the other dead won’t let him.
- Secret Square - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:48 pm:
Between the cemetery scandal and the IFDA trust fund mess, whoever ends up scripting attack ads against Hynes if he runs for governor will find his/her job just got a whole lot easier.
- Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:49 pm:
Amy,
The total of 20 complaints came from the CBS-2 report… Rich quoted Pam Zekman as referencing “20 complaints” and then Rich pointed out that is was 20 complaints over the past decade.
Rich then suggested Hynes’ staff should release those 20 complaints asap … which they did as you can see in Rich’s red “Update”.
Bottom line, the number of “20″ was an arbitrary number chosen by a tv reporter.
- Zombie - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:57 pm:
I can see the ad “Zombies from Burr Oak cemetery walking to the 19th ward committeeman’s office demanding justice from Dan and Tom Hynes for losing their peace and quiet”
They are told they need to work the other cemeteries on election day and make sure enough dead turn-out to vote.
I am sorry, I couldn’t help myself .
- Hair today, gone... - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 2:07 pm:
The fact of the matter is Dart ACTED on this. He truely seems disgusted and horrified at what has taken place. He’s the one who has been out at Burr Oaks for days talking/trying to help families.
As much as now is not the time for political gain or blame, there is no denying that Dart comes out on top in this instance.
- Dooley Dudright - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 2:10 pm:
As long as they’re there, take a look around?
Ummmmm……..no.
Only the big cemeteries have offices on the grounds. Hundreds (thousands?) of tiny-to-intermediate sized cemeteries have little more than a landscaping shed.
And there’s absolutely no sexton or staff on-site at these places — unless they just happen to be out there mowing, or plowing snow, or digging graves, or attending funerals.
So — when the comptroller’s staff goes out for field audits, then, they have absolutely NO cause to visit such cemeteries.
Why? Because the financial records simply aren’t there!
Rather, the auditors most likely are going to the offices (or even the homes) of people “in town” who handle the books — often, I suspect, on a largely volunteer basis.
Take a look around? Largely a false canard, methinks.
- Amy - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 2:24 pm:
Rob_N, i understand about the 20 but i’m wondering about other cemetery complaints. is this the cemetery with the most complaints in x period of time. if I were in the Comptroller’s Office and the record of complaints on all the cemeteries could make me look better, I would release it. maybe this one pops out as the worst. maybe there are other bad ones and Hynes is now working on that away from the lights of the media.
Will County Woman, i agree that the budget is a problem. i don’t think Hynes has been a consistent leader on that, at least not
known for doing lots of creative work. But this cemetery issue is a tragedy, with scientists who worked in Bosnia now at work in our midst to unravel the grisley horror. and to the extent that
it looks like Hynes passed along any problems or did not answer a letter directly to him, he looks weak, not like a leader.
my out of town friends are calling about this tragedy.
every jurisdiction has a budget crisis. we have a horror show
in Ilinois.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 2:45 pm:
Amy, please. A couple of years ago there was a story about a funeral in a southern state, who, if memory serves neglected his duties and exploited the dead for financial gain. That story made national news too. Because Burr Oak is local we are hearing about it more because we live here.
as is customary in situations like this many people are quick to point fingers and start with the would’ve, could’ve and should’ve. but you correctly pointed out in an earlier post, dan hynes is not at fault on the burr oak matter.
- anon - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 2:45 pm:
Rich, Hynes looks terrible on this. Wait til the press start investigating as to how this company (Perpetua) came about in owning this cemetery. It’s very interesting. Can you guess which current Constitutional Officer held a “beaming” press conference of just how proud he was that this out of state minority owned company was taking over. Hint…He wasn’t at Dart’s Press Conference.
- Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 2:48 pm:
OK, I understand your inquiry about the complaints better now Amy.
But again … “passing along any problems” is what the legislature wanted the Comptrollers office to do as Rich noted above.
- Ghost - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 2:53 pm:
=== And every case I’ve brought into court has won ===
Not according to the court records. I found at least one case where you lost, had your case dismissed for failure to plead a valid claim. Did you have a success somewhere? the court also kicked your supreme court cases as well.
- Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 3:00 pm:
Ghost…
“Did you have a success somewhere?”
In the land of make-believe.
- John Bambenek - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 3:19 pm:
Rob_N-
The first comment was sarcasm, I wasn’t moving goalposts, I was merely restarting their position. I would imagine a common reader would have gotten that given the context. If not, that’s my failure to not be clear, not me moving the goal posts.
And I filed *1* FEC Complaint against DKos… to screw with them. That’s it.
Everytime I show up to court, I get a favorable outcome. You are making my statements and responding with personal attacks. I haven’t even touched on Madigan’s office defending unconstitutional conduct yet.
- Ghost - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 3:23 pm:
=== Everytime I show up to court, I get a favorable outcome. ====
Not in your federal case against the university of Illinois. Looks like the court found your case was baselees and tossed it.
- Third Generation Chicago Native - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 3:33 pm:
This is now all over National News. Also Jesse Jackson is over there helping it get a lot more coverage. Just about every news in town and then some are there.
- Amy - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 3:35 pm:
Will County Woman, we all know that we hear more cause it’s local. we also know that the national cable channels are putting tom dart’s face live in front of us on a regular basis now. and, you are correct, there was a funeral home issue from another state. mishandling matters of the dead makes people quite unpopular. thanks for restating my point that the Burr Oak scandal is not Dan Hynes’ fault. but, he could have dealt with matters at this cemetery in a more human way, and he did not. he’s not even explaining the whole issue of cemetery complaints in a way that gives me confidence that he handles any cemetery complaints the way I would do it. which is do something!
- Potbelly Lou - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 3:49 pm:
How Ironic, I wasn’t expecting the sheriffs office to storm the gates, but I thought maybe a couple week investigation would have been reasonable to maybe preclude additional bodies from being removed…not six weeks. Either way, it doesn’t matter because Dart has come out looking really good on this.
Back to Hynes, it seems that people are now suggesting that he looks weak on this, instead of to blame. Well, it just goes to show that people want more Blago types and less compentent executives. Would you prefer that Hynes storm out there and hold press conference after press conference, while pandering to local ministers and families? Or would you prefer him to do his job, begin revocation proceedings against the owner and communicate his further intentions on the matter?
To me, both Dart and Hynes look like leveled headed executives. Dart is on the ground at the cemetery doing the investigative work and Hynes is handling the licensure issues. In other words, they are both doing their jobs as they are supposed to.
- John Bambenek - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 3:57 pm:
Ghost-
Yet you overlook the state case on the same issue which won. It was a two track case, and ultimately, I was right.
- A Citizen - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 4:08 pm:
Let’s put the blame where it belongs - Chicago/Cook County Democrats. The least they could do is rebury the deceased after they take them out to vote. Shameless.
- Conservative Republican - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 4:31 pm:
Just curious. Did Hynes purchase a “Rich Miller’s Politician’s Protection Policy”? I have not had the impression that Hynes is such an outstanding, unblemished statesman that he is deserving of such a full throated defense by Rich Miller. Of course, it could just be that he is a heavily clouted Democratic child of Democratic clout, and that’s enough to merit interference run by Rich Miller.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 4:32 pm:
@ Amy - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 3:35 pm:
Amy,
Hynes has not mishandle it or handle it in an inhumane way. He has done nothing wrong on this matter. And, he would be wise to not become vocal on the Burr Oak issue now.
dart is becoming a rockstar, and fortunately/thankfully he is not grandstander type of of politican. he has a very bright future ahead of him.
hynes approach may be more quiet and reserved, but those are admirable traits in a leader too, depending on the situation. he’ll make a really good and sane governor.
- Vote Quimby! - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 4:45 pm:
Can we keep the personal arguments on facebook or something?
- Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 4:50 pm:
Ghost…
“Looks like the court found your case was baselees and tossed it.”
Sounds familiar … as if he’s had similar results elsewhere.
–
Bambenek admits, “And I filed *1* FEC Complaint against DKos… to screw with them.”
Isn’t that the definition of frivolous?
You purposefully wasted taxpayer money by filing a Federal complaint in an effort “to screw with” someone you didn’t like?
Grow up.
- Amy - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 5:18 pm:
Will County Woman, oh, I get it, you want Dan Hynes to be governor. I simply want electeds to do a job as a public servant,which is do something! FYI, he has filed some
sort of piece re the cemetery, so, guess what? i guess he
could have done something! noisy or quiet, it’s not
style that counts but substance.
- Princess - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 5:29 pm:
I wish we could rid this thread of the zombie and dead voter cracks and have no idea why who won or lost cases has anything to do this this story. Nothing light hearted or funny about what has happened at this place of burial.
With that said, I know this is not the place for this either, but feel free to smack my hand and delete me–I’d like to say to Will County Woman that I have been thinking about her and the other families all day. I can not begin to imagine what you and the other families are going through.
I spent quite a bit of time today scrolling through and reading some of the entries for Burr Oak on Find-A-Grave. The names, photos family have submitted of their loved ones tombstones, some even submitted photos of their deceased person–all done over the years–and all there are 800 submissions and with each page I got angier and angier and a sense of loss was overwhelming. That anyone could do this is beyond comprehensible to me.
Please know that somebody down here in Central IL is thinking of you and the other families.
- RitaB - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 5:35 pm:
John Bambanek: “And I filed *1* FEC Complaint against DKos… to screw with them. That’s it.”
I believe that there are ethics rules that lawyers are supposed to adhere to which frown upon filing things just to “screw” with folks.
- Bill - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 5:38 pm:
The fact that he’s from the 19th ward means he is automatically not guilty and a fine public servant who deserves to be elected governor.
- Cheswick - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 7:36 pm:
== to screw with them. ==
John, don’t turn into another Anthony Martin. Some of us may want to support you in some of your endeavors. But if you become the litigant who must be avoided at all costs, that won’t happen.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 7:53 pm:
I don’t if amy is still around, but simply doing something isn’t necessarily “substantive.” as I mentioned earlier sometimes no gesture is better than a meaningless empty gesture (aka political posturing).
- Me - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 8:25 pm:
Due to the fact that as an African American, I have six family members buried at Burr Oak and the fact that John Stroger is also buried at Burr Oak; at least you can take Tom Dart’s name off of those possibly running against John Stroger’s Son, Todd. According to Sheriff Dart, it will take at least anywhere from 4-6 months to complete this horrible crime scence and ID all the bodies. As a result, Sheriff Dart will not have time to run for County President and will run for re-election because he likes it. So don’t throw President Todd Stroger under the bus yet. He has $1.3 million in his fund (as of the upcoming filing period) and between Preckwinkle, Brown and Danny Davis together they may be able to raise $40!
- Conrad P - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 8:31 pm:
Does Dan Haynes get out much? At least Blago went before the press.
Dan Haynes is to blame for this mess entirely. A few years ago Hynes campaigned on cemetery rip-offs.
Hynes also failed steps in the pre-need funeral trust funds when it went sideways. His lack of action as the fund’s value plummeted, he went to out of his way to keep it quiet.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 8:32 pm:
@ Me - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 8:25 pm:
Re: Todd Stroger re-elected
yuk.
glad I live in Will County, not cook. But in all seriousness, he will lose.
- Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 8:38 pm:
Conrad,
Perhaps you haven’t (A) read Rich’s original post above or (B) kept up with the thread of comments, both of which explain pretty darn clearly just what steps Dan Hynes took to try and gain the authority to oversee cemetaries and just what steps the legislature and the burial industry took to block the Comptroller from attaining said authority….
You haven’t explained how Hynes’ pointing out there’s potential for big problems but being blocked from actually regulating to guard against those potential problems makes this “all Hynes’ fault”… seems to me that the lack of regulation and overisght may be more culpable here.
- Winner - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:38 pm:
Both Dan Hynes and Tom Dart are conscientious public officials. Tom Dart is doing an effective job in handling this horrific situation, and Dan Hynes has done his job as well. There is no blame in this mess. We need to hold the guilty monsters highly accountable for their awful acts.
- LynnS - Saturday, Jul 11, 09 @ 12:03 am:
The complaint on 10-22, followed by the complaint on 10-26, really starts to look like a bad pattern.
Am I to guess that the “beaming” politician was Quinn?
What a horrible situation for all who may have family members in this cemetary. I can’t begin to imagine what this must be like.
(And Louis, down here in Central and Southern Illinois there are lots of cemetaries owned by churches, or small family plots, or owned by some local guy. Not too many big corporations interested in us downstate, and maybe that’s a good thing…)
- Arthur Andersen - Saturday, Jul 11, 09 @ 12:00 pm:
AA is unimpressed by the Hynes argument that he couldn’t get a bill through the legislature in 2000. Let’s see, it’s now 2009, the Funeral Director left the Senate in 2002, the GA changed control in 2003, and the Burris/Hynes/IFDA money problems turned up in 2008. Tell me Emil couldn’t have helped him push a bill through before he retired.
- Rob_N - Saturday, Jul 11, 09 @ 2:36 pm:
AA, not to make excuses but the Comptroller’s office did end up having its hands full with the recently-impeached Governor for much of that time.
Hynes was also working on other legislative initiatives during that time frame.
Otherwise, you raise a good point and hopefully — whether it’s the Comptrollers office or somewhere else — regulations get put in place and oversight authority is granted to enforce those regs.
- Me@07/11/09 3:45 p.m. - Saturday, Jul 11, 09 @ 3:59 pm:
Hey Yuck, I forgot to mention that I live in Naperville, IL (which is a long way from Cook) and parts of Naperville is in guess what Will. First of all, I have to give a long hard respect to Tom Dart. Sheriff Dart, since this broke last Wednesday Afternoon has done a heck of a job in this terrible situation. So my thanks goes out to Sheriff Dart. Also as an African American with family members buried at Burr Oak, I don’t give the same respect to Jesse Jackson, Sr. If a TV Camera is there, so is Jesse Jackson. Its been a long week for him. His Rainbow Push had its annual convention, the Michael Jackson Memorial took place (which I’m glad he didn’t speak) and now this Burr Oak thing. TOO much TV time for him. I truly believe that this area of Illinois Law needs updating, as well as alot of other areas of Illinois Law. The Ownership group of Burr Oak (which will be sued) will be limited to its LLC charter. Dan Hynes is pushing back the complaints about his “investigation” and four losers will be taking the fall. If we can pass laws in one day (watch on July 14th, with this 150 day Illinois Budget), then why can’t we update a host of current Illinois Laws that need updating? The fact is that all of us from the Public and the clowns in Springfield (including, Quinn, both Madigans, even Emil Jones of yesterday) are too busy fighting over Illinois power and we love to blog about it in these types of sites. Laws governing these situation need to be amended TODAY, not who is going to run against whom and won’t. February 2, 2010 and November 2, 2010 is NEXT Year. This year is still upon us, of which we need to take care of. Furthermore everyone wants funding for a host of everything, from schools, roads, health care, etc. On the other hand when it comes to paying for it, everyone complains. I believe that for the last two weeks, Rich, has highlighted every pol and their flip flop (like Alka Selzer) however when a pol talks either tax or fee increase people complain. You could lay off every State and Cook County Worker you want and you STILL would have a hole in their budgets. However, its fun to talk about it on either side. If we don’t want the roads (the Cap Bill Signing on Monday) or any other benefit don’t complain!
- Bookworm - Sunday, Jul 12, 09 @ 8:27 pm:
Well, one thing this ghastly debacle has persuaded me to do is take the time to visit my family’s graves more often, particularly since several are in a cemetery (downstate) that has come under less than desirable management in recent years — although nowhere near as bad as Burr Oak, thank goodness. Still, it sounds like unscrupulous cemetery owners can get away with neglect or abusive practices more readily when loved ones don’t visit or report problems before they get out of hand.
- Funeral guy - Monday, Jul 13, 09 @ 3:27 pm:
It’s amazing that people beleive in the premise that goverment regulators can prevent or fix problems. They usually can’t. State regulations of cemeteries and funeral homes concentrate on pre-arrangement funds because its can be tracked and a lot of death care industry fraud has centered on these funds.
To think a state regulater “taking a look” around a cemetery or funeral home and finding a major problem is wishful thinking. He or she will never find anything seriously wrong because they won’t know what to look for.
In order to avoid these types of scandals it’s up to the consumer to be more educated, then he or she will know what to look for. I’ve written a book on the subject, “It’s Not About The Funeral”, and it goes over these kinds of senerios.
- Lynn S - Tuesday, Jul 14, 09 @ 10:37 pm:
Dear Funeral Guy:
To say a regulator will never find anything wrong because he or she will not “know what to look for” tells me this is (1.)an issue of education, and (2.)investigation/enforcement when concerns are raised.
In the Madoff scheme, for instance, many Wall Street types would not do business with Bernie because of suspicions he was “front-running” his clients, and there was a guy (can’t remember his name now) who kept telling the SEC something smelled bad at Madoff’s.
Perhaps you and your trade association could offer to help the Attorney General and the Comptroller create some sort of training for these schemes.