Still time to stop one unqualified judge

By Carol Marin
Sin-Times Columnist
Published March 12, 2006

It's Sunday and time to worship at the high church of Illinois politics. With only nine days until the March 21 primary, some candidates don't have a prayer of victory. Then again, there's Eddie Lechowicz.

Who's your daddy?

"Be kind to my kid, Carol. He's going to make a superb judge."

That was Northwest Side political lion Thaddeus "Ted" Lechowicz's admonition in January when I questioned whether his 36-year-old son, Ed, is qualified to be a Cook County Circuit Court judge.

The answer, bluntly put, is no.

An attorney for less than nine years, Ed Lechowicz is a legal researcher for the Circuit Court of Cook County. Before that, he worked for that twice-censured-once-suspended pillar of the legal community, former Ald. Edward "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak. A role model if ever there was one.

Ed Lechowicz knows he lacks the experience required by the Chicago Bar Association or the Chicago Council of Lawyers. That's why he didn't even try to answer the election questionnaires they send to all judicial candidates.

Why bother?

As Ed-son-of-Ted told me a couple of months ago, "I believe I'm fully qualified and the leaders of the Democratic Party believe I'm fully qualified."

Yes, indeed, his dad's committeemen pals gave young Ed their endorsement over other, truly qualified candidates like former Assistant Attorney General Ramon Ocasio, 44, who is currently a supervising public defender in criminal court.

But Ed-son-of-Ted has something neither Ocasio nor another opponent, attorney Roxanne Rochester, has.

Money.

According to his filings with the State Board of Elections, Ed Lechowicz has collected more than $130,000 for his judicial race, compared to about $20,000 apiece for each of his two opponents. For an obscure 6th subcircuit seat, that's a whole lot of cash. And $70,000 of it came as a "loan" from his dad's political war chest.

Though former Cook County Commissioner Ted Lechowicz, 67, hasn't held political office since his defeat four years ago at the hands of Forrest Claypool, he's still a clout-heavy force in the Democratic Party. And he knows the long-term financial benefits of a career in government. Sweetening his pension from the county are state pensions for being a state senator -- not to mention a "consultant" to then-Gov. George Ryan. By 2003, the Sun-Times reported Ted Lechowicz was making $207,805 from a collection of pensions plus another "job" Ryan gave him on a state board.

So why not ensure your kid a similar, secure future? A judge in Cook County clocks in at $152,930 a year with excellent benefits and holidays off.

Let's face it. Barring a miracle, Ed-son-of-Ted is on the road to victory. "If you look at the stats," says Malcolm Rich of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, "the percentage of time that a slated [by the Democratic Party] candidate wins is 72 percent."

Ed-son-of-Ted's chances are further enhanced by the fact that half the voters who go to the polls don't even mark their ballots for judicial races because the list of candidates is so long and often unfamiliar.

What can you do?

The sad answer is that in some judicial races, absolutely nothing. Take a candidate like Gloria Chevere. She, like Lechowicz, is running in the 6th subcircuit on Chicago's North and West sides. Chevere, another party stalwart, has been judged unqualified by every single one of the state's 11 bar associations. Even so, shamefully, she has the endorsement of the Democratic ward bosses. And she's unopposed. She wins.

But in the Lechowicz race, there's still time. And voters do have a choice. Ocasio is recommended by all 11 bar associations; Rochester by nine. Lechowicz? Zero.

If you want to see the ratings of judicial candidates, check out www .voteforjudges.org.

We deserve decent judges, but we're not going to get them without a fight.

Homeowner hell

Score a small and unexpected victory for state Rep. Ruth Munson (R-Elgin).

Munson and a bipartisan band of mostly female legislators have been fighting long and hard for the 300,000 people in this state who live in mobile home parks, otherwise known as manufactured home communities.

They have almost no property rights and face skyrocketing lease fees for the plots on which their homes sit. Munson's bill, though watered down in committee, is a small step in a hopeful direction. It could reach the Senate floor this coming week. We'll keep an eye on this one.

Copyright © 2006, Digital Chicago Inc.