Questions for Campbell and Schmack

Richard Schmack and Clay Campbell

While I’m sure the moderator for the candidate forum at the Egyptian Theatre is up to the task they may be challenged to keep the peace in the debate between DeKalb County States Attorney, Clay Campbell (R), and his challenger, Richard Schmack (D). The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce has provided candidate forums for many years and it’s always a first class presentation.

But there is an energy about the Campbell and Schmack race that might make their debate good primer for the Presidential Debate held later in the evening. That’s another challenge for the moderator and the Chamber. If their forum runs efficiently they can get everyone in and out before the national debates begin.

It’s no secret that Campbell is not a favorite with those comfortable with the surroundings at the County and the Court House. He stepped on toes before getting elected. He came into office with guns blazing unabashedly taking on a decades old murder case. He reorganized his staff and gave raises to his assistants. He suspended drug court on the day he was rebuked by Judge Robbin Stuckert for not asking the right questions as she handed down a not guilty verdict on a rape charge on the man later found guilty of the kidnapping and murder of Maria Ridulph (by another judge). He called a major press conference to announce his formation of a local public corruption investigation division. He didn’t tell NIU in advance of launching an investigation into a scandal involving key administrative employees.

But the fact Campbell is not popular with the general consensus of the insiders makes him very popular with the majority of voters left standing on the outside. Sean Smith launched an aggressive campaign to unseat Campbell in the 2012 Primary only to lose by a wide (64%-36%) margin.

The Democrats didn’t even have a candidate for DeKalb County States Attorney on the primary ballot. Campbell drew a lot of votes from that side of the equation when he defeated Sarah Gallagher-Chami (D) in the 2010 general election. Chami had unseated incumbent John Farrell in the 2010 primary.

His challenger, Richard H. Schmack, was caucused in as the DeKalb County Democrats’ general election candidate for the office. Schmack wasted little time in aggressively portraying Campbell as a grand stander. He criticized Campell’s handling of the drug court affair:

We waited patiently for nearly three months to see an end to Clay Campbell’s investigation of Drug Court. Now the evaluation is publicly released, and we can see what we suspected all along.

Nothing merited even the most temporary of interruptions in the Drug Court process, and Mr. Campbell’s entire report is an exercise in distortion, manipulation and obfuscation. Its sole purpose was to provide a face-saving explanation of his childish and petulant behavior in the wake of the embarrassing loss of the McCullough trial.

It’s clear that he stopped approving referrals to Drug Court in March, not because of some action by Regina Harris, which he didn’t know about until May, or because of some mistakes by an inexperienced counselor who lost her job, which he had known about for months, but because he was angry about losing, and was not satisfied with his public rant on the courthouse lawn. Instead, to drive home his anger at the objects of his wrath, Judge Robbin Stuckert and Regina Harris, he lashed out at Drug Court.

Schmack even suggests that former court appointed public defender, Regina Harris, sue Campbell.

His diatribe totally distorts Ms. Harris’ behavior, trying to turn an ordinary acts of pro bono lawyering, like drafting a promissory note, and a simple act of charity, such as loaning your car to someone in need, into a criminal conspiracy which he claims constitutes a threat to public safety.

Given Mr. Campbell’s clear implication that Ms. Harris was involved in a crime and is being investigated by the State Police, which seems like utter nonsense, this published report would seem to constitute a libel per se under Illinois law, and I urge Ms. Harris to sue Mr. Campbell as soon as possible rather than letting him get away with this.

Harris resigned as public defender on June 29, 2012. According to an evaluation and recommendation report filed by Campbell it was determined through investigation that Harris was involved in an incident where a Drug Court graduate allegedly exploited a senior citizen through unlawful use of his credit card. The same Drug Court graduate was arrested by the Chicago Police Department for possession of 11 bags of heroin while driving Harris’ car with a suspended drivers license. Here is a link to Judge Robbin Stuckert’s response to that report.

Schmack is highly critical of Campbell’s handling of the landfill issue:

Richard Schmack will not express an opinion now because that would undercut his credibility as an advocate for the County Board, should he be elected, just as the incumbent’s credibility in that role is now undermined by his sloganeering during his 2010 campaign. When his campaign website (as of July 14, 2012) says that one of his top priorities is to “Stop the Mega-Dump”, how does Clay Campbell expect to be taken seriously, while simultaneously defending the landfill decision in court?
Mr. Campbell is certainly doing what he can on this point, filing a brief on June 12, 2012 in which he says things like the following:
“Stop The Mega-Dump’s efforts to misdirect this Court with unsubstantiated allegations of health and safety concerns are wholly improper and irrelevant”;
“Stop The Mega-Dump’s appeal merely rehashes meritless arguments”;
“Stop The Mega-Dump’s patchwork of irrelevancies, out-of-context statements and unjustified personal attacks fail to prove bias or prejudgment”;
“Stop The Mega-Dump cannot prove prejudgment, so it resorts, instead, to unfounded attacks on the County Board member’s credibility”;
“Stop The Mega-Dump’s assertion is an offense to this process and to the County Board.”

It should be an interesting debate. Meet and greet the candidates from 5:30 – 6:30pm. Candidates forum begin at 6:30 sharp. At the Egyptian Theatre, tonight.