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Lawmaker wants anti-violence program restored

Posted November 06, 2007 10:00 pm

Mike Ramsey

A Chicago lawmaker on Tuesday threatened to block progress of a state construction bill unless Gov. Rod Blagojevich and legislative leaders agree to restore funding for an anti-violence program.

Democratic Rep. Susana Mendoza said she will introduce legislation this week authorizing $12.5 million in state assistance for CeaseFire, which has operated in high-risk Chicago neighborhoods and downstate cities such as Rockford, Decatur and East St. Louis. Blagojevich cut the program's entire $6.25 million state allocation earlier this year as his administration sought to convert so-called "member initiatives," sometimes derided as pork projects, into more money for health care.

CeaseFire has worked with religious organizations and police agencies and placed mediators in urban areas to help quell disputes among young people. The largely state-financed program, which employed hundreds of hard-to-hire ex-offenders, recently has imposed layoffs, officials said.

"This is the furthest thing from pork - it is absolutely essential spending," Mendoza said at a Chicago news conference, where she appeared with several House supporters of CeaseFire. "Our communities right now are burning from the effects of gang violence."

Proponents of the program cited a recent spate of Chicago shootings as they argued for a doubling of CeaseFire's funding. Mendoza said she planned to attend the Tuesday night funeral of a pregnant Chicago mother who was fatally shot Oct. 31 after trick-or-treating with her children in a southwest-side neighborhood.

"I know people say 'Don't take political things personally,' but we're talking about people and their lives," Mendoza said. "Maybe (Blagojevich) would like to stop by that funeral today and explain to that family why CeaseFire is not important."

She said she would withhold her vote for a state construction program - currently being negotiated by Blagojevich and legislative leaders - if the CeaseFire funding is not restored. Republican lawmakers have insisted on a capital bill in exchange for supporting a funding overhaul for Chicago-area mass transit. The construction projects would be financed through a state gambling expansion.

CeaseFire, administered by the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention, is not without critics. Earlier this year, the Illinois auditor general's office released a multi-year study of the program's finances and questioned some of its spending. The program's director told The Associated Press in August that state lawmakers expanded CeaseFire too quickly, leading to administrative errors.

The Blagojevich administration stood by its decision to yank all of the program's state funding and blamed lawmakers for not providing enough resources in the budget.

"This administration has made a tremendous commitment to violence prevention and giving young people opportunities and tools to avoid turning to crime," Blagojevich budget spokesman Justin DeJong said in an e-mail. "However, this year the General Assembly simply didn't provide enough revenues in the budget to fund both member initiatives in their communities, in addition to statewide education and healthcare needs."

Among the CeaseFire advocates who joined Mendoza Tuesday was state Rep. Charles Jefferson, D-Rockford, whose city would be in line for a $500,000 CeaseFire grant if her legislation succeeds. Jefferson said police officials in his region say the program is effective.

"If they weren't doing the job that they're supposed to be doing ... the police wouldn't be there with them," he said.

State grant money for CeaseFire most recently had been used in 16 Chicago neighborhoods and eight cities outside Chicago.

Mike Ramsey can be reached at (312) 857-2323 or ghns-ramsey@sbcglobal.net.

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