Boise State University President Bob Kustra might have never spoken of going “Beyond the Blue” had he cut ethical corners.
In 1996, Kustra was Illinois’ lieutenant governor, running for the U.S. Senate as a moderate Republican with a shot at winning an open seat. The late entry of a wealthy candidate in the primary meant Kustra needed cash. William “The King of Clout” Cellini, a legendary Illinois fundraiser, came calling.
Cellini asked Kustra about contractors doing mining reclamation work, a job overseen by Lt. Gov. Kustra.
“He said, ‘Just give me that list of people you give contracts to and we’ll get started,’” Kustra recalled.
Kustra said he told Cellini contracts were awarded by merit, saying, “I don’t get directly involved.”
“He said, ‘Well, you’re going to have to make a choice here aren’t you?’
“I said, ‘No, I don’t care to do that.’”
Kustra lost by 3 percentage points. Dick Durbin beat the GOP nominee Al Salvi by 15 points and now is the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat.
But that’s not where the story ends.
Last year, the King of Clout was convicted of conspiring to shake down Oscar-winning movie producer Tom Rosenberg for a contribution to ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. In January, a federal judge tossed a motion for retrial and Cellini faces up to 30 years in prison for conspiracy to commit extortion and aiding in the solicitation of a bribe. Blagojevich is serving 14 years in federal prison for trying to sell an appointment to fill another Illinois Senate seat — the one left vacant by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s election as president.
Now, says Kustra, 68, “I wish I could tell that story to every young politico who wants to get into politics and government.”
IDAHO ETHICS REFORM
Kustra’s tale is timely, as Idaho lawmakers consider tougher ethics rules, including a new state ethics commission. Other ideas include financial disclosure, cooling-off periods for public officials before they lobby and limits on “pension spiking” by legislators.
Kustra said it’s not his place to advise lawmakers on ethics. “I don’t feel that my job is giving the Legislature advice on my past experience, which is from a different age. I have enough trouble giving them my thoughts on higher education.”
He did agree to his first extensive interview on his life in Illinois politics, citing the “old professor in me.” Kustra, who has a doctorate in political science, taught in college, both before and during his 10 years in the Illinois Legislature and his eight years (1991-98) as lieutenant governor. He chaired the Illinois Board of Higher Education before becoming president of Eastern Kentucky University in 1998. He’s been BSU president since 2003.
Kustra used to teach the work of Daniel Elazar, a political scientist who classified political culture. Elazar considered Illinois dominated by “individual political culture,” where private concerns are more important than public, and dirty politics are accepted.
Elazar called Idaho a mixed state, with individual aspects, including the view government should be restricted to encouraging private initiative. Idaho also has a “moral” culture, where serving community comes first.
“What comes through is the volunteer nature of Idaho politics,” Kustra said. “It really is people stepping forward to donate their good time. Not so much out of ‘I’m going to make a lot of money or make a career in government,’ but as ‘I’m going to contribute to the betterment of my citizens.’ ”
ILLINOIS’ BAD ACTORS
Kustra didn’t know Blagojevich, who was elected in 2002. But he did cross paths with Gov. Otto Kerner, who was convicted in 1973 of bribery and other offenses for deals he made with the horse racing industry.
Kustra also shared the stage at Polish-American political events with former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski. “Rosti,” who partnered with President Reagan on tax reform in the 1980s, pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud in 1996 in connection with the U.S. House Post Office scandal.
The tarnished pol Kustra knew best was Gov. George Ryan, who preceded him as lieutenant governor. Ryan was convicted of selling truck operators’ licenses and exchanging favors for vacations, tickets and other gifts.
“I wasn’t surprised, I wasn’t shocked,” Kustra said of Ryan. “Many people who were close to government could see there were just people that you associate with, people you hire, who just take you down the wrong road.”
Blagojevich, Kustra said, has been the worst of the lot in sullying Illinois. “He just flaunted it. When you do that for months and months, you establish a mindset on the part of those observing of, ‘Oh, my gosh, that must be what it’s like all over the state.’”
That’s unfair, Kustra said, based on his experience, which included meeting public officials from all 102 Illinois counties. “I served alongside an overwhelming majority of people on both sides of the aisle who I can say came to do their jobs according to the law and to benefit the public good.”
Kustra was born to an Irish mother and Polish father in St. Louis, where his uncle was an alderman who first interested him in politics. When he graduated second in his class from his Catholic high school in 1961, his salutatory speech was a riff on a line from JFK’s inaugural earlier that year, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
Kustra worked as a staffer at the Illinois Legislature while pursuing his master’s in public administration. “We talked a lot about how we wanted to make the system work,” he recalled.
MACHINE POLITICS
When Jim Edgar asked Kustra to be his running mate as lieutenant governor in 1990, he began by discussing Kustra’s expertise in education policy and how his popularity in suburban Chicago would strengthen the gubernatorial ticket.
But his last question was a concession to the reality of ethnic politics. Edgar asked if Kustra would be comfortable playing up his Polish roots.
“Well, overnight I found myself campaigning at Polish-American event after Polish-American event,” Kustra recalled. “That was one of my greatest lessons about the role of ethnicity in Illinois politics.”
Edgar and Kustra won two terms. While Kustra believes Edgar would have triumphed without him, he also says his being No. 2 won over “a lot of Democrats who simply wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to elect this guy as the highest-ranking Polish-American in state government.”
Unlike his father, Kustra couldn’t speak Polish because his mother forbade it at home. “I was cooked past ‘Jak sie masz?’ and ‘Dobrze.’” Those are Polish for “How are you?” and “OK.”
But he could dance, and so could his wife, Kathy. “We spent many times dancing the Polka because that was the best way to demonstrate I was real, that I was, in fact, Polish.”
FOND MEMORIES
Kustra’s decade in the Legislature was “just really treasured years for me,” he said. But today he has absolutely no designs on running for office in Idaho: “I don’t ever want to do that.”
He represented Skokie, Morton Grove, Des Plaines, Arlington Heights and other suburbs ringing Chicago. “It was a perfect centrist district. And without a doubt a great legislative experience when the parties respected each other, worked with each other, and when there was not the scorn and incivility there is today.”
Which is not to say Kustra holds himself up as an icon. His worst vote, he said, was to maintain the blue law that barred auto dealers from opening on Sunday, a law still in place.
Why? Because auto dealers, including a friend and longtime contributor, persuaded him to sustain an archaic restraint of trade.
“We’re all venal enough to look at things through our own eyes,” Kustra said. “At that time, I’m thinking, ‘I can help that family stay home,’ when, in fact, I was also supporting many of those donating to my campaign so they could keep dealerships closed on Sunday.”
Kustra now considers Idaho home, though he keeps the jersey of Cubs Hall of Famer Billy Williams in his office and remains a fan.
“You have in Idaho a somewhat different political culture than the one I grew up in,” he said. “People do come to this Statehouse with a set of motives that are as pure as described in Elazar’s moralistic political culture.
“To me, that shows there’s still plenty of hope out there for these states like Idaho, and even Illinois, where let’s hope the federal prosecutor has taught a few lessons and warned a few people off of behaviors that will lead them down the wrong path.”
Dan Popkey: 377-6438
