(The Cdenter Square) – The founder of a policy advocacy group is calling for more oversight after the latest state budget included a $300,000 grant to a group headed by a convicted felon.
Former state Rep. Jeanne Ives, the founder of the policy advocacy group Breakthrough Ideas, said J.B. Pritzker gave the money to Black Lives Matter (BLM) Lake County, even though its leader has pleaded guilty to felony battery charges multiple times.
Clyde McLemore made news just months ago in December 2022 for apparently being charged with felony bail jumping in Wisconsin. That charge stems from his previous arrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August where he was “charged with felony battery to a police officer and disorderly conduct.”
Ives said this is going on despite a bipartisan bill that was passed while she was in office called the Grant Transparency Act.
“People want to get a handle on where this money was going and you see things like this pop up and you gotta wonder if any of those laws are followed at all,” Ives told The Center Square.
It’s not the first time the group received taxpayer funds. The first grant came in 2021, when Pritzker gave BLM Lake County $300,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds. He gave them the money at the same time McLemore was out on bond for battery of a police officer.
Ives said an investigation shows that there is no physical presence of BLM in Waukegan even though the group was required to open an office. Court records indicate that the building manager filed a commercial eviction notice with the court against McLemore and Black Lives Matter of Lake County on Jan. 3, 2022.
Former Gov. Pat Quinn funded anti-violence programs that spiraled out of control. An audit of one of his Neighborhood Recovery Initiatives’ lead group, the Woodlawn Organization, uncovered a lack of accounting and record keeping and “questionable decisions.” The group received $1.2 million before the state pulled the plug.
“Taxpayers should be appalled that BLM Lake County was given $300,000 in the latest budget,” Ives said. “No taxpayer money should go to any Black Lives Matter group, a Marxist organization connected to violent riots across the country.”
A request for comment from the governor’s office went unanswered.
