Smiddy, Wozniak trade accusations

Candidates in the 71st District Illinois House race are calling out each other for negative campaigning and twisting the truth.

State Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, said his Republican opponent, Jim Wozniak, a former assistant state’s attorney for Rock Island County, is deceiving voters on the issue of a legislative pay raise. Recent ads and mailers from the Wozniak camp claim Smiddy voted for a pay raise and kept the money.

“I voted against raising our pay and voted to freeze per diem benefits,” Smiddy said.

State legislators will receive, on average, an extra $3,000 in salary during the fiscal year that began July 1. It’s not exactly a pay increase, but money they will recoup from a furlough program that the state discontinued.

The pay raise was the result of a court ruling that forced the state to abandon the practice of unpaid furlough days that lawmakers had been taking since 2009. The furloughs amounted to a 5 percent pay cut for most lawmakers. Smiddy made $64,796 in the past fiscal year.

Although Smiddy ultimately voted for the state budget bill that brought a pay increase, legislators no longer had a choice but to receive the money. So Smiddy decided to donate his raise, and is writing checks of about $200 each month to different nonprofit organizations in his district.

The first recipient was the YWCA of the Sauk Valley, and the second was a new village-run day care in Tampico.

Tampico Mayor Kristine Hill, who was angered by the Wozniak ads, wrote a letter to the editor to this newspaper.

“I thought these accusations about the pay raise had died down, but then I got a flier in my mailbox last week,” Hill said. “They are clearly not true; our town received some of the money.”

Hill said she had reached out to Smiddy about the day care after seeing him make a statement on television about giving away his raise. Smiddy came to Tampico on Sept. 18 and gave the mayor a check for $200.

“I was so angered by this negativity; it just drains everyone’s energy,” Hill said. “Mike has been here quite a bit, and it’s refreshing to see a politician who pays attention to small towns. He wants to take care of whatever is brought to his attention, regardless of where it is.”

When Wozniak was asked about the pay increase issue Wednesday, he didn’t back off from his stance.

“The pay increase was part of the budget, and he approved it,” the East Moline resident said. “He only donated his pay increase after I called him out on it. Issues like this are just another example of him trying to run from his negative record.”

Wozniak went on to accuse the Smiddy camp of running negative ads regarding Wozniak’s time on the City Council of North Liberty, Iowa.

“He has run lies about junkets while [I was] on the council in North Liberty,” Wozniak said. “Any trips I took while on the council were approved through the proper channels. I left my job to be in public service, and his campaign is accusing me of misconduct.”

Smiddy also called out his opponent on a statement about tax increases that Wozniak made during a business roundtable event Sept. 26 in Rock Falls.

Wozniak said that, unlike his opponent, he doesn’t believe tax increases are needed to avoid cutting services. He said that belief is based on his experiences while a small-town council member.

“Instead of increasing taxes, we brought more businesses, people and homes to town,” he said. “The solution is broadening the tax base, not getting more out of the people left behind. We doubled our population, and cut waste and bureaucracy.”

Smiddy’s campaign produced North Liberty council minutes that showed Wozniak voting for a 8.3 percent property tax increase.

Wozniak responded by saying the council didn’t really raise taxes, but rather restructured the tax base.

“It resulted in a small property tax increase, but North Liberty’s taxes were the lowest of any city in the area – in some cases by 30 to 40 percent,” he said. “The city had gotten so much bigger and had increased services. I am proud of my record at North Liberty, and I’m not going to hide from my work there.”