Unethical Scumbag George Gollin Fined $5000 for Ethics Violations

[Dickie Billericay]

George Gollin found guilty of violating ethics law.

Nice catch, Armando. As you say, not exactly a surprise but nice to see the facts confirmed by the appropriate authorities. Also nice to see UIUC finally taking a hard line against this sleazeball. But as we also know, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Gollin scumbaggery over the years. Too little too late, it would seem.

Ricardo Meza
Officer at Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C.

Illinois Politics, Ethics, and Emails
Aug 18, 2015

The rough and tumble of politics is quite well known and in Illinois, politics and ethics often collide. Far too many local and state politicians, including governors, have encountered ethical challenges. Recently, Illinois congressmen have been added to the list. For example, a now former Chicago-area congressman was recently released from prison for violating federal campaign laws and a now former central Illinois congressman is currently under federal investigation for alleged misuse of campaign funds. Despite this sordid history, many persons still seek the prestigious Office of United States Congress and while most candidates take appropriate steps to comply with federal campaign laws, some overlook (or forget about) state ethics laws.

As political campaigns ramp up, political emails will begin to land in our in boxes. Aspiring federal and state candidates view email as a convenient way to communicate directly with their constituents and community. And, while most candidates and campaign committees are aware of and follow federal ethics laws including the Hatch Act which prohibits the use of federal ".gov" accounts from being used for political purposes, some candidates or their consultants overlook state ethics laws and send political emails to or from a ".edu" account. However, in Illinois, ".edu" accounts belonging to full-time employees from one of the nine Illinois public universities are considered state accounts. In other words, some Illinois ".edu" accounts are the functional equivalent of state ".gov" accounts and cannot be used for political activities.

On June 25, 2015, the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission (EEC) issued a decision involving University of Illinois physics Professor George Gollin, who used his university ".edu" account while seeking the democratic nomination for Illinois' 13th Congressional District to:

• request and receive advice regarding his campaign;
  
• solicit contributions for his campaign; and
  
• coordinate campaign activity with campaign supporters and volunteers.
  

The EEC found that Professor Gollin violated the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act because he used state resources for political purposes. He was fined $5,000. See, https://www.illinois.gov/eec/Documents/0...Report.pdf.

The Gollin decision should serve as a reminder to federal and state candidates, campaign committees, as well as their political consultants, that they should take caution and become aware of prohibitions against the use of state resources for political purposes including certain public university ".edu" accounts. Otherwise, they may find themselves in violation of their state ethics laws and may be subjected to a substantial fine.