This is about a relatively new but promising resource for Illinois activists at the local level. It’s called For the Good of Illinois and the goal is simple: Help community activists take steps for greater transparency in local government. Its mission:

For The Good Of Illinois was founded to empower regular people with the means to change how politics is practiced in Illinois state government. We want to rekindle the spirit of public service among our elected officials.

Everyone has a role to play. Government will be accountable to citizens who demand transparency. This is why grassroots organizing is so important. We’re working to return Illinois to its roots: the citizen.

We suggest fellow citizens adopt the philosophy of, “Not On My Watch!” and do something now to move Illinois in a different direction. ForTheGoodOfIllinois.org provides a simple road map to do this.

With all of our time and talent, we want to make Illinois right again – for regular people.

The founder is Adam Andrzejewski, whose father ran twice (1976, 1978) for state representative against George Ryan. He’s always wondered how things might be different now if his dad had won, and his answer is to criss-cross the state to train activists, especially of the “budding” sort, in how to achieve gains in government transparency with a bottom-up approach. Andrzejewski envisions an “Open Book Revolution.” Read the rest of this entry