By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – The panel of women to hear stories of sexual harassment this year brings its statewide listening tour to Springfield Monday.
“We invite women of both parties, or of all parties, better yet,” said one of the group’s co-chairs, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, “To trust us that you can walk into this safe space. Your stories are valuable to us.”
The other co-chairs are State Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) and State Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake).
The meeting is private; you can get involved by going to aheapanel.org. It’s intended for women who work for political organizations and / or campaigns.
With House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) the chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, and with the #MeToo scandal costing some of his top people their jobs, how can we believe that he really did not know what was going on?
“Let’s be honest No one knows everything as much as people would like to believe that’s the case,” Mendoza said. “I believe that he has a responsibility as chairman of the party to fix this, whether it’s through legislation or through panels, to deal with this head-on.”
The group is addressing not just harassment but also the lack of women in political leadership and elective office. One of the group’s goals is to put women in the majority in the Illinois General Assembly.
