January 7, 2009 Pamela Meyer Davis
With the egomaniacal nature of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich playing out in news outlets around the world, it's easy to forget that it takes a village to raise a crooked politician. Equally important is the fact that it takes more than just one U.S. attorney to take on corruption. Pamela Meyer Davis, CEO of Edward Hospital in Naperville, IL, knows how Illinois politics work. But she also knows right from wrong. Back in 2003, she knew that in order to expand the century-old hospital, she would be invited to pay to play. She was tipped off that, unless she used a state-favored contractor, the Illinois Health Facilities Board would deny her request for expansion. She ignored the warning, but found that it rang true when the board turned down her proposal. So instead of caving to extortion, she called the FBI. They laughed at her, assuming she was off her rocker. Thankfully, they still agreed to wiretap her office. The result was Operation Board Games. Davis strolled into the shakedown with a recording device in her bra. She couldn't tell anyone, not her colleagues at Edward or even her husband, what she was up to. The tapes implicated close confidants to Gov. Blagojevich such as Stuart Levine and Tony Rezko. Now that the years-long investigation has reached the governor's office, it's time to thank crusaders such as Davis who risked their reputations and careers to expose a statewide corruption scheme that enveloped private business as well as government officials. For the plans of corrupt politicians to come to fruition, a significant segment of society has to play along. Voters in Illinois re-elected a man to the governor's office who was widely known to be under investigation in 2006. Business people donated millions with the assumption that it would clear their paths to lucrative state contracts. And many in Davis' situation stayed quiet and followed the rules of the pay-to-play game. Thank you, Pamela Meyer Davis, for standing up to corruption. Hopefully your bravery will lead to a new tradition in Illinois politics. * * * Nominated by the BuzzFlash staff.
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