Q&A Interview                      

An interview with Doug Dobmeyer 'People like me are perceived as tax eaters, money grabbers' By JENNIFER HALPERIN

Doug Dobmeyer

Q: What are your plans now?

A: People have been calling me from a variety of organizations saying to me: "Come meet with us. Talk to us about either media or how you do lobbying." I think that's fairly exciting because I think one of the things I didn't get to focus on when I applied for my job with the welfare coalition was wanting to teach others. I think that among people from the progressive world, one of our shortcomings has been that we have failed to replenish ourselves.

Q: Why is it so difficult to do that?

A: People like me have a harder time because we're perceived as tax eaters, money grabbers — people who want to take and not give. I think it was different 30 years ago because there were movements, the Vietnam thing, the whole poverty thing. At the time there was a lot more support. People were more sympathetic. People who are more conservative can easily get in front of a crowd and start waving around a newspaper article about some poor woman on welfare who has five, six, 10 kids. And they say, "See who we're supporting with our tax dollars? See how many kids they're having?" That's not the norm, but it's perceived. They try to make it the norm.

Q: Are people losing sympathy for welfare recipients?

A: My experience the last 10 years has been in large part with the homeless and with people on public aid. The vast majority of people who have had the most sympathy havebeen the homeless --- usually until they end up in someone's back yard. Philosophically there's more support because no one wants to see someone die in a trash compactor or a dumpster or a car.

Q: How successful have you been at the welfare coalition?

A: Well, when it comes to the public policy side of the job, my work has been to hold the line, trying to keep some of the rotten stuff from happening. The cuts in General Assistance grants (welfare) were a big, big example. We weren't really successful in stopping that. It's very much like a war. We held a pitched battle, and everyone got bloodied on it. People said to me, "Why are you fighting this? It's gonna happen." I hate the cynicism down here — that's the one thing I hate about Springfield. But it's also the case in other state capitals, and it's also true in D.C. People say, 'You've got to cut a deal.' It's never been my style. I don't want to cut a deal that could end up harming the people I work for. We engaged in negotations on the Earn-fare bill two years ago. That was the first bill we fully sat at the table on and were willing to make compromises and were willing to make deals on. We got a program out of it. But we're still trying to fix it today.

Q: How important is your media work?

A: Of all the not-for-profits, we're really the ones who started focusing on media — not for grandstanding, but simply to get messages out about what certain bills would do. For a long time I watched (former Gov.) Thompson's people, and (Gov.) Edgar's press people shmooze with reporters when they're waiting for the Four Tops (the legislative leaders). That's our tax dollars paying for them. Why should they have a leg up? The people I represent have something to say, too. A couple of years ago we started putting together advisories with information on bills that were up for votes. I didn't know if anyone else was doing it, and I didn't care. I didn't know if it was unorthodox. I figured people could throw it in the wastebasket if they wanted. But I got enough positive response from it to keep doing it. Now we do fax briefings for 200 organizations. We just want them to be aware of what the hell a bill's about. That sort of public education work I think is groundbreaking. Just this past year I noticed several mainstream organizations have been doing the same type of briefing we're doing.

Q: What do you like least about what goes on under the Statehouse dome?

A: People respond to different sources of power here than they do back home in their districts. You could have one type of conversation back in a district office or in your own office, but you come down to Springfield and find the way things are done here is totally different, with all the politics that go along with votes. Our group doesn't give money to candidates, we don't throw parties, don't make endorsements. So what do we have to offer? Moral righteousness? The kind of groups I direct or am a part of are the type of groups that don't have the wherewithal to participate down here. They hope their strength is in their votes back home. Sometimes it works for them and sometimes it does not. One thing we've figured out is what is news. For instance, one of the homeless groups — the one that dumped all the shoes in the Capitol at a news conference — hired a professional public relations lady. It's no different than what Jim Edgar does.

Q: What do you like best?

A: Maybe the receptivity of people to well-thought-out arguments. When someone says overtly or not, "I don't like Public Aid recipients," I ask them why. I think you have to confront people very directly. One thing I've done is to never, ever treat representatives, senators or even the governor like they're better than me. One advantage of the Capitol building is that it sort of does equalize people. I don't treat anyone with disrespect, nor do I treat them better than the people I represent. I don't want to insult people, but I don't prostrate myself before them, either. I'm sure it's pissed some people off over the years, but generally it equalizes the discussion.

16/June 1994/Illinois Issues