Cantrell holds ground amid county politicos
Post-Tribune (IN)
October 30, 2005
Robert Cantrell has enjoyed many titles in the more than three decades he has been involved with Lake County politics: East Chicago Republican chairman, political powerbroker, North Township poor relief investigator, East Chicago poll worker, father of four children in the legal profession.
He has never worn the title "indictee," though rumors have linked seemingly every one of the numerous federal investigations in Lake County in the past several years to Cantrell.
During a recent interview, the consummate Lake County political insider refused to discuss the investigations that have targeted him and those close to him.
Cantrell, who does not hold elected office, instead tried to focus on how he will remain relevant as a man who can deliver votes to help others get elected.
He said he loves politics for the sport and became a Democrat after years in the GOP, in part, because "the competition is better; the races are more fun."
More cynical observers of East Chicago politics have contended for years that Cantrell always was a Democrat who masqueraded as a Republican to help manipulate election outcomes.
Regardless of his allegiance, Cantrell has outlasted his sometime foe, former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick, who has stepped out of the political limelight, and his longtime ally, Stephen Stiglich, who died in July.
With the political firmament in Lake County shifting away from East Chicago, Cantrell said he is trying to diversify his network of confidants and widen his sphere of influence.
He worked hard for John Petalas' election as Lake County treasurer, lining up support among precinct committeemen for weeks prior to the Democratic Party caucus last Monday.
Petalas, the longtime Merrillville clerk-treasurer, beat Lake County Councilman Ron Tabaczynski 232-135, and Cantrell was at center stage, embracing the winner.
"I'm a guy who has maybe been isolated in East Chicago and Hammond over the years, but now I have friends all over the county. My friends are spread out now," Cantrell said.
"Petalas' win shows that the Lake County Democratic Party has the ability to cleanse its problems," Cantrell said, pointing to the "indictments and stuff that has happened" as evidence the party has been having trouble recently.
"He's a qualified candidate with a clean background who will do a very good job as treasurer."
Cantrell counts Lake County Clerk Tom Philpot among his allies and boasted that had the two supported Tabaczynski, "He would have won in a landslide."
In the next breath, Cantrell admitted the ephemeral quality of his informal politicking leaves his actual influence open to interpretation.
"You could ask 10 people and probably get 10 different answers about that," he said. "I'm obviously opinionated, but I feel like I can look at the numbers and tell what's going to happen and that I can help candidates win."
Looking ahead to the spring 2006 primary elections, Cantrell said he is certain only of one race in which he will get involved. He is interested foremost not in helping a candidate win, but in trying to make certain Lake Superior Court Judge Jesse Villalpando loses.
Cantrell said Villalpando has not pulled his weight on the bench, maintaining a lighter case load than other Lake County judges.
"As a state legislator, he helped get the legislation passed that created that courtroom, then got appointed to the bench and spent more than a year hardly hearing any cases," Cantrell said.
Villalpando said that claim is patently untrue. He provided a copy of a report on judicial caseloads that he said shows his courtroom is now among the most efficient in the county.
The judge said Cantrell wants him off the bench because Villalpando has refused to refer more defendants in his courtroom to the Addiction and Family Care drug center.
Cantrell has worked as a consultant for Addiction and Family Care, which has a contract to provide treatment for people who appear in Lake County court.
Federal investigators have looked into contracts between Addiction and Family Services and the North Township Trustee's Office, where Cantrell works.
According to Villalpando, Cantrell also gets kickbacks from Addiction and Family Care contracts through the courts.
"He has tried and failed to take control of this court and to corrupt me in the process, so now he wants me out," Villalpando said.
Cantrell works as an office administrator for the North Township trustee, until recently Greg Cvitkovich.
But Cvitkovich pleaded guilty early in October to federal income tax charges and resigned his position, leaving Cantrell a man without a benefactor in the office.
Cantrell admitted that with recent changes in the party, particularly Stiglich's death, his power base is less secure than it has been in years past.
"I'm a free agent," Cantrell said. "I like to back winners."
Frank Mrvan Jr., the front-runner to replace Cvitkovich, has Cantrell's support.
"I'm behind him 100 percent, and I hope he chooses to keep me on," Cantrell said.
Federal authorities investigated allegations Cantrell was guilty of ghost-payrolling while working under Cvitkovich, but Mrvan said that was no reason to remove Cantrell from the position.
"First of all, Cantrell is an office administrator, and I would have to show cause to terminate him," Mrvan said. "And, I feel like I should give people the benefit of the doubt to comply with my rules, and we will go from there. History and reputation are not reasons to fire somebody."
Even Democratic Party adversaries had to give Cantrell credit for his ability to adapt and stay on top of the game.
"The inside joke is, he's a quadruple agent," one political insider said. "You never know where he's coming from. You'll say, 'I didn't know you talked to him?' and he says, 'What do you think, I sit around on my ass all day?' He loves (politics) and he works hard at it."
