Bob Cantrell as the great communicator
MARK KIESLING
NWI Times
Jun 6, 2008
nwitimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/mark-kiesling/bob-cantrell-as-the-great-communicator/article_62053092-6d0d-5648-8ae1-a3ff568a4b51.html
Mortal political enemies who wouldn't shake hands if they were marooned together on a desert island will both shake hands with Bob Cantrell.
That's what has made Cantrell the political operative, fixer and all-around go-to guy during the past three decades.
It's also why Cantrell is currently on trial in federal court on public corruption charges.
Take fellow Democrats Lake County Clerk Tom Philpot and Sheriff Roy Dominguez as an example.
To say these two gentlemen dislike each other is an understatement. Philpot told a Times reporter Dominguez is "one of the most corrupt, conniving officials we've got," and Dominguez speaks in equally glowing terms of Philpot.
Yet both will deal with Cantrell.
Philpot enlisted Cantrell's help in his 2002 campaign for clerk against former County Council member Bernadette "Bobbi" Costa and won a solid victory, which he credited to Cantrell. In turn, Cantrell said he was Philpot's "main man."
Once in office, Philpot gave the legal contract for child support to John Cantrell, Bob's son.
Meanwhile, Dominguez contracted with Cantrell-connected counseling firm Addiction and Family Care to provide services to Lake County Community Corrections, which is administered by the sheriff.
That contact was only terminated last year when AFC owner Nancy Fromm, under federal indictment for obstruction of justice and tax evasion, withdrew her firm from consideration.
In addition, Betty Dominguez, the sheriff's wife, is the chief probation officer in the court of Lake Superior Court Judge Julie Cantrell, one of Bob's daughters.
Fromm testified last week that Bob Cantrell advised her to keep her mouth shut, accept the minor obstruction of justice conviction, and "if I served my five months, I would get a job with Tom Philpot. I would be taken care of."
Messages have been left on Philpot's cell phone, with his chief deputy and even with his mother, but he has been unavailable for comment on Fromm's allegation.
Those who wouldn't pay to play opted out at their own peril. After Superior Court Judge Jesse Villalpando pulled AFC from his list of approved counseling firms, he suddenly faced two opponents in his 2006 judicial race.
One was Ed Fontanez, a lawyer who shared office space with John Cantrell, and the other was Stan Jablonski, a lawyer who was a public defender in Julie Cantrell's court.
Villalpando got the message, although he did not change his mind.
The question now is what message the jury will send to Bob Cantrell.
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