Callis' economic interests grew from 10 to 27 items during her judicial career

When Ann Callis became a judge in 1995, she disclosed 10 items on her statement of economic interests.

Eighteen years later and about two months before she resigned from the bench to announce her bid for Congress, Callis filed a statement showing the number of her economic interests nearly tripled to 27.

Illinois Supreme Court Rule 68 requires all judges to file a statement of economic interests with the state high court each year.

In these statements, all of which are available for public examination, judges must disclose their and their immediate family members’ economic interests, the creditors they owe more than $500 to, their relationships to any attorneys and any pending cases in which they may have an interest.

When Callis earlier this month formally announced her plans to run for Republican Rodney Davis’ seat in the 13th District, she said, “Like many of my friends and neighbors, I’m frustrated right now that Washington is not listening, and it’s not delivering for the middle class.”

As Madison County chief judge, Callis added, “I’ve delivered reforms when Washington didn’t, and I’m running to deliver solutions for middle class families who are looking for good-paying jobs, and someone to protect Medicare and Social Security.”

With a campaign platform that appears to be trying to target the middle class, Callis’ statements of economic interests provide some insight into her own financial situation.

The 10 current economic interests Callis listed on her 1995 statement included two savings accounts, two checking accounts, an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), numerous savings bonds, stock in several companies, dividends, profit sharing plans and rental income from a duplex in Troy.

That same year, she disclosed that she and her then husband, Robert W. Rongey, owed more than $500 to seven creditors in connection with four credit cards, a home equity loan and two mortgages, one of which was from a Wisconsin bank for a rental property.

Callis’ statements of economic interests from 1995 to 1998 listed Rongey and her father, Lance Callis, as attorneys at the Granite City law firm of Callis, Papa, Hale, Szewczyk, Rongey and Danzinger.

The economic interests Callis disclosed in 1996 included the same ones from the previous year with the addition of stock in Argosy Gaming Co.

Various media reports identify Callis’sfather and Bill Cellini, a former power broker who was convicted in 2011 of shaking down contributions for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, as two of the company’s co-founders.

By 1999, Callis's statement of economic interests dropped from 11 items to five: a savings account, a checking account, an IRA, numerous savings bonds and stock in Argosy Gaming Co.

The number of creditors that she and her immediate family members owed more than $500 to also decreased that year from seven to five, which stemmed from three credit cards, a mortgage and a home equity loan.

That same year, Callis dropped Rongey from her title and filed her statement under the name Ann Callis.

In 2001, her economic interests doubled to 10 with the additional disclosures of Goldman Sachs’ institutional liquidated assets and enhanced income, capital growth, internet tollkeeper and international equity funds. It appears she paid off her home equity loan that year as well.

The following year, the number of current economic interests Callis listed on her and her immediate family members’ behalf doubled to 20. She attributed nine of the 10 new interests disclosed in 2002 to attorney James Holloran, whose law firm biography lists Callis as his wife.

The bio listed on her Congressional candidate website – Callisforillinois.com--makes no mention of Holloran, but notes she has two adult children.

The economic interests attributed to Holloran on Callis’s statement included 250 shares in the St. Louis Irish pub John D. McGurk, 90 percent interest in H.C. Partnership (real estate), 75 percent interest in Holloran & Stewart, 50 percent interest in Holloran, Wendt & McMath and 25 percent interest in OMP, Inc. (real estate).

Callis also disclosed on her 2002 statement that her husband’s economic interests included securities held by Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley, as well as a condominium unit in Breckenridge, Colo. and a home in St. Louis.

Homes.com listed the value of the St. Louis home at $547,800 and a Breckenridge real estate website shows that the selling price for two bedroom units in the same condominium subdivision Callis ranged from about $365,000 to $510,000 between 2007 and 2012.

In her 2002 statement, the number of creditors Callis and her immediate family members owed more than $500 to jumped to eight, four of which she attributed to Holloran.

The interests and creditors Callis disclosed in 2002 stayed about the same until 2004, when she added a lot in Troy subdivision and a home in Troy to her economic interests.

Although it’s unclear how large the lot Callis listed in her statement was, the development website for the subdivision shows it is currently selling a one-acre cul-de-sac lot for a reduced price of $46,900. Homes.com lists the estimated value of the Troy home at about $171,300.

In 2006, some of the items previously disclosed on Callis’ statement of economic interest disappeared while others were added, including mutual and bond funds, securities, a home in the Troy subdivision that appears to be on the lot she previously disclosed and a home in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Homes.com lists the estimated value of the Troy home at $349,900 and the Arizona home at $365,900.

Callis in 2007 and 2008 disclosed in her statements of economic interests that she took a $300,000 line of credit from an Edwardsville bank, which had already been paid by the time she filed her statements.

In 2009, she listed another home in Scottsdale, Ariz. as one of 23 items on her statement of economic interests. Homes.com shows the estimated value of this home at about $902,400.

At the time she announced her Congressional bid, Callis said she was not living in the 13^th District that she seeks to represent, but had rented a property in Edwardsville and would be moving there in June.

A contact for Callis could not be found on her campaign website. A request made to the chief judge’s office last month to have Callis or her campaign spokesperson contact The Record was passed along, but has not yet been returned.