Gov. Pat Quinn is a breath of fresh air after the impeachment and removal of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. While Quinn has revived at least some of the cooperative spirit in the Capitol, GOP Sen. Dave Luechtefeld of Okawville said last month that the expectation was for Quinn to purge agencies of “bad appointments” after a decade of alleged corruption under Blagojevich and former Gov. George Ryan, a convicted felon.

Quinn took the oath of office January 29. Within the first few months, he named six new agency directors, two of whom play integral roles in using federal stimulus funds. Yet, about two dozen top agency officials hired by the two prior governors remained in place in mid-May.

Reviewing thousands of state workers, as well as members of 277 state boards and commissions, to decide who stays and who goes seems to have taken a back seat to managing an operating deficit of at least $11.5 billion, as well as a major construction program and a government reform initiative.

House Speaker Michael Madigan advanced legislation to force Quinn to move faster. Quinn has gradually made personnel changes while pursuing policy changes. It will take both to turn the tide of Illinois’ culture of corruption.

The administration is putting more information, including the names of all members of state boards and commissions, online. Quinn also appointed a Taxpayer Action Board to review, among other things, whether the state needs some 200 boards and commissions and whether members are appropriately paid. Education Labor Relations Board members, for example, earn about $90,000 for 12 meetings a year, while members of the Illinois State Board of Education are unpaid.

Jerry Stermer, Quinn’s chief of staff, said during a legislative hearing last month that Quinn is focused on “reform, responsibility and recovery.” He also explained why some high-profile Blagojevich appointees remain on the payroll.

“The governor feels that we have a crisis on our hands, one that we must address, and that all hands be on deck. If people are doing their job in an honest, open and ethical way — following the laws and procedures established by this legislature to implement the programs that are part of the law and that are important to the people of Illinois within the appropriations that are available —he’s wanting those people to be part of our team.”

But Rep. Jack Franks, a Woodstock Democrat, wanted answers from directors whose agencies are specifically mentioned in the House’s report recommending Blagojevich’s impeachment.

“I am disturbed that those who enabled Blagojevich to break the law — and even worse, the public trust — are still serving, often in the same capacities,”?Franks said. “We want to know what, if anything, has changed.”

Barry Maram, Blagojevich’s appointee to direct the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, was involved in an attempt to expand state-sponsored health care to middle-income families without legislative approval or specific funding. Blagojevich’s administration was sued because of it.

Maram said the program was not an initiative of his agency?but of the governor’s office, and it was coordinated with legal counsel. “I had no play in the legal decisions or strategizing,” Maram said, later adding: “FamilyCare frustrated me. We have been a team with [the legislature] on every other matter I can think of, and we will continue to be.”

Quinn’s legal team is trying to settle the lawsuit, and he worked with the legislature to expand health care to families of four making $40,000 a year or less to prevent them from losing health care because of the legal battle.

According to federal allegations, Blagojevich’s office also directed Maram’s agency to withhold about $8 million from a children’s hospital in an alleged scheme to squeeze a hospital administrator for a campaign donation.

Maram said he had no idea about the political motivation until he read Blagojevich’s federal indictment, and he immediately ordered the release of the money. 

Maram is not charged with wrongdoing, and many committee members believed he was following orders.

The panel also questioned Brian Hamer, the Department of Revenue director, about how his agency handled an exclusive state contract for PepsiCo to provide all beverages to state facilities. Details were so slim that a state audit couldn’t determine why Pepsi got the contract rather than Coca-Cola and whether it was “in the state’s best interests.”

Quinn’s office has since worked closely with the legislature to draft procurement reforms designed to insulate the process from political influence, including using an independent contract monitor to ensure transparency and to expose violations.

But Quinn wasn’t cleaning house fast enough for Madigan. He sponsored HB?4450, which was advancing through the legislature at press time, to force Quinn to review as many as 3,000 high-level state employees and appointees within 60 days. Individuals could reapply for their positions, and Quinn could reappoint members, pending Senate confirmations. Anyone left over would be fired.

Quinn said last month that the legislation “actually helps the process” and that he expected it to pass. “I think it helps us to take boards and commissions where individuals are appointed to set terms that may not expire for years to come and give me an opportunity to evaluate those people who are appointed either by Rod Blagojevich or George Ryan.”

But Charlie Wheeler, longtime Statehouse reporter and director of the Public Affairs Reporting graduate program at the University of Illinois at Springfield, questions whether the legislation violates the constitutional separation of powers.

“Even under the circumstances, I don’t think it’s appropriate for the legislature to come in and fire all these people,” he says. “That’s up to the governor to do.”

Within a week of taking office, Quinn took a swipe at Blagojevich by replacing his Department of Natural Resources director, former Rep. Kurt Granberg. The Carlyle Democrat retired from the legislature in anticipation of the appointment and received a $40,000 pension boost because of his new position. Quinn said Granberg wasn’t qualified, and legislators approved a measure to prevent future appointees from receiving higher benefits for minimal time in new jobs.

Quinn replaced Granberg with Marc Miller, an avid outdoorsman (see Illinois Issues, March, page 34). Within a month, Miller and Quinn announced the reopening of seven state parks that Blagojevich had closed.

Quinn’s second appointment sailed through the Senate confirmation process and builds a sturdy bridge between the executive and legislative branches. Former Rep. Gary Hannig, a Litchfield Democrat, was confirmed as transportation secretary, replacing Blagojevich-appointee Milton Sees. 

Hannig previously served as a top Madigan adviser and chief budget negotiator for House Democrats. The certified public accountant is widely respected by Republicans and Democrats. While senators praised his qualifications, they questioned his approach to reviewing Department of Transportation employees. 

Hannig testified that Quinn told him that he should evaluate employees not on whether they’re “Rod Blagojevich people” but on the way they do their jobs.

Warren Ribley also was recommended for confirmation as director of the Department of Economic Opportunity, the state’s economic development agency. He replaces Jack Lavin, who became Quinn’s chief operating officer.

Ribley worked with the current governor during Quinn’s tenure as state treasurer in the early 1990s. He also worked closely with Lavin, whom Blagojevich appointed to head the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Both consider Quinn a close friend.

“It’s almost like when you work for Pat Quinn once, you never stop working for him,” Ribley said last month.

The same can be true of nearly all of Quinn’s top staffers, as well as a longtime friend and current president of the Illinois Finance Authority, John Filan. Quinn didn’t appoint Filan (he was internally elected), but Madigan questions why Filan is still serving when he was a driving force behind many of Blagojevich’s controversial budget proposals.

Quinn selected a complete outsider when appointing Jonathan Monken, a decorated combat veteran, to replace longtime officer Larry Trent to lead the Illinois State Police (See Illinois Issues, May, page 34). The move struck legislators because Monken, 29, has never worked in law enforcement.

But Quinn, a tireless advocate for veterans, defends Monken’s experience in Iraq, including leading 110 combat missions without losing a single soldier.

Monken had not yet been confirmed by the Senate at press time. 

Sen. Tony Munoz, chairman of the committee that reviews gubernatorial appointments, says members aren’t ready to confirm Monken because they have reservations about his ability to lead roughly 4,000 state troopers and manage the state’s response to major catastrophes.

“I think the governor’s got a good heart,”?Munoz says. “He loves veterans, as we all know. That’s a great thing. You just have to make sure that when you appoint somebody to a certain department that they can have some of the qualifications and know how to handle the department, that’s all.”

Quinn’s slow pace of appointments is telling:?He’s occupied by a record-setting budget deficit and a deep economic recession. But voters could perceive the delay as a failure to “fumigate” the state. 

Then again, he has avoided committing “guilt by association.” And he’s pursuing policy changes in an effort to prevent history from repeating itself — again.

Quinn’s slow pace of appointments is telling: He’s occupied by a record-setting budget deficit and a deep economic recession. But voters could perceive the delay as a failure to “fumigate” the state.

 
 
Bethany Jaeger can be reached at capitolbureau@aol.com.

Illinois Issues, June 2009