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* The most important paragraphs in this story about the Jerry Stermer resignation are at the bottom of today’s Sun-Times story…
Quinn’s office added new clarity Monday to the timeline of Wright’s ouster. His removal occurred on the morning of Aug. 13 while the governor did not get formally briefed about Wright’s report against Stermer until that evening, a Quinn spokeswoman said. […]
Many in state government’s political circles were stunned Monday by Stermer’s decision to quit Quinn’s staff over three “inadvertently” sent political e-mails, particularly given that Wright reported scouring 38,700 of Stermer’s e-mails looking for a political angle.
Stermer brought those three e-mails to Wright’s attention in January, the same time Stermer briefed Quinn about the possible violations of a state ethics law. In his Aug. 11 report to Quinn, Wright recommended that Attorney General Lisa Madigan file a complaint against Stermer, 67, before the state Executive Ethics Commission for the political e-mails.
The penalty for such transgressions generally has been light. Earlier this year, the commission imposed a $250 fine against a high-ranking Department of Human Services administrator for a 2008 correspondence to four state workers from his government e-mail address encouraging them to support Barack Obama for president and Howard J. Brookins Jr. for Cook County state’s attorney. The DHS administrator was allowed to keep his job.
I don’t believe that Stermer really resigned over those three e-mails. As the article makes clear, that’s barely a petty offense. And Stermer did, indeed, report every wrongly sent e-mail to the OEIG because the the OEIG spent seven months going over every one of his 38,700 electronic messages.
I believe Stermer resigned because Quinn fired Executive Inspector General Wright the same day he was formally briefed on Wright’s Stermer report. This was either a ham-fisted attempt at retaliation or an extremely unfortunate coincidence. Quinn will answer questions from reporters today, and they need to ask whether he was at all aware that Wright had sent his office a report on Stermer, not just whether the governor knew what the exact wording of the report was. It would also be interesting to know whether Stermer was in on the decision to replace Wright. But don’t hold your breath on getting full answers.
* The Tribune has more on the e-mails…
An influential adviser to his brother, Thomas Quinn sent an e-mail headlined: “PQ, the tax cutter.”
“I believe that it’s true to say (that) Pat Quinn has implemented more budget cuts than any other governor in Illinois history,” the e-mail said. “Isn’t that a powerful antidote message to push back at Hynes when he tries to paint Pat as a tax and spender. Also a powerful message for the general election as well.”
Through the governor’s campaign spokeswoman, Thomas Quinn said he inadvertently sent the political e-mail to Stermer’s state account. He then left Stermer a voice mail to “ignore that e-mail.”
Quinn campaign consultant John Kupper, who also got the e-mail, replied that the idea about the governor’s budget-cutting would be a “great fact, if true. Also something to test in our next poll.”
A day later, Stermer hit “reply to all” from his government account. Stermer said he would “work with the budget office to get the precise amount.”
Within minutes, Stermer then sent a separate note to David Vaught, the budget chief, asking for the total amount of money Quinn has cut from the state budget since taking office.
A third e-mail exchange took place in December, when another Quinn campaign aide asked Stermer to weigh in on proposed answers to a candidate questionnaire by the Tribune’s editorial board.
Stermer should never have replied to those e-mails, but he owned up to his mistakes. Also, the campaign folks should’ve known better than to send Stermer e-mails to his state account.
* And excuse me for not bowing to the Chicago Tribune…
And Quinn’s opponent, Republican Bill Brady, didn’t hesitate to draw a straight line between the two events: “On the very day Pat Quinn was confronted with evidence by the inspector general of an ethics violation, he put his political interests before citizens yet again and fired the inspector general himself,” Brady said Monday.
It’s now up to Attorney General Lisa Madigan to determine whether to file a complaint with the Executive Ethics Commission, which could impose a fine or other discipline on Stermer.
Is there more to this story? Does there have to be? Nobody in Illinois should need to be reminded why the ethics act prohibits the use of state resources for campaign purposes. Quinn’s interpretation of the rules is liberal enough to justify a public schedule chock-a-block with barely disguised campaign appearances — four stops in a single day, for example, to “encourage shoppers to take advantage of Illinois’ first-ever back-to-school sales-tax holiday” — but there’s no question that Stermer’s actions did cross the line.
Sure, the actions crossed the line. That’s why Stermer reported it himself. And I, too, would like to know if the firing was connected or not. But, pardon me for asking, when has the Tribune published an editorial blasting state Sen. Bill Brady for voting three times for legislation that directly benefited his own construction business? Brady wouldn’t even cop to a conflict of interest, even though that was probably one of the most direct legislative conflicts many of us have seen in a very long time.
* Related…
* Quinn draws fire over timing of inspector general’s ouster
* Quinn, Stermer and Wright: Unfortunate Timing or Retaliation?
* Quinn faces questions on ethics
* Quinn set to announce new chief of staff
* Quinn feeling heat over dismissal of ethics official
* Brown: Let’s be honest: 3 e-mails not a scandal
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 9:37 am
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I agree that there is no scandal. There should be no story at all. But the situation just points out that there seems to be no leadership in the Quine administration, and now probably his best guy Stermer is out. Quinn keeps shooting himself in the foot while trying to run. This may be the end of his campaign, as even a hint of impropriety will dry up the funding.
Comment by downstate hack Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 9:45 am
Rich said,
“But, pardon me for asking, when has the Tribune published an editorial blasting state Sen. Bill Brady for voting three times for legislation that directly benefited his own construction business? Brady wouldn’t even cop to a conflict of interest, even though that was probably one of the most direct legislative conflicts many of us have seen in a very long time.”
And Kirk is a liar, and Alexi is a mob banker.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 9:48 am
Never thought I’d see the fat lady warming up this early in this race….wow.
Honestly, I am a big Kirk guy, but I predicted Quinn would win a close one. The amount of incompetence that this entire campaign has shown is amazing. Kirk gets hit for lying, AG for banking and treasury failures, but Quinn? - plain and simple incompetence and bad messaging.
I never thought it would go down like this…amazing.
Comment by A.B. Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 9:57 am
I truly hope there was no connection between the report on Stermer and “replacement” of the Inspector General. But the circumstantial evidence is glaring. I am most interested in hearing Quinn give his version of the timeline…and the subsequent investigation (official and/or media) into discovering the truth.
Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:01 am
Capt Fax:
The Tribune blowhards are hadly surprising. Never forget their response to the Ryan CDL scandal was a story before the November election about how HARD it was to get a CDL…..this while motel loads of illegals were being handed licenses in Elk Grove. And as we know from the Blagoof tapes the Trib loves a little sweetheart real estate scam.
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:01 am
Is there still time for Quinn to do the honorable thing and admit he isn’t capable of running the state over the next four years and withdraw from the Democratic ticket? A replacement could still win, simply because Brady is so utterly worthless himself.
Comment by fedup dem Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:02 am
Given the state’s rich tradition in corruption, and our very recent history, I’m at a loss on the Shermer thing. Is this a gag or something?
Seriously, we should grow up about the communication devices as well. He’s the chief of staff; he’s obviously going to have governmental and political communications. The idea that making him switch phones somehow guards against corruption is laughably juvenile.
Just split the phone bill by calls.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:03 am
Wordslinger has it right. It’s ridiculous that the chief of staff of an elected official can’t respond to ANY request for state related business like budget expenditures. If the question was about the campaign’s Ad budget that’s a different matter. This a GOO-GOO God has gone too far.
Comment by Louis Howe Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:12 am
Two thoughts about the timing.
First, it kind of makes sense to make the change once the report about Stermer was completed. Imagine the headlines if they fired Wright while he was in the middle of an investigation of the Chief of Staff.
Second, they announced the appointment of Meza the next day, so clearly Quinn had been planning to make the change for some time. They would have had to have done the interviewing, job offer, etc prior to the 13th in order to have him in place. So how could this have been retaliation for the content of the report?
Taken together, they could have avoided a lot of criticism to say that they decided prior to seeing the report that Wright was going to be replaced, but felt that it would be improper to fire him while the investigation was underway, so they waited until after his report was completed.
Comment by Don't Worry, Be Happy Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:19 am
I agree with you wordslinger that this is the smallest of small potatoes. But how does one write an ethics rule that is not all or nothing. Is it okay to have five emails, but not 10? Can one make a single copy of a flyer but not 25?
Why did the IG take SEVEN months to issue a ruling (unless it has been sitting on someone’s desk for political reasons)? Why does the IG report to the Governor (stupid law there)? Since Quinn is in nominal charge of the IG (like he appears to be nominally in charge of his term as governor), is it true he knew of the report moments after he fired the IG, or did he know it in advance?
There has been a serious lack of common sense from many people. The IG for not issuing a quick decision (with a finding of no problem or a slap on the wrist). Quinn for his hamhanded treatment of the IG. The only person who seems to have any is Shermer.
Comment by Cincinnatus Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:19 am
Hindsight is all but I suppose that Stermer should have gotten some sort of reprimand with details announced to the press. It would have gone away probably.
As to Wright, if his term actually ended in 2008, what was he still doing there. I thought four year terms in state govt had to be affirmatively renewed–you didn’t just get to stay on because they forgot about you. In any case, it made sense in early 2009 for Quinn to need time to make important appointments, but two years? This should be an priority position for an accidental governor in Quinn’s position to fill. In the middle of a huge debate on ethics reform, he doesn’t bother to fill his EOIG. Why not at least reappoint Wright.
I wasn’t going to vote for Quinn anyway but really. This is chaos.
Comment by cassandra Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:20 am
Quinn should name Malcolm Weems to Chief of Staff position he has budget experience from working at OMB, so he can hit the ground running as far as finding ways for Quinn to close budget gap. He is a smart young African American male who has experience with the city and the state governments!
Comment by WELL... Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:20 am
There’s probably nothing sinister here. Just a lack of anyone with authority on 16 who has an ounce of common media sense. Someone needed to tell PQ “you can’t do this. It will look AWFUL.” Apparently that either didn’t happen or they were overruled.
Comment by Chicago Cynic Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:21 am
You can get two-way Blackberries and pay for them out of campaign expenditures. Quinn has raised several million dollars over the past calendar year. His campaign could have provided two-way smart phones to top officials to ensure none of this would have ever happened. Phones are cheap when purchased by a government or campaign office, and data plans are fairly affordable when compared to the hassle of having two separate phones for two separate “jobs”. This could have been avoided. And yeah, it’s “small potatoes”, but the coincidental nature of Stermer’s resignation and IG Wright’s removal make Mr. Reformer look awfully silly and incompetent.
Comment by Team Sleep Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:47 am
Yesterday on this blog some commenters “in the know” assured us that the Wright-Shermer thing is part of a much bigger story that will be exploding soon. Others, seemingly in the know, said this is not a big deal and just another example of Quinn administration incompetence/clueless decision making/lousy messaging.
I’d guess that for a lot of us NOT directly in the know, but very aware of how Illinois government operates, door number one feels like the likely winner.
Comment by Responsa Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 10:50 am
Complete and absolute buffoonery. Good grief. And this guy is the Governor.
Change the signs on the Illinois border: “Welcome to Illinois, Land of the Goofy Governors.” We have One in Prison, one was just recently found guilty and is now a felon, and the one currently serving is seemingly batty!
Wow!
Comment by Justice Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 11:08 am
So let me get this right, according to the logic of some, I can sit at my state job and make political calls if I do it on my own cell phone? Come on, the line is clear. If you are on state time, you just can’t do that.
Comment by More Courage Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 11:20 am
Obviously Pat Quinn has ran out of his own feet to shoot.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 11:21 am
Wright was two years past his term expiration–that Quinn hadn’t replaced him yet is what’s goofy #1
That what passes as gov’t ethics made Stermer’s crackberry messages political is goofy #2–wordslinger is on point
Goofy #3 is that Brady is getting a walk on his self-interest votes in the Senate and will likely end up Gov and, based upon that behavior, be our next Gov. on trial…probably the one thing Quinn will never be.
Comment by D.P. Gumby Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:12 pm
In a rarity, I am defending Quinn on this. If he fired the IG Wright over the Stermer “3 emails that he REPORTED,” GOOD. The guy spent 7 months looking through emails of a guy that supposedly reported his transgression. That’s a lot of time and tax payer money down the drain. However, if there was more than this in the report, then yes, Quinn was wrong. If not, I hope he stands behind firing the guy.
Comment by My Opinion Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:15 pm
Why would a governor trailing in an election three months away fire an inspector general? What positive benefit outweighs the negative publicity?
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:22 pm
Word, good question. And it goes to my theory that the man just doesn’t know how to govern. Or campaign.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:31 pm
Good news for the Quinn people, he is under 10% behind in the latest Rasmussen poll: Illinois Governor: Brady (R) 46%, Quinn (D) 37%.
Now Pat has the Big Mo!
Comment by Cincinnatus Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:36 pm
Fire wright, chase out Stermer… but protect Randle…these are a few of my favorite things.
Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:14 pm
Word and Rich, great observations. This only serves as further evidence that Mr. Quinn’s campaign manager was more than likely hired only to handle basic, day-to-day operations rather than anything major (i.e. strategy or media). As with my earlier post about two-way smart phones, the Quinn camp can afford a higher-tier campaign operative to run the show.
Comment by Team Sleep Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:42 pm