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First up, the governor claims his office doesn’t involve itself in civil service hiring, but the AP found a memo that shows otherwise.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office took a personal interest in the hiring of a congressman’s son-in-law to fly state planes, even though the pilot wasn’t properly licensed and the job was supposed to be free of political influence, internal e-mails show.Documents obtained by The Associated Press show an aide to Blagojevich’s personnel director contacted the Department of Central Management Services in July 2003 to check on the status of Brian Keen, U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello’s son-in-law.
Blagojevich has repeatedly said that his office does not get involved in filling positions that are supposed to be free of politics. A Blagojevich spokeswoman said Keen was hired based on qualifications, not politics.
In the e-mails, CMS, the state’s hiring agency, said that Keen had two opportunities to submit applications to be a state pilot but couldn’t show he was qualified for the job. The e-mails said the rejected paperwork was returned to the governor’s office with a note about necessary qualifications.
And the governor has apparently made peace with a group of workers who he once accused of fraud.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich apparently has made peace with a group of state employees he tried to fire in 2003 after he accused them of engaging in hiring fraud.The first-term Democratic governor last year won the right to terminate the nine individuals - holdovers from the administration of Republican Gov. George Ryan - after pursuing a lengthy legal battle that cost taxpayers an estimated $650,000.
But for the past several months, Blagojevich’s office has allowed the employees to continue working at senior posts where they earn monthly salaries ranging from $5,100 to $9,470, state comptroller records show.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said agency supervisors have evaluated the employees and believe they are worth keeping on, regardless of the earlier dispute. […]
“These are people who worked the system, essentially committed a fraud on the public,” Blagojevich said in fall 2003 as a court battle unfolded. “These people knew what they were doing. They were part and parcel of a conspiracy.”
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 8:12 am
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#1 - You mean to tell me/us that Rod lied about hiring another loser with no experience simply because he is politically connected? And And And a paid hack from the Chicago Democrat Machine covered supported his lie? Oh what the hell, there are only lives on line.
Buckle those seat belts a little tighter, you state plane flyers!
#2 - Some jobs require experienced, professional people, not in-laws (see #1).
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 8:42 am
Okay, this is extreme. I understand there is patronage, but come on. Hiring a guy to onspect meters or some other relatively low skilled job, I can let slide. But hiring a guy who isn’t properly licensed to fly a state plane, ridiculous. Maybe it is a minor licensing issue, but Rod lied again. What’s he thinkin?
Comment by Wumpus Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 9:15 am
Ho hum. Is there a single state employee in Topinka’s Treasurer’s office hired outside of political considerations? Just because the hire by a Republican is just as likely to be a nod to a Democrat ally doesn’t make it better. It’s still political.
Not an iota of difference between Judy and Rod on this issue.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 10:16 am
You mean the Blagojevich Administration lied again?
What a surprise.
Comment by Bubs Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 10:28 am
I don’t care much that the Governor’s office intervened, since I don’t have to fly with this guy.
I am continually amazed, however, at the shameless disconnection between his post-election “cronyism” rhetoric and the current statements/excuses from the Governor’s Office.
Where’s the trust? Credibilty? Integrity? While I agree that neither candidate has an abundance of these qualities, one has certainly distinguished himself over the last three years as almost universally distrusted.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 10:46 am
What blows my mind is the $650,000 price in legal fees! And this lawsuit is just one of many, how come no reporter has picked up on this? John O’Connor if you are out there, please do a story on how taxpayers are paying for these politians mistakes!
Comment by Anon Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 11:13 am
The postings today on the SJ-R are priceless. To quote Sky High, “Am I the Pilot? Well, no. But, I did stay at the Blagoyo Inn Express last night.”
Now what kind of idiot would want a marginally qualified pilot to fly him around the State? Blagoyonut that’s who.
Comment by Little Egypt Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 11:55 am
I wonder how long it will take the spokeswoman to get tired of covering up this administration’s lies and deceit. The spokeswoman’s response was nothing more than spin.
Comment by Anon. Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 12:16 pm
Where is Lisa Madigan?
Comment by DOWNSTATE Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 12:33 pm
I’ve been trying to figure out how the Democrats could get rid of Rod and exchange him for Lisa..
The only way I can see it is get Judy in for one term and then let Lisa mop the Capital floor with her. The Dems won’t let it happen any other way.
Seriously, I think Lisa’s approval ratings eclipse just about every other politician out there. I think she’d smoke anyone she ran against. It’s just the Democratic machine won’t let her.
Comment by Downstate Surveyor Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 1:40 pm
Anon 12:16 - apparently it is taking “this spokewoman” a long time to wake up to the fact that her career move from TV journalism to Blago’s staff was not a good one. I’d like to think that these people who put out his spin have a hard time looking at themselves in the mirror. They apparently have no shame or they would not have hopped on the Blago bandwagon in the first place. TV people go to State government all the time. This administration, however, is not a good career move for any journalist.
Comment by Little Egypt Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 1:44 pm
Downstate, Great Question. I have called her office to ask that exact question. Here is an idea: If you are reading this and curious about why the Lisa is not making her open investigations findings available for the public to choke on, which they surely would, then call her, email her or heckle her during a news conference.
Do something people. Don’t just lie down like the people from the topinka camp. Do something! Take action! If you have the dope share it with every law enforcement agency and reporter you can think of except those controlled by the governor.
Speaking of investigations Lisa try investigating the guvs “inspector general”. It is an organized crime organization whose primary function is kill any bad news and burn the bodies. It was concieved to function exactly as it has. Nothing has ever been done by a single one of that staff.
They like many of the guvs people are worthless, functionless human beings committing a fraud on the entire state. My question for them as it is for many in government is how do you sleep or look in the mirror knowing your professional life is part of a meaningless dog and pony show meant to mislead for the purpose of lining the pockets of a few people. I know this sounds like good government crap to most who read this but to you folks who lie all day long for this administration and the topinka camp remember that the truth is a powerful
enemy.
Lisa now is you and your fathers chance to cut bait with this loser. Take the small amount of pain now and it will pay in 5 years. You can beat Judy to a pulp but it might be tough to win a primary against a 2 or 3 term incumbent of your party. There was a time that to many would have percieved this as a self serving move but as of now you are about to start looking like Jim Ryan. Act now Lisa, join forces with th fbi and put cini, monk, Kelly, and even curry in the vice. People with small children will do anything to protect them so when you choose your targets/wussie bureaucrats go after those with kids and threaten the perps freedom. One of them will squeal on the idiot. They are not used to cops, they are new and will crack like a robin’s egg. Then you will be free lisa. Free to be the Governor for a long, long time. This guv has aspirations beyond his current office but you are the person with enough class and connections to acheive them. This is the answer and within the next 2 months is the time. Have the feds release their stuff and follow them up with the knockout punch.
Back to judy being the guv, it would be so easy for daddy and emil to set her up like a bowling pin for you to roll over. You don’t have to wait for your turn in life lady you have to make your luck ask big jim.
Comment by chinman Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 2:43 pm
Is there a mole in CMS? How on earth did the AP get ahold of this e-mail? Does this mean someone inside Blago’s administration is fed up with the lies and deception to the point they are blowing the whistle?
Comment by RichMo Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 4:00 pm
“loser with no experience”
Great. So Illinois National Guard pilots are ‘losers’? Same anti-troop theme going at the SJ-R comments, too. It’s unfortunate for CPT Keen he got into this mess, to be slurred in such a fashion. Set aside whether it was political; by the time he got hired, he had the hours and license needed to qualify. Plus he’s from Illinois. Plus he’s a vet. Some of the characterizations of him here are disgraceful.
Comment by OAD Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 4:22 pm
When will the man with “testicular virility” step up to the microphone and have an honest press conference to extoll his virtuous admin. and tell us why he deserves another 4 years. I already answered my own question when I said an honest news press conference. This guy and him minions are such losers and they don’t even know how to cover their tracks. “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight” is way above this crowd. Federallies have all the emails people and it is just a matter of time until Blago and Co. start singing Jailhouse Rock. I have spoken with the big indians and they are on the warpath for the “Slav from the City.”
Comment by Save a Horse Ride a Harley Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 4:31 pm
RichMo,
I think we will be seeing more and more leaks in the Blago boat as election time approaches. Blago isn’t very well liked within the state employee arena and my guess is that there are numerous people holding BIG dirt on Honest Rod. They are probably waiting until it is closer to election time. Remember, there already has been someone who wore a wire in his office.
Anonymous 10:16, The iota of difference between Judy and Rod is that Rod has power over thousands and thousands of jobs and the ability to fabricate reasons to mess up and can existing employees, as he has done. JBT only has power over one office with maybe a couple of hundred employees. Until November that is.
Comment by Papa Legba Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 4:52 pm
isn’t keen the one on leave while someone investigates domestic battery?
Comment by anon Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 5:01 pm
The press needs to look into the Allkids debacle. Word is is that $12M have been spent in advertsing and print work for only about 3K pre-registers. And still no word from the Feds if this will fly and no funding stream either. Can we spell kaput?
Comment by Anon Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 5:38 pm
#1 He was qualified, eventually.
#2 I believe the Administrative Rule that let the Ryan cronies abuse the system is still on the books. Hmmmmmmm. I wonder if the Blago cronies are planning to use it to certify all those exempt employees that have been hired?
Comment by anon Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 6:48 pm
It’s e-mails like this one that make me smile. As one who is currently watching how the summer worker program at DHS is being badly mismanaged by a group of overpaid connected individuals brought in for the sole purpose of managing this program, I live for the slow but sure leaks of information about how this governor and his band of cohorts are really running things. Does anyone else find it hard to believe that there was no other qualified candidate on the pilot’s list? Or that this was an isolated incident? Or that there aren’t many, many more e-mails of this nature out there?
Comment by cynically anonymous Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 8:11 pm
the adm. is in the habit of clearing the cms lists of names in the middle of the month. this vet is not alone they have been skirting veterans preference from the first day. Scott doubet at dot is the expert at screwing people who have risked life and limb. He helped other agency patronage directors do the same. I here he has screwed over roughly 500 veterans at dot. He and Robert Millette began this system to screw vets and it was adopted statewide. Speaking of Mr. Millette lets hope he has contracted a terminal illness.
What about the fbi and the road program rich? For those who don’t know the road program is entirerly fixed. Every single project requires guvs office approval. the reason is so they no which contractors to shake down. This is one of the reasons his fund has so much money. It used to be that a big contractor would give to his legisaltors and the guvs office. Not any more, they cut out the middle man and gave these mostly gangsters even more access to the governor than they have had in the past. To have any more one of the gangsters will have to be governor. Thats right I used the word gangster because folks thats what they are and we all on both sides know it.
Comment by chinman Tuesday, Jun 27, 06 @ 6:13 am
Downstate Surveryor - I think you are right. Judy wins this one, raises taxes, gets the state back on good fiscal times, and is a one term gov. Lisa runs in 2010 and makes her daddy’s dreams come true. That is all right with me, anything to get rid of Blago.
As far as the hiring, everybody from the college kid who cleans bathrooms at the parks to IDOT engineers…they are all dems……everyone of them….it is too bad the gov office has to continue to lie about it.
Comment by old capital Tuesday, Jun 27, 06 @ 7:05 am
AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE
I have an extensive backgound in public service, predominantly civil service. I have a professional graduate degree of fairly recent vintage from a prestigious local university. A few select people know how hard I’ve worked for Democratic Party candidates the last 15 - 20 years. I have my legititate “A” highly qualified rating from CMS. But alas, no job, not even an interview.
I was bemoaning my plight with a political official the other day, who confided that a very close relative had highly qualified ratings in a many different job categories, but hadn’t been able to get an interview. His rhetorical question to me: “Who are they hiring?”
After waiting patiently for 4 years, I’ve decided to pursue an innovative adoption strategy. Since all else has failed, I’ve decided to ask some prominent political personages/public figures to adopt me. I’ll waive my inheritance rights.
I’m 55 years old - so my first choice, Jan S, barely qualifies as an older sister. Rahm’s too young.The elder Tom Hynes already has a big family and a lot of other friends. It’s too late to petition Paddy Bauler, the original Mayor Daley,Alderma Roti, George Dunne, or John Stoger (no disrespect to President Stroger or his family intended - his life is a veritable Horatio Alger story).
After considerable thought and weighing the pros and cons of various adoptive parents, I’ve decided to petition Dawn Clark Netsch and Studs Terkel to be become my adoptive political parents.
I know Dawn personally. She’s mature enough to be my mother and she likes me(I’m her precinct captain), and she has an impeccable independent Democrat political pedigree.
Studs is old enough to be my grandfather, but he’s certainly venerable. I don’t know Studs. But after he interviews me, I assume he would write a feature length article extolling my personal virtues and professional qualifications to supplement my CMS 100 (State of Illinois job application).
I’m not a political mercenary. So I’m still enthusiastically supporting the Governor and many other fine Democratic candidates. But my honest opinion is that the Governor’s minions are poor judges of talent. Sometimes I doubt that they can even read and understand a resume.
Comment by Captain America Tuesday, Jun 27, 06 @ 8:39 am