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Posted by Barton Lorimor (@bartonlorimor)
* “It’s your job as Governor to get along with people.”
The Mayor has bit his tongue a few times in recent weeks as his pension bill is sitting on the Governor’s desk at the moment.
* The pension bill has sort of been tucked away in the inside pages as of late though. As you remember from yesterday…
A Chicago attorney who has long crusaded against patronage is asking a federal judge to investigate hiring under Gov. Pat Quinn, alleging the Democratic governor has continued to stack the Illinois Department of Transportation with political hires.
Michael Shakman argues that Quinn has violated rules that prevent certain employees from being hired for political reasons.
The attorney points to an investigation by the Better Government Association, a watchdog group that found Quinn has continued practices first put in place by impeached ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich that it says improperly classified non-political positions as ones that could be filled by political appointees.
The Governor’s campaign, according to the Daily Herald, is not commenting on the story, which is leading to the media to rehash Rauner’s attacks. Take a look at this full WGN News segment the Republican hopeful uploaded yesterday…
That’s more than three minutes of free airtime in Chicago, and none of it included remarks from the Quinn people.
Ouch.
From another good government group, and the Governor’s political past…
Meanwhile, good government groups said even allegations of patronage hiring were cause for concern.
“It’s a slippery slope when we see this happen. It makes sense to look into it right now,” said Susan Garrett of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. “This can’t be a gray area.”
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 7:40 am
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Previous Post: Morning Shorts
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Here come the FOIAs….
Gonna be interesting when they start looking.
Comment by OneMan Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 8:17 am
Rubber, meet road. This one’s got traction.
Comment by A guy... Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 8:56 am
As Rich once said on this blog, Quinn is a “ferocious” patronage guy. My contacts in DOT say he has packed that agency. We’ve seen it in DNR, and I’ll bet that’s just the tip of the ice berg.
Comment by College in the 70s Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 9:49 am
A new wave is a comin’. More agitation in the washing machine.
If we keep up with this, no matter how much we cherish complaining about our bad reputation, Illinois will have one of the cleaner state governments in the nation. We’re already probably in the middle. At least that’s my impression having seen New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island governments up close and personal, and having an old acquaintance involved in state corruption in Louisiana.
Comment by Walker Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 10:18 am
If Quinn doesn’t want to lose to Rauner, he will need to demonstrate that his long personal history with the corrupting practice of patronage has come to an end.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 11:14 am
Someone mentioned a few days ago about the blog has been leaning left… I think this story does reinforce this reality. This should not, but is a partisan issue. It should be an Illinois issue. The double down by Madigan on the library makes this more of a story. One week, we are broke. The next we need a library. If the title of this link said Rauner and not Quinn, there would be 100 comments. My point, this is why our state is messed up. Both parties have done this. It needs to stop. To the post, the silence by PQ is defeaning. It is a big F’n deal, it’s a lottery ticket.. To paraphrase our last Gov….
Comment by Walter Mitty Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 11:15 am
Hilarious.
Who’s the Channel 9 boo-boo talking to Pearson? Is he on drugs? He’s got a “Stepford Wives” thing going on. Just kind of staring into space and reading cue cards.
Dan Walker? Patronage at IDOT? Stop the presses, lol.
Wow, Rick, doing some serious trolling for Rauner there. Did he put Lis on the payroll or something?
Got news for you folks, no one wants to buy the Trib, at any price. That must be obvious by now. Your phony-baloney jobs are in serious jeopardy.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 11:21 am
Joe and Mika’s agent, by the way, is Ari Emanuel.
I’m sure they just forgot to reveal that when they were pressing Quinn on making nice with Rahm.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 11:31 am
Word… Do you really think it’s not a story? It plays right into the talking points for Rauner and many that are sick of business as usual… If it was a non story, why no comment from PQ? It may not be everything, but it ain’t nothin…
Comment by Walter Mitty Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 11:39 am
Pat Quinn seems to know everything about Wrigley Field, but he knows nothing about what goes on with state hiring or his political appointments.
Comment by DuPage Rep Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 12:44 pm
That lady from MSNBC is about as unbearable as a human being could be. So annoying! How did PQ keep his cool with her constant interruptions and badgering? Yeesh.
Comment by So. ILL Thursday, Apr 24, 14 @ 2:38 pm