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Rauner zeroing in on 20 IDOT workers

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Illinois

* From a press release…

Yesterday, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn was asked to explain why he won’t fire 103 illegal patronage hires that remain at the Illinois Department of Transportation. Here was his response:

“Those that are still in the state government they did apply for positions that were covered by civil service, they followed all the rules, they were hired under those particular proper rules, and I see no need to fire them if they followed the rules and the agency followed the rules.”

What a load of baloney. All of these people were hired illegally – they got inside the IDOT system improperly while Illinois workers, particularly our veterans, were never given opportunities to apply. And once inside the system, Quinn’s cronies had preferential access to job openings – ahead of other Illinois job seekers.

Meanwhile, while Pat Quinn tries to hide behind “job protections” for some of the remaining 103 illegal patronage hires, IDOT publicly stated that 20 of these cronies do not have job protections against being fired. Why can’t Pat Quinn – at the very least – fire these 20 illegal patronage hires? Who is he protecting and why?

Background:

According To IDOT, Twenty Of The Illegal Hires That Quinn Is Protecting Do Not Have Job Protections Against Being Fired “The 103 IDOT workers who Quinn’s office said will keep their jobs include 83 who have moved into positions that come with job protections they didn’t have when they hired in as staff assistants. Another 20 don’t have those protections, but still are not expected to be let go, Tridgell said.” (Ray Long and Monique Garcia, “IDOT To Retain 103 Hired Despite Anti-Patronage Rules,” Chicago Tribune, 9/13/14)

Current IDOT Employees Are Given Preferential Access To Job Openings Within IDOT. “When the employer determines to fill a permanent vacancy within the bargaining unit, the Employer shall post for 10 days within the Agency the position is located, by District Offices and Central Bureaus and will make a reasonable attempt to provide the same information to field offices. The posting notice shall state the position classification, any specialized skills, training, experience or other necessary qualifications, the shift, the work location and assignment, rate of pay and shall indicate that it is a bargaining unit position. Any bargaining unit employee may bid on a position in any Agency under this collective bargaining agreement; however, they must be deemed qualified and eligible in order to be considered for selection.” (IDOT Collective Bargaining Agreement, Accessed 9/18/14, p. 32)

Discuss.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:45 am

Comments

Rauner is in full desperation mode.

Comment by William j Kelly Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:48 am
Not sure if Rauner’s camp is dumb, or deliberate, but preference to job openings only applies to employees already in the bargaining unit. Exempt employees have to compete with folks from the outside. They may have a leg up because they know more about IDOT operations than those folks but there is no preference given to exempt employees. Sheesh!

Comment by Jimbo Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:52 am
This story has no legs. I get the idea of trying to keep this in press, but if this is all you’ve got on September 18th you may have a problem.

Comment by Rahm'sMiddleFinger Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:53 am
==Not sure if Rauner’s camp is dumb, or deliberate, but preference to job openings only applies to employees already in the bargaining unit. Exempt employees have to compete with folks from the outside. They may have a leg up because they know more about IDOT operations than those folks but there is no preference given to exempt employees. Sheesh!==

Rutan exempt people can still be in the bargaining unit. Why do you think the Teamsters are suing?

Comment by so... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:53 am
And the Quinn comback is:

AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN: Do you know how many professionals work at billionaire Republican Bruce Rauner’s investment firm?

51 people.

Do you want to guess how many of those employees are African-American?

None.

Zero.

Not a single African-American.

Why do you suppose that is?

Well, when ABC News asked Rauner he said he couldn’t find anyone…

RAUNER: “We weren’t finding the folks that, that uh, you know, that weren’t there.”
Really, Bruce Rauner?

You couldn’t find anyone?

You couldn’t find a single qualified African-American to work for and represent your firm?

And now you’re running TV ads claiming how close you are to our community?

[Chuckles]

Well, we know how do judge our true friends, and those who aren’t.

Zero employees out of 51.

So, Bruce Rauner, if you’re listening, did you really think no one would ever find out?

PAT QUINN: Taxpayers for Quinn paid for this message because there’s so much at stake.

Or

NARRATOR: Bruce Rauner’s healthcare company APS was caught by the FBI defrauding taxpayers and cheating patients.

Rauner’s company had to pay a $13 million settlement.

The U.S. Attorney said Rauner’s company “took Medicaid’s money for itself and left some of our most vulnerable citizens without the aid they deserve.”

Did Bruce Rauner really think no one would find out?

Comment by My 2 cents... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:53 am
===Why can’t Pat Quinn – at the very least – fire these 20 illegal patronage hires?===

A reasonable question. You should ask the Quinn campaign.

Comment by Mighty M. Mouse Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:54 am
Despite the Quinsters attempts to distract people by attacks against Rauner’s firm they still don’t have a good explanation as to why they keep these other clouted employees working.

Comment by Cassiopeia Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:57 am
@Mighty M. Mouse

Probably because they’re all veterans. /Snark

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:58 am
I guess the Raunerites don’t believe the Trib polling that most Illinois voters DO NOT CARE about this IDOT hiring issue. I wonder if they believe the other part of the poll showing Quinn pulling ahead.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but if some big revelations against Quinn or some other game-changer does not happen soon, it seems to me that Rauner will lose this thing. If the next two weeks are not a vast improvement over this past week Rauner will be toast. And keep in mind that people start voting in seven days!
The continued focus on the IDOT hiring is an indication of desperation in the Rauner camp as they see this thing slipping away.

Comment by Down Here Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:58 am
If they are doing their job, it would be wrong to fire them for someone else’s doing.

Comment by DuPage Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:00 am
So… Haven’t you heard? The staff assistant positions were inappropriately classified as double-exempt positions, not bargaining unit positions.

Comment by Jimbo Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:00 am
My general sense of the public perception of IDOT workers is that all 5,000 or so of them were hired politically (even if it’s not accurate), it’s always been this way, and that this is all inside baseball stuff.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:03 am
“What a load of baloney.”

The pot calling the kettle black.

Rauner clouted his kid into school and then gave the school a large amount of money. He gave money to an out of state governor and then got more pension business.

Ethics 101: If it doesn’t look right, don’t do it.

Quinn might want to pull him in the same unethical mud. What’s worse than an unethical person calling someone else corrupt or unethical–especially here in Illinois?

Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:03 am
The way I read this, the circle’s getting tighter on this. Let’s see where it goes. Seems like we’re close to getting names, salaries, and job skills (or non-skills)Breaking rules to hire political supporters is a big deal in a lot of places. If it’s a close race, and you’re a fool if you don’t believe it is, all these increments will add up.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:03 am
==So… Haven’t you heard? The staff assistant positions were inappropriately classified as double-exempt positions, not bargaining unit positions.==

I’ll repeat, slowly if needed - If the “staff assistants” were not in the Teamsters bargaining unit, then why are the Teamsters suing?

Comment by so... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:04 am
Addendum: Quinn opened himself up to this attack by firing the first 58 or 59 in the first place. He threw them out although the OEIG report did not make any recommendations close to that. He should have just announced the firing or resignation of the four leaders of the hiring per the recommendations of the OEIG, announced some additional IDOT “reforms”, and hunkered down on the issue. Instead, the Quinnsters over-reacted and got rid of the first 58. Now the media and Rauner can keep asking why the rest are not fired too and Quinn cannot reply that he’s just doing what the OEIG recommended.
Regardless, though, giving in to Rauner and the media’s “demands” to keep firing more employees–especially those who now have civil service protection–will never satisfy them and it won’t help Quinn in the election. The issue is a non-starter with voters.

Comment by Down Here Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:07 am
This is a great issue for Rauner. People who want to find jobs get mad when they find out conected people get state jobs in violation of the law.
It points out what a true hypocrite Pat Quinn really is.
Clearly the Rauner people have this well researched.
Also, even independent voters just now checking in know that in Illinois federal investigations and hiring scandals aroiund a Governor aren’t good. Rauner will pound that home the next month and half.

Comment by The Long Hard Slog Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:07 am
Personal gain questionable tactics (Rauner kid in school) vs. messy hard to figure out political gain (Quinn) usually means that the personal gain thing that is easy to figure out will bug the voters more.

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:08 am
How many veterans did rauners company hire?…How many veterans pensions does rauner want to slash? How many veterans does rauner intend to let go if he becomes governor?

Comment by foster brooks Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:10 am
Because 55 of them are now teamsters?

Comment by Jimbo Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:14 am
This will sting. I dunno if the Rauner Crew has gamed this out to close, but if it’s just names and numbers without gaming this out to a bigger payoff, it is just a hit, a big one, but not dangerously fatal…today.

I agree on the “51 at his firm and No African-Americans” has more damage to Bruce than this IDOT hit, today, to Quinn.

“Ok Bruce, there’s the hit, frame it to close it.”

Reducing the number to zero in…puts into focus “zero”…like in zero African-American hires.

Time will tell if it’s gamed out to a big ending, but reducing the number of focus…on its face… is just another major hit, for today.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:14 am
A good issue, but how do you make it resonate with the average voter. The tax increase should still be Rauner’s main issue in this campaign. “Governor Quinn raised your taxes 67% and we still have a fiscal mess” This is the only issue that can attract enough voters IMHO.

Comment by downstate hack Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:15 am
This is starting to come across as Rauner attacking these individuals personally instead of the administration’s hiring practices.

Comment by Jack Handy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:16 am
Now being the operative word.

Comment by Jimbo Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:16 am
==This is a great issue for Rauner.==

If you have nothing else to hang over Quinn.
Cue horn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A

Comment by Jocko Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:20 am
==This is starting to come across as Rauner attacking these individuals personally==

I would tend to agree. He’s dragging some of these people through the mud to further his own political agenda. You can make a point without publishing all of these individual’s names. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. These individuals (notice I said the INDIVIDUALS and not IDOT or the Governor) personally did nothing wrong. Stop treating them as if they personally did.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:20 am
Seems like an ongoing poker game.

Rauner–”I’ll see your nursing home scandal and raise it another 20 protected IDOT workers”

Quinn–”Oh yeah!! I’ll see your 20 IDOT workers and raise it with no African American professional hires”

Rauner……

On and on it goes with no end in sight to the bidding, all the while the citizenry of Illinois lose.

Comment by train111 Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:21 am
===A good issue, but how do you make it resonate with the average voter. ===

Start airing their pictures, their salaries, their connections and lack of skills juxtaposed with the the unemployed guy who has those skills, applied, and didn’t get hired. That’s how.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:22 am
The illegally hired employees as victims? That is not going to play well either.
My heavens, there is such a sense of entitlement to these state jobs.

Comment by The Long Hard Slog Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:22 am
Rich, nice to see that you took time out from your vigil for Bruceys health to post this morning. Bruce is a vicious elitist who identifies with the common man like oil does to water. Come on man.

Comment by Obamas Puppy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:23 am
==Start airing their pictures==

Apparently you’re ok with dragging them through the mud too. Their pictures? Give me a freaking break. That’s unnecessary and classless.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:23 am
===Start airing their pictures, their salaries, their connections and lack of skills juxtaposed with the the unemployed guy who has those skills, applied, and didn’t get hired. That’s how.===

So…

You advocate having an Ad, like a perp walk Ad, shaming the workers, to attack Quinn?

“John Smith got his job with no qualifications, here is his resume”

You want a “body count” type of Ad, focusing on smearing individuals…to elevate Bruce Rauner?

…(whisper) yikes…

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:25 am
“Start airing their pictures, their salaries, their connections and lack of skills”

Pseudonymous commenter calls for doxing of IDOT employees.

Pitiful.

– MrJM

Comment by MrJM Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:27 am
===Demoralized - Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:23 am:

==Start airing their pictures==

Apparently you’re ok with dragging them through the mud too. Their pictures? Give me a freaking break. That’s unnecessary and classless.===

Demo, my man, get a grip. What’s unnecessary is continuing to pay them with tax payer dollars. What’s classless is to institutionalize corruption. There’s nothing preventing these innocents from getting a conscience call and resigning. When you defend a corrupt process, you enable it my friend. People on the “inside” of IDOT have resented these political hacks coming in and getting their jobs and promotions forever. It’s wrong dude.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:28 am
I mean seriously hasn’t Rauner threatened to fire us all regardless if we are veterans after we go on strike because he cuts our pay?

Comment by A Jack Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:28 am
===These individuals (notice I said the INDIVIDUALS and not IDOT or the Governor) personally did nothing wrong. Stop treating them as if they personally did.===

Demo, respectfully, you could not possibly be more wrong about this.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:29 am
==Demo, respectfully, you could not possibly be more wrong about this.==

I’ve lost all respect for you if you believe that airing these people’s pictures is acceptable. It’s despicable and you should know that. The fact that you are ok with doing so makes me question your character and your sense of right and wrong.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:31 am
- A Guy… -,

I don’t know if you want to go that far…

Making it personal to the “pseudo” civilians to shame them, personally, to make political hay…that could backfire many ways.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:33 am
Does Rauner really think that anyone believes he would not engage in patronage as Governor? Come on.

Comment by Snucka Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:33 am
A friend got on Bruce Rauner’s email list to know what the enemy is saying.

Apparently it’s one email after another whining for money based on the fact that they are running out or being outspent.

Maybe someone should get screen shots of these emails and juxtapose them with the money Rauner and Griffin are dumping into the campaign.

Comment by Carl Nyberg Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:35 am
If Rauner really wants heads on pikes…Go with these two.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-10-22/news/ct-met-pensions-teacher-perk-20111023_1_preckwinkle-and-piccioli-steven-preckwinkle-david-piccioli

Comment by Jocko Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:36 am
==Start airing their pictures, their salaries, their connections and lack of skills juxtaposed with the unemployed guy who has those skills, applied, and didn’t get hired==

What skills? The jobs they were ‘illegally’ hired for were grunt work, with no special skills needed. The jobs that they then interviewed for were thru the standard interview process, where they had to qualify like every one else. Yes, they got to interview first, but they still had to qualify. I remember lots of discussion about people moving into union jobs from patronage jobs a few years back. The only thing different about this is that somehow these patronage jobs were union jobs. That’s where the discussion ought to be.

Comment by mythoughtis Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:36 am
And Rauner suddenly believes in work rules?

Comment by Liberty Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:36 am
Snucka - that is how Blago portrayed himself. People bought it and elected and then re-elected him. It can work for Rauner - if he does it right.

A Guy - really?! Some of these folks who were “clouted” into their positions are younger workers who have families. Many of them did not demand they work at IDOT. Remember - quite a few of them were “clouted” in by family members or friends who made demands of the Quinn Administration. To be fair, Governor Quinn and his top staff could have told the power brokers to take a long walk off a short pier. They did not, and now there is a mess. But I am not going so far as to demand that pictures and personal stories be released.

Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:39 am
=== What a load of baloney. ===

Yeah…like Rauner defending union hiring rules.

Or Rauner defending veteran state workers…while simultaneously arguing they should be stripped of their retirements.

Break out the white bread and the mayo, there’s plenty of bologna to go around.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:40 am
@ A Guy,

Good plan with the pictures and everything. Because unless you personally know each and every one of the 20, up close and personal, that’s a very dicy box to open.

What’s the Baron going to say if it turns out they are engineers, traffic experts in the field, trained and appropriate for the job? That Quinn hired the best person for the job, but we should fire them anyways because of whom they knew?

As if the private sector is any different in that respect.

Secondly, your comment is just offensive on it’s face. Just because someone works for the state doesn’t mean they are unqualifed for the job.

Your last few postings have really lowered your earned respect here, and now you just sound like a lunatic.

Comment by How Ironic Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:42 am
OW, Quinn’s protecting some and not others who he did can. He made the decision. Why this group and not the others. Less useful? Continuing to look the other way is more harsh than anything suggested here. If we don’t look at things differently, they’ll never get better.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:44 am
To those who want to blame the IDOT employee - do you know with certainty these people did something wrong to get their jobs? Do you know with certainty they’re not qualified? I would say you don’t. Giving your resume to a politician or asking someone to help you get a job is not illegal. Going for an interview when someone calls you is not illegal. These people were offered jobs and took them. No one has alleged a single person on the “list” gave someone something in exchange for their jobs.

It’s the actions of the agency that may, potentially, be illegal but that hasn’t been proven yet.

Comment by anon Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:45 am
To the earlier points about veteran and minority hiring:

That is a fair hit. But unless a business does work for/with the state or federal government, the requirements for a private business to hire and retain veterans and minorities are not the same as state government. However, optics are in play here, and both might look bad.

Rauner and his pals likely used “headhunters”, and those hired guns were probably given a narrow set of qualifications for prospective executives. Businessmen such as Rauner can easily show foresight and take extra precautions to make the right hires - including veterans and minorities.

Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:45 am
I don’t believe anybody here has ever suggested that. But you don’t defame somebody (somebody who has done nothing personally wrong by the way) just to score political points. Whack on Quinn all you want. It’s fair game. Plastering their pictures all over TV is not only out of bounds, it’s a personal foul.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:48 am
Gang, really, if they were qualified engineers and such, why did they have to get clouted in?

I have as much empathy as the next guy. We’ve seen this system go on for a long time. The big difference here; Pat has sold himself as “the reformer”. This record indicates otherwise. He exacerbated the existing problem, much like convicts Blago and Ryan. Why a different standard?

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:48 am
My comment above was in response to this:

==Continuing to look the other way==

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:49 am
Ok - A Guy… -,

“===Start airing info on the Clouted Daughter, her “perfect” test score, her connection and lack of qualifications of the Winnetka address and grades and juxtaposed that with the denied kids who actually qualified for Payton Prep, applied, and didn’t get the seat Rauner’s Daughter did. That’s how.===

Do we really want to go THAT far?

Sometimes, civilians are civilians(?)

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:50 am
You play the hand you’re dealt, so the inspector general’s report is certainly fair game.

I’m just not sure how much patronage resonates as an election issue, given the long history of the practice in Illinois.

Plus, private sector or public sector, there aren’t too many virgins out there when it comes to using connections, one way or the other, to land a job.

I’d keep the focus on Quinn and the abstract numbers.

I don’t think it’s wise for a super-rich dude to single out small fry to have them tossed out of work. Peeling a grape with an ax.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:51 am
It’s like watching a drowning man trying to climb that invisible ladder.

They need a new schtick. I don’t think attacking Quinn on ethics is going to resonate with anyone who isn’t already committed to Rauner.

Comment by Stuff happens Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:54 am
Demo, I doubt you’d ever see 20 on there anyway. There may be a few egregious examples that get the message across. How are some of the deposed department heads not victims for having objected, been ordered (tacitly or untacitly) to hire someone, and they’re the ones who got axed…and then run over repeatedly by the bus.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:54 am
I hope that PQ will not fire people without cause who are now in union jobs. It would be costly to the State due to the lawsuits that would be lost. Not only the cost in our AG office, but payouts to those who leave - and reinstatement for those who insist on staying. I’m guessing PQ fired those he could fire without repercussion and wisely is leaving the others alone.

The citizens of Illinois expect patronage hires. In fact, I’d lay a wager that the majority of people were like me - kind of surprised at how small the number was.

And Brucie cut his nose off to spite his face - I guess he’ll just have to find people jobs in his nursing homes. Won’t his supporters love that?

Comment by PolPal56 Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:56 am
==The big difference here; Pat has sold himself as “the reformer”. This record indicates otherwise. ==

No disagreement from me. But I have no idea how plastering these people’s pictures all over TV accomplishes anything other than to defame them for political purposes.

If you have evidence they did something wrong personally then maybe I’ll cut you some slack. I haven’t seen any evidence that is the case. They didn’t create the jobs. They applied for a job somebody told them about and they got it. Was it right? Apparently not. Is it their fault? No.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:56 am
Cassiopeia

“Despite the Quinsters attempts to distract people by attacks against Rauner’s firm they still don’t have a good explanation as to why they keep these other clouted employees working.”

They have as good an explanation as Rauner’s explanation of how his daughter got clouted into Payton Prep.

Quinn’s the Pot. Rauner the kettle. They’re both black.

Comment by AFSCME Steward Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:00 am
The 20 are friends/daughters of the connected street captains who will mobilize troops for quinn-y. Sheeesh!!!

Comment by outside guy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:02 am
It is politically understandable for Pat Quinn to defend these patronage hires and, in turn, himself and his allies those hires are beholden to. Those hired are unfortunately caught in the crossfire.

It is despicable, however, for him to then go before the press and make statements like “I always do the right thing” and talk about his “good heart”.

Nauseating.

Comment by Formerly Known As... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:03 am
== Quinn’s the Pot. Rauner the kettle. They’re both black. ==

Very well said. Applies to so many other areas of this race as well.

Comment by Formerly Known As... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:05 am
I don’t think attacking Quinn on ethics is going to resonate with anyone who isn’t already committed to Rauner.

After Ryan and Blagojevich, I hope you are wrong. Voters didn’t choose these future felons because they ignored ethics, they chose them to become governor for other reasons that they held in higher priority.

Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:06 am
Rauner should get in that phony cheap ass mini van and drive to Bloomington..he should have dinner with Sen. Brady and get some keen insight on how long it takes to heal from blowing an election to PQ..

Comment by Not Rich Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:07 am
FKA - that is what Rauner needs to do now and what he needs to do in the future. NRI? Closing the Murray Center? Patronage scandals at IDOT? Are those really the “right things to do”?! Rauner’s problem with the IDOT scandal is that he is too hyper-focused. He and his staff need to generalize it a bit. Just keep hammering home the bigger picture and point.

Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:15 am
What does Governor Rauner do when Arne Duncan calls to get a state job for his daughter? He’s a total hypocrite and it’s shows more and more each day.

Comment by Anon Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:15 am
I do wonder why PQ fired 58 unprotected employees but kept 20. Unless there was cause to fire the 58 (in which case, why we’re they still there, anyway?), it’s an inconsistency that needs an explanation from PQ. He should have fired all the unprotected (with one exception) or kept them, stuck to his guns, and as someone said earlier, “hunker down” under the premise of “not going to fire people who have moved into real jobs.”

The exception? Anyone still in a clear patronage job - those made-up “staff assistant” type positions.

Comment by PolPal56 Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:22 am
You don’t need the pictures - all it does is create sympathy for the employees or, worse yet, potential inappropriate comments or attempts to locate. I’m not sure you even need the names. Stark outlines with the particulars - their qualifications (or lack thereof) juxtaposed with their prior income and their new income. Other figures as appropriate. We know these folks are not blameless but they are NOT the focus, are they?

Comment by dupage dan Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:24 am
And A Guy, public employee does not equal public personality. They are not running for office, PQ is. To say that their pictures and personal information should be used in a political campaign is not only in poor taste, but probably illegal without a signed media release from them

Comment by PolPal56 Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:31 am
What Dupage Dan suggests sounds better. Anyone versed in this type of law?

Comment by PolPal56 Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:36 am
===I don’t think attacking Quinn on ethics will resonate===

Partly disagree.

The real enemies of Quinn staying in office are the financial and economic performance of the state of Illinois. The “we need a change” still can be the biggest factor, if Rauner isn’t somehow disqualified for the change-agent role.

VMan has always been right about that overriding political reality. It’s more general than specific.

That’s why I think the last couple of weeks will include economic/financial claims and attacks from both sides. A lot will depend on general perceptions of economic pain or optimism.

As to individualized specific attacks: ethics for Quinn, and business practices for Rauner, will remain key, because they are respectively their claimed differentiators. If specific individual attacks move 3% of the voters, they impact the outcome.

Comment by walker Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:39 am
Dan and Pol make a lot of sense here. Frame it like the feds do when the release the names of interested parties. For example: Worker A has no degree related to his position, yet he was clouted into a job as a staff assistant and was given a starting salary of $50,000. People will see that and think it outrageous for a cash-strapped state to be paying unqualified staffers that kind of starting salary. But when it gets personal - like when Bernie Schoenberg decided to leak several of the names - then people react a bit differently.

Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:40 am
Team Sleep - excellent way to connect those dots. I think you just created the next Rauner campaign ad.

Pat Quinn’s voice, on a loop, stating those offensive quotes over and over and over.

Meanwhile, in the foreground, details flash about NRI, IDOT, cuts to Domestic Violence Shelters, closing Murray & MHC, etc.

You don’t even need a narrator or script. It speaks for itself.

Comment by Formerly Known As... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:43 am
PolPal56. Wrong. You think Dane Placko is out there getting signed releases every night, or Pam Zekman? Public payroll is absolutely fair game. Jeesh.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:44 am
Or, I guess, “we” just created the ad lol

Comment by Formerly Known As... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 12:02 pm
The Long Hard Slog
=The illegally hired employees as victims? That is not going to play well either.=

It did here in Springfield when Blago went after Traffic Safety. Of course, that batch were Sangamon County GOP and the illegality involved Veteran’s Preference, not Rutan.

Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 12:44 pm
“Public payroll is absolutely fair game.”

Raunerism.

– MrJM

Comment by MrJM Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 12:49 pm
A Guy, yes, you are correct, names, positions, length of service, and salaries of public employees are public information. But that’s it. Photos are not public information.

And using names is still tasteless - and completely unnecessary except to those who want to get in a dig at the individual worker.

Comment by PolPal56 Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 12:49 pm
===Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:50 am:

Ok - A Guy… -,

“===Start airing info on the Clouted Daughter,===

OH Willie, if that isn’t out there already, it sure isn’t your fault-lol. There was in Charters a place for Principal’s choices on a number of students. I’m not going to battle you on this one over and over. To suggest it hasn’t been out there is a little looney though.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 12:52 pm
=== PolPal56 - Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 12:49 pm:

A Guy, yes, you are correct, names, positions, length of service, and salaries of public employees are public information. But that’s it. Photos are not public information.

And using names is still tasteless - and completely unnecessary except to those who want to get in a dig at the individual worker.====

Add one thing to public record; conditions of employment. I’m not looking to argue with you about workers. These are absolutely “patronage hired workers” who were back-doored into non-patronage job categories. You believe they deserve assylum. I’m just not so sure they do.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 12:59 pm
Rauner should investigate the ILLINOIS TOLLWAY PATRONAGE HAVEN in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Comment by Hotel Ibiza Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 1:03 pm
===There was in Charters a place for Principal’s choices on a number of students. I’m not going to battle you on this one over and over.===

The Denied Winnetka-Living Daughter, with the perfect score, was clouted before the Principal had the opportunity to select her.

The Denied Daughter score didn’t make the cut, there was no principal choice list at the timing of the clouting

From Chicago Tonight;

“At the time there [was] a consent decree in place mandating racial preferences at the schools. Only up to 35 percent white students, 65 percent non-white students could be taken.

The bar was very high for white students. She tested very well, just not quite high enough to meet Payton’s standards.

Our investigation revealed that there was a phone call made to the CEO’s office by Mr. Rauner, and after that somebody in the CEO’s office called Walter Payton and his daughter was admitted to the school.”

Link;

http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2014/06/25/outgoing-cps-inspector-general-talks-career

===I’m not going to battle you on this one over and over.===

You shouldn’t when the facts prove you wrong, lol

It’s Rauner’s fault, he hid behind his daughter, the phantom test score, the principal’s list…

She doesn’t need an Ad dragging her scores out there, what her father did, as what Quinn has allegedly done, is in them.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 1:09 pm
@A guy:

Still waiting on you to answer what these individuals personally did wrong that leads you to believe they deserve to be defamed by plastering their pictures all over TV. I’ve tried to be respectful when it comes to our disagreements, but you could not be more wrong in this case. I don’t know if you are just blinded by your support for Rauner or if you honestly believe that attacking these workers personally is an acceptable thing to do. I hope it’s the former because it’s pretty classless if it’s the latter. There are things that are too low, even for politics. This fits into that category.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 1:15 pm
these 20 are exempt employees and can fired at will. they must be really connected.

Comment by Kathryn Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 1:37 pm
BR: “I am adamantly, adamantly against patronage jobs. Well, unless they’re below minimum wage.”

Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 1:46 pm
I am sorry if someone already addressed this. Maybe Afscmesteward can help. Where would the unions place be in this? I know our steward would be at least interested in the hiring if people were being looked over that should have gotten the jobs. The last paragraph makes it pretty clear the standards. This would be harm to members if they weren’t considered. If it was all up and up the rules should be changed and the employees should be left alone.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 1:47 pm
“I am sorry if someone already addressed this. Maybe Afscmesteward can help. Where would the unions place be in this? I know our steward would be at least interested in the hiring if people were being looked over that should have gotten the jobs. The last paragraph makes it pretty clear the standards. This would be harm to members if they weren’t considered. If it was all up and up the rules should be changed and the employees should be left alone.”

Don’t really know how to answer this. The employees are I believe Teamsters, which is a different contract then I am familiar with. However, employees covered under collective bargaining usually have a right to a hearing & a grievance procedure. There would have to be some justification for termination. The fact that the positions are union jobs makes it much harder for Quinn to make them vanish.

Comment by AFSCME Steward Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 2:09 pm
== Demoralized - Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 1:15 pm:===

I answered your question, but apparently not to a level of satisfaction you prefer. I don’t know if you are personal friends of one of these chaps, or why this one stings you so hard.

Here’s the answer again: Hired as “Staff Assistant” when that job category is supposed to be dwindling, not expanding. As soon as possible, transferred into a position where political patronage worker now unfairly gains position that has protection from the union and takes away a job from another person who played by the rules. Not once, hundreds of times. It’s embedding corruption man. No other way to describe it. The person very knowingly benefiting from this process ain’t a victim; they’re a willing participant. Sorry man, this is just the way it is.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 2:17 pm
Thanks Steward. After reading A guys post above. I am still confused. Did the union overlook the hiring or was it all done on the up and up. Is A guy correct? As a full paying, PEOPLE member I would hold AFSCME more responsible than the people who took the jobs.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 2:39 pm
=== Not once, hundreds of times. ===

How many times? Just so I know.

“Hundreds”, if you could cite that.

Thanks.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 2:44 pm
@A guy:

Don’t know any of the people. This is not personal.

And you are absolutely and completely wrong to say these people personally did anything wrong. I’m sorry but you just are.

You’ve lost some of my respect with your comments on this topic today. Your idea of putting these people’s pictures on TV stinks and lacks any modicum of class.

And that, sir, is just the way it is. You’re wrong. Completely wrong. Period.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 3:36 pm
I’m not convinced Rauner is fully off base with this line of attack. Certainly no pictures; that’s just ridiculous.

Depending on whom the Golden 20 are, he may do well to focus on their clout, not the individuals themselves. “Pat Quinn clouted the nephew of a major donor into a make-work job at IDOT who was promptly promoted.”

If they don’t have any zinger-worthy examples-fuggeddaboudit.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 3:38 pm
@A guy:

Did you apply for one of these positions and feel you’ve been slighted? Because I cannot see why you have such disdain for these individuals personally. It’s pathetic.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 3:39 pm
Does Quinn have a sore throat or an achy back Rich we need a health update on our Governor.

Comment by Obamas Puppy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 3:43 pm
@A guy:

And just to be clear, my problem with you is limited to your comment about putting these people’s faces on tv, and to some extent, with your belief that they did something personally wrong.

I have absolutely no qualms with calling out Quinn on the shenanigans in creating the jobs. I don’t want anybody to think I’m defending that in any way, shape or form.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 3:54 pm
===I have absolutely no qualms with calling out Quinn on the shenanigans in creating the jobs. I don’t want anybody to think I’m defending that in any way, shape or form.===

Agreed.

Unless there is a specific hit, like - AA -, said, go for it. Otherwise, it’s like blaming the Daughter for the “sins of the Rauner”

Nail Quinn, hammer Rauner, careful if you make it about the people and not those two, just to shame them.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 4:47 pm
===Demoralized - Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 3:39 pm:

@A guy:

Did you apply for one of these positions and feel you’ve been slighted? Because I cannot see why you have such disdain for these individuals personally. It’s pathetic.===

Heavens no Demo. I have never applied to the State for anything. I’m sorry you’re so upset about this. If we find out among these 20 are 4 Strogers, 6 Berrios, etc. do you still feel the same way? (I only use them because they’re serial public job abusers).

And Willie… Rich posted the number of Staff Assistant’s over a period of 3 administrations just a few days ago. Look it up yourself. It’s well into the hundreds. You’re trying to be Slinger cute with your question. You ain’t cute. And you ain’t Slinger. Play gotcha with yourself partner.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 4:51 pm
===The IDOT document shows that 173 of the 245 people hired as “staff assistants” since 2002 still work for the state, including 161 at the transportation agency. […]===

“Hundreds?”

Dope.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 5:14 pm
The highest it got according to the referenced chart is 104, which I would say is not well into the hundreds.

Comment by Juice Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 5:43 pm
- PolPal56 - Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @
The position of “staff assistant” was eliminated which opened the door to terminating all 58 holding that position. No one was fired individually. The rest of the IDOT employees whose positions were not eliminated were not terminated. There was no basis for termination. No one was fired selectively. No one was retained selectively…

Comment by DuPage Grandma Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 8:27 pm
And “past three administrations”, while technically true, is very misleading since one of those administrations was represented by only one year, 2002.

But I’m still interested, guy. You seem to know a lot more about this than I do at least. How do you know the clouting was political, not personal, in each case? How do you know that none of the people were qualified for the positions they were hired in to? How do you know all the staff assistant titles were misused and that none of the people hired into them performed the work called for in the job description? How do you know the promotions or transfers in each case happened as soon as possible? How do you know the promotions or transfers were each improper or unfair? How do you know each benefited “knowingly”? I missed answers to those question in the IG’s report. Do you have information that most of us don’t have, or are you inferring the answers?

Were there Rutan violation? My guess is there were a bunch. Were each of these the same, like a cookie cutter? Based on experience, I’ll bet there are a whole bunch of different scenarios that occurred here. Is patronage illegal per se? I don’t know how. Should those hirings be done in violation of Rutan? Surely not. What happened at DOT was clearly a significant problem, no doubt about it. On the other hand if things haven’t changed too much, the State probably hired in 20-25,000 people over the past twelve years, and promoted that many more, so 245 isn’t a huge number. If you see this as institutionalizing corruption, so be it. But I don’t and I believe a lot of people probably agree with me, probably more than whom agree with you.

Comment by steve schnorf Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 8:45 pm
- steve schnorf -

Well said. Well done.

===If you see this as institutionalizing corruption,…===

I think what bothers me most is the painting of the broad brush of “every” and then therefor, it must be “institutional corruption”

I stand by what I have said, this is bad news for Quinn, but when cooler heads prevail, and context is given, I find my bearings again, to really look what I think I am saying, versus what actually is occurring.

Thanks for lending a voice to make me think, as you always seem to do.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:30 pm
===If you see this as institutionalizing corruption, so be it. But I don’t and I believe a lot of people probably agree with me…===

I agree with you. I want to be clear about this point. That aspect of this, looking at in the context, yeah, I’m with you.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 9:41 pm
20(thats how old the van is)people,fire them now and it looks like bruce made you do it

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 10:55 pm
bruce`s first official act as govenor “your fired~

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Sep 18, 14 @ 11:01 pm
Schnorf, at the moment at least, there are a couple of Federal panels who don’t agree with you on the face of things. I would also propose that the “institutionalized corruption” is well beyond 245 people. I suspect a lot of the information that led to the IDOT investigation came…from the inside of IDOT. You know, people who played by the rules. I listen, ad nauseum, to Willie moan about GOTV efforts on the GOP side. Painfully, I’ve often agreed, since I’ve used my personal and vacation time to be a GOTV person for my party.

Yet, time and again, the people I’m competing with are State Employees on the other side. This patronage pit provides them the built in advantage that has led to long term corruption and crumby policy, and ultimately 100 Billion dollar deficits. Argue til you’re blue in the face about that. No sale.

The GOP would no doubt abuse the same system, and they did. They treated the Tollway like their own hiring agency for 20 years. It should be reformed so nobody can do it.

I’ll wait for the pollyannish comments about my naivete on this from all of the sages around the water cooler here. As long as there are places that it doesn’t happen, or places that punish it, it’s possible to carve out this cancer of corruption.

Be offended all you want Schnorf about how all these “good innocent people” are being targeted. Why are the Feds in there looking if they’re so virtuous. Why the revolving department heads getting publicly creamed by the Gov? Cause there’s nothing going on?

I know you want to be ‘above it all’ and teach everyone how it all really works. You’ve got a corruptly operated agency. I guess some folks can look the other way. I’m not one of them.

Think of your own words, 245 isn’t a huge number. Actually it adds up pretty quick. And, we both know it’s not 245 statewide.

Comment by A guy Friday, Sep 19, 14 @ 8:01 am
===Think of your own words, 245 isn’t a huge number. Actually it adds up pretty quick. And, we both know it’s not 245 statewide.===

Really, you know that it’s larger than…

===The IDOT document shows that 173 of the 245 people hired as “staff assistants” since 2002 still work for the state, including 161 at the transportation agency. […]===

245? 173?

“Hundreds”…hundreds? Nope, not “hundreds”

If you personally know the number is greater, with actual facts, get back to us.

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Sep 19, 14 @ 9:52 am
I used Schorf’s number.

Comment by A guy... Friday, Sep 19, 14 @ 10:10 am
245 ain’t “hundreds”. Nope.

===And, we both know it’s not 245 statewide.===

How do you know? How? If you know, enlighten us, factually.

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Sep 19, 14 @ 10:13 am
A guy… the feds are looking into NRI, not IDOT.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Sep 19, 14 @ 11:11 am
guy, my problem was and is your broad brush. You said get rid of them all. I said nothing about them all being “good innocent people”, in fact I said many of them probably weren’t. I simply asked how you know that each of them deserved to be fired, and you didn’t answer those questions, simple as that.

Comment by steve schnorf Friday, Sep 19, 14 @ 11:31 am