No surprise
Tuesday, Jan 24, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
The revolving door:
The director of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, who marshaled a plan to increase tolls, expand I-PASS and rebuild Chicago-area toll roads, announced Monday that he is quitting to work for a construction consulting firm owned by a significant contributor to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Jack Hartman, 47, who formerly managed major projects at Chicago’s airports and the Chicago Transit Authority, said he is leaving the $127,440-a-year tollway job he has held since January 2003 to help the Chicago-based Rise Group win more government projects.
The company made more than a quarter-million dollars last year on a tollway contract.
Hartman, who leaves the authority Feb. 23, said he’s being hired to increase business in the public sector.
The Rise Group will not do any work with the tollway for at least one year, Hartman said, adhering to state revolving-door ethics laws that preclude former officials who oversaw state agencies from using their government connections for at least one year in the private sector.
Since 2001, the Rise Group’s president and chief executive officer, Leif Selkregg, has donated more than $57,700 to Blagojevich’s campaign fund in direct donations and in-kind contributions, state records show.
Glad to see that business as usual has ended.
- Fitty Cent Toll - Tuesday, Jan 24, 06 @ 12:28 pm:
Maybe he’s ejecting from the wreck before the Panda Express and Tollway Pizza stuff comes to a head?
- 6 Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Jan 24, 06 @ 12:48 pm:
Jack Hartman (ISTHA) and Tim Martin (IDOT)arrived at this administration as a package, being former City of Chicago administrators. The clock would seem to be ticking on Mr. Martin’s tenure with this announcement.
- ipaassed - Tuesday, Jan 24, 06 @ 5:13 pm:
Blago is our Huey Long. Concrete will pour like water in our state. There will never be enough press or prosecutors to follow the money—count the staffers, keep track of the no-bid contracts, and watch our IL Dem federal branch reps tie into Blago’s building bond boom with the soon to come federal pork.
Blago drools. Watch how he hands out new bond contracts and issues to his buds. Watch Meisirow get richer.
- angry and outraged - Tuesday, Jan 24, 06 @ 6:32 pm:
One question is Jack Hartman a loss to the Tollway? He has in fact boasted on more than one occassion that he and the City of Chicago hacks that have invaded the main Authority building have lead the way to Tollway Reform. Now my understanding of Tollway Reform is they were going to change the “Business as Usual” to quote them.
Well there was a wage freeze for some,15-20% raises for others;there was a hiring freeze yet there was a constant parade of new hires (most positions newly created and never posted..I am sorry I guess City of Chicago doesn’t understand the Rutan Law);”no bid contracts” we can’t even call them that they have floated under the radar and broken State Legislation and Central Mangement rules to get their patronage high priced jobs;illegally releasing Rutan employees so they could boast that they cut the fat at the Tollway while at the same time increasing the employee headcount at the main Authority Building, of course no one would know that unless they did a FOIA(Freedon of Information);cutting benefits, taking money(to the tune of $10,000.00 plus)away from individuals so they could put that towards their patronage’s salaries and the constant threat of termination going so far as to put it in an employee(uplifting)newsletter.
I can go on forever, “Tollway Reform”, if this is Tollway Reform I don’t want to see “Tollway Disfunction”. Good-Bye Jacko I hope you don’t miss those amazing toys Tollway Patrons were paying for!
Question number two(2) why did Mitola, Tollway Chairman, quit his job as a Chief of Electric City Corp at the same time? Maybe he wants to make sure,now that Jacko is gone, he can become the new Executive Director of the Tollway. Maybe he can make sure that if there is construction on the North/West Tollway,on your way up to the summer cottage, you can get constant updates on construction so you are not stuck in vacation traffic!
- just curious - Tuesday, Jan 24, 06 @ 9:13 pm:
I would be interested in seeing a side by side chart of the Governor’s campaign contributors and new state contracts and contractual/state employees hired in the last three years - to compare the dollars he raked in against the taxpayer dollars his administration is giving out.
- girl friday - Wednesday, Jan 25, 06 @ 5:49 am:
Point #1 – I agree with ‘angry and outraged ‘. What has happened with the Tollway, has happened with numerous other State agencies. (In the statement from ‘angry and outraged’ you could easily scratch out the word ‘Tollway’ and put just about any other State agency and not miss a beat.)
Point #2 – ‘just curious’; I have often wondered how many ‘newly created positions’ have been created while we were given the directive to ‘streamline’ state government. Since this year (2006), I have noticed 5 ‘newly created positions’ (one that comes to mind is Marty Cohen). I find it amazing that in order to justify these positions, the statement often mentions that the ‘newly created position’ will supply ‘this information’ or ‘that information’ to the Governor. One question, if no one has given him this information in the three years he has been in office, why does the Governor all of a sudden need it? However, if you really want to ‘nitpick’ the positions created are just a duplication of another position that is currently filled by someone else.
Point #3 – ‘6 Degrees of Separation‘; when can we expect Tim Martin (IDOT) to leave? Tim admitted that he let his PE (professional engineering) license expire. I’m not sure if you need to take the licensing test again or pay a fine in order to make it current.
- demystify - Wednesday, Jan 25, 06 @ 8:19 pm:
agree with girl friday all the agencies are a wreck. IDOT has demystified itself so much that those of us veterans dont even know who we are.One could only hope is soon to leave however the damage he and the others have done will last along time. Why is IDOT changing peoples job titles and making their jobs uncovered by rutan? also how many investigations are going on now?
- big wonderment - Saturday, Mar 11, 06 @ 7:29 pm:
Despite this mystery hirings at Tollway and other state agencies the agencies all seem understaffed in critical departments. I’m curious what is the strategy — since the Blago’s seem not even to be able get beyond the press conference to actual implementation
- Longview - Friday, Aug 4, 06 @ 10:01 am:
Surprised by any of this…not! A little research on the private sector players might show a historical pattern that eclipses an already questionable situation.