Question of the day
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
If there was just one person you could ban from Illinois politics forever, who would that be? Why?
116 Comments  
|
Group says plan is gaming expansion
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
As I told you yesterday, ILCAAAP isn’t happy about the governor’s lottery scheme.
Church groups charged Thursday that the proposed lottery sale or lease could lead to a massive expansion of gambling.
To make money, a private company would have to create new games, such as keno, or allow Internet sales of lottery tickets, said Anita Bedell, executive director for Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems.
“This means an expansion of gambling. In the lottery the next steps are keno, video lottery and Internet lottery,†she said. “All three of these would make the sales very accessible and very quick. They would also lead to addiction.â€
Privatization will not be an expansion of gambling, said Becky Carroll, a spokeswoman for the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget.
“They would have to work and operate within the four walls of the lottery system that we have today,†Carroll said. “They would not be able to add in games like keno at will.â€
Until the governor’s office releases the Goldman Sachs report which details how they arrived at the $10 billion sales/lease figure, nobody is going to believe a word about either how much money the sale/lease will really bring in, or what companies will have to do to justify spending that much. I understand they have some good reasons for not releasing the report, but if they want to staunch this political hemorrhaging, they have to release it soon.
8 Comments
|
The exasperation never ends
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
And they wonder why nobody ever believes a thing they say…
A hiring form Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office created to track state job decisions early in his tenure included a space for the applicant’s name, despite the administration’s assertion that it switched to a “blind” system for filling routine jobs soon after he took office.
A copy of the hiring form obtained Thursday by The Associated Press lists “name” alongside boxes to fill in the job title, salary information and possible start date. The form also asks agencies to check a box indicating whether the job falls under state rules requiring it to be filled by merit, not political considerations, or whether it is exempt from those rules.
The top of the forms include the names of Joe Cini, the governor’s personnel director, and Lon Monk, his chief of staff at the time.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said state agencies using the new forms did not fill in the box for names when requesting to fill jobs protected from political decisions. Names also are excluded from the administration’s current electronic system, she said. […]
The AP reported Wednesday that the governor’s personnel agency compiled the lists around the time he took office in 2003 with 1,800 positions - nearly 1,200 accompanied by names - showing that aides to the governor and his budget office had to sign off on each new hire, promotion, transfer and salary change.
Ottenhoff said those lists followed the format in place under Blagojevich’s predecessor, Republican Gov. George Ryan. She said names weren’t considered in hiring. Blagojevich quickly replaced the lists with a system that excluded names entirely, even though that’s not legally required, she said. […]
But the new paper hiring form obtained by the AP that replaced Ryan’s old system is led by the spot for the applicant’s name. It was submitted by an agency and is written as a memorandum from Cini to Monk, who is now Blagojevich’s campaign manager. Ottenhoff could not immediately explain how Cini and Monk were involved in the process.
I sure hope they aren’t using this sort of “change your story every day” tactic with the federales. Those FBI agents don’t like to be lied to.
15 Comments
|
Another lousy audit
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
How long before they finally get a management problem right?
The Blagojevich administration combined four state agencies under one name but failed to merge them into a single, efficient government department, the auditor general reported Thursday.
The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation lacked an organization chart, failed to consolidate accounting systems, prepared four separate versions of some reports and maintained different employee policies, Auditor General William Holland found.
The state also hired a consultant to help with the merger, but the timetable in the $700,000 contract means the consultant’s recommendations won’t be adopted until three or four years into the life of the new department, the auditor found. […]
But auditors found problems that went beyond the initial turmoil of combining the agencies. The problems continued at least into the fall of 2005, they said.
In its official response to the audit, the new department listed a number of problems that have complicated the merger, including a lack of space to house the combined agencies and trouble consolidating the various licensing and enforcement systems.
But in a telephone interview, Martinez said everything is going according to plan.
Yeah. Right to plan.
The complete audit can be found here.
13 Comments
|
The prodding may have worked
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
One Wednesday, Mayor Daley had this to say.
Mayor Daley said Wednesday it’s time for the family of County Board President John Stroger to be more forthcoming about Stroger’s recovery from the pre-election stroke he suffered nearly three months ago. […]
Daley, a lifelong friend who is Stroger’s most powerful supporter, said, “I know the family has gone through a period of time. He came from the hospital. He’s home now. There’s a period of adjustment. I think the family will speak out very shortly about his condition — rightfully so. . . . It’s a very serious issue and I think the family will speak out very shortly.”
Pressed on whether voters who must make up their minds in November are entitled to know more than the Stroger family is telling, Daley said, “Take it easy. I think the family will respond very appropriately in a short time.”
Late yesterday, Todd Stroger sounded like he was ready to comply.
It’s been more than two months since he’s attended a county board meeting or been seen in public. On Thursday night, for the first time, Todd Stroger told CBS 2’s Jay Levine we might see him soon.
“Yes. I’m thinking about it and I’m gonna talk to the rest of the family and the doctors and we’ll see what happens in the near future,” Todd Stroger said.
And Fran Spielman lays out the field:
County Commissioner Bobbie Steele, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Todd Stroger all have expressed interest in the job if John Stroger is unable to remain on the November ballot.
But, Aldermen Pat O’Connor (40th), Daley’s unofficial City Council floor leader, and Ed Smith (28th), chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus, said it was clear to them that none of those three could win a majority of the weighted votes cast by the Democratic Party’s 80 ward and township committeemen.
Three names were prominently mentioned as compromise candidates: Chicago Housing Authority President Terry Peterson, Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott and Ald. William Beavers (7th).
On Wednesday, Peterson took himself out of the running.
10 Comments
|
Morning shorts
Friday, Jun 2, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
· Hawker out of county clerk’s race
· Cash connection?
· Why OneMan thinks the gov will not release the Goldman Sachs estimate (Hint: it could be about Keno)
· Ryan asks for new trial
· Can Ray Coleman drag down a governor?
· Lisa Madigan Asks State Court To Bar Power Auction
· Governor wants drug stores to post signs about morning-after pill law
· Blagojevich signs new consumer protection laws for Illinois homeowners
· “Kathleen Farrell said she felt sick when she heard Illinois offered almost $16 million in incentives for Triumph Foods’ to build a pork plant in East Moline.”
· “After receiving a public records request, Madison County Treasurer Fred Bathon is accusing his opponent in the November election of mounting a political smear campaign.”
· The Best of Dick Kay
3 Comments
|
|
Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
|
   
|
Hosted by MCS
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax
Advertise Here
Mobile Version
Contact Rich Miller
|
