Still more of that yummy reform and renewal
Tuesday, Oct 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
The AP fills us in.
Legal documents filed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration in the case of two fired employees suggest that other officials under the Democratic governor shuffled politically connected job applicants into internships for which they were overqualified.
About a dozen candidates on a hiring log were rated highly qualified for top state jobs but wound up in internships, which the administration can hand out without following laws giving military veterans preference.
The AP notes that some of those “interns” were connected and produced a list. Here’s one:
• Brenda Cockrum, sister-in-law of U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, a Belleville Democrat. She got “A” grades for two categories in April 2003; three weeks later, she began her career as a 60-year-old intern.
Not exactly a recent college graduate.
Blagojevich aides have denied the internships were used to skirt veterans-preference hiring laws, a focus of the federal investigation. They did not explain why the administration’s own evidence shows experienced, politically connected candidates getting internships.
“The interns you’re referring to did not work for the governor’s office, so we don’t have information about the process or rationale for their hiring,” Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said by e-mail.
Except that the governor’s office had to approve all new hires.
Meanwhile, AFSCME sent me its full statement that it gave the Tribune this week in response to what Gov. Blagojevich said about the union’s objections to his expensive internal “investigation” of alleged hiring fraud. Blagojevich told the Tribune “The public employees union is upset about it because in the old days no one bothered to look into the wrongdoing of state employees. Their job is to represent the state employees.”
AFSMCE responded thusly:
The governor’s attack on our union is stunning. It’s a slander on the working men and women, tens of thousands of them, who provide essential public services in communities in every part of the state. We can’t imagine why he would say something so obviously false.
It’s important to remember that the allegations of corruption in the Blagojevich Administration center on illegal hiring. Neither our union nor the frontline employees we represent have anything to do with the hiring process. To the contrary, it was Rod Blagojevich’s first act as governor, executive order #1, that required approval by his office of every single hire.
AFSCME is well known as a strong and outspoken critic of cronyism in government, and we applaud the U.S. Attorney for working to root out corruption in the Blagojevich Administration. When it comes to finding and eliminating wrongdoing in state government, we think the man for the job is not Rod Blagojevich or one of his lawyers, it’s Patrick Fitzgerald.
I’m so looking forward to the next four years.
- schroedk - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 7:43 am:
These actions by Blago over the past 4 weeks or so epitomize those of a man drowning in revelations of his own corruption. If he is re-elected, whether due to voter apathy or whatever, it should cause great embarrassment to the entire state of Illinois. I’m not saying Topinka, or ANY candidate in this sorry state, will necessarily do better or be more ethical. But to stick with a man who is so obviously flailing in a job that he has proven he’s not qualified for is pathetic.
- DOWNSTATE - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 7:46 am:
Anything to get the heat off from them.Much like his spinners on here “change the subject and no one will ever find out”.Watch as the day goes on and you will see all kinds of spin toward state employees instead of the governor.
- Squideshi - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 7:49 am:
AFSCME should endorse Rich Whitney for Illinois Governor. To quote Henry Bayer with AFSCME Council 31, “Rich Whitney, the Green Party candidate, is in sync with the union on virtually every issue: adequate school and university funding, improvement of state staffing, maintenance of defined benefit pension plans and more. Not only is he with us on those issues, but he has the courage to support an increase in state taxes to pay for all of it.”
- Anon - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:02 am:
Yeah, but Blago’s gonna win. He has the money, the support, and the determination. It takes all three at the same time, of which neither his opponents have. Sorry all you insiders dislike him so much. But, all us outsiders kinda like the Guv.
- leigh - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:07 am:
I am an outsider and cannot stand the corrupt Mr. Public Official A. Do not assume that all of those outside of the inner circles approve of all the corruption. Some of us are sick and tired of it. He is why this state is just a joke in a punchline to so many.
- schroedk - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:14 am:
I love the assumptions people make on this blog! If you hate the governor, you must work for Topinka or Whitney. If you (gag) love the governor, you must work for him. Me, I’m just a stay-at-home dad to two daughters, registered as an independent, with a Master’s Degree in physical therapy. I’d say that’s about as “outside” as you could get, and I can’t even watch Blago on TV without the bile rising up.
By the way, it’s so sad when all you need nowadays to be the leader of a state of 13 million people is money, support, and determination. What happened to ethics, honesty, leadership skills, etc., that USED to typify public servants?
- Cassandra - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:23 am:
The solution here (for the taxpayer) is to tighten up the requirements for the intern position to make it less susceptible to political abuse.
What many probably don’t realize is that once in the intern position, interns can quickly move into positions protected by civil service and/or union regs, meaning they have lifetime employment at above-market compensations packages and can’t be let go unless they are convicted of a serious crime.
The intern concept itself is a good one because it should bring new, qualified young people to state government. And if you’ve ever been in a state office building, it’s clear that despite the early retirement initive of 2002, there are an awful lot of over 50’s dozing away on the state, that is, our dime. Retiring is more of an effort than staying on for many of these folks. And less lucrative.
Since Blago and the Democrats see the state civil service as a political gift bag, we are unlikely to see any significant reforms in the
intern program in the foreseeable future.
- Gregor Samsa - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:33 am:
Abby, if you said ‘good morning’, I would have to check my watch before a reply. You are as credible as your boss.
- Animous - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:37 am:
“A man who tells lies, like me, merely hides the truth. But a man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it.â€
—Captain Louis Renault
I’m starting to believe that Blago truly believes if he tells a story enough times it becomes the truth. NOTE TO GOV: It DOESN’T!!
The problem exists in THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE not some underling 5 layers below them. They can conduct as many Witch Hunts as they want, but the truth lies right outside Blago’s door (well,… his door when he actually reports to work).
Gov, you can’t change past history at this point. The ALLEGED misconduct occurred on your watch, by people you put in those positions, on direction from your office, by rules your office put in place.
For a man that boasts of his testicular verility, you’re failing the “stones check”. History WILL show how you handle this situation whether you want it to or not. Will you “Man Up” and do the right thing, or cower, coverup and hide. The history will be written.
END THE WITCH HUNT, look at your own office, you know the feds are…
- Wumpus - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:41 am:
For a gov who takes credit for everything, he sure doens’t want to take credit for anything.
- Fan of the Game - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:51 am:
All I can add is a ditto to the comments above.
- aidanquinn - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:55 am:
For 20 years the workers in private sector jobs have seen layoffs, job cuts, pension freezes, loss of retiree medical, reduced work weeks, pay cuts, less desireable working hours, etc. Now the public sector employees are taking their turn in the barrel…doesn’t make it right but makes it hard to sympathize with.
Illinois has its first Dem governor in many years and suddenly the campaign ticket sales, hiring of friends who support you and have for years, and other control issues burn brighter than ever.
The whole system is corrupt in a moral and ethical sense. Pols get their real money from political donors and will forget the voters in a heartbeat over that money. There were pols who yesterday had to shutter prior to voting against ComEd and Ameren, there goes their sporting event tickets, money, and trips. But what is really sick is they probably went to the Utilities prior to their vote and paved the way for future $$$ by saying “Emil won’t call the bill any way, I have to do this to continue (relection) to help you in the future”. It all should make us very sick.
Glenn Poshard was the best alternative and we blew it because he wouldn’t accept PAC $ and wouldn’t throw real mud at Ryan. So now we get Blago and Topinka as our choice!
- Squideshi - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 9:04 am:
Rich Whitney’s plan to combat this problem is to create an independent hiring and promotion bureau and appoint an inspector general from an opposition political party. Also, Whitney does not accept money from corporations. Neither Blagojevich nor Topinka even comes close to Whitney in terms of the ethics issue.
- Guy Fawkes - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 9:05 am:
The Gov is in for a “BIG SURPRISE” very soon, re-elected or not.
Can’t wait to see how this will be spun.
C.M.S. will be getting mega orders for Maalox-Extra Strength, but don’t worry the taxpayers will be getting a good deal too, probably $50 per bottle.
- DOWNSTATE - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 9:08 am:
Squid give it up.WHITNEY IS ALSO RAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Wumpus - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 9:15 am:
Squid, how can’t Whitney appoint someone from the opposition party? All the Greeneies in the state are on the ballot..and that leaves you to be inspector general.
Seriously, while it is a noble gesture, we don’t need a partisan hack of either side. Rod’s IG was of the same party and she quit. We need another Fitzgerald, a non-politician who has indicted a member of the party who appointed him along with others. We need an outsider with a sense of decency. Not a partisan, headline seeker like Spitzer of NY.
- Front Row Seat - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 9:37 am:
“Anon”, I believe you are probably completely sincere in your comments and - sadly - that you demonstrate the success of the Gov’s smoke-and-mirrors, all-style-and-no-substance performance better than any pundit can. He does have the money (never mind that accumulating a campaign war chest via pay-for-play has been his primary focus for his entire term); he does have the support (let’s ignore that he has acquired it via the largesse to the connected and special interests that his position allows him to grant and requires the taxpayer to pay for); and he has the determination (pretend he didn’t use even his own daughter as a human shield in an effort to keep from looking bad; because after all, who wants to lose a gig which brings your kids $1,500 birthtism gifts).
Do the insiders dislike him? No, they hate him because they see close up and personal the corruption and inefficiency he has bought to state government. Do outsiders like him? Unfortunately, regrettably and tragically the answer is yes far too often. The barrage of daily press releases that has marked the last four years, the omnipresence of King Rod - with his name and likeness on everything, the ability of Abby, Rebecca & Sheila to lie with totally straight faces and the introduction of an abundance of flashy “feel good” programs has made Blago a legend in many minds - primarily his own.
I wish there was a way for the “outsiders” to know everything the “insiders” see; you’d be as sickened and outraged as we are. And by the way, I’ve continued rather tongue-in-cheek to use the term insiders because you first used it; any state employee hired prior to Blago’s Inauguration is on the inside but is by no means an insider. They are all viewed from on high as hacks and targeted for extermination, most for no greater sin than their date of hire. Obviously, in Rod’s world, replacing them with individuals hired under a process referred to by the Feds as “endemic hiring fraud” will make Illinois a much better place…
Oh, Bill and Company: Please don’t bother trotting out the “blogging on state time” charge. I agree fully that such things are WRONG and am personally too ethical to do that. I’m taking a couple days off this week, so it’s perhaps the only time you’ll ever be seeing me during working hours!
- Retired but still scared of them - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 9:39 am:
Squid, I have seen you say a couple of times that your guy will pick an inspector general from an opposition party. How about just someone who will do their job without political considerations either way?? How about getting the whole darned inspector general operation out from under the governor’s office and recruiting and hiring qualified trained investigators. Have the IG be appointed like the auditor general and not by the governer. The opposition party theory you keep touting is still bringing politics into somewhere it should not be.
And if blago is so proud of his independent inspector generals office then why is he hiring his own cronies to investigate. $1.3 million so far? Just another group of boobs who know nothing about processes but trying to find someone to blame. I was even asked by these mopes if I liked working for a certain person like that has anything to do with anything. Witch hunt is all it is. Glad I had enough time in to get the hell out.
- Squideshi - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 9:42 am:
I think there’s merit to appointing someone from an opposition political party. That’s why it’s codified into the rules for many of the boards and commissions in the state. For example, on a five person board, no more than 3 from the same party. I’m just waiting for someone to figure out that Greens aren’t of the same party, so they can be appointed in lieu of Democrats or Republicans.
- Shallow Pharnyx - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 10:54 am:
This administration is good at intimidation.
- One Man Can Make A Difference - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 2:00 pm:
AFSCME Union’s comments sounds……..WOW!
I like the last sentence posted on here,
“When it comes to finding and eliminating wrongdoing in state government, we think the man for the job is not Rod Blagojevich or one of his lawyers, it’s Patrick Fitzgerald.”
Now Mr. Fitzgerald needs to back that claim with actions!
- Animous - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 2:44 pm:
One Man,
I hope everyones right about Fitzgerald, but where is he? I mean, really, if nothing else he can surely read the papers and see that the administration is taking actions that could/will torpedo his case by tainting the credibility of future witnesses.
Is he going to stand idly by and let these potential witnesses twist in the wind and let the administration intimidate them?? Its not exactly building faith in Fitzgerald’s “White Knight” image…
- Save Us From Ourselves - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 2:48 pm:
Shallow Pharnyx: Fear and Intimidation are trademarks of this administration, along with circumventing Veterans Preference by posting jobs in counties with no Veterans, then filling the job and moving it to Springfield or Chicago. I do find it interesting that AFSCME has any complaints about the way the governor handles things, in view of their many, many nuisance grievances they continually file. Seems to me they should be happy with their continuing raises while most of the work horses pulling the load get no regular cost of living raises, much less annual raises. Before long, all jobs in the state will be union and we’ll see first hand why jobs are flying out of Illinois and the US. Can’t blame it all on the governor, though he has a propensity for destroying trust. If you think the union will help the cause of the taxpayer, think again. It will be like two wolves and a sheep sitting down trying to decide what to have for dinner. I think the average taxpayer is the sheep. With either Blogo or the union involved in state government, we the taxpayer are screwed!
- One Man Can Make A Difference - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 5:24 pm:
- Animous - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 2:44 pm:
I agree wholeheartedley!
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 5:25 pm:
did everyone forget that kevin Tirey was in personel at the gov’s office prior to taking the job at EPA. They say that these people did not work for the governors office…Bull crap. Check and see.
- Angie - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 5:48 pm:
I’m still thinkin’ about that Carol Marin interview with Rod’s pal Tony Rezko, who seems to have skipped town while the heat was on and who refused to answer more detailed questions about his relationship with Rod. I’m hearing that Jaws theme playing, campers.
- AFSCME VOTING MEMBER - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 5:49 pm:
Maybe Rod will get lucky and Judy will hire him back as a intern. NOT!
- Huh? - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 5:53 pm:
“Legal documents filed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration in the case of two fired employees suggest that other officials under the Democratic governor shuffled politically connected job applicants into internships for which they were overqualified.”
Has everyone missed the above quote? It’s from the AP story.
Here is the part the I like the best “…Legal documents filed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration in the case of two fired employees suggest that other officials under the Democratic governor…”
Why is blogo shooting himself in the foot be giving incriminating information to an administrative judge? If he is sooooooo smart, why is he giving information that points at his office out?
Care to chime in here Bill? Skeeter?
If you are going to cover something up, such as the hiring scandel, you don’t hand out the documentation proving the case.
- Angie - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 5:53 pm:
Side note to other Blago haters. How much money the candidates have just gets them into the race, but has no bearing on who’s going to win in the end.
In other words, it is really possible to work smarter with less money than harder with a huge campaign war chest like Rod has.
Don’t write Rod’s opponent off so easily, you Blago supporters. You may in for a rude awakening come election day. She can GET sane and more centrist Dem voters to vote for her while Rod CAN’T get GOP leaners to vote for him. He’s got a problem there, because I don’t think JBT scares anyone who isn’t inclined to bother voting to go running to the polls to make sure Rod gets elected. It goes to the undecideds, who I do believe have a tendency to break from the incumbent. Could be wrong, but it’ll probably be closer than some realize.
- Buck Flagojevich - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:33 pm:
Maybe AFSCME should air a few commercials of their own to clear up some of the accusations against them and their members.
- Tessa - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 10:35 pm:
Well, here’s a little comment. I’m also a taxpayer. And I work for the state. And I’m a (go figure) proud union member. I file grievances that have merit when they are needed. Why? Because the people that Blago put in place do nothing but belittle the people doing the frontline work. Overtime is horrendous at 24 hour facilities. Staffing levels are lower than ever and we (staff) still want to provide the care that’s expected of us. But if someone gets sick, they are accused of abusing their time. If a family member dies, they have to have proof. If a person has a baby, they have to prove (if the man and woman are unmarried) that it’s theirs. I kid you not.
We have not one person where I’m at that was hired by the Rutan process that got their job by means of a political connection. Not one. Can I say that about those in merit comp. jobs? No. And are they qualified? No. Only one.
That’s what’s sad. Yet they continue to try to place blame on people (the union members) who don’t have anything to do with the hiring process.
Like I’ve said before, I’ve worked both sides, union and non-union. I work as hard now, even harder, than I did before. The grass isn’t green on either side 24 hours a day.
- Roy Slade - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 11:05 pm:
Tessa- have you decided to vote FOR your Governor, or against him? Because as I have said before, if you vote for him, you continue to be “part of the problem, not part of the solution”.
- aidanquinn - Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 11:39 pm:
AFSCME needs more kleenex. A question, is the overtime mandatory? In the private sector if there are not enough in-house employees for peak times the employer sub contracts out the work to shave the peaks.
I wonder if the reduction or elimination of all this overtime will be ok with all those AFSCME folks who have made new purchases via loans based on the endless overtime money they have been earning?
- Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Oct 11, 06 @ 7:07 am:
aidan, scram. The pay rate ain’t that great even with OT and I for one having worked side by side with AFSCME-repped staff found them to be smart folks who are probably taking the OT and either banking it for a rainy day or using it for necessities, not a friggin’ powerboat or HGTV.
- Tessa - Wednesday, Oct 11, 06 @ 12:31 pm:
Roy, No, I’m not voting for him. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I can’t support what he’s done to state services for those in need.
And aidan, after a while, say two- four years of being mandated 4-5 days a week, it gets a little old, people get burned out, people quit or get fired for refusing. Do you know many people who could work that many hours, hands on, with persons who can’t take care of themselves, who can’t control their behavior, day after day, with what appears to be no help on the horizon? It’s getting very old.
I help out as much as I can, and it’s not even my “official” job duty. I can get 80+ hours each month, others can get 100+ every single month. Four years straight this has gone on. Do you think this is your tax dollars spent well? I don’t and it’s my money too.