Reform and Renewal, Part 9,690
Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* More shenanigans?
Corey Novick, a former lawyer for the state’s child-welfare agency, is suing two aides to Gov. Blagojevich. His claim: They fired him in 2007 for cooperating with “the federal probe into illegal hiring.”
“Novick was questioned by the FBI regarding the state’s illegal hiring practices,” Novick’s federal whistle-blower suit states. “Defendants Robin Staggers and Victor Roberson ended Novick’s employment because of his cooperation.”
* To give you a bit of background, this is from a column I wrote back in 2005…
The Chicago Tribune disclosed the day before the governor’s speech that the feds had widened their probe of the Department of Children and Family Services with a fresh subpoena of hiring records and that federal prosecutors had sent an unusual letter claiming that “the government is conducting a grand jury investigation regarding allegations of criminal wrongdoing of Victor Roberson, Robin Staggers and Joe Cini in relation to public corruption.”
* And here’s a bit more…
The subordinate told state investigators that Robin Staggers, the deputy director for human resources at the Department of Children and Family Services, hired people without having specific jobs for them, pressured an underling to hire someone and increased the use of interns who didn’t have to go through normal employment procedures.
* Blagojevich responded at the time to the revelation thusly…
“What we’re talking about here are requests for information, period. Nobody in this latest round of these requests has been accused of any wrongdoing,” he said. “Not the personnel director, he’s not been accused of any wrongdoing. Not his assistant, he’s not been accused of any wrongdoing. Or not Miss Staggers at DCFS, she’s not been accused of any wrongdoing.”
* Meanwhile…
Look for the trial of Chris Kelly — a onetime top Blagojevich fund-raiser and adviser — to be delayed. Kelly was to go on trial in November on charges he cheated on his federal income taxes by paying off his gambling debts through his company, BCI Roofing. But his lawyer, Michael Monico, wants a delay until February because of other trials he has this fall, including that of former Ald. Edward Vrdolyak. Prosecutors would prefer January. A judge will decide.
* Related…
* Big Muddy Prison Guard Files Lawsuit
* The winners in city scandals? The lawyers
- trafficmatt - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 9:23 am:
Rich,
Are you sure we are only at Part 9,690? It seems like it should be at least at 57,436.
On the last part regarding Chris Kelly. I’m astounded that lawyers can ask for delays on behalf of the client because the LAWYER is busy!! I wish I could get away with that with my clients - “hey, I’m busy - come back in 6 months”. Amazing that the only place that works is in the legal world. Hopefully the judge will look through that, but I’m not confident.
- Anon - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 9:29 am:
Sorry, but Novick was a problem going all the way back. Anybody who has worked with him knows this. He was a “do you know who I am” type of guy, meaning he really lacked the ability to communicate as an adult. This is stupid.
Cini, Roberson, and Staggers are/were committed state employees. THeir positions alone invite kooks like Novick to make false allegations. Its pathetic.
- Macbeth - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 9:37 am:
This stuff is no longer interesting. It happens all the time — so what’s the big deal?
Blago will win a third time.
Why worry?
- Ghost - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 9:38 am:
The Legislature needs to add interns to the civil service code as being required to compete for positions, go through the hiring lists and be subject to verterans preference to kill off that old loophole. Ryan used it as well, but not on the same scale as the Gov.
- How Ironic - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 9:55 am:
Better yet Ghost, simply make interns only able to obtain college credit versus a paycheck. When used properly interns can be very beneficial for an agency, as well as for the intern.
Not every intern is a political hack simply put somewhere to gain/curry favor for a political payback/handout.
- Cassandra - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 9:56 am:
I don’t think Novick’s personal quirks, should they exist, are relevant.
But since he lasted quite a while after the original federal investigation was reported, he was probably on a four-year term, meaning that when his term is up he can be let go for any reason. If so, he took the job, he knew the risks. This lawsuit seems like a long shot.
Which is not to say that the ever-dysfunctional DCFS is not a pork farm. It is. Lots of four year termers living the easy government job life. You see the results in the newspapers almost weekly.
Ghost is right about adding interns to the civil service code but if you think the Legislature is going to vote for that….
- Ghost - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 10:00 am:
How ironic, within the state there are several types of interns. One of these is “intern” positions with “targeted titles”. The person does not have to compete for the job etc, or even be qualified for it. These interns are allowed to work the job and be promoted into the targeted job title. They are not just college kids working for some exp, they are people slated to be full time employees who are cricumventing State hiring.
- DCFS Worker - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 10:06 am:
Pretty clearly Anon doesn’t know Corey Novick. As a DCFS worker who worked with Corey Novick and Robin Staggers in the past, I can attest that he was not a problem. In fact, I know that he was respected very highly for his work ethic by co-workers, AFSCME and even by Robin Staggers herself. He was good people, not a typical Blago hire.
- Anon - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 10:25 am:
DCFS worker, I knew him before the gov was the gov and the guy has always been a whiner.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 10:26 am:
Monico’s position almost seems a conflict of interest. I know technically the Vrdolyak and Kelly trials are unrelated, but they both are certainly part of the feds Augean Stables effort related to Illinois government. And I suspect they both are steps up the ladder.
- DCFS Worker - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 11:03 am:
Anon - I worked with him and he was great. I have to say that as far as I could tell the feeling was pretty much universal. I suppose we’ll have to agree to disagree.
As for Staggers, Roberson and Cini, they were all named at as the targets of the federal investigation. And Staggers was in the Register for misuse of a state vehicle and for being the subject of a state OIG investigation prompted by the former head of Personnel at DCFS. Blago came out defending these 3 so I think that works against them, not for them.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 11:52 am:
The theory of this lawsuit looks a lot like “post hoc ergo propter hoc.” I talked to the Feds at one point, later, my term wasn’t renewed, therefore it wasn’t renewed BECAUSE I talked to the Feds.
Note too that originally Novick was one of the folks suspended, along with Putting and Staggers, when the investigation started.
- Skeptical - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 12:23 pm:
Anon, I may be wrong, but you sound like a Blago plant trying to muddy the issue with ad-hominem attacks on Novick. If you have some actual facts to lay out instead of opinion and anecdote, it might bolster your argument.
Whistle-blowers need every possible protection in this administration. I know, because I saw it written as policy on a poster in a state building, with Blago’s name on it.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 12:29 pm:
Skeptical, you are not wrong.
- steve schnorf - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 6:20 pm:
My experience was that the interns were a valuable part of attracting some very talented people to state government. Like anything else, it can be abused. Deal with the abusers, don’t kill the program.
- Disgusted - Thursday, Jul 10, 08 @ 10:15 pm:
Ghost: I work for one of those former interns Worse leader our bureau has ever had. Doesn’t care, doesn’t have to, the money just rolls in.
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