* This might work…

Merging the redundant investment arms of the five pension systems into a single Illinois Public Employees Retirement System, or ILPERS, would lower the likelihood of corruption—and save state pension funds tens of millions in overhead costs every year.

Then again, a merger would make it a whole lot easier for a future corrupt governor to get control of all the pension investments at once. Imagine, for a moment, if Rod Blagojevich had that power.

While I’ve said many times that we couldn’t have stopped the criminal, it’s important to first put all reforms through a “WWRD” (What Would Rod Do?) filter. This could’ve been a real boon to the Blagojevich mob.

* And, simple solutions are often neither…

Tacking local elections onto state or federal cycles might save money, but county officials see that as a nightmare for them and voters, who would face very long and complicated ballots. It also would require changes in voter registration laws.

Consolidated local elections are the most complicated to manage, election officials said. So many ballot variations are needed in small and large numbers—from community college trustee races that every voter in a county can weigh in on to a contested trustee race where only residents of that community are eligible to vote.

Ballots for those races must be coordinated with those for local school districts, which may not have the same boundaries, and park districts, which may have different boundaries than municipalities and school districts. Toss in referendums and the task of assuring that every voter gets the appropriate ballot can be head-spinning.

* Hmmm…

To increase voter numbers, Quinn has pointed to Oregon — the only state to offer 100 percent mail-in elections — as a model Illinois could follow. […]

Virginia Ross, a Portland, Ore., attorney serving on the board of the Oregon Voter Rights Coalition, says voting by mail makes voting easier since you can fill out a ballot on your own schedule.

“Wait till you get a chance to vote by mail just once,” she said. “You’ll never look back.”

However, Ross also said voting by mail works in her state because Oregon has a “tradition of integrity” and an anti-machine political culture. With former Gov. George Ryan in jail and former Gov. Rod Blagojevich facing charges that could earn him upwards of 300 years in prison, Ross admitted that Illinois may have trouble adopting a similar system.

Thoughts about this one?

* Is it really “fumigation” if you give your target two weeks notice and he quits instead?

Rajinder Bedi, the $111,708-a-year managing director of the state’s Office of Trade & Investment, decided Tuesday to resign his post after Gov. Quinn’s administration told Bedi the governor would fire him at the end of the month.

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich hired Bedi in June 2003 after he helped the ex-governor raise significant campaign dollars in Chicago’s Indian-American community.

Well, at least he’s gone. One down, countless more to go. Get on with it, already.

* Self serving tripe…

“Most importantly, we have to take the integrity crisis caused by my predecessor and confront that once and for all and disinfect Illinois state government and make sure it has the honesty and integrity and openness and cleanliness the people are entitled to,” [Gov. Quinn] said.

And Quinn, who has declined to say much on whether he’ll seek election as governor next year, indicated that winning a full term isn’t his top priority at this point.

“And so, whatever happens to me, whether I’m governor two, three, four years from now, matters not in my opinion because right now my mission is to get Illinois cleaned up.”

OK, get on with it. First, “confront” the past by confessing your own not insignificant role in the Blagojevich disaster. Then, fumigate your own administration.

…Adding… This column is why I always advise my interns to become lawyers.