54 Comments - Anon - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 11:37 am: We don’t know if it’s Randle’s fault. Quinn needs to come clean with the names of everyone who knew about the secret plan, when they knew it, and who signed off. They say it was Randle’s idea, so put out the documents, memos, etc to prove it. Without that proof, it could easily be a gov’s office initiative he just implemented. Under the previous admin, orders were given TO the dept by the gov’s office and budget office - nothing came from the dept. Anyone higher than Randle who approved, needs to go. - John Bambenek - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 11:40 am: If you say Randle’s performance at the Gitmo-North hearing, there’d be no question. He displayed that he knew very little about what went on in his prisons. When asked about his quarterly reports and how it conflicted with his testimony, he indicated he didn’t know what were in those quarterly reports produced by his own office. There are some positions you can get away with having an agency head asleep at the wheel (but I vehemently believe you should only hire people that perform). However, it only takes small screwups to snowball into people getting killed at the IDOC. Fire him now. - Cindy Lou - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 11:42 am: No, based on what is out (and seems to change daily) I’m not sure what Quinn knew and when and just how much (if at all) Randle got tossed under the bus. I’m not looking for somebody to blame, I’m more interested in the ‘everybody’ to blame. - Mack - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 11:48 am: Didn’t Bill Brady also call for Randle to be fired ? - well - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 11:49 am: No. Quinn is just looking for someone to blame because he knows this is electoral poison for him. I seriously doubt Randle did this all on his own. - Moving to Oklahoma - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 11:49 am: For Starters he should have never been appointed to begin with. He came to Illinois with a Federal investigation surrounding him. After the Blago years, the new director should have been as pure as the driven snow, I could have hired someone with a checked past right here in Illinois. Beyond that, if the Gov. says that it was Randle’s fault, then he should be fired. Ask the victims of the 64 inmates who were released early if Randle should be fired. I think I know their answer. This isn’t a paperwork error, this was releasing inmates, pretty basic, prison is supposed to keep people behind the fence. Fire Randle, he is the captain of the IDOC ship and this was equivalent of running aground on clear day with smooth seas. - Big Policy Nerd - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 11:56 am: Not yet. We don’t know all the facts yet and who knows if we ever will. What is astonishing is this program has been going on for thirty years. If a tax hike is on the table in February, Quinn’s policy people could use this as an example for why taxes need to be increased. - Champaign Dweller - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 11:57 am: We know too little–was he acting at Quinn’s direction? If so, then no, he should not be fired–we should fire Quinn at the next election. If he came up with this program on his own, then yes, fire him today. - OneMan - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 11:57 am: No, Not enough information yet on who was behind this. - cassandra - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:04 pm: Not yet. I’d like to know more about industry standards on the handling of short term offenders. There must be a national corrections standards commission or best practices document that has some standards that could or should govern practice. Perhaps Randle was trying to implement something reasonable and the implementation was bungled. Lord knows there are plenty of highly paid lifers in state government who can bungle with the best of them. Anything Quinn says on this matter is suspect because he is running for re-election. Any decisions he makes are suspect too. It’s not the citizens of Illinois our Pat has in focus at the moment. It’s our Pat’s political future. But if he fires Randle now the message for future Quinn cabinet heads will be collect your paycheck and don’t rock the boat. Innovation strongly discouraged. - zatoichi - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:14 pm: The basic idea of the release seems reasonable if the time frames Quinn discussed are real, but even if only one person got re-arrested there would still be the same outcry. Was the entire operation bungled? From a PR point of view, the Admin group comes across like amateurs. Why keep this a secret? Responsibility should fall back on whoever approved it. - Carl Nyberg - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:19 pm: Maybe Randle should be fired maybe not. I suspect Randle got the order from someone to cut expenses and asked questions that may have been specific and may have been nebulous. I suspect Quinn or Quinn’s rep told Randle he had wide discretion to act in cutting expenses. As quoted in the media, Quinn hasn’t taken responsibility. This doesn’t reflect well upon Quinn or his PR team. - Bill - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:20 pm: ==From a PR point of view, the Admin group comes across like amateurs.== That’s because they are. Quinn knew about this and probably ordered it. He should fire himself. - Anonymous - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:24 pm: Quinn should fire him, then follow him out the door. - Beowulf - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:30 pm: To me, it’s shows me that Pat Quinn’s choice of Michael Randle was very much like when someone goes into a department store and “impulsively buys” something before they have reflected on and studied their purchasing decision. Why did Governor Quinn have to go all of the way to Ohio to hire Michael Randle? Didn’t we have “even one individual” in our whole state of Illinois penal system that was qualified to take over as the new Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections? That is scary in and of itself. Then (it gets even better), Governor Pat Quinn decides to hire a guy (Michael Randle) who is already under a cloud of suspicion in the State of Ohio. Joel Chow and his team of investigative reporters (10 Investigates) from television station WBNS-TV from Columbus, Ohio had uncovered improprieties that allegedly Michael Randle (who was previously the assistant director of the Ohio Dept. of Rehabilitation and Corrections) and his close friend and former college fraternity brother had committed involving the sale of furniture (made at one of the Ohio prisons) at a substantial discount to a KBK Enterprises (owned by Keith Keyes-his close personal friend). The Inspector General of Ohio was looking into this when Pat Quinn takes it upon himself to hire this guy! Obviously, Pat Quinn lacks the ability or good judgement to look for blatant and obvious “Red Flags” when they pop up and hit him in the face. If nothing else, as an Illinois taxpayer and voter, I would have to seriously question Pat Quinn’s decision making ability as an elected official. I am not saying Pat Quinn is corrupt or looking to advance himself at the Illinois taxpayer’s expense because I believe him to be an honest guy. I am only saying that Pat Quinn is an honest but “totally inept guy” who is in over his head as Governor and who would never “even be considered” to run a corporation as a CEO at a corporation anywhere and yet, here we have him “leading” the State of Illinois? And is there any wonder why (after Rod Blagojevich & George Ryan & Pat Quinn) that we are held up for ridicule and derision by the rest of the states in the nation and we are the used by “Saturday Night Live” for their comedy skits? For Heaven’s Sakes folks, elect Dan Hynds or one of the republican candidates for Governor but don’t embarass ourselves any further by electing our “accidental Governor” Pat Quinn as Governor of Illinois in November. Thank Pat for “doing his best” and have him dance off of the stage before he can do anymore damage to the State of Illinois. - Arthur Andersen - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:30 pm: I concur with those who write that not enough of the facts are known to render fair judgment, with a tip of the cap to those who observe that the original hire was shaky. Bambenek, from what AA watched of that hearing, none of the Quinn team on hand was on top of their areas. Randle was no worse or better than J-Kid Monken or Lavin. They all made the Fed prison guy look like a genius by comparison, and he didn’t do very well himself. - Arthur Andersen - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:31 pm: Bill, we can only wish… - Bob - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:31 pm: Randle has to go; he is way in over his head. With the investigation in Ohio, why did Quinn appoint him in the first place? Quinn is behind the early release and gave the orders. Randle don’t have a clue about the Illinois Corrections Department. Quinn is way in over his head too! We have a state that is about to go bankrupt, that is on autopilot. The seasoned employees in every department are keeping the ship just barely afloat. If we don’t get some real leaders fast the ship is going down with everybody in it. - Budget Watcher - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:34 pm: The magnitude of the “mistake in judgement” certainly warrants firing. However, someone could infer that the decision not to hold anyone accountable, other than to issue a stern public reprimand to his DOC director, means that the Governor’s office knew more than they’d care to admit to. Right now, it’s difficult to say whether we just have a bad governor or a governor who’s acting badly. - Loop Lady - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:46 pm: I can’t beleive how judgemental folks are…wait till the facts are in…is it necessary for heads to roll, or things do be done differently? There has been enough chaos in State government since Blago was impeached…slow down, get the facts and don’t do it again…jeesh!! - Phineas J. Whoopee - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:46 pm: Any early release program before an election is bound for trouble. Having said that, this is a typical mole hill trying to be made into a mountain. If the people of Illinois don’t want the prisoners to be let out early then give the Governor the money to keep them in jail. As far as I remember, Quinn was fairly alone in saying how tough the states finances are and he needs more revenue. Well, if he was right, and the state is that broke, things have to be cut. I don’t blame him one bit for trying to govern. I blame the people who are too cowardly to fund the state but brave enough to throw the Governor under the bus. I hope he ignores all the bleating sheep and continues to do what he feels is right. So, no, he shouldn’t fire the guy for covering his behind for a program that all the self righteous blatherers want to hang him out to dry for. He should get through the elections and then do what he has to do to govern. Unlike the previous Governors, at least, I know this one is trying to do the job as opposed to trying to make himself and his friends millionaires. - P. - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 12:51 pm: Firing Randall brings the issue full circle again and Quinn has to wade his way through it without having people cast a truly critical eye on it … I think he was trying to avoid that by not firing him. The public pressure will probably come to bear on him and he’ll have to end up firing him and Quinn will inevitably have to revisit this issue all over again … See a pattern forming yet with this guy?!?! Yet, where is the Hynes press conference with the victims of these repeat offenders? Is the TV ad ready to go? If the campaign can’t get this right, they don’t deserve to win either. - Gregor - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 1:02 pm: I don’t care who in IDOC came up with the push idea, an agency Director is responsible for *signing off* on the stupid idea. The Director gets the glory for good things his people do, and must take the blame for dumb things they do as well. This initiative could not just evolve out of the blue, it had to have been approved by the Director. Randle’s only excuse is if he was acting on an order handed to him by his boss Quinn, in which case, Quinn should own up that it came from him. That Randle still has a job suggests to me his continued tenure is the price of his silence regarding an order for the push program from Quinn. I’ll go further and suggest Quinn knew little about it and that some bean counter in his office decided this looked good on a balance sheet, and it was just sent under his signature. That could also explain all the flip flopping, if Quinn’s deputies are making policy behind his back, but none of these scenarios puts the Governor in a good light. The question becomes: are you a fool, a liar, or both? People screw up from time to time. Even governors, I know, it’s hard to believe in Illinois. But had Quinn just come out at the beginning and said “my mistake, and I’ll fix it”, or “This guy did this without my approval, and so he’s fired, I made a mistake in picking him”, ….I could live with that. But this story is not over: the real source of the push program is going to come out sooner or later. If it turns out it WAS Quinn that ordered Randle to do this, then I can’t vote for him again. Ever. Quinn really surprised me with his waffling on this whole thing; from my simple outsider perspective, this was a no-brainer, but he’s only made things worse at every turn. Hynes should send Quinn a huge thank-you for this ‘Willie Horton” xmas gift. Illinoisans, and Chicagoans especially, have evolved a certain practicality about corruption and graft: they assume some level of corruption, but forgive it if the grafters are otherwise competent and deliver good services. They don’t mind a crooked alderman too much, if he’s quiet about it, and if the garbage delivery and street repairs and snow plowing are dependable, and the cops and firemen show up when needed. But if you can’t deliver, you are OUT. Quinn had the best possible break in inheriting his job; the guy before him made corruption and incompetence a SCIENCE. There was no place to go but up. Quinn had a history of being a Blago enemy and being a populist and square but honest guy. All Quinn had to do to keep the job was not screw up, and mend some fences. Yet time after time, he’s fumbled the ball, particularly on the budget. Hynes and the GOP candidate can’t attack Quinn on character after Blago, but he can hammer Quinn all day long about incompetence. And he will. This story will not go away. - 47th Ward - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 1:06 pm: Firing Randle isn’t going to fix the problem. With 1700+ people out there, this is going to drip-drip-drip for weeks or months. The toothpaste is out of the tube and it’s going to be really messy trying to clean it up. Firing Randle is just scapegoating. The buck stops with Quinn. - Responsa - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 1:13 pm: The early release demonstrates very poor judgement. But making a mockery of the justice system by not notifying either victims or law enforcement (who reasonably believed the prisoners were temporarily out of commission) that the criminals were back on the street early is the firing offense. The only logical reason that PQ has not already fired the corrections chief is that Quinn was told about it, OK’d it, and did not realize it was all a “big mistake” at the time. - One of the 35 - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 1:15 pm: This incident, along with several others, demonstrates that Quinn has no idea how to run the governor’s office. He has shown that he is totally inept. - Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 1:25 pm: Stick to the question, please. - steve schnorf - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 1:44 pm: From what we know so far, I don’t think so. If more comes out that shows Randle directly ignored the direction he was instructed to go by the administration, that would be a different story. This looks to be more of a learning curve problem. Surely no one in the Administration thinks that you can pick any group of 1700 people who are in state prisons, no matter how low-level their crimes were, turn them loose, and expect that they will go forth and sin no more. Neither should the media nor the public. They were in prison, for Christ’s sake. Neither should anyone even remotely try to assert that if only the original program had been followed, all would have been fine. 1700 epiphanies and reformed sinners in just 37 days! Give me a break. I think the large problem is that so far the Administration hasn’t found the right way to consistently tell and stick with the story (this deal, MAP grants, struggling to borrow money to pay past due bills, etc) that if you want a $21 billion dollar GRF state budget, these are the things that have to happen and like it or not, the far worse is yet to come. - Captain Flume - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 1:46 pm: I seriously doubt Randle acted unilaterally on this, and wonder if he was set to take the fall if things went bad, which apparently they have. From what I understand of the micro-managing “hands-on” contact that the Governor’s office staff seem to want to have with agencies (and micro-managing has been a Pat Quinn hallmark sicne before his ascendancy to the Governorship), it is difficult to believe Randle acted on his own. Should he be fired? No, but a transfer to the South African trade office might be a good move. Clearly, the origin of who made the decision based on what discussions with which people needs to be aired fully. - Its a man's world - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 1:47 pm: Yes - fire him. Not only was this dangerous to the public is was a bad political decisions. Everyone knows that at least one of those people will be repeat offenders. Maybe Quinn could fire him and hire a women - helping with the DOC problem and his image as a person unsupportive of women and issues women care about. - steve schnorf - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 1:55 pm: Man’s world: according to our current crop of US Attorneys, it would probably be very illegal for Quinn, much less Randle, to take political considerations and consequences into account in making a government policy decision. - CircularFiringSquad - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 1:58 pm: If Randle goes will someone use it as a time to fumigate the Blagoof mopes still grabbing DOC checks? I assume those want Randle gone as the bright lites at the union so deduct most of the votes - Dan S, a voter and Cubs Fan - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 1:58 pm: There needs to be a full investigation by a neutral source (FBI maybe) and then heads should role. - lake county democrat - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 2:07 pm: I think he (Randle) been thrown under the bus enough - Quinn’s display was pathetic. I was going to grudgingly vote for him in the primary, now I’m abstaining — they’re both power hungry, not-too-principled hacks. - Rethickulass - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 2:11 pm: THis “problem” is just another symptom of the much larger problem. Quinn lacks the insight, pragmatism, and leadership to lead this state or any agency that has a direct impact on people’s lives. We all know and give credit to the Quinn who stated CUB, fought for so many public policy inititives through referendum and the media. But it’s far easier to create serious political issues than to solve them. The problem isn’t this decision in this case, there is a serious pattern here that should be clear to everyone; Quinn cannot lead this state. I am becomming more and more afraid that we might actually give him 4 years to run this state, even though he has shown everyone in painstakingly fasion he is unfit to do so. I certainly hope the Democrats wake up before it’s too late and dump him! - C.Q. - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 2:32 pm: Until the “What did he know and when did he know it” questions are answered, it’s really hard to say Randle should walk the plank. If this was his call — or even mostly his call — then he should be canned, especially with talk starting to pick up about the problems he had in Ohio. I’m not sure how things work in the Quinn Administration, but past governors have had a deputy chief of staff who oversaw corrections/law enforcement policy and operations. Does Quinn have someone doing that? If so, that person should be on the firing line too. - cassandra - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 2:33 pm: A NYT opinion piece headline today, coincidentally, is on national corrections trends towards early release and other measures to reduce prison populations. The theme is, we can’t afford to keep huge numbers of individuals locked up, and states are searching for viable alternatives. It seems, in other words, that Randle is not way out in left field on this initiative, and neither is Quinn. It’s an implementation problem, which, unfortunately speaks poorly of the state administrators who are responsible for same. Maybe Randle needs to make some changes in the prison bureaucracy, no matter how connected the responsible bureaucrats are. He can’t make all the individual decisions himself, nor should he. But he should make sure the people who are making them are competent. - VanillaMan - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 2:34 pm: You fire the guy who hired him months ago because it sounds like the guy who hired him doesn’t know what he is doing. - Vienna Beefness - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 2:37 pm: Quinn questions Randle’s judgment on the MGT Push, but who questions Quinn’s judgment? He appointed Randle knowing Randle’s documented history of problems as the head of Ohio’s prison system, and hired him anyway. - Just the basics - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 2:57 pm: More info needed. Sounds a little like Quinn camp knew or should have known (maybe didn’t understand of think through implications, maybe didn’t ask questions) or the director was given discretion. From Quinn sounds fishy. - Raymond Moley - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 3:44 pm: The problem isn’t Director Randle, he’s educated, a hard worker and a great improvement over the previous Director, a former Macon County Sheriff. The problem is with the Governor’s Office supervision of Randle, and frankly, Quinn’s Deputy Governor Staff supervision of most other state agencies. Quinn essentially took his Lt. Governor staff, and gave them promotions to oversee various state agencies, even though most of them didn’t have any practical management experience. Quinn has held the Governor’s office for nearly a year and he has failed miserably to communicate an effective management and budget plan. He is running with a Keystone Cop executive team which means we’ll have more blowups before the voters mercifully send him a one-way ticket to Palooka-ville. P.S.Cassandra made a good reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/opinion/04mon3.html?ref=opinion The article includes a link to a white paper on some things Michigan did to cut their prison population by 8% (about 3,500) over about two years. - Justice - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 3:44 pm: Quinn should pay attention to “The buck stops here” Harry Truman. He continues to bumble around and likely was aware that this was in the works. He just didn’t think it would create the mess it has. He should first fire all his PR people then fire himself! - Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 3:52 pm: I’m on record as having recommended former FBI agent Jim Sacia for the job in the first place, and I’d replace Randle with him tomorrow if I could. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 3:53 pm: State Senator and former police chief John Millner would be another great pick. - southern illinoisan - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 4:49 pm: Gregor has an excellent post. He hit on all the correct issues. Randle seems to be a very nice person, but professionally he cannot handle the top job at IDOC because all of the Deputy Directors and wardens are still remain. And all of them are Blago holdovers. Fumigate…….. For those of you who are under the illusion that many “good, qualified people” will be canned if this were to happen, think again. 80-90% of the top layer in the IDOC is totally incompetent. - Plutocrat03 - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 5:49 pm: Not sure who is at fault, but I bet that can be learned. Seems like we should find out which dullard decided to provide early release to violent prisoners. If there are more than one put them all in a room where the victims of the original and secondary crimes can have a go at them. Then they should be fired and their pensions blocked. How stupid can you be while still being able to breathe? - work force - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 6:02 pm: After working in corrections for 30 years I think I can read people fairly well. When I saw the Chicago press conference on tv with Quinn blaming Director Randle for everything. The camera shot to Randle’s face…his face said loud and clear..I know this fool is lying on me..case closed..Quinn was behind this not Randle. Everything I’ve heard about Randle from fellow DOC staff is positive. So lets keep him and let Quinn go. - retiredDOC...tg - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 6:29 pm: Randle is impulsive and makes too quick decisions. He has been given full reign and has made some decisions based on what he feels is popular and will give him a NAME. Unfortunately the NAME is MUD and Quinn pushed him in it. Don’t be fooled that Randle didn’t know what was going on fully but so did the Governor’s office. Randle should cut his losses and walk…along with talk. - steve schnorf - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 7:08 pm: Ah, so if only Quinn were a better Governor and Randle a better manager these early release programs would be what? Unnecessary? Better run? More successful at only releasing prisoners who have been truly rehabilitated? Oh, I get it, the cuts would have been made somewhere else, where they would have been painless. Prisoners who will commit crimes are going to be early released, because we can’t pay to keep them in prison. Elderly people, the disabled, the mentally ill, are going to be harmed, some will probably die who wouldn’t have otherwise, because the local programs that serve them are going to cut back or close. Fewer people are going to get health care paid for by Medicaid, and fewer providers are going to participate, because we can’t pay for the services. And this is just the beginning. Is this Governor going to make lots of painful choices, many of which will be able to be picked apart by the hind-sighters? You bet. Not because he is evil, nor because he is incompetent, not because he is uncaring, but because any Governor sitting in that chair right now would have to make exactly the same sorts of choices. Doesn’t anyone get it? Unless you assume the things Government does don’t need doing, or can be done much cheaper (remember, we’re a union state), then of course there are going to be unpleasant consequences to spending significantly less money on doing them. Duh! - southern illinoisan - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 7:37 pm: Yes, Mr. Schnorf, many of us get it. The state is broke and there is not enough money to pay for the necessities let alone the feel good stuff. And I agree that it would not matter who was the governor, tough choices would have to be made. But we differ on the assessment of Pat Quinn. He does seem to care and is committed, but he is not capable of leading this state in such dire circumstances. The General Assembly under the leadership of Mike Madigan dealt him a losing hand. So place the blame on your local legislator(if he or she voted against a tax increase),and the entire Democratic party who helped elect and re-elect Rod Blagojevich, the worst governor in the history of this state. As for the IDOC and Randle, if there is not enough money to pay to icarcerate inmates then stand up and say so. Don’t try to please everyone with a trumped up MGT push that reduces the inmate population at the expense of public safety. - Feeling sorry for Quinn is that it, Steve? - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 7:59 pm: Steve, It was Quinn’s job to manage, lead and secure the funding necessary to avoid having to resort to drastic measures and bad choices in the first place, would you not agree? He had considerable good will on his side, so it’s not like the GA was out to do him in. Keeping Filan on as his budget guy was a bad decision and probably explains why Quinn was ineffective at getting the support he needed. Nobody told him to keep Filan on. In fact didn’t people tell him to get rid of Filan? Quinn spent months talking about having “courage” at the expense of his political career, but in the final analysis didn’t show courage. Of course it should never have come to such dramatic talk anyway. Nevertheless, he signed the partially and poorly funded budget in the end. No one held a gun to his head on that. His party makes up the majority of the GA, so spare me any drivel about the Republicans not supporting Quinn’s 50 percent income tax increase. He should have provided his democrats (and ultimately the republicans) with the political cover they needed to get them to pass the income tax increase. He should have made his cuts and offered reforms at the executive level FIRST, had he done what he was supposed to in the first place the republicans could have been brought into the fold and/or sufficient pressure could have been applied to them to make them fold and support his 50 percent tax increase. Quinn As Governor: The Year in Review—What a Mess it Was First, in January 2009 he’s going to fumigate state government. Then, after nearly a year he tells everyone he’s not going to fumigate because the feds are investigating some of his Blagojevich holdovers, and he believes that firing them may compromise the feds’ case. He’s going to slash human services to balance the state budget. Then, he’s not. Then, he’s going to push for a state income tax increase to balance the budget. Then, he’s not. Then, he’s never-ever going to sign a partial or inadaquate budget. Then he does. Then, he’s going to sign reform (part I) hailing it a major triumph in advancing reform. Then he’s not because it’s not good enough. Then, he’s going to fire U of I Trustees who refuse to resign voluntarily. Then, he’s not. Then, he’s not aware of prisoners being released early. Then a day or so later he’s aware. Then two weeks later he’s back to being unaware. Need I go on here? (does anyone have any dramamine?) Governor Quinn has a habit of saying dramatic things or declaring he’s going to do something dramatic and not looking into it deeply enough before he makes his declaration. When he is required to face reality, he changes his mind. State government is a mess. We need a tax increase, selective cuts, and a governor who is results-driven and who has the good sense and ability to negotiate when necessary to get things done. Still want to give Quinn a pass, Steve? - Gregor - Monday, Jan 4, 10 @ 9:38 pm: Steve, “Feeling Sorry” says it pretty well, but I want to make clear that what we’re talking about is two programs; the early release of non-violent minor offenders after they have served a reasonable portion of their time, and the MGT Push initiative. I think most here thought the early release program was a practical idea, assuming there would be logical thought put into who qualifies for early release and all that. ” Push” was a separate policy that apparently was being applied across the board, without much thought about the suitability of all inmates, and applied in the front-end, before any time was served. You’re uniquely qualified to answer, Steve, being a former CMS director, so would you mind telling us; during your term in that chair, did you sign off on every policy of the agency you helmed or not, and what did that signature mean to you at the time. For bonus credit, and I don’t really expect an answer, when your governor dictated a policy initiative he wanted you to undertake, even if you argued with him against it, did you suck it up and follow the order, and sign off on it, or not? - Mark S. Allen - Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 1:43 am: Maybe Quinn and all the staff need to go who for MONTHS ignored the repeated requests of advocacy groups on this and other prison reform issues! Anybody who visits prisons in ANY state knows that the majority of inmates are serving time for NON VIOLENT drug posession case, Now how these non violent people got confused with those who have committed major crimes and released is beyond common sense people. Quinn met with many of these activists at Rainbow/PUSH back in February of last year, took groups information, told them he’d be glad to meet with the groups, YET its election time and he blew them all off, so he deserves what he gets for ignoring grassroots people who knew how to direct him but they werent big enough for his attention. - bill ryan - Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 8:00 am: A recent Department of Corrections program allowed hundreds of people to be released from prison, on average, 37 days before completing their sentences. Of those released eight have been charged with new criminal offenses .Citing public safety, Governor Quinn halted the program. Blaming the early release program is a political distraction. What will make us safer is a prison system that provides rehabilitative services, including effective after-care support. Mike Randle is not the problem and is the first professional corrections person to head IDOC in memory. The problem is a lack of political will to deal with an understaffed, overcrowded prison system with crumbling physical plants and without effective programming, as well as a culture that believes that warehousing people in cells will magically result in changed behavior. Bill Ryan Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.