Good riddance?
Friday, Sep 25, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Finke…
Both state Agriculture Director Philip Nelson and Illinois State Fair Director Patrick Buchen have left their jobs, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration said late Thursday afternoon.
The Rauner administration said in a prepared statement that it “accepted the resignation” of Nelson on Thursday. The statement said Buchen “had also stepped down.” […]
However, contacted later, Buchen called the situation “political crap.”
“I resigned because they fired (Nelson), and it’s just a bunch of bull crap,” Buchen said.
* Erickson…
Buchen, a Fulton County native, came under fire after this year’s Illinois State Fair when he announced attendance was less than half of what it was the previous year. He said his estimates were more accurate than previous counts.
Word that Buchen was leaving surfaced last week, but administration officials said he was still on the job.
The department still has not released final attendance figures for the Du Quoin State Fair, which ended more than two weeks ago.
Nelson marks the second top agency official to leave the Rauner camp since the Republican took office in January. Former Illinois Department of Corrections Director Donald Stolworthy left after four months in his position.
* Sun-Times…
“I told Phil last night in an email that if he was asked to resign, I would follow him out the door,” Buchen told the Sun-Times Thursday evening.
Buchen said the governor’s administration asked for Nelson’s resignation. Buchen said he couldn’t stay on as director without him.
“I owe this job to him, and I wasn’t going to stay here working for these guys downtown,” Buchen said. “There are just some really bad apples downtown. The citizens deserve to know that agriculture had a huge hit today by asking him to resign with no apparent reason whatsoever. I don’t know what they were thinking.”
Whatever.
There have been problems with Nelson since Day One. Buchen, I’m told, was far worse and was about to be fired.
“He was a terrible manager,” said one high-level source with personal knowledge of the Buchen situation. The source also claimed Buchen was a “terrible employee” and that “Morale was super low under his tenure.”
Take that for what it’s worth, but the Rauner folks fully admit they made a bad hire here, so at least they moved to correct what they considered to be a big mistake instead of just letting it fester.
- Daniel Plainview - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:09 am:
- one high-level source with personal knowledge -
I’d take that as worth much more if the high level source was willing to officially go on the record.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:12 am:
Daniel, you’re just gonna have to trust me on this one. It’s a solid source. And there’s more than one.
- Arm bar - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:19 am:
Rich - there were rumblings during ISF. Buchen was also making no secret that he was shopping out his resume at DQSF. Are these just the opening salvo, maybe allowing for the Quinn/Blago chicken wing dinner squad to be terminated or moved legally?
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:20 am:
===…the Rauner folks fully admit they made a bad hire here, so at least they moved to correct what they considered to be a big mistake instead of just letting it fester.===
I never have dinged any that admit a mistake and move on, especially when owning and admitting a hiring mistake at the highest levels.
It’s Rauner’s Shop. It’s his Staff. Rauner ate it, Rauner owned it.
Good on the Rauner Crew, more governing like this please.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:20 am:
===there were rumblings during ISF===
There’ve been rumblings about one of those guys since April.
Just sayin…
- Give Me A Break - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:24 am:
Arm Bar: What are you talking about? These guys were Rauner hires not PQ or Blago’s.
- Arm bar - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:28 am:
Too bad about Nelson, had higher hopes for him. Buchen likely got lost under his Dallas subUrban Cowboy hat.
- Amalia - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:30 am:
look, Rauner drives me nuts, but this is just sad. it is very difficult for employees when there are leadership changes so quickly. the ship is rocky.
- Arm bar - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:32 am:
They’ve fixed these and good on them for that. You’ve still got an incredible amount of poor managers at higher profile agencies that deal in life and death matters, not much action there.
- Courser - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:32 am:
Well, if the new normal is to fire terrible managers who negatively impact the morale of the rank-and-file employees who actually do the work, then kudos to the Rauner Administration. But, isn’t that a bit like the kettle calling the pot black?
- Wordslinger - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:38 am:
Some transparency from the administration is in order.
These guys weren’t rookies, they had track records; one ran the farm bureau, one ran the Indiana State Fair.
What’s the beef?
The way the stories read now, it seems like retaliation for releasing honest state fair counts.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:41 am:
===So and so was a bad manager because they did such and such. And if these examples are going to come from anonymous sources, there should more than one anonymous source and more than one example.===
Do you read actual news reports?
Why do you think it matters who writes the pieces and your belief in their credibility when they cite unnamed sources.
Rich’s reputation and his years of credibile work product should make your assessment of the credibility really easy.
- Arsenal - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:52 am:
==”I wasn’t going to stay here working for these guys downtown,” Buchen said. “There are just some really bad apples downtown. “==
This is really odd language, and as such, it says more about Buchen than Rauner.
- From the 'Dale to HP - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:00 am:
Good for team Rauner, too often the incompetent stay in charge so the higher ups can save face.
- A guy - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:06 am:
Mr. Buchen. “Good bye” would have sufficed.
- Norseman - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:12 am:
Rich, I’ll have to take your word for it. Without your broader sources, I was inclined to believe Buchen’s charges because of what we’ve publicly seen from Rauner staff and complaints about the staff from other agency folks.
- Anon - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:15 am:
Unless State statutes are changed pertaining to when the fairs must be held, expect poor attendance next year too. The statutes were written when kids didn’t start school until after Labor Day.
- Former IHPA - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:24 am:
Maybe now the Governor will move to clean house of the old, disastrous Quinn appointees at IHPA and ALPLM?
- Westward - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:24 am:
I’ll pleading ignorance here: I have relatives in other states, Minn and Montana specifically, and the kids go back to school after Labor Day. I’m sure it’s similar in other states. When did Illinois being pushing day one of school to almost the middle of August?? As a parent, it’s been irritating. But like taxes, we simply deal with it.
- Honeybear - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:34 am:
Hmmmm..Glad to hear the input about problems with Nelson and Buchen before now. My immediate impulse was to blame the Rauner folks. Maybe it’s because I know a few holdovers and they are constantly looking over their shoulders worried about the capritiousness of the young, inexperienced, arrogant, privileged, and easily threatened Rauner acolytes. That being said, there are frankly a lot more worthless, do-nothing, highly paid, privileged arogant holdover state workers that I know. The problem is when someone who really knows what they are doing, who works hard, is frightened and paranoid into inaction or conversely when they do speak out they are fired. I’m hoping that the Administration will figure it out but so far there has been a lot of capriciousness, at least from what I’ve heard of. Maturity seems to be lacking in the early days of the Rauner administration.
- Stones - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:41 am:
Apparently these guys weren’t Superstars
- DuPage - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:43 am:
Rauner made a bad hire. Rauner has made a lot of bad decisions as governor, this was a minor, everyday, run of the mill bad decision compared to some of his other ones.
- Anon - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:54 am:
Rauner fires top staff @ Ag and somehow the “holdovers” are being thrown under the bus? Quite frankly, Rauner cleared out a ton of expert, hardworking “holdovers” his first month in office.
- Langhorne - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:54 am:
Who actually pulled the plug on these guys? I dont understand the rauner chain of command. Was it the chief of staff? A deputy governor? One of the superstars? The gov? After all, he is a hands on guy, who gets to know his managers, and details of each business he buys.
- Pot calling kettle - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:57 am:
But I wonder…were the problems with Nelson because he was a poor manager or because he was acting as an independent voice? If the latter, that’s what Rauner said he wanted from his top people, and we have seen indications that the Rauner folks actually prefer that their people toe the line. If Nelson is leaving because the Gov’s office does not really want input that strays from the Gov’s beliefs, that’s a problem and we might see more of these resignations.
- Honeybear - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:59 am:
Anon, sorry if I gave that impression. I’m talking about the holdovers that survived the initial purge and those who were promoted from within after the purge. I didn’t mean to indicate that the two who got the boot were holdovers. But you’re totally right, a lot of institutional memory and expertise went out the door in Feb.
- Up North - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:06 am:
Seems like Nelson and the former Ag Dept. Head- Chuck Hartke used to be in favor of wind energy in ag areas- what happened that they changed their minds?
- Not So Fast... - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:07 am:
So far, it’s only a case of he said-anonomyous said. Neither side offered proof of their assertion.
- Just Me - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:08 am:
One paper indicated that the Director demanded to speak to the Governor, and his request was refused. If that is true, I just lost a lot of respect for the administration. The Governor should fire a Director of a State Agency on his own, not let some staffer do it for him.
- Anonymous - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:12 am:
I love my governor for being human,we all make mistakes leading by example
- Anon - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:16 am:
=== used to be in favor of wind energy in ag areas- what happened that they changed their minds? ===
If they are now against it, they haven’t been doing a very effective job of keeping new wind energy projects out of agricultural areas in the last couple of years.
- walker - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:22 am:
There’s obviously more to this than the state fair attendance and PR surrounding it. Both had solid previous records, and quickly were seen as failing in this administration.
It starts at the Director level. Guessing that being a “poor manager” for this administration relates to objections to cut as arbitrarily directed.
- Secret Square - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:23 am:
“When did Illinois being pushing day one of school to almost the middle of August??”
Well, as far back as I can remember (early 1970s) school in my small rural town always began in August, usually on the 25th or later. It has moved up about another week or so in many downstate districts.
As a student and also as a partent, I personally prefer the early start to the school year because it also means an earlier END to the school year. If school doesn’t start until after Labor Day, that means it doesn’t end until well into June.
- Secret Square - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:24 am:
I meant to say “and also as a PARENT”.
- Team Sleep - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:28 am:
Color me surprised about Mr. Nelson.
- Northsider - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:29 am:
Someone should ask Superstar Linda Lingle about the firing/resignation. Wasn’t she the Administration’s State Fair liason?
- Altois - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:44 am:
Regardless of party, what the Dept. of Ag, the State Fairs, and the COUNTY Fairs need is a voice that cares about their success. So many county fairs are in dire financial straits, with several having cancelled entirely and drastically reduced their offerings.
Put someone in as ag director who is an actual farmer, not at the head of big corporate farming operation and hasn’t driven a tractor in decades, someone who cares more about farming than politics.
I had high hopes for Rauner, but so far he’s been less than impressive. So many of his votes came from downstate. Now those people are disillusioned because the governor they voted for is content to let the fairs wither.
- Cathartic - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:46 am:
- Norseman - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:12 am:
Rich, I’ll have to take your word for it. Without your broader sources, I was inclined to believe Buchen’s charges because of what we’ve publicly seen from Rauner staff…
I’m with Norseman. While I trust Rich, there is otherwise every reason to believe Nelson’s version over the Superstars. One easily imagines an honest Director being fired for not towing the Raunerbot line. Last night’s articles indicate Rauner promised Nelson sufficient Ag funding to do its job well. If that’s the case, the Raunerbots no doubt didn’t appreciate anyone who would publicly (and privately) challenge the Gov to keep his word (i.e. cut a deal instead of burning it down). As Slinger says, we need a lot more transparency from the Guv’s office to digest their version — though Rich undoubtedly reported their true sentiments and versions.
- Anyone Remember - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:48 am:
Westward
As someone from a state where school always started after Labor Day, also find it baffling. The “old timers” when I moved here said many schools want to be out before Memorial Day.
- Cathartic - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:59 am:
~~we need a lot more transparency from the Guv’s office to digest their version~~
When events like this happen, that’s when *it matters* whether you have credibility. If your public face and comportment consists of snarky, rude, disrespectful “grass bowl” spokespeople, why should anyone believe your word? You’ve created your own “brand” — nobody’s buying anything you’re selling at this point.
- Daniel Plainview - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 11:02 am:
- Daniel, you’re just gonna have to trust me on this one. It’s a solid source. And there’s more than one. -
I trust you reported what you were told, but I have many doubts that they’re telling the whole truth.
- Norseman - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 11:05 am:
I’m also curious about the veracity of that part of the story indicating Nelson was refused a meeting with Rauner. It wouldn’t surprise me.
- Cathartic - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 11:10 am:
~~You’ve created your own “brand” — nobody’s buying anything you’re selling at this point.~~
It’s tough to restore a damaged brand. Just ask VW.
- He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 11:21 am:
@Daniel Rich’s report is very accurate there was a lot of issues going on that people do not know about. The people WERE telling the truth. Rumor about this has been around since before the fair.
- Daniel Plainview - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 11:27 am:
- issues going on that people do not know about. -
It’s a public agency, so don’t hide your light under a bushel. If there were problems go ahead and tell the citizenry, and put your name on it.
- Politix - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 11:30 am:
“When events like this happen, that’s when *it matters* whether you have credibility. If your public face and comportment consists of snarky, rude, disrespectful “grass bowl” spokespeople, why should anyone believe your word? You’ve created your own “brand” — nobody’s buying anything you’re selling at this point.”
^^
This.
But I will take Rich’s word for it.
The Rauner team isn’t much into professional courtesy. It makes everything worse.
- Cathartic - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 11:34 am:
~~ He Makes Ryan…: The people WERE telling the truth. ~~
Hmmmm. So this time it’s really so? Wish they’d consistently tell us when they are really and truly being truthful. The neat thing about having credibility is that you never have to double down on your own words…they just solidly stand.
- Rural Illinois - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 11:45 am:
Working in agriculture and being highly involved in agriculture, I will tell you this– We love Mr. Nelson, solely based on what he had done for us previously. He has always been a voice for agriculture, since he was a teenager. When our email boxes and social media feeds started filling up with this last night everyone was in shock and total disbelief. To us, these two men were able to accomplish things we had only dreamed about for years. In general, the agricultural community was behind these men. This past month, has been really, really hard on agriculture with the lack of a state budget(we know lots of other groups as well), and the agricultural community knew Mr. Nelson had our backs.
The agricultural community has supported the governor, so far; and right now they want answers, and are disappointed in these departures, shocked would actually more describe most of the feelings.
- Keyser Soze - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 12:17 pm:
Illinois used to be proud of its State Fair because it drew over a million attendees, or so it was said.
- Mama - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 12:21 pm:
++being a “poor manager”++
Being a poor manager can mean something as simple as someone in power not liking that person. It does not always mean the person did anything wrong.
- Carl LaFong - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 12:28 pm:
Rainer want to turn over the Ag Department to his downtown buddies at ConAgra and Monsanto. Farmers, hang on to your land big vulture capital has you on their to do list.
- Wordslinger - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 12:48 pm:
Nelson could have hung tough and made Rauner fire him. He’s a gubernatorial appointment, he doesnt have to jump for the frat boys. But as we know, the governor doesn’t like the heat.
Lot of hints in recent weeks on the blog that the COO is on the milk carton. Are there some big secret parades coming up or something?
- Lincoln Lad - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 12:51 pm:
Leaving a job and publicly pointing fingers diminishes any credibility you might have with the uninformed. There are always two sides to a story, both with some truth, and generally each with some spin. I wonder what the ‘do over’ at the Director level will bring - it will tell us something about this administration.
- Demoralized - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 1:39 pm:
Whew. This Buchen guy isn’t just burning bridges on the way out, he’s torching them.
http://www.sj-r.com/article/20150925/NEWS/150929704
- Viewing Carefully - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 1:58 pm:
@ http://www.sj-r.com/article/20150925/NEWS/150929704
Something doesn’t smell right. I think Rich needs to do some more digging. There’s more going on here than the Raunerbots are fessin’ to.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 2:00 pm:
===I think Rich needs to do some more digging===
Meh.
The guy is a diva.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 2:12 pm:
Let’s close this one out and move the discussion to a fresh thread: https://capitolfax.com/2015/09/25/buchen-you-need-to-understand-that-when-my-nose-gets-bloodied-i-will-break-those-that-bloodied-mine/