When superstars collide with reality
Monday, Apr 3, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune profiles the governor’s current and former superstars…
When Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner took office, he boasted of a “superstar” team he’d hired to help remake state government.
The team consisted of a consultant with experience helping governors craft spending plans in Florida and California, a former budget office chief from Georgia and the ex-governor of Hawaii. Rauner said they were “the perfect trio” to “help turn our state around.” […]
It’s common for politicians to tout an incoming administration as better, brighter and more competent than that of the vanquished predecessor. In Rauner’s case, his pledge to “assemble a superstar ‘A’ team to turn the government around” also was symbolic of a central premise of his candidacy: that a successful businessman could bring fiscal order to state government by recruiting special talent and applying private-sector practices. […]
When Rauner first talked up his superstars, the new governor was fresh off a campaign in which he’d promised to “shake up Springfield” and use his business skills to streamline the state government bureaucracy. These days though, the governor says he’s focusing on what he can “control.”
That shift has resulted in less emphasis the past year on the notion that superstars can whip the state into shape. Instead, the governor has pivoted his message to attack Democrats who’ve long controlled the legislature and have blocked many of his initiatives.
* And this passage is getting some play in the Twitterverse…
- Henry Francis - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 2:58 pm:
That’s nonsense about setting up Intersect because they couldn’t attract top notch talent at the state - everyone at Intersect was already working at DCEO. The few lucky ones got to move over and get paid more.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 2:58 pm:
Diana Rauner, who works for free at at The Ounce called suing her husband’s administration a “business decision”
She is signing checks for the political cover of governmental decisions to pay “Superstars” as they are while Social Services are closing their doors.
You think Bruce Rauner worries, unless caught, where “Superstars” are paid when the President of a Social Servive group has no worries putting her name to make for the “politics” here?
I don’t.
- Precinct Captain - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:00 pm:
Sounds like “shake up Springfield” was really a shakedown for Rauner cronies to get rich off the taxpayer dime!
- Cubs in '16 - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:01 pm:
Considering my State job involves helping people with disabilities, I’m sure the Gov. not only believes I’m overpaid but ultimately unnecessary.
- VanillaMan - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:05 pm:
First off - don’t call them superstars. Call them what we’ve always called them, POLITICAL HACKS,
Then start telling us how much money Rauner’s political hack have been screwing us.
Don’t play Rauner’s game. Play to his supporters using the language they understand. Rauner’s political friends abused our offices to pad their pockets with our tax dollars.
The guy who promised to do things differently, really only sold us the same broken politics with a new label - and at a much higher cost and waste to Illinois taxpayers.
That’s how you do it!
- Sir Reel - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:06 pm:
The tweet says it all.
Rauner’s philosophy seems to be a few hand picked, highly paid senior staff and an army of poorly paid State employee grunts to take orders from the senior staff.
Like others entering government with no experience, Rauner doesn’t understand that many State employees become experts in their particular areas and there’s no way a handful of senior staff can know enough to provide meaningful direction.
It’s similar to when a new batch of patronage senior staff show up thinking they know it all, discover it’s not that simple and end up spending their time making important decisions like who get the close to the office building parking spots.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:09 pm:
To the article,
I read it, I learned quite a bit, and while two (Arduin and Lingle) have moved on, a great deal of what they’ve put into place continues to be a part of what Rauner could have within a functioning administration, less a lack of a budget.
There also seems to be a “grating” time that at least Lingle and Arduin had, let alone the contractual aspects for Arduin and the “boredom” (parade organizing?) that Lingle had.
Get in, do the job.
Ok, but… we as a state, are we better with them come and gone?
I dunno. What are the metrics to that?
- Ducky LaMoore - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:19 pm:
===I dunno. What are the metrics to that?===
I think they were a combined -3 WAR in the Republican League. But that sits way above the gov’s BAPIP (Budget Actually Put Into Place) at .000
- Political Animal - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:25 pm:
This is really quite simple and not a contradiction.
Merit comp employees are underpaid. The state does not pay management, lawyers, executives, etc. what they would make in the private sector, so it’s hard to attract top talent.
Union employees are overpaid. Clerical and administrative staff, not to mention the blue collar type jobs, are paid way more than they make in the private sector while providing much less in value due to a union contract that hamstrings management.
- Norseman - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:25 pm:
=== When superstars collide with reality ===
I’d go with the following: When so-called superstars ignore
collidewith reality- Smokey - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:30 pm:
Yeah, it’s the state employees fault the state is in the place it’s at. Don’t mind us…..its the state workers pay that is bringing the state down.
..
- VanillaMan - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:35 pm:
Governor Rauner wasted taxpayer money by hiring political insiders and calling them superstars to justify what he paid them. The only taxpayer waste these insiders found was what they venerated. The only taxpayer waste that ended with Bruce Rauner was when the left their overpaid wasteful phoney job positions.
Rauner wasted our taxes while delivering zero reforms, zero balanced budgets and zero leadership. Bruce Rauner has been the biggest waster of Illinois taxes - ever.
- Annonin' - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:36 pm:
Story must have been edited because it did not mention:
Locations and salaries of departed $uper$tars
It might be good to mention Legal$tar Barclay now works for an outfit that rehabs injured workers and others
- G'Kar - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:43 pm:
Ducky @ 3:19 is batting 1.000 with his timely reference!
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:47 pm:
===Clerical and administrative staff, not to mention the blue collar type jobs, are paid way more than they make in the private sector while providing much less in value due to a union contract that hamstrings management===
Whatever percentage you think they’re overpaid, I’ll take that percentage from your pay.
How do you actually know what these unionized workers do that makes them so unquestionably overpaid? Are you saying every unionized worker for the state is overpaid? That’s interesting.
- Cubs in '16 - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:50 pm:
Value is relative with this Governor. He may think he got a bargain with the departed Superstars while most of us probably feel more like VM. Bottom line, if you can’t directly help with his agenda and/or messaging you’re not valuable.
- DuPage Bard - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:55 pm:
So Unionized State Troopers, overpaid? Unionized prison guards, overpaid?
Got it
- A Jack - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:57 pm:
Since some of these superstars are contractual, how do they rate getting paid faster than other contract providers?
If I were an unpaid contract provider, I would be asking what makes the Governor’s staff so special that they are getting paid without delay and then seeking legal remedies.
- Cubs in '16 - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:57 pm:
To piggy-back on OW’s comment at 3:47, just because the private sector pays X to perform a certain job doesn’t make unionized workers overpaid. Maybe the private sector worker is underpaid? Or maybe the State was able to attract a better work to perform the job function with an offer of better pay, benefits, job security, pension, etc. As the Gov. said himself, you have to pay up to “attract top-notch talent”.
- Whatever - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:58 pm:
If he really believed that (or really meant it when he says he wants unions to agree to merit-based compensation), he would amend 80 IAC 310.540 so that it wouldn’t provide that merit comp positions in his administration get 0% pay raises.
BTW, I attended a meeting with Arduin once, and she never said anything that you couldn’t get from a high school economics text, and even then she made no attempt to translate the economic theory into a specific proposal or otherwise make it relevant to the issues being discussed. She might as well have said “Four legs good, two legs better” every five minutes or so. Total waste of time and taxpayer money.
- walker - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 4:05 pm:
Who knew reforming state government was so complicated?
- Anonymous - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 4:15 pm:
I’m generally pro-Union, but there is an issue with pay equality. Take a look at the salary of state employees who are not unionized with the same title/duties as employees who are in a union. Employees at ISBE (union) compared to employees at ICCB (non-union) would give you a stark example. Sure, it would be great if the ICCB salaries could go up but considering the state of the budget, we have to acknowledge that isn’t going to happen.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 4:17 pm:
Rauner wants a state workforce that’s frightened and demoralized, judging from his horrible contract terms. Workers can be laid off and lose their jobs at his whim, and not have layoff protections. Workers won’t know when the privatization axe will fall on them.
Drastically cutting their benefits, job protections and pay can have a terrible effect on getting and keeping a dedicated workforce, as we can see with the shortage of applicants for teaching positions in certain states.
Plus, not to knock other employers, but state employees and other government employees should be compensated decently because they work for counties, cities , states, etc. They represent our identities and fundamental, powerful institutions, our governments. They’re State of Illinois workers, Springfield workers, Chicago workers, etc.
- wordslinger - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 4:18 pm:
–This is really quite simple and not a contradiction.
Merit comp employees are underpaid. The state does not pay management, lawyers, executives, etc. what they would make in the private sector, so it’s hard to attract top talent.
Union employees are overpaid. Clerical and administrative staff, not to mention the blue collar type jobs, are paid way more than they make in the private sector while providing much less in value due to a union contract that hamstrings management.–
Let me take a wild guess: you are in that “management, lawyers, executives, etc.” class, and not among those “overpaid” blue collar workers.
Sign up to be a prison guard, Rambo, or a trooper or tow-truck operator on the expressways, and tell me what kind of pay cut you’d take to do that job.
Perhaps you could explain as well the value-proposition of those critical jobs Munger and her traveling entourage landed after she lost that wasn’t being done before? Or why the governor needs a “secretary of education” (not a real thing) and a Superintendent of Public Instruction, at $250K each?
Or are they both underpaid for doing the same job?
- Roman - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 4:22 pm:
Ducky,
== BAPIP (Budget Actually Put Into Place) at .000 ==
I love it! Great Opening Day stuff.
Any other advanced metrics we can use to evaluate Springfield?
- Illinois - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 4:33 pm:
The DCEO/intersect thing misses the point of intersect. But the tweet is DEAD ON. Even within Gov Office, some serious pay gaps/underpayment between ppl that have similar responsibilities but weren’t the first round draft picks. Lingle did literally nothing, was a ghost.
- AnonymousOne - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 4:40 pm:
Nothing but the best for the guv! Let the other little people wallow in mediocrity.
- Union proud - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 4:42 pm:
“Union employees are overpaid. Clerical and administrative staff, not to mention the blue collar type jobs, are paid way more than they make in the private sector while providing much less in value due to a union contract that hamstrings management.”
Clerical is overpaid? For one example Office Associates start off at a “whopping” 35k a year. In DCFS this title is heavily used for fun tasks such as manning the reception desk in a busy field office. Try it sometime and let me know if you think 35k is too much pay. /s
Oh yeah, bite me.
- Cubs in '16 - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 4:49 pm:
===Oh yeah, bite me.===
UP, I think Rich had that trademarked. lol
- Last Bull Moose - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 4:52 pm:
The State pays the same wages in Chicago, Springfield, and Cairo. So the same position can be underpaid or overpaid depending on where it is located.
Merit Comp (not double exempt) have been blocked from pay increases for years. That has created some relative pay situations where workers make more than their bosses. Private industry seldom allows that, though there are exceptions in some technical fields.
- RNUG - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 5:13 pm:
When it comes to State pay scales, it is all over the place. You almost have to go person by person and position by position to get a true picture.
If you are going to generalize, a lot of the professional staff is underpaid, especially the ones with licenses and specialized degrees. The unionized computer staff are more or less on par with the private sector; some of the non-union computer staff are woefully underpaid.
Some of the political hacks you get rotated through non-union management positions so they can stamp their resumes aren’t worth minimum wage. Some of the police and prison guards are worth much more than they are paid. Same for certain administrative positions; some of those require up to two years of very specialized training just to begin to do the job adequately. But, like a lot of places, there are certain clerical and administrative functions that are way overpaid, again compared to the private sector.
Part of this has it’s roots in the automatic step process for, mostly, union titles. When you combine the steps with annual COLA’s, salaries go up fast. I understand the logic about wanting a trainee, after training, to make enough to stay around but 7 years of steps, plus in some cases additional longevity afterward, seem excessive. That should probably be scaled back to 3 or 4 years total. When you have union people refusing to take a higher job title because they would actually lose money, you know things are out of whack.
It used to be that the Tier 1 pension and job security made up for some of the underpayment in the higher job titles. But job security for those people effectively went away 30 years ago with the 4 year term appointments. And while the older people still have the Tier 1 pension, the newer Tier 2 staff don’t really have anything to offset their lower pay.
Another part of the pay problem is it doesn’t really reflect the economic reality in various parts of the State. When I was supervising people in Chicago, they all had payroll titles at least two grades higher than their job just so the State could keep mediocre people on staff; that market was too competitive for salaries that were set based on the downstate labor market.
i can list a lot of the problems but I’m afraid I don’t have a real solution to the pay inequity problem. I am partially in favor of lowering some entry salaries to more realistically reflect the market value. But that will only work if you also adjust the step process, which is a sacred cow of the unions. But there should also be a true / fair merit based raise process that would keep nepotism and favoritism out of the process. Maybe something along the lines of the other workers have to actually nominate who should get a raise each year; that would still somewhat be a popularity contest but combined with the manager’s perspective it might be somewhat objective.
I could write for hours more about this, but I’m going to stop now.
- Langhorne - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 5:54 pm:
Anyone called “superstar” should be embarrassed.
I have known a lot of real superstars, who routinely deflect or share praise. “Superstar” on your jersey? Pour beer on it!
- In a Minute - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 6:24 pm:
Running state governments is not rocket science. I have no doubt that the people referenced in the article performed at an outstanding level in their positions in other states. But in Illinois, its never about enacting the right policies. It is always about satisfying the political players before any interest is shown in helping taxpayers. You can have all the ability in the world and you will fail in that system if you are trying to change it.
- DuPage Dave - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 7:13 pm:
Ducky gets the comment of the day award.
It doesn’t hurt to mention again that Rauner remains a complete and utter disappointment. Take your duct tape and go away, please.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 7:21 pm:
- Ducky LaMoore -
“I walked into that one”
Well played, impressed with the comic genius there.
Now if you could apply those numbers, you’d really upset the Superstars, I, for one, would appreciate that.
OW
- wordslinger - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 7:53 pm:
–I have no doubt that the people referenced in the article performed at an outstanding level in their positions in other states. But in Illinois, its never about enacting the right policies. It is always about satisfying the political players before any interest is shown in helping taxpayers–
We’re unique to the species are we? How did that occur, gamma rays?