An interesting back-story about Forrest Ashby
Tuesday, Jan 28, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
A former assistant prison warden, at the center of an explosive 2012 government email in which a lobbyist alludes to a rape cover-up and illegal hiring, gave false information during an investigation four years earlier into whether he misplaced a bulky ring of keys at a state lockup, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.
The Illinois Department of Corrections refused to say Monday whether Forrest Ashby, then paid $86,400 annually as the acting assistant warden for operations at Western Illinois Correctional Center, faced discipline for the infraction which could have resulted in his firing. The investigator said Ashby “impeded the investigation by giving inaccurate and false information” during the inquiry.
According to the report obtained under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, Ashby told an internal investigator that his keys, which an employee found in the men’s restroom, had been with him the entire day.
Ashby, 56, is the subject of a July 2012 email in which Michael McClain, then a powerful government lobbyist and confidante of longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan, asked top aides to then-Gov. Pat Quinn to show Ashby leniency in a disciplinary matter he faced in his new job at the Department of Human Services.
Keep in mind the keys incident took place in 2008 and the report was written in early 2009, three years before the McClain email and before he started a job with the Department of Human Services.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Jan 28, 20 @ 10:29 am:
=then paid $86,400 annually=
What does his compensation have to do with anything?
If he lied then he should be punished appropriately.
- NIU Grad - Tuesday, Jan 28, 20 @ 10:35 am:
“What does his compensation have to do with anything?”
I think it’s standard to put forward the salary to provide context of what level of employee this is. $86K is about mid-level/higher-level management for State facilities.
It also adds context that politically connected employees are able to remain on state payroll, constantly transferred between agencies (which usually results in a raise), despite continuous evidence of corruption and wrong-doing. This was one of consistent issues during the Quinn days.
- Precinct Captain - Tuesday, Jan 28, 20 @ 10:50 am:
==- JS Mill - Tuesday, Jan 28, 20 @ 10:29 am:==
Because all public employees should be shamed and humiliated according to a longstanding campaign under the guise of “transparency”
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Jan 28, 20 @ 11:09 am:
=put forward the salary to provide context of what level of employee this is.=
Yeah because this description is really obscure to most people..
“the acting assistant warden for operations ”
But maybe you need more “context” than the average person.
Precinct Captain gets it right.
Funny how they do not do this with private sector fat cats and CEO’s.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Jan 28, 20 @ 11:10 am:
=It also adds context that politically connected employees are able to remain on state payroll, constantly transferred between agencies (which usually results in a raise), despite continuous evidence of corruption and wrong-doing.=
Were you thinking that he was a Catholic priest?
- fs - Tuesday, Jan 28, 20 @ 11:30 am:
How exactly is it “humiliating” to point out what the State was paying someone? It’s public record and readily accessible with a few clicks of the mouse and keyboard. He humiliated himself with his conduct.
- thoughts matter - Tuesday, Jan 28, 20 @ 11:31 am:
Neither his compensation nor his title tell me he’s politically connected. The only thing that tells me that is the later email about a different disciplinary action.
I would think we should be hiring assistant wardens based upon other criteria than political connection.
What the post tells me is that he should have been disciplined for this incident.
- Leave a Light On George - Tuesday, Jan 28, 20 @ 12:15 pm:
Losing a set of keys is a serious infraction (like dismissal) in the corrections system. It takes some big time political jack to avoid discipline for an offense like that.
- Whatmacallit - Tuesday, Jan 28, 20 @ 3:21 pm:
Ashby courted the Republicans under Director Snyder then later switched to a Democrat when Quinn became governor and under Quinn’s reign, became protected for his many transgressions. And how he became a contractual employee under Brent Fischer with a state contract is baffling. I thought Brent was smarter than that.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 28, 20 @ 3:26 pm:
===And how he became a contractual employee under Brent Fischer with a state contract is baffling===
You mean former Adams County Sheriff Brent Fischer? lol. C’mon.