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* Aside from keeping Chairman Jaffe on board, this was somewhat of a surprise move…
Gov. Pat Quinn is replacing everyone on the Illinois Gaming Board except the chairman, an advocate for strong regulation of gambling.
Quinn said Monday that under Chairman Aaron Jaffe, the board “has increased openness and transparency” in the gambling industry.
In a statement, the Democratic governor did not say why he was getting rid of the rest of the board. His office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Jaffe faces a major confirmation battle, mainly because he all but called legislators corrupt for passing the gaming expansion bill. I’m not sure about the others…
Maribeth Vander Weele of Chicago is the owner and founder of the Vander Weele Group, which provides investigative, security and integrity program services to the public and private sectors. She is also a certified Illinois inspector general with a strong financial and oversight background that includes service on the audit committee for Chicago Public Schools.
Lee Gould of Chicago has more than 30 years of experience as an accountant, auditor and tax preparer. Gould specializes in forensic accounting investigations, locating unreported or hidden assets and identifying misappropriations. Gould holds a degree in accounting from UIUC and a J.D. from the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law.
Michael Holewinski of Chicago is the president of Ace Industries and is a former Illinois state representative. He sits on the board of directors for the Illinois Manufacturer’s Association and previously chaired the Chicago Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Crime Prevention. He holds a J.D. from the John Marshall Law School.
Z (Zaldwaynaka) Scott of Chicago was Illinois’ first executive inspector general and previously worked as a criminal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. She is currently a partner at Kaye Scholer and a commissioner for the Chicago Housing Authority.
Z Scott resigned as Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s inspector general shortly after submitting a damning report on Blagojevich’s hiring practices…
The report also alleged job descriptions were changed to hire politically connected candidates chosen for positions before the jobs were posted publicly.
“It’s been common practice to put your buddies into jobs. But supposedly this governor was going to change all that, but all he did was perfect it,” state Sen. Gary Dahl, R-Granville.
* Speaking of gaming expansion, the Senate’s sponsor of the gaming bill told reporters yesterday how he intends to proceed. He said he hasn’t had any direct contacts with the governor’s office about the bill. He said he’ll be carrying the governor’s bill, and predicted Quinn’s proposal would receive at least two more votes than Rod Blagojevich’s GRT bill because he and Senate President Cullerton would be voting for it. Watch…
* Back to appointments, the governor also dumped a critic of the Tollway expansion program yesterday…
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn dumped Bill Morris, a former mayor of Waukegan, from the Illinois Tollway Board. Morris was, by far, the most critical of all the Tollway Board members when Gov. Quinn pushed for the unpopular raising of the tollway fees. The Board voted to raise the fees this past summer.
Besides showing Morris the exit door, the governor also saw it fit to tell George Pradel, who is the long-time mayor of Naperville, to get out, too.
The Board has nine members, and it will now include new member Mark Peterson who is the director of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority and the president of Bridgeview Bank. In addition to Peterson, Quinn named other new members who are Jim Sweeney who is the president and business manager of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez, DuPage County Board member and lawyer Jeffrey Redick, and businessman Terrence D’Arcy who is the president of D’Arcy Buick and GMC which is located in southwest suburban Joliet.
Morris was moved to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission.
Quinn also appointed five new members to the Racing Board.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 9:41 am
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So Chairman “Manufacturers can be distributors and distributors can be manufacturers” Jaffe stays?
Comment by bigdaddygeo Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 10:06 am
Quinn has just appointed Jaffe the judge, jury and executioner of expanded gambling in Illinois. Formerly, Jaffe was just self-righteously, self-appointed, judge, jury and executioner.
All the wise guys who yammered on about how Quinn is irrelevant to the process, just tell it to the folks who are itching for that new gambling money.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 10:09 am
Perhaps, new crews in Gaming and Racing is good.
Perhaps, Judge Jaffe can follow the long ago footsteps of Judge Landis and “restore and maintain confidence and integrity in the game”.
On the other hand, those with insider deals may be hearing ” Say it ain’t so Joe”.
Comment by x ace Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 10:28 am
Word-
“All the wise guys who yammered on about how Quinn is irrelevant to the process, just tell it to the folks who are itching for that new gambling money.”
Stopping a new revenue source without proposing an alternative is no way to establish relevancy. That is just learning obstructionist behavior from the tea party folks.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 10:32 am
Mayor Morris’s reassignment shows what’s wrong with government: he got moved to another board. Why? Why couldn’t Quinn just can him and send him a fruitbasket for his efforts and time? Why are high-level (and sometimes low- and mid-level) staffers and board members just shuffled around? Either bring in new blood or leave the slots open. All such a maneuver does is allow for a cuhsiony fall for a disgraced or unqualified (or unpopular) appointee or advisor.
Comment by Team Sleep Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 10:37 am
buried in the press release is a new Inspector General for HFS. Guess the covert investigations at bars may be over.
Comment by Cards fan Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 10:53 am
All new appointee’s are from Chicago. Maybe it would be a good idea to have a little geographic balance of suburbs and downstate?
Comment by Ahoy Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 12:41 pm
Kathy Byrne for the Racing Board. oh my.
Comment by amalia Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 1:10 pm
I just can’t understand why Gov. Sunshine is opposed to slots at race tracks. People go to race tracks to gamble. Why not let them? This guy is a micromanager of the worse kind.
Comment by wishbone Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 1:57 pm
Pradel never should have been on the Tollway Board in the first place…
Comment by in the 'ville Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 1:59 pm
–I just can’t understand why Gov. Sunshine is opposed to slots at race tracks. People go to race tracks to gamble.–
Don’t try to understand it, it will just make your head hurt. It’s either one of the dumbest contradictions known to man or a brilliant tactic to bring the entire gaming bill down.
Although, I prefer honesty. If you don’t want the gaming bill, just say it and veto it, don’t make up stupid excuses.
Comment by Ahoy Tuesday, Oct 25, 11 @ 3:25 pm