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Rauner pushing IDOT back into the news stream

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Illinois

* The IDOT revelations were mostly drowned out earlier this week by other campaign news and (in the Chicago area) by reports on that apparent mass murderer in Northwest Indiana. So, the Bruce Rauner campaign is trying to get the topic back into play, and they are succeeding…

Republican governor candidate Bruce Rauner on Thursday said voters have a “duty” to oust Gov. Pat Quinn, pointing to a federal judge’s ruling that the court should oversee hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation after allegations that patronage hiring at the agency increased under the Democratic governor.

Rauner maintained Quinn has failed to clean up state government after the impeachment and removal of ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and indicated he’s open to the idea of compensating applicants who may have been unfairly passed up for jobs in favor of workers with political connections.

“I think that should be looked into,” Rauner said during a campaign stop in Bloomington as he continues to tour Illinois to promote early voting. “But what we’ve gotta do is change.”

“We’ve had six years now of Pat Quinn’s failure,” Rauner told reporters.

“We have a duty as voters to end that, hold him accountable, get him out of office,” he said.

* Sun-Times…

One day after a federal judge was appointed to monitor hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation, two state Republican senators raised questions about whether those fired are working in other state positions, and insinuated there may be “corruption” in other state departments. […]

“We have no idea what it’s going to cost, but rack that up with the salaries lost, opportunities, and the court costs, and we’re finally zeroing in on the cost of corruption in this state,” state Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno said. […]

“We know who made those [hires], who indicated these people should be hired. We want to know, are they still doing it? And what about other agencies? We know about IDOT, but state government is a big place. There’s a lot of people who may want to be ‘taken care of’ in the last three months. We want to be darn sure these people are not being seeded through state government who do not belong there. And that is not covered under this particular monitor,” Radogno said. […]

[Quinn administration spokesman Grant Klinzman said] “Leader Radogno has never spoken with the Governor’s Office about this matter and it doesn’t appear that she even reviewed the OEIG [Office of the Executive Inspector General] report because if she had, she would have been informed that the Governor has already ordered a review of Rutan-exempt positions at all state agencies,”

Klinzman said Radogno can file a complaint on the OEIG website should she want a further investigation of other departments.

* AP…

Gov. Pat Quinn says he’ll comply with a court-ordered monitor to review hiring at his administration’s Department of Transportation. […]

Quinn says he made reforms afterward, adding Thursday that the court-appointed monitor should work with the OEIG. […]

Republican Bruce Rauner claims it shows Quinn can’t be trusted to clean up government, which Quinn’s campaign rejects.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 10:18 am

Comments

No problem with this tactic for a day or two by Rauner-team and Radogno — but it’s getting time for some clear Rauner “positives” to close this thing out.

Where are they?

Comment by walker Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 10:24 am
One way to turn the medias attention would be for the Quinn supporters to host rallies outside the Sun-Times building (McKinney) and other news worthy locations (Springfield) highlighting the many bad deeds of Rauner. I see a big screen displaying all the negative hits ending with the Plutocrat video. I’m sure they can drum up large crowds. Now that would get news coverage!

Comment by 2 Cents... Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 10:29 am
Was easy to find in Trib, not in print section if ST.
It’s the wknd won’t get much traction at all.
Rauner shouldn’t bother with this now, stick with his wife’s add and the endorsement piece.
To late for new neg adds to work.
When leading stay positive, even if by only a few Pts

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 10:30 am
Pulling out the big guns with Radogno.

Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 10:41 am
- Pulling out the big guns with Radogno. -

That’s not fair, Word. She’s proven she knows how to win elections, all 19 of them.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 10:43 am
Walker, don’t hold your breath waiting for positive ads. He can’t come up with the name of one successful company. The wife spot is as positive as he’s going to get.

Comment by Norseman Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 10:44 am
If this guy wins, poor him, he won’t be able to get anything done.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 10:45 am
In 2002, a new-comer ran for Gov claiming he would end the corruption of the decades of rule by the other party. He hired Michael Shakman’s best counterpart, Mary Lee Leahy, to investigate IDOT employment issues and had her on his transition team. It was a good show and then he pushed for an Ethics Act and creation of the OEIG.
It was all a cover up for one of the most corrupt Governors Illinois has ever had.
Rauner sounds good on this and many will believe him. Unfortunately there is no test to tell whether his promises will mean anything after the election. Candidates of both parties have run on platforms of cleaning up corruption, but I cannot name one in my lifetime who has done so.

Comment by Carl Draper Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 10:49 am
Patronage. OK, but I’m not sure that’s enough to move the needle.

I doubt too many voters are outraged that a governor tries to get supporters hired into state jobs. That’s pretty much how the system works and I think most voters accept it, even if they don’t completely approve.

A famous man once said, when asked if he was favoring his supporters, “Sure I help my friends, what do you expect me to do, help my enemies?”

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 10:50 am
Well said Carl. Many of us have been repeatedly pointing out the comparisons between Blago and Rauner.

Comment by Norseman Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 11:04 am
==Where are they?==

They don’t exist.

Comment by Precinct Captain Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 11:04 am
First of all, this IDOT scandal was not cooked up to affect the election. It was brought to the OEIG and Governor’s attention from 2003 to present. The fact that the Democratic administration would not act on it is not the Republican Party’s fault. Secondly, yes, there was patronage under the Republican’s reign, I’m sure, however, from my personal experience, those employees did not start at the top with higher salaries than the existing personnel. This is what I saw blatantly happen when Blago became governor. Because the past governors ruled from the Capitol in Springfield, the patronage hires may have been more there, but when Blago came into office, the new hires flooded the District One office, and became primary tenants in the Chicago Thompson Center. As mentioned before, they all came in with higher salaries. I even heard some of the “newbies” say, when Blago got re-election, “now we can really get some work done”, referring to more employees being hired. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that our tax dollars are being wasted on do-nothing employees!

Comment by Gone, but not forgotten Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 11:15 am
The tactic makes sense, and it was a big hit…. But is it resonating? Antecdotally I haven’t come across anyone who has this on their mind at all, much less is upset by it.

Comment by Ghost Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 11:16 am
As a follow up, I do think that the public has largely given up on reformers. Many believe that patronage is never going to end under any administration and are not likely to be influenced by promises.
The question is whether they think that change is necessary to at least shake up the system? If so, they may vote against Quinn for the sake of change. I doubt that many think that any other candidate can be trusted. So I have continuously thought that the election is a toss up.
I am sure that neither party nor candidate has a better moral compass than the other.

Comment by Carl Draper Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 11:39 am
Patronage is a fact of life on politics Rauner and Company…

It has been handled in most cases very well by Quinn…

Radigmo a big wig? What else has she done except get elected?

Comment by Loop Lady Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 11:42 am
Can’t type today…

Comment by Loop Lady Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 11:45 am
Does anybody know whatever happened to Rod’s old “Reform and Renewal” banner? Maybe Bruce would like to borrow it for a couple of weeks…

Comment by Soccermom Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 12:40 pm
“she would have been informed that the Governor has already ordered a review of Rutan-exempt positions at all state agencies”

I thought he had also ordered IDOT and all of his staff to abide by the law. Somehow they apparently did not.

Why, exactly, should anyone believe that this order will be treated as a higher priority than the last one?

Comment by Chris Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 12:47 pm
All Rauner can do at this point is hope by changing the subject enough away from his On my way! problems it becomes a “wash” and Rauner gets the nod from the voter.

This is a prime example of that.

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 3:00 pm
Or…it’s news when a Federal Judge is appointed to monitor hiring at a State agency. Seems like news.

Comment by A guy... Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 3:52 pm
A federal judge was appointed to monitor IDOT? That’s a neat trick. Who made the appointment?

A federal judge agreed to appoint a monitor as a result of a civil suit.

Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Oct 24, 14 @ 4:28 pm