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A quick look at Rauner’s new transition policy committee co-chairs

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Illinois

* From a press release…

Governor-elect Bruce Rauner & Transition Co-Chair Evelyn Sanguinnetti today announced the co-chairs of 10 transition policy committees. The committees, ranging from agriculture to government operations, represent diverse voices from throughout all of Illinois.

“It is essential for us to have the best and brightest and most informed group of talent from around the state providing input on how to make Illinois compassionate and competitive,” Rauner said.

* Education…

Tony Smith, Executive Director W. Clement Stone and Jessie V. Stone Foundation
Beth Purvis, CEO, Chicago International Charter School
Dr. Alice Marie Jacobs, President Danville Area Community College
Al Bowman, President Emeritus, Illinois State University
Karen Reagan, 2nd Grade Teacher, Century School District
Dr. Lazaro Lopez, Associate Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, High School District 214

No teachers union leaders, of course. Bowman is a beloved figure, but U of I may feel a bit snubbed. And the Century School District is in Ullin, population 443, way down yonder in Pulaski County. I kinda like that idea.

* Healthcare and Human Services…

Eric Hargan, Former Deputy Secretary and Regulatory Policy Officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
Ken Smithmier, President and Chief Executive Officer, Decatur Memorial Hospital
Neli Vasquez-Rowland, President, A Safe Haven Foundation

Greenberg Traurig is Victor Reyes’ old firm. It’s also Jack Abramoff’s former firm. Maybe that’s why its website declares…

A law firm’s effectiveness is not judged on the past, but on the present and future.

* Infrastructure…

MarySue Barrett, President, Metropolitan Planning Council
Del Wilkins, President, Illinois Marine Towing, Inc.
Kirk Dillard, Chairman, Regional Transportation Authority

Barrett and Dillard are both good choices. Illinois Marine Towing does barge towing on the upper Illinois River.

* Agriculture…

Len Corzine, Past President, National Corn Growers Association and Illinois Corn Growers Association, Farmer
Heather Hampton-Knodle, Past President, Illinois Agri Women, Chair, Montgomery County Board Economic Development Committee and Farmer
Jeff Beasley, Past President, Illinois Beef Association
Corey Flournoy, Center for Urban Agricultural Education Director, University of Illinois

Seem like good choices there. But alt ag isn’t represented.

* Intergovernmental Efficiencies and Local Government…

Karen Darch, Village President, Village of Barrington
Jim Ardis, Mayor, City of Peoria
Chuck Griswold, Mayor, City of Fairfield
Ruben Pineda, Mayor, City of West Chicago

The goofy mayor who unleashed his police force on a Twitter user?

Dislike.

* Economic Development…

Doug Oberhelman, Chairman and CEO of Caterpillar
Ezequiel (Zeke) Flores, CEO, Flying Retail LLC
William Foster, CEO and Senior Pastor, Providence Development Corporation, Providence Baptist Church & President & CEO of Baptist General State Convention of Illinois
Alyssa Rapp, Founder and CEO, Bottlenotes, Inc.

Maybe Oberhelman will stop griping now.

* Energy and Environment…

Amy Francetic, CEO, Clean Energy Trust
Jerri Titsworth, Environmental Supervisor, Marathon Petroleum Company LP
Charlie Potter, President and CEO, Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation

Maybe some good news for the state’s clean energy biz.

* Public Safety…

John Maki, Executive Director, John Howard Association of Illinois
Diane Williams, President Emeritus, Safer Foundation
Paula Wolff, Director, Illinois Justice Project
Chuck Peck, Shift Supervisor, Vienna Correctional Center

Good choices all around, including putting a prison shift supervisor on the team.

* Government Operations…

Deb DeHaas, Vice Chair, Deloitte LLP
David Kahnweiler, Chairman and CEO, Colliers Chicago
John Garabedian, Senior Partner and Managing Director, BCG

Not one government person on the government panel.

Garabedian works mainly in the healthcare field. But this is from BCG’s website…

Done right, outsourcing and offshoring can do more than just lower costs. BCG helps companies achieve a lasting competitive advantage through the strategic use of outsourcing—which can improve quality and productivity, drive innovation, provide new sources of revenue, open up new markets, and deliver a sustainable cost advantage.

Colliers Chicago is a commercial real estate firm, so the state may be selling off some properties or trying to renegotiate leases.

From Deb DeHaas’ bio…

Deb is chief inclusion officer and national managing partner of the Center for Corporate Governance for Deloitte LLP. As chief inclusion officer, Deb drives Deloitte’s strategy to recruit, develop and promote a diverse workforce and foster an inclusive environment where leaders thrive, a constant passion and focus of Deloitte for more than 20 years.

* Veterans…

Dave Leckrone, Colonel U.S Army (Retired)
Juan Pérez - Sergeant, United States Marine Corps
Brian Rowland, CEO, A Safe Haven LLC

* What else do you see in these lists?

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:08 pm

Comments

This may be off topic. I know that there has been some noise regarding the fact that the Governor-elect doesn’t have many minorities on his transition team. I wonder if he has any plans to address that.

Comment by Levois Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:17 pm
Yep no one from the alternative Agriculture sector… Organic and local food is the fastest growing part of the Ag economy still a small part but growing fast with tons of interest in local and sustainable food products from the major markets in the state including the renowned Chicago restaurant industry but no one from alternative Ag. I don’t even think there was an attempt.

Comment by wak Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:20 pm
You certainly wouldn’t want to have anybody actually familiar with Illinois government operations on the government operations committee.

Who’s brilliant idea was that committee make-up?

Massive fail on that front.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:21 pm
A Safe Haven’s power couple is serving on two committees. Notable because I remember getting a tour of the facilities from Neli Vasquez-Rowland and hearing her express disappointment that she couldn’t get the Governor to visit and notice the successful program they were running (which it is by the way).

I am guessing that no longer is concern.

Comment by Kyle Hillman Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:22 pm
I could be wrong but I don’t think I see folks on Gov Ops prepared to handle labor relations

Comment by Bebe Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:23 pm
==It is essential for us to have the best and brightest and most informed group ==

To my comment above, I don’t think the government operations folks fit that “most informed” category.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:23 pm
@FakeMayorArdis - watch it @capitolfax, don’t come to Peoria anytime soon. #MayorJustice.

Ardis is such a fail. Ardis might arrest committee members who disagree, just watch, lol

No governmental people on the governmental? Yikes.

Otherwise, it’s their show.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:23 pm
No mention of party affiliation. Hope that choices were made strictly based on ability and variety of ideological views. Lord knows we need something other than petty politics to help turn our state around.

Comment by Sunshine Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:24 pm
==Chuck Griswold==

I first read that as Clark instead of Chuck, and was hoping Cousin Eddie would’ve been in there somewhere. Tis (almost) the season.

Comment by Anonymoiis Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:27 pm
Rauner, I believe, doesn’t have a clue about “government operations” most particularly unionized government operations. Are these folks going to be able to teach him? I guess we’ll see.

Comment by Cassandra Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:28 pm
Unless I’m missing something, I don’t see anyone from Springfield to advise the governor-elect on bringing state government back to Springfield.

Comment by South of Sherman Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:30 pm
I think Heather Hampton-Knodle’s father was Director of Ag under Edgar but maybe under Ryan. He was good for Ag and she may have been the Exec Director of the Illinois Assn. of Drainage Districts.

Comment by Bourbonrich Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:31 pm
Not sure where Information Technology goes. Could be under Government Operations.
It is scary to have Deloitte in the mix, hasn’t got one IT project right yet, and milks hundreds of millions from the State.

Comment by Rufus Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:31 pm
Not much there….Mr. BigCAT get announced twice, but not BigPensionGlenn No road builder in there so there hopes are dashed. Ardis is a blot, but Mayor Darch is solid and experienced and a voice to tell Mitt to drop his crack pot prop. tax freeze. It will fun to see who are donors. vendors. Assuming Rancho Rauner did all that right?

Comment by CircularFiringSquad Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:32 pm
To be fair, I think you’re really limiting BCG’s work-product by assuming outsourcing is what Garabedian is there for; that company is predominantly management consultants so they’re really about process improvement, governance, and operational efficiency planning and implementation. Not saying there isn’t an underlying hint of outsourcing in the appointment but they do a lot of stuff and that’s kind of nit-picking to assume the worst there.

Comment by PMcP Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:33 pm
What are these guys supposed to be doing? Vetting hiring? It’s a little late in the game for policy term papers.

Comment by Wordslinger Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:34 pm
His human services team is a very small group. Considering this is a huge percentage of state spending it does not look promising. The government operations group is laughable. The diversity person is especially rich given that you must hire through the veterans’ list before even thinking about who you want to hire. The human services and government groups point to future trouble.

Comment by 100 Miles West Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:34 pm
Note to all. These names are co-chairs. Others have been named to serve on the respective committees.

Comment by Bored Chairman Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:34 pm
I’ll take three of the six on education, I guess. Al Bowman is a great choice, did great things at ISU. No top management (supt.)except from the private sector so he is showing his hand pretty clearly there. Should have had a middle level and secondary level teacher as well but at least he has one. Obviously charter’s will be a big push, maybe he will magically make it so we can all operate under the charter rules.

Ardis is a huge fail.

Reinforces his anti-union (public or private sector) stance. That could get interesting.

All in all he appears to be trending more true to his early rhetoric than his revised post-primary positions.

Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:35 pm
Meh. I don’t have great expectations that the transition committee and subcommittees will come up with anything meaningful. Staff will steer the focus of those committees to things Rauner wants to do. His picks for chairs, co-chairs and members only go to a PR strategy - show inclusiveness that may not really exist and to make opinion leaders think they’re involved.

Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:36 pm
@Rufus, completely agree with you on Deloitte; they’re like the Wal-Mart of professional services. Sells everything but you’re pretty much on your own to figure out how it works.

Comment by PMcP Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:36 pm
You need to look a little more closely at the ag folks. This is an interesting (and good) list.

Corzine: Has been involved in forming both national and state ag policy for years. Very smart and pretty even handed. He would be one of my first picks for guidance on ag policy. It’s interesting that he is included here because he caught a lot of grief for signing an ag letter in support of Obama in his first run for President. I thought that might keep him off of a list like this.

Hampton-Knodle: Daughter of former IDOA director and very smart. Has been involved in both ag policy and economic development and has great PR skills.

Beasley: Solid choice. IBA is influential, but not nearly as much as some other ag groups that are not represented.

Flournoy: Probably the most interesting choice. Was the first minority/ urban National FFA President. Not from a traditional ag background and grew up in Chicago. Ended up at the Chicago ag high school sort of by accident but then embraced it. Again, very smart and a good alternative choice.

Interesting by omission: there is no one from Illinois Farm Bureau on this list. They are largely republican supporting and are the most influential ag group in the state by far. Does that mean former ILFB president Phil Nelson is on the list for IDOA director?

So…I don’t think that not having a token organic grower on the list means much.

Comment by El Conquistador Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:39 pm
It’s a fine group of people he’s surrounding himself with, but these transition committees are largely symbolic. They are lending their credibility to Rauner and he’s using them as the political equivalent of human shields.

Like I said, it’s a good list with some impressive and well thought out selections. Just don’t expect anything of substance to come out of these policy committees.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:40 pm
what is infrastructure covering besides transportation?

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:41 pm
Just curious, and reflecting on an earlier comment - what are their party affiliations and contributions or those of the organizations they represent, and how many live and work South of I80? And I totally agree that the U of I was totally shut out. This could be an additional rough 4 years for my Alma Mater, both in the GA and in the Governors office.

Comment by illini Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:46 pm
Beth Purvis is without question one of the brightest of the charter operators. CICS is moving its growth strategy out of Chicago and into suburban and middle sized cities. Other charter operators are thinking the same way.

Comment by Rod Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:49 pm
No principal or superintendent on the Education Committee?

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:50 pm
Intergovernmental Efficiencies and Local Government-The name of the group says it all. NO one from counties or townships or other local governments- just city or “village” mayors… Here comes consolidation or elimination of local governments, whether it fits an area or not…

Comment by downstate commissioner Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:51 pm
Education: Where is anyone with expertise in education finance? That’s the biggest problem facing districts across the state, and the taxes haven’t even rolled back yet. I understand these committees are mostly symbolic and don’t do the real work, but the lack of focus on K-12 funding issues is not a good sign.

Comment by Redux Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:56 pm
DC — I also was troubled by the lack of county officials, as well as various districts. (Townships I can live without…)

Comment by Soccermom Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:56 pm
@Amalia - Utilities. Maybe IEPA.

Comment by Bogey Golfer Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 1:58 pm
Ardis, based on his total and complete failure to understand basics of either the First Amendment or the proper limits on use of police powers, should be permannently disqualified form plaing any role in any public endeavor. He shouldn’t be allowed to be Dog Catcher.

And anyone who thinks it is a good idea to have Ardis’ input on anything should have his head examined.

Comment by Concerned Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 2:03 pm
So are these committee’s working committees that are suppose to do/produce something or just names on paper?

If they actually have a function, some of them are very lacking in skill sets.

Economic Development - There does not appear to be any Economic Development professionals. They should have had a couple ED executives on there.

Infrastructure - Is there an engineer on the committee? Seems like they could have at least had a couple former IDOT employees. Heck, I can even think of a couple former secretary’s that would be good and served under Republican Governor’s.

Government Operations- not having anyone in government on this committee is just plain stupid, unless of course these are just names on paper and the committee’s are not expected to produce.

Comment by Ahoy! Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 2:04 pm
The key issue is the budget. How is Rauner going
To allocate the state’s scarce resources. Every one if these committees can come up with great plans, but how are they going to be funded.

Is the budget “operations” or is it a completely different set of people?

Comment by Alan Mills Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 2:17 pm
What I see is not the lists themselves but the knee-jerk whining. These are the Co-chairs. My understanding is these groups will have 10-20 people on them with lots of geographic, demographic and political diversity, and a wide range of stakeholders.

Obviously Rauner doesn’t think three or four people can capture everything there is to know about these huge issues. At the same time, they can’t get anything done if there are 100 people on a committee and all they do is argue with each other.

And the gripe about government operations not having any government types is laughable. These co-chairs are professionals at organizational management and have a great deal of experience dealing with government agencies. I don’t know of too many state workers who have spent as much time analyzing organizational efficiency.

And for those who are quota obsessed, there are about half the people on this initial list are women or minorities. What the heck do you want?

Comment by Adam Smith Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 2:25 pm
–
Deb DeHaas, Vice Chair, Deloitte LLP
—

Come on. Are you kidding me? Didn’t Blagojevich go through all this consulting/consolidation BS 8 years ago?

Please. This is the person — the single person — that will cost the state (an unnecessary) millions and millions and millions of dollars.

Comment by Macbeth Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 2:31 pm
Seeing a list of names, some impressive, doesn’t mean much (as some have noted) without any information on what they’ll do. There’s not much time before Rauner takes over and the budget must be addressed. Shaking up Springfield would be better served with a balance of people inside and outside State government. I suspect the blender will never get above “low.”

Comment by Sir Reel Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 2:33 pm
Uh oh. Crony-watch. Some of these guys held fundraisers and raised lots of money for the Big R.
Checkbook=Influence.

Comment by Tim Snopes Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 2:34 pm
=== Come on. Are you kidding me? Didn’t Blagojevich go through all this consulting/consolidation BS 8 years ago? ===

Macbeth, you can expect to see consolidation and reorganization as part of the transition report. It’s now almost a cliche that the new guy has to consolidate and reorganize to “save” money. As we saw with the Blago consolidations, most didn’t save a lot if any money. We did see a lot of audits talking about how the numbers were ginned up to show some savings from these initiatives.

Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 2:46 pm
It’s nice window dressing, but Illinois government has not been lacking for committee meetings. Quinn’s weakness was that he couldn’t make timely decisions that he’d stick to. Rauner will need to reject more good ideas than he accepts if he is to be successful at all.

Comment by Quizzical Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 2:52 pm
Call me a dreamer, but it would be nice to see a little more M at OMB….

Comment by Soccermom Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 2:55 pm
In defense of Mayor Ardis, he is on the intergovernmental efficiencies committee.

He was quite efficient in working with both the chief of police and the prosecutor’s office to shut down that twitter account. /snark

Comment by Robert the Bruce Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:05 pm
Amy Francetic is a great pick for energy/environment. A very pragmatic, business-focused clean energy advocate

Comment by Senator Clay Davis Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:09 pm
public safety includes how many publlic safety professionals? any public safety executives? no gripe about maki, wolff or williams, but no sherriff, police chief, or state’s attorney?

Comment by goose/gander Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:09 pm
== These are the Co-chairs. My understanding is these groups will have 10-20 people on them with lots of geographic, demographic and political diversity, and a wide range of stakeholders.==

If that’s the case then I predict “death by committee”

Every day that Rauner is not hunkered down pouring over the budget is a waste of time. He made a lot of promises and has a matter of a couple months to make a $33 billion dollar budget resemble some of those platitudes.

I actually hope this is window dressing because trying to get that many people to agree on anything before May is an impossible task.

Comment by Abe the Babe Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:11 pm
David Kahnweiler is Rauner’s next door neighbor and early donor to his campaign. No reason to suspect this or any of his other appointments as patronage appt, just because of the conspicuous lack of experience and presence of big donations.

Comment by my two cents Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:12 pm
I would have taken a bet that Dale Risinger would have been tagged for infrastructure. But maybe he’s being saved for a special IDOT assignment.

Comment by Slugger O'Toole Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:13 pm
Is Len Corzine related to former Taylorville resident and New Jersey governor/senator Jon Corzine?

Comment by Cheswick Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:20 pm
We need czars.

Comment by Jack Handy Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:39 pm
No lobbyists as co-chairs.

Comment by 1776 Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:39 pm
The Co- Chairs will lead some sub co-chairs and Lord knows what they will produce. And it won’t do them a bit of good unless they can SELL these plans to the General Assembly.

Given the experienced people they have on the government operations team (heavy snark) I’m sure this won’t be a problem.

Get real. What are they actually going to do? If it’s going to be outsourcing, nice try. Bad idea, even worse prospects for adoption into law.

Comment by low level Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:44 pm
Abe the Rube, I think there will be plenty of people poring over the budget.

Comment by A guy... Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:48 pm
=== No lobbyists as co-chairs ===

I believe lobbyists are forbidden from serving on committees. Whether that includes transition, I don’t know. At least the Rauner staff caught the legality or the appearance, etc.

Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:51 pm
Give it time Goose. The Calvary is coming. Brighter days for all in Public Safety.

Comment by proudstatetrooper Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:53 pm
My experience when Blago brought in the consultants. Consultant “If you become more efficient in this program you can return a million dollars to the taxpayers.” Me, “this is federally funded program that serves the poor, if we are more efficient, we will serve more poor people. There is no money that would go to GRF.” Consultant, “but….”

Comment by 100 Miles West Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 4:07 pm
Deloitte LLP.

IT infrastructure? More fancy, overpriced studies and consultants. Useful, workable systems, not so much. That’s their rep….

Basic requirement: No outsourcing or subcontracting by State of IL to any vendor who uses H1B employees. That should be Rule #1.

Comment by Judgment Day Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 4:11 pm
Cassandra @ 1:28 pm ==Rauner, I believe, doesn’t have a clue about “government operations” most particularly unionized government operations. Are these folks going to be able to teach him? ==

If not, things will be the same as they have for the last 12 years.

Comment by Anon. Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 4:18 pm
I have to admit I am perplexed by the selection of Ms. Regan the 4th grade teacher from CUSD 100 in Ullin Illinois that Rich liked. (She is listed as a 2nd grade teacher on the district’s website) It is a very small school district with under 500 students. The median household income in the town is only $36,000 a year which means a married couple living on social security income alone would be above the median income.

Because the District is so poor it is able to pay for a very low percentage of its students’ education, only about 17.6% comes from local funds, all the rest from the state or federal government. Given the relative low wealth of the District the teachers get paid well about $43,000 a year, with the average administrator making close to $80,000 a year (the Superintendent made last year with benefits about $104,000). The teachers are in the IFT.

The school district’s teachers are about 94% white while the enrollment is close to 20% minority. In 2014 only 27% of the District’s graduates met the ACT college readiness standards. The 4th grade test scores for the district have been good for several years, But by grade 8 they begin to dip and continue their decline into high school.

It’s nice to have representation from such a small poor school district on the Education transition committee. But I am still puzzled by Ms Regan’s selection.

Comment by Rod Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 4:21 pm
Chuck Griswold, Mayor of Fairfield is excellent choice. He is retired president and COO of Schenectady International, a multinational multibillion dollar company out of new york state.

Mr Griswold could be living anywhere in the world right now but he chose to come back to his hometown of Fairfield, IL (population just over 5000) and give back to his community. In his “retirement” he ran for mayor, won in a landslide, and has spent his time doing everything he can to help his hometown, to give back to the little town which he credits for equipping him with what he needed to succeed in life.

Comment by disruption Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 4:40 pm
Whoever vetted Ardis should be fired. Otherwise a start It will be interesting to see how the rest of the committee’s flesh out.

Comment by Mason born Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 4:40 pm
proudstatetrooper
thats a lot of weight to place on the capable shoulders of jim alexander

Comment by goose/gander Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 4:43 pm
- A guy… - Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 3:48 pm:

Abe the Rube, I think there will be plenty of people poring over the budget.==

Good cause he’s gonna have to find about $4 billion in the couch cushions.

Comment by Abe the Babe Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 4:51 pm
Abe, I suspect he will have many financial experts looking for every dime out there. I mean to suggest, he, personally won’t be poring over it, using his time to direct multiple efforts. Rube went too far…apologies.

Comment by A guy... Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 4:59 pm
==Rube went too far…apologies.==

No worries. I don’t envy his task. I actually think he should have asked for a bit more time on the B address…a la almost every new governor before him.

And if requested then Culligan should grant it to him. IMHO

Comment by Abe the Babe Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 5:02 pm
@ Norseman

Lobbyists are not prohibited from serving on transition committees. They cannot legally serve on state boards and commissions unless they offer non-binding recommendations. So, a lobbyist can’t serve on the Sports Commission that runs Cellular Field but they do serve on panels like the UI Advisory Board.

Comment by 1776 Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 5:17 pm
It will be interesting to see who the actual committee members are and whether hold public hearings to gather information or will the committee work from the never released postion papers that the Rauner campaign said they had developed. Paula Wolfe could have been named to any of the committees, but would’ve serve Rauner best on the Government Operations Committee.

Comment by D Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 5:27 pm
@my two cents also drew the connection of David Kahnweiler being Rauner’s next door neighbor but what is more interesting is who David’s wife is, Gerry Kahnweiler.

Gerry is a Township Trustee and is a supporter of democratic Rep. Sam Yingling who, among other things, wants to reform Township government. Maybe we see a Yingling/Franks bill to reform township governments get a push from a Rauner Administration? A stretch? Maybe. A possibility? I certainly think so.

BTW - I believe Gerry Kahnweiler is also a former Personal PAC board member.

Comment by Andy Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 5:38 pm
Township government reform. I’m all for it-really. But I went to a meeting about it a few years back. May not seem that way, but townships do things. Like manage cemeteries, and youth programs the locals want. So if they go, or get “synergized,” who manages the cemetery and picks up the youth program. Not so simple to find takers.

Comment by Cassandra Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 5:48 pm
I did transition issue papers for former Governors. Not once did the papers result in questions, much less interest, much less action.

I bet this is yet another well intentioned but ultimately useless exercise. I feel for the staff who’ll waste time on these committees.

The big problems facing Illinois drown out all the smaller issues.

Comment by Sir Reel Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 5:54 pm
You folks all sound like you know some of these people and I respect your views so….this looks like a group of chairs that were there and not much more.

Comment by scott aster Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 6:43 pm
Good Choice on Oberhelman, he was one of the first to support Rauner and he has a good understanding of what issues need resolved to grow manufacturing in Illinois.

Ardis - someone on the transition team did not do their job. He has been lobbying and trying for a state job for years, has had democratic operatives running his campaigns, he worked FOR Brady against Rauner, and has abused power in Peoria - look at twittergate or things he has done to people deemed “political foes”. Not a good choice.

Comment by Charles Wilkins Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 6:50 pm
Jim Ardis loves him some Tom Hagen retaliation.

If Jim Ardis is part of the Rauner Administration, that will be a horrible message that Rauner will be sending.

Ardis is an embarrassment. There is no getting around that. Touting his appointment to this transition isn’t well thought out.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 6:59 pm
Does anyone believe that any of these transition committees will produce anything useful? Does anyone have any evidence that any transition teams have ever produced anything useful?

These announcements are for show, and not very impressive at that. Every transition from governor to governor is a clustermuster. Uninformed and unaware people are put in charge of agencies and departments that suffer from their lack of knowledge. It will be the same come January.

Comment by DuPage Dave Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 7:54 pm
A pretty good set of co-chairs overall.

Covered the big corporate, and the start-ups, but they need more emphasis on medium and small established firms, because that is where most “economic development” actually occurs.

Sorely lacking in government operations knowledge and experience — hopefully they bring that on to the committee.

Intergovernmental efficiencies and local government is a politically-driven joke, by these selections, (though the commenter’s notes on the Mayor of Fairfield gives one some hope.)

A good experienced lobbyist or two would be invaluable to the transition, purely for perspective and knowledge, but not on one of these committees.

Comment by Walker Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 7:55 pm
Yeah like Rauner will remove these cronies. They are political hacks which means they play both sides. good luck if you think Rauner will do anything other than line his pockets with loot.

Comment by Andy Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 7:56 pm
All I know is that given the holidays, January 12th is right around the corner… I’ve seen very little action from these blue-ribbon committees. Maybe they’re not used to the fact that, in state government, you are your own staff. C’mon Transition Team… roll up your sleeves and start “shaking up Springfield”. From the looks of the lists, absent a few ringers (like Nancy Kimmie), it’s the blind leading the blind.

Comment by A soon to be non Wednesday, Nov 19, 14 @ 10:38 pm
I thought Bruce and Diane were going to “Shake up Springfield”. But if what someone posted on this thread is true about his neighbor, I guess it comes down to the line from a Who song:

“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”.

Comment by Del Clinkton Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 8:50 am
==good luck if you think Rauner will do anything other than line his pockets with loot.==

Yes, Yes, i’m sure a billionaire businessman chose to govern a bankrupt state as a way to enrich himself.

Comment by Abe the Babe Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 8:55 am