Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Rauner announces “turnaround team”

Posted in:

Illinois

* From a press release…

Following a presentation at the University of Chicago, where he laid out a number of structural issues facing Illinois, Governor Bruce Rauner today announced his Turnaround Team, a group of extremely talented individuals who have deep experience in management, budgets, and streamlining bureaucracies.

“Our current trajectory is unsustainable as a state,” said Gov. Rauner. “I’ve long promised to bring superstars from both inside Illinois and out to help turn our state around and I know Donna, Trey and Linda are the perfect trio to do just that.”

Donna Arduin, CFO

Donna Arduin has established a reputation for bringing government spending under control through long-term policy planning and fiscally responsible budgeting. She is a veteran of state budget management and tax reform and as budget director, led toward responsibility the budgets of Michigan, under Governor Engler; New York, under Governor Pataki; Florida under Governor Bush; and California, under Governor Schwarzenegger. A graduate of Duke University, Arduin graduated magna cum laude with honors in economics and public policy. Prior to her career in the public sector, she worked as an analyst in New York and Tokyo in the private financial markets for Morgan Stanley and Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan.

Trey Childress, Deputy Governor

Trey Childress served as the COO for the State of Georgia under two governors. He was responsible for leadership and supervision of Georgia’s 50 state departments, agencies, and boards and commissions while leading government transformation initiatives. Prior to that, he served as the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning & Budget, and was responsible for the State’s $32 billion budget, annual capital outlay portfolio of $1 billion and state business planning during the unprecedented revenue losses of the Great Recession. Childress previously served as Senior Adviser and Director of Policy for the Office of the Governor with the successful passage of more than 30 signature policy initiatives in education, health care, transportation, taxation and natural resources. He began his career in public service working with the former Georgia Information Technology Policy Council, the Georgia Technology Authority and the Office of Planning & Budget. During his service, Georgia was recognized as one of the best managed states in the country by Governing Magazine. Childress earned a master’s degree in public policy and bachelor’s degrees in industrial and systems engineering and international affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Linda Lingle, Senior Adviser

Linda Lingle was the first woman elected governor of Hawaii, serving two terms from 2002-2010. Gov. Lingle oversaw a $10 billion annual budget and made state government more transparent, responsive and accountable. Prior to her role as governor, she served as the Mayor of Maui County for eight years, and was a member of the Maui County Council for ten years prior to that. Gov. Lingle began her career as the founder, editor and owner of the Moloka’i Free Press. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University, Northridge. She is a native of St. Louis, Mo.

Arduin has a consulting business with Arthur Laffer. She has repeatedly pushed for huge budget and tax cuts elsewhere, including in Kansas. More background here.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 3:52 pm

Comments

Michigan, Georgia, Hawaii…

All politics is local.

More and more stress is going to be applied to the LLs and the institutional knowledge lacking in some top-heavy positions might be a strain for Mike Z and the Kirk Krew brought over to handle the mechanisms and messaging…in Illinois.

It’s is shop…the stress that may be applied later will be at the genesis of lots of out of staters.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 3:58 pm
== Rauner announces “turnaround team” ==
[ ‘Turnaround team’? Thought that’s what his WHOLE administration was?

== Trey Childress, Deputy Governor
Trey Childress served as the COO for… ==
[ So, not the COO here? ]

== Linda Lingle, Senior Adviser… ==
[ So, not the COO here? ]

Way confusing. Maybe it’s supposed to be?

Comment by sal-says Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 3:59 pm
All government folk. All politically connected. No business “superstars”

They might be good, just not what I expected from Rauner.

Hopefully Arduin has a strong boss who tempers any Laffer ideological BS she’s carrying around.

Comment by walker Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:03 pm
He’s responding to Walk here.

Comment by A guy Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:03 pm
We already had a Turnaround Team (f/k/a The Ron Gidwitz-Steven J Rauschenberger IL Turnaround Team), it didn’t go so well.

By the way that f/k/a is taken straight from the actual committee name.

Comment by The Captain Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:04 pm
Trey Childress is a solid pick and will be a huge asset to Gov. Rauner. At least Rauner is picking people that have a firm grasp of state government, even if it’s not Illinois government.

Comment by Nick Naylor Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:07 pm
Republican austerity retreads. Not an encouraging sign, but not surprising, either.

Comment by Northsider Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:07 pm
Well at least this finally shows that Rauner knows the budget shortfall has to be addressed somehow. Unlike his previous words that made him looked like he was dreaming. Personally I think this is going to be a disaster for a lot of agencies and not for profits. I would prefer to increase revenues. But he was the one elected, not me.

Comment by Been There Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:07 pm
These people have good resumes and I’m sure they are very smart. But it might have been nice to, you know, have at least one person who had some experience in Illinois.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:09 pm
Oh gosh — Soccermom is starting to hope that job in Seattle pans out…

Comment by Soccermom Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:10 pm
Other than Speaker Madigan, the current speaker of the New York State Assembly, Sheldon Silver has to be considered the next most powerful Democratic legislative officer in the US. He was just arrested a few minutes ago. see
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/nyregion/speaker-of-new-york-assembly-sheldon-silver-is-arrested-in-corruption-case.html?_r=0

Comment by Rod Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:11 pm
Demoralized… Totally agree…. Just one? Maybe there is one more coming??

Comment by Walter Mitty Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:12 pm
They’ll get a crash course (pun intended) in Illinois politics …

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:12 pm
=But it might have been nice to, you know, have at least one person who had some experience in Illinois.=

I believe the Gov. Rauner is of the opinion that anyone associated with Illinois government of the past is part of the problem. That’s why you will see a whole new dream team assembled. I don’t think it will take long for these professionals to find their way.

Comment by Nick Naylor Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:13 pm
===He’s responding to Walk here.===

As if, but thanks.

I was expecting someone who successfully restructured, cost costs, and turned around one of the hundreds of companies Governor Rauner and his associates invested in. I know those kinds of experts are out there. We could probably find twenty-five really good ones from Illinois, if we felt like making a few calls. Or got Ty on the hunt for us. Rauner’s not going that direction at all, it seems.

Comment by walker Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:14 pm
Michigan, New York, Florida, California, Georgia, Hawaii

I guess this is a good batting average, this isn’t baseball.

Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:14 pm
Lots of qualifications. I hope they know they will be making less than 150k

Comment by Anon72 Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:14 pm
===We already had a Turnaround Team (f/k/a The Ron Gidwitz-Steven J Rauschenberger IL Turnaround Team)===

I laughed out loud, “ha HA!” laughed. I laughed like I hadn’t laughed in weeks.

Good stuff there, thanks!

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:15 pm
It’s sort of offensive. This is our cruddy state. Can’t one of our folks help? Like when you Cardinal fans make fun of the Cubs. We can make fun of them. You can’t.

Comment by Walter Mitty Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:15 pm
I guess this is a good batting average, but this isn’t baseball.

Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:15 pm
at what point can i say, told you so? do i have to wait for the severe budget cuts? the economy crashing? or can i just say it now???

Comment by bored now Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:18 pm
I wonder if a former governor has ever taken a staff job for another governor in a different state. I can’t think of one.

Closest thing I can think of is Goldsmith taking the deputy mayor job in NYC after he was Indy mayor. Come to think of it, Bill Hudnut took the Civic Federation job here after he was Indy mayor (quite a testament to a city when the mayors bail as soon as possible, lol).

Comment by Wordslinger Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:22 pm
Rauner must be a heck of salesman to get a former governor to leave Maui and move to Illinois in January for a staff gig.

Like Jedi Mind Trick salesman.

Comment by Wordslinger Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:26 pm
Rauner could have looked for the “Steve Schnorf” of any of these states listed too…or call Steve Schnorf directly…

Sorry, logic sometimes pops out.

Seattle, eh - Soccermom -…

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:26 pm
Sometimes a fresh set of eyes is needed. Kind of like the Bears going outside of the organization to hire John Fox rather than promoting Mel Tucker.

Comment by 1776 Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:26 pm
Childress is from Georgia, which somehow under Gov. Deal has managed to be among the worst in both unemployment and percentages of people on food stamps.

Usually there is a trade off between the two. Low wages lead to higher employment and but more people on aid. To have fewer jobs, and the ones existing paying badly, is unusual and is frankly, quite an accomplishment.

Rauner seems like a smart guy, but he is surrounding himself with the people who are destroying Kansas and Georgia.

Comment by Gooner Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:39 pm
In answer to the question of “What’s wrong with Georgia?” see the following: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/01/whats-wrong-with-georgia/384101/

Comment by Gooner Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:42 pm
Well, I guess it’s good that no one from Indiana or Wisconsin was tapped.

Comment by How Ironic Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:43 pm
Are all of these people going to be like Rauner and work for an annual salary of $1 and refuse a pension? Last I looked that he is doing like his pror office holders, appointing more and more top (waste) officers. I thought that was what has got us into this mess to start with. Look at an analysis of these type posistions within agencies and also appointed, and you will truly discover where the system has went broke.

They can not fund the pensions forward, but they can sure get more staff to study the problem and figure out how to get rid of it. These moves just continue to prove (attn: Lisa Madigan) that their is no emergency.

Comment by Primary Target Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:47 pm
Lol! The new guy just elected and clearly preferred by a sound majority of voters really (no I mean, REALLY) should listen to this echo chamber and appoint only Illinoisans including “Republican” Steve Schnorf and/or anyone the troll known as O.W. says … because it has worked out so well thus far? Sounds like a great idea. #SillyWhinersOnlyHere

Comment by Georg Sande Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:47 pm
Earlier in my career I worked for a State agency who brought in a Director from outside of Illinois. From his first meeting, it was apparent that although he had some progressive ideas the lack of institutional and political knowledge was a detriment to him. Long story short he fell out of favor within a couple of years and moved back to his home state never to be heard from again.

Comment by Stones Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:49 pm
Way to go Governor! The political hacks, wannabe’s, and corrupt way of doing things in our state are history.

A breath of fresh air has arrived in Illinois.

Comment by Raunerbot Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:49 pm
Fortunately, these three will have Speaker Madigan to tell them what to do.

Comment by north shore cynic Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:52 pm
- Georg Sande -

Steve Schnorf’s credentials speak for thenselves. They’re impeccable.

Institutional knowledge, it’s a kinda big deal. Ask around.

You stay classy…

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:53 pm
I’m just wondering — with all the COOs, overseers, and folks who have been responsible for government operations, what exactly does the Governor do? I thought that was the gig he was running for?

Comment by Suburban Dad Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:59 pm
OW - yeah, at this point I’m applying everywhere. Sigh…

Comment by Soccermom Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:59 pm
O.W.,

All you do in this space is lampoon and chide others. Stay class is exactly right … dope. #KettleMeetPot

Comment by Georg Sande Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:00 pm
- Georg Sande -

I’m in your kitchen. Thanks!

- Soccermom -. Sigh indeed. Bummed.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:04 pm
Willy Even with his impeccable credentials, I don’t know if the professor/zen master would want to get involved with this mess. He might pull his hair out. I don’t think the current legislators will like all of these outsiders. I see troubled times ahead. Just saying.

Comment by Ginhouse Tommy Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:06 pm
==Sometimes a fresh set of eyes is needed. Kind of like the Bears going outside of the organization to hire John Fox rather than promoting Mel Tucker.==

Or the Bears hiring Marc Trestman.

==- Wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 4:26 pm:==

She’s not coming until May or June according to AP.

Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:06 pm
- Ginhouse Tommy -,

You are on good points.

LLs are going to earn their pay with this crew.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:08 pm
–not coming until May or June–

Huh. She’s going to miss a lot of fun, lol.

Seriously, the next few months are likely to be the heaviest lifting of his term.

Comment by Wordslinger Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:10 pm
@ Georg Sande….interesting. I guess we should not judge this group of “out of state talent” by their track records?

How IS Kansas doing these days? I never seem to see them at the top of the economic growth charts. Georgia?

There is such a thing as out of town stupid too. Grow up.

Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:10 pm
- Georg Sande -

Actually, Steve is probably one the smartest, if not the smartest, person here when it comes to State of Illinois finances. Just because I don’t always agree with him doesn’t mean I don’t recognize the talent …

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:16 pm
“Lol! The new guy just elected and clearly preferred by a sound majority of voters”

The “sound majority of voters” also wants to raise taxes on millionaires and raise the minimum wage. Surely there will be no mocking of the new administration if it doesn’t heed the will of the voters, yes?

Rauner says he wants to cut taxes, Medicaid and state employees’ pay and benefits, which is what he ran on. He said something about raising taxes that caught my eye, though. He said raising taxes “alone” won’t solve the problem. That seems to mean that it’s possible he will raise taxes.

I believe that raising taxes alone won’t solve the problem. I think some combination of cuts and tax increases has to be enacted, although I’m certainly not happy about the poorest among us having to face cuts.

If Rauner wants to go full-out austerity, that is a recipe for failure. It’s not moral to take from poor and sick people and spare others who are much better off. There will be plenty of people who will stand up for the poor and sick, if there is no sacrifice from others.

As far as state workers, there might be a template that the Rauner administration can follow in the current AFSCME contract, which is supposed to save the state hundreds of millions of dollars. That is because if increased healthcare costs to employees.

Sorry, but attempting to fix the problem solely on the backs of workers and the poor is going to be met with strong resistance. This is especially poignant because Rauner actually was part of the “problem” he is now fighting. His firm made huge amounts of money from public workers’ pensions, in at least two states.

Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:22 pm
Two colloquialisms come to mind:

1. Awful lot of Chiefs and few Indians; and,
2. A lot of cooks in this kitchen.

Maybe Rich can outline how all these superstars and the ones previously appointed are supposed to work together and with the agencies without stepping on big egos

Comment by Norseman Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:23 pm
With all this management talent to actually run things, Rauner should have plenty of free time to work with the legislature and sell his vision (version?) to the voters. Sounds like he’s still in sales and dealmaking … with a back office to take care of the details.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:26 pm
=1. Awful lot of Chiefs and few Indians;= Kind of interesting since he wants to limit leadership (he calls it bureaucracy) in other areas like education.

Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:28 pm
To be clear: what you need in the agencies is not messiahs, but great team leaders who are detail oriented and know how to surround themselves with talent.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:28 pm
Anybody else cringe at “Deputy Governor?”

Comment by Excessively Rabid Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:36 pm
Quite the upgrade in terms of experience…

Comment by Chicago Cynic Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:36 pm
@JS Mill,
Kansas was one of only three states to LOSE jobs in November, to endorse your position…Sam Brownback nearly lost in the reddest state in the nation, the actual home of the Koch brothers. I thing Rauner may want to keep her at the far end of the table when he’s formulating budget policy.

Comment by Will Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 5:37 pm
The past few days the big complaint from commentators here was that Rauner was appointing/hiring too many insiders.

Now the new complaint is that he is appointing/hiring too many outsiders?

Can’t wait for comments tomorrow.

Comment by Louis G Atsaves Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 6:05 pm
No Louis, the big complaint is not that Gov. Rauner is hiring outsiders.

The big complaint is that he is hiring outsiders best known for destroying other states.

Louis, as bad as things are in IL, we are still better than Georgia and Kansas.

Comment by Gooner Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 6:07 pm
- Louis G. Atsaves -,

It’s their shop…

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 6:08 pm
So Gov. Rauner has a COS for his wife, a CFO, a COO/Senior Advisor, a Deputy Governor and going back to an earlier post (https://capitolfax.com/2015/01/10/rauner-announces-top-staff-appointments/): a COS, the head of GOMB (and a CFO…), 4 Deputy COSs, a director of Government Tranformation (he’s not on the turnaround team?), research and special projects directors, 5 members of the communications team (in addition to 1 of the deputy COSs), 7 members of the policy team and 4 members of the outreach team. Obviously some of these positions existed in Gov. Quinn’s office but depending on salary comparisons and the size of Gov. Quinn’s staff, it seems the savings from Gov. Rauner not taking a salary and benefits could quickly evaporate.

Comment by MyTwoCents Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 6:10 pm
Lingle? Really? There is a reason she isn’t working in Hawaii! One of the most inept managers/governors in the state’s history and very unpopular today. After two controversial terms as governor she was clobbered in her run for the US Senate. Environmentalists and the Gay community despise her! Much of her reform agenda was overturned in courts. Arrogant and heavy handed. We met her when she was in city government on Maui. Who vetted these so called experts? Hardly star status let alone superstar!

I predict that these experts will be but a distant memory this time next year. Possibly a laugh line for insiders. The longer they stay visible the worse for governor Carhart. All are prone to foot in mouth disease!

Comment by Old and In the Way Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 6:19 pm
For me, the big complaint is that he’s hiring. I thought there was a state-wide hiring freeze. I agree on the need to hire replacement people in the governmental structure — but we seem to be creating positions for people to be hired into. It’s a little hard to stomach.

Comment by xxtofer Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 6:22 pm
Asked someone I know in Georgia about Childress. He apparently worked for Gov Perdue, who was out in 2010 due to term limits.

One of the things they remembered Gov Perdue for was he essentially eliminated the state income tax for seniors, and did a lot of other tax relief as well as attracting a number of big businesses to move to GA …

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 6:29 pm
The Laffer curve? I think that was what they tried in Kansas. Failed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiCFdWeQfA

Comment by DuPage Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 7:45 pm
Are we sure these picks got past the federal hiring monitor?

Comment by Dr X Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 8:19 pm
Director of Government Transformation? I guess I missed that one the other day.

That’s different from the Transformer that got appointed, right?

Geez, if the dude can pull off Government Transformation, do you really need the other guys? He has quite an impressive resume, but I didn’t see any Hogwarts degree.

Comment by Wordslinger Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 8:20 pm
The executive branch is only 1/3 of the problem/solution.

Comment by Poster Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 8:21 pm
lisa madigans office will be busy

Comment by foster brooks Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 8:42 pm
Team Rauner: You might want to consider getting your agency legislative offices staffed up after your purging of Dem. liaisons The House has session next week and your agencies better ready to go.

But hey no rush, you guys know everything. You fired the people who know how to work with lawmakers.

Members don’t take kindly to having bills in committee and agencies having no positions on them. You guys are going to get your lunch handed to you, early and often.

Maybe the Gov’s Legislative Director from DC will just go to committee and tell committee they are part of the problem. That is if he can find the hearing rooms.

Comment by Give Me A Break Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 8:59 pm
===Gov’s Legislative Director from DC===

He’s not from DC, but he did work there.

He’ll be fine. Ain’t anything happening next week anyway. I mean, committee assignments aren’t even out yet.

But, of course, you’d know that since you seem to be the expert.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 9:03 pm
“Superstars”?

Comment by ZC Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 9:05 pm
It all seems like supply-side Brad Tusk to me.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 9:15 pm
Rich I’m disputing there may not be much going on next week, but I’ve spent more than a few hours in committees the first week they convene with new members.

Comment by Give Me A Break Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 9:29 pm
Sorry Rich, I meant I’m not disputing there may not be much going on. Old guys like me should not be up this late typing.

Comment by Give Me A Break Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 9:29 pm
Well at least none of them are from Texas….

Comment by DuPage Dave Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 9:33 pm
Good team, offering lots of hope. None being from Illinois might be a good thing.

Comment by Sunshine Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 9:42 pm
1. I don’t care if they are from Mars if they can get things moving up in Illinois.

2. Major budget cuts are coming either way and they are going to hurt, but it is the only way out, especially if the State loses the pension case.

3. Given that these same lawmakers got us in this fix, a Springpatch Good Ol’ Boy who can “work with them” is not what we need. That would be buying into business as usual, which sure is not where this Governor is headed.

The coming process will not be pretty, and Rauner likely will lose the first rounds, perhaps even for the first two years, given the legislative majorities. But keep going, Governor!

Comment by Percival Thursday, Jan 22, 15 @ 9:52 pm
let’s just start calling Linda Lingle by her birth name as it is going to be appropriate….Linda Cutter.

Comment by Amalia Friday, Jan 23, 15 @ 12:12 am
From today’s Trib”
‘Lingle, who was in office until 2010, was a vocal supporter of Sarah Palin when the then-Alaska governor was selected to be John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election.’

Not a good sign, I think.

Comment by UIC Guy Friday, Jan 23, 15 @ 7:15 am
== The political hacks, wannabe’s, and corrupt way of doing things in our state are history.==

In their place, political hacks and wannabes from other states…

It’s Rauner’s shop, but its certainly fair game to look at the track records of his team members. Some seem like good picks, others raise big question marks. With a good pick, there’s not much to say, with a questionable one, there are lots of, well, questions; so, they get more attention.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Friday, Jan 23, 15 @ 9:28 am