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Building bridges, sometimes literally

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Illinois

* From a press release…

Governor Bruce Rauner [yesterday] met with Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti, State Senator Martin Sandoval, State Representative Luis Arroyo, Department of Labor Director Hugo Chaviano, Jovita Carranza, Lazaro Lopez and Manny Sanchez at the first Latino Working Group meeting.

This working group is being convened to create a forum for the governor and lieutenant governor to work with Latino members of the General Assembly and Latino members in the administration to focus on issues of concern to Latino families and businesses.

“The goal of this working group is to drive the Turnaround Agenda and make positive short-term and long-term differences to benefit the Latino community throughout Illinois,” Rauner said. “We need to empower Latinos and give them the tools and every opportunity to succeed.”

“Governor Rauner sent a powerful message to the Latino community when he selected me as his lieutenant governor,” Sanguinetti said. “I will continue to work hard to ensure the Latino community thrives here in Illinois.”

That’s a really good idea. Sandoval is Speaker Madigan’s Senator, so that doesn’t hurt, either.

* Building personal relationships is a vital first step, and as this story about the controversial FY 15 budget deal shows, it can soothe some wounds as well…

“Trust is a big thing and it is very difficult to continue negotiations with someone that you don’t believe is working in full faith,” said Rep. Pamela Reaves-Harris, a Chicago Democrat, when asked whether trust is broken.

She says the budget fix was a hard vote in the first place because it cut state services. She was taken aback when Rauner went ahead and unexpectedly cut more. […]

Despite the misunderstanding, Reaves-Harris says she’s willing to give Rauner a break. For one, Rauner has made a point to meet with legislators and reached out to Reaves-Harris and other members of the black caucus to try to smooth things over. Plus, like Rauner, she’s new to state government.

“So I’m learning as I go along. This process is very difficult,” she said. “You always have opposites sides, two sides of the story. And so when you’re trying to come to a compromise, that can be very difficult.”

* Meanwhile, from IDOT…

– The Illinois Department of Transportation, in conjunction with the Illinois Capital Development Board, announced today the start of a series of listening sessions over the next month to discuss the state’s infrastructure needs and the steps required to make sure the right investments are being made to keep Illinois competitive in a 21st century global economy. The meetings will be held in multiple communities throughout the state, with a goal of presenting Governor Rauner’s office with a comprehensive package of recommendations for consideration this spring.

“With a world-class system of roads, transit systems, airports and railroads, Illinois is rich in transportation infrastructure, but we are at a crossroads. This asset makes us stand out, but it is beginning to deteriorate and in need of reinvestment,” said Acting Illinois Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn. “These meetings with the Capital Development Board are a listening tour to help us rebuild and craft a plan going forward that allows Illinois to continue to serve as the transportation hub of North America and build top-notch state facilities so we can grow our economy and improve our quality of life”

The initial meetings will be announced in the coming days. Future dates and locations will be updated regularly at www.idot.illinois.gov.

At each stop, the objective will be to engage residents, businesses, local leaders and various stakeholders in identifying the infrastructure challenges we face and setting the priorities for investing now and for future generations. Among the topics that will be addressed are establishing needs and priorities, improving deteriorating roads, bridges and transit systems, providing better access across multiple transportation modes and reinvesting in state facilities, such as schools and state parks.

“I look forward to hearing the views and thoughts on transportation from the broad spectrum of people who make up our great state,” Blankenhorn said. “The time to rethink our transportation goals and priorities is now. Inaction is no longer an option.”

Nothing helps, um, pave the way for legislative cooperation quite like capital projects. Kind of a late start, though. Tick tock.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 9:25 am

Comments

Very late!
If this was an administration ran by professionals, it would have been the first thing handled in order to build bipartisanship and get the term off to a functioning start.

What we have seen over the past 100 days isn’t a Turnaround Agenda, it has been a Beclown Agenda!

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 9:39 am
I received a giant oversized postcard yesterday from a group called betterroadsahead.org.

The front is a photo of a pileup on a collapsed bridge with the headline:

“How Many Must Die in Illinois?”

Subtle, that.

The back rips Rauner and Sen. Harmon for the road funds sweep. The call to action is to call Sen. Harmon.

The layout is such that it can be personalized to strip in different legislators.

At their site, the “About Us” really doesn’t say anything about who they are.

Comment by Wordslinger Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 9:44 am
===really doesn’t say anything about who they are.===

Subscribe.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 9:45 am
Maybe I could take a wild guess — Illinois Roadbuilders Assn., Associated General Contractors, Asphalt Pavers Assn.,C.E.C.I., Construction Trades Council, etc. and so forth?

Comment by kimocat Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 9:51 am
===“The goal of this working group is to drive the Turnaround Agenda===
Really? I thought part of the idea of working groups was to formulate a goal. And I’m pretty sure Marty and Luis haven’t signed off on that Agenda.
His way or the highway I guess.

Comment by Been There Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 9:52 am
Rauner does seem to be trying harder to reach out to legislators than some past governors, I’ll give him credit for that.

And if you see a pork in the road, take it!

Comment by Robert the Bruce Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 9:54 am
kimocat, I think you are close, but on the wrong side of the fence.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 10:07 am
===At their site, the “About Us” really doesn’t say anything about who they are.===

I was told by a reliable source that it was Local #150. But, given my close relationship with you Sling, perhaps I need to subscribe too. The source was a legislator who was featured in the piece.

Comment by A guy Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 10:50 am
Were I a legislator of either party, I wouldn’t trust anything that comes from this administration. Not a word. Perhaps the MOU’s need to be brought back.

Comment by low level Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 11:09 am
“beginning to deteriorate”

Do they really need a listening tour? Get on with the freaking job! Jesus …

Comment by vole Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 11:42 am
The might need a listening tour so Rich B. does not have to go to IDOT Central Command every friggin’ day.

Comment by Anonin' Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 12:26 pm
Meanwhile ex gov Quinn’s deputy chief of staff, Lefluer, and her cronies are still running the tollway handing out $100 million contracts.

Comment by Old regime Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 12:29 pm
I think Rauner’s purpose is to try to twist arms about his “end prevailing wage” idea. He will show 2 sets of plans, showing more projects for less money, or fewer projects for more money. Then he might imply that the state is short of funds, and will fund only projects that are within “right to work/no prevailing wage zones”.

The local governments might be intimidated by the “get on board or be left behind” and vote for Rauner’s turnaround agenda.

Comment by DuPage Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 12:34 pm
IDOT has a comprehensive, professionally prepared engineering evaluation of the condition and safety of all state roads and bridges. They already know how to prioritize work, and decide which projects need immediate attention and which are best deferred. This “listening” tour is about politics, of course, not technical needs.

The giveaway here is “reinvesting in state facilities, such as schools and state parks”. That’s where the “boondoggle” money is placed. The state school capital programs of the early 2000’s resulted in more wasted resources than practically any other program in state history. Schools with declining enrollments were given millions for expanding, and the grant process was one of the most corrupt imaginable. I lived in Palos 118 at the time, and the fact they were given a grant was a travesty, and the fact they raised taxes for some of the worst unneeded classroom additions I’ve ever seen made for a real disaster for everyone except those feeding at the trough.

I know of one K-12 Principal, who had NO real construction credentials, getting a new “assistant superintendent of construction and curriculum” position created for him to raise his salary from $104K to $180K just before his “retirement”. He built a huge home in South Carolina, then the district paid him full expenses as a “project engineer” to come back and look over the project (until he was able to sell his home in Illinois) while paying him $100 per hour, without having to sign in and out for his time.

Illinois should do what needs to be done to keep state facilities safe and functional. It can’t afford any more multi billion dollar “boondoggles” at this time.

Comment by Arizona Bob Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 1:18 pm
Welcome back, AB!!!

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 1:19 pm
- They already know how to prioritize work, and decide which projects need immediate attention and which are best deferred. -

So, government is always terribly managed, except IDOT, which is apparently flawless.

Got it.

I was told one time that one of the biggest HR challenges at IDOT is that the really good engineers leave for the private sector after a few years, and only the not so good ones stick around. Were you one of the latter?

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 1:31 pm
-The State school capital programs of the early 2000s resulted in more wasted resources than practically any other program in State history.-

-I know of one…Principal-

Welcome back, indeed, AB.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 1:50 pm
Anon @ 1:31

You are so wrong about IDOT. Virtually all of the engineers I know at IDOT are good people with sound experience and credentials. They want to do a good job and have the best interests of the traveling public at heart.

They are not looking for glory. An occasional pat on the back and a job well done would be nice. We are hampered by the thoughtless and pandering politicians.

They are like anybody else trying to work, make a living and take care of their families.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 2:09 pm
Agree with Huh?.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 2:58 pm
BTW - IDOT is very good at prioritizing projects based on available funding. They have been doing it for a very long time. The roads get paved and bridges get built. So far (knock on wood) Illinois has not had a catastrophic bridge failure like Minnesota, Wisconsin or Washington State.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 3:01 pm
My roads piece attacking Bill Cunningham came last Friday.

Comment by Precinct Captain Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 3:26 pm
@anonymous

=I was told one time that one of the biggest HR challenges at IDOT is that the really good engineers leave for the private sector after a few years, and only the not so good ones stick around. Were you one of the latter?=

This hasn’t been true because IDOT has historically had a prohibition of allowing IDOT engineers to leave for consulting firms, and being able to work on IDOT projects.

You can leave, but you either need to leave the state where you have the most valuable experience or go to a firm that does a lot of out of state work.

I never worked for IDOT, but I know people who have. the rank and file are perhaps the most competent in Springfield. The bad decisions on reducing project useful life to fit arbitrary budget planning comes from much higher up the political food chain.

Comment by Arizona Bob Tuesday, Apr 21, 15 @ 10:36 pm
- historically had a prohibition of allowing IDOT engineers to leave for consulting firms, and being able to work on IDOT projects. -

Not even close to reality.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 4:30 am