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Both the Sun-Times and the Tribune have articles about the governor’s hiring of high-priced Loop law firms to “investigate” corruption within his administration.
The Sun-Times reports that Attorney General Lisa Madigan is not pleased.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan accused Gov. Blagojevich of possibly “impeding” a federal hiring probe by paying two outside law firms more than $1.3 million to conduct a parallel investigation of past hiring practices.The governor’s office has retained the Chicago law firms of Schiff Hardin, and Meckler, Bulger and Tilson to determine whether the administration broke hiring rules and to oversee “retraining” of top hiring officials on how to fill state jobs legally.
“The large fees paid to these firms raise many concerns about whether the governor’s administration is engaged in an investigation that could impede the United States attorney’s investigation,” Madigan spokeswoman Cara Smith said. […]
“This review was announced back in April, and we’ve never heard concerns from any investigative bodies about our efforts to make sure laws are being followed.” [Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said.]
Um, Abby, you just did.
Next up, the Tribune, which didn’t talk to Madigan, but did talk to Gov. Blagojevich.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich vowed Sunday to continue an internal review of state hiring and said he wouldn’t be intimidated by the state’s largest employees union, which contends the administration may be violating its labor contract and hindering a federal criminal inquiry.“The public employees union is upset about it because in the old days no one bothered to look into the wrongdoing of state employees. Their job is to represent the state employees,” Blagojevich said.
“Our job is to make sure that government works as efficiently and as responsibly [as possible] and that the men and women who work in state government follow the rules. And when we hear there’s something wrong, we don’t look the other way, we don’t pretend like it didn’t happen and we’re not going to be intimidated by a public employees union because they have their job to do. We have our job to do.”
A spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 said the comments stunned union leadership.
“It’s important to remember the allegations of corruption in the Blagojevich administration center on illegal hiring. Neither our union nor the front-line workers in the state have anything to do with hiring in this state,” the union’s spokesman Anders Lindall said. “By contrast … every single hire in the state required approval of the governor’s office.”
Discuss.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 6:11 am
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Blago’s total disregard for the checks and balances of government reminds me of Bush. Both are willing to cross the line between legal/ethical behavior and then declare it is their right (because they know what’s best) to do so. Give us a break! Stay within the duties of the Executive branch.
Comment by Shallow Pharnyx Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 6:56 am
If Lisa M. is out on this why not the Feds?Do they know something or have everything they need?
Comment by DOWNSTATE Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 6:58 am
AFSCME IS RIGHT IN THERE WITH THEM…..BELIEVE IT !!! MAYBE THE FED’s SHOULD LOOK AT “”LOCAL 31″” TOO !!!!
Comment by annon Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 7:03 am
I was wondering when Madigan was going to release his (not her) October surprise. Madigan has nothing to gain by four more years of Blago. Maybe the first of a few. As was reported by Rich a few days back, anyone surprised the law firms paid such big bucks were major Blago contributors?
Comment by LakeILGOP Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 7:06 am
I actually wonder why we, the taxpayers have to pay to ‘retrain’ hiring officials by an outside law firm, instead of CMS.
Just another excuse to get additional billable hours.
Comment by Disenchanted One Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 7:21 am
I think what Abby was saying is that she didnt hear any complaints back when the process began in April… 6 MONTHS AGO. Why now?
Funny how it comes out 30 days prior to an election from a union that has been very vocal about their dislike of the governor. They dont like him because he eliminated like 10,000 jobs from the state payroll.
Thats one of the things I happen to like about him! Eliminating waste in state government.
Comment by Roomie Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 7:26 am
Yeah eliminating waste from state government. Good luck speaking to a human at the state department of revenue. It took them over 4 weeks to process my tax payment back in April. Is that eliminating waste, getting rid of so many people that tax payments sit around unopened (and un-cashed) for a month?
But we were able to hire someone for Hispanic outreach for the lottery.
OneMan
Comment by OneMan Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 7:39 am
The Governor’s courageous efforts to root out irregularities in the hiring process is to be commended. The union is protesting a little too loudly. Let’s see what the investigations and interviews uncover before rendering a judgement. When the governor becomes aware of what may be violations of ethics or hiring rules he takes action. He always tries to do the right thing no matter who the alleged offenders are or what the political fallout may be. He will not stand for corruption of any kind in his administration. That goes for everyone, even employees represented by the union.
Comment by Bill Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 7:43 am
For too long AFSCME had everyone, and I mean everyone kissing their backsides and trying to keep their members happy. Glad to see Rod and others treat them for what they are: just another group with their hand out.
Comment by Anon Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 7:45 am
What makes you wonks so special? The commercial sector I work in is as bad if not worse.
Comment by Anon Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 7:46 am
Actually, about 12,000 employees were cut by “your favorite governor” George Ryan’s 2002 early retirement effort, just before his term expired. Management employees and political employees, as well as unionized employees, took advantage of this.
To Blago’s credit, many of these 12,000 positions were not refilled. To Blago’s discredit, some additional positions were created and filled with seemingly do-nothing employees.
As for the “investigators”…I think someone will eventually investigate the investigators, and those who sent them.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 7:48 am
Billy- give me a break. What part of “every single hire in the state required approval of the governor’s office†don’t you understand? Since the hiring freeze, Blago’s office had to sign off on ALL new hires. He ought to be investigating his own office that is made up of exempt employees, not union employees. This is just another diversion tactic.
Roomy- look at how many contractual employees Blago has hired, they don’t show up as state employees. That’s how he makes the numbers look good and is still able to help buddies.
Comment by Shallow Pharnyx Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 7:52 am
Is this for real? If Blago was so worried about government working efficiently, then why did he appoint people with no experience into decision making positions? Take IDOT for instance (or any other state agency), look at all the no-nonsense changes that has occurred over the last 4 years. I supported this Governor originally because I believed in what I thought he stood for. I believed him when he stated that he was going to ‘stream line’ upper management. I guess that was before he knew how many favors he owed. We have had more created positions in upper management and more assistant positions then I thought was possible. I have seen a couple of people just show up and announce that they were starting work at the agency and then filling out an application. We also have employees that we only see once every other month. Blago doesn’t even follow the rules. Didn’t he go against federal mandates and buy flu shots from outside the US?
This ploy will only work for the truly uninformed.
Comment by anon A Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 7:57 am
Hey, Bill! Thanks for the laugh this morning. Always nice to see a Blags shill on the board.
I fail to see how anyone is surprised by anything this administration does. It’s typical Democrat “do as I say, not as I do” politics-as-usual.
I have no love to AFSCME, but they are right on this one. Hiring as a political tool has been thoroughly abused under this administration, it’s time for them to pay the piper.
And for Anon 7:46: The commercial sector is NOT this bad, unless you work in the legal system (which doesn’t count, since they don’t really contribute to commerce). What state government really needs is a Sarbanes-Oxley-type set of laws to shine the light on these abuses, instead of relying on FOIA requests by media (soon followed by opportunistic prosecutorial subpoenas).
This BS would end if the governor had to put his own damn signature on each new hire and put it in a public record.
Comment by Southern Illinoisian Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 8:01 am
Lindahl is at least partly correct. By all accounts, union employees do not make hiring decisions, and they don’t even participate in the hiring process. They are not management. And many internal hires are based on seniority under the collective bargaining agreement so highly unlikely to be influence by politicis.
And those newer employees who were hired into state government under Blago were successful applicants so one wonders how they could provide useful information about the hiring process. Perhaps Blago’s high-priced (to us taxpayers, not to Blago) lawyers should be interviewing people who didn’t get state Rutan-protected jobs despite A grades on tests etc. That might be more productive. Although in those cases, interviewers might actually come up with evidence of hiring fraud, which Blago no doubt wishes to avoid.
The purpose of this exercise is likely for Blago to say we spent half a million (or more) interviewing hundreds of employees and found no evidence that our hiring system is compromised.
Then, if the feds indict somebody, he can counter with his own investigation. Since the pluckable Illinois electorate, especially the Democratic electorate, is also extremely credulous, he might well get away with it.
Comment by Cassandra Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 8:03 am
So Blago is not allowed to hire attorneys to find the problems with the hiring system? Is he supposed to rely on CMS lawyers? Oh, I suppose he is supposed to sit back and let Lisa defend the administration since she is the attorney general. My goodness, if he does nothing people say that he lets the stuff he is criticised for continue. When he takes action to find the cause of the problem, critics say that he is interfering and meddling.
By the way, has AFSCME endorsed in the AG race yet? Have they given a large sum of money to Lisa yet? Wouldn’t it be interesting if an AFSCME endorsement, followed quickly by a big check, were the result of this bold alignment of Lisa and AFSCME? Rich, any thoughts? Lisa wouldnt allow herself to be swayed by a big check from AFSCME, would she?
Comment by Juice Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 8:04 am
Everyone is missing the obvious - outside lawyers have been hired because there MIGHT be an attorney-client privilege to their activities. Courts have been clear that there is NO attorney client privilege for work done by inside lawyers/investigators. The law firms have clearly been hired to find out what evidence the feds will find so that the propaganda coming from the Governor’s office can stay ahead of the situation.
Everyone knows the misdeeds in hiring have been directed by the patronage office in the Governor’s office. There is NO point in lawyers reporting to the GO to be investigating anyone outside the GO unless it is to find out what evidence exists that will point to the GO.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 8:06 am
Billy….thanks for the Morning laugh! you should take the act on the road…in coffee shops across IL. and get the real peoples opinion!
Are you serious, Hiring a company for over a Million dollars to investigate yourself…..I bet Geo. Ryan wished he could have hired is own investigative company to find his corruption, and then get a kick-back like Blaggs! He probably would still be Gov……People get REAL, Gov. Blago is More Corrupt than Ryan……MOVE OVER RYAN and get another pillow— YOUR BUDDY BLAGGS WILL BE VISITING SOON!
Comment by Big W Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 8:22 am
By getting sidetracked on ASFCME, you are missing the point. THE GOVERNOR IS CORRUPT.
He has used our tax money not for the benefit of Illinoisans but to further his political career by handing out huge contracts to his campaign contributors.
He views state government as a giant PR machine. Ask those public information officers who got moved from agencies into Central Management Services so that the governor’s people could control the message. Ask the agencies who have spent hundreds of thousands of your tax dollars on printed materials with his name on them.
And the whole time he pretends that he is “rooting out corruption,” first by firing a couple of CMS employees who were clearly doing his bidding, and now with this “investigation.”
It’s foxes guarding the henhouse, folks.
I can’t believe this guy is going to be re-elected. I guess it will take federal indictments to sidetrack him–and they can’t come soon enough.
Comment by My view Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 8:23 am
Whats nice is that this “investigation” seems to focus from the Bottom-Up. Identifying troublesome “frontline” workers at the bottom of the pyramid to blame for widespread corruption seems to be its only purpose.
This looks like a prelude to a wider action that will mean a number of decent people thrown under the bus to protect the real problem–the Governor and his inner circle. It looks like legal representation could be a growth industry for the next few years…
NOTE TO GOV: The easiest (and cheapest) way to find the source of the problem is to look in your own office, you know the feds are…
Comment by Animous Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 8:49 am
Well, what do you do when you are running your own internal investigation into your own company, agency, or government. You don’t want to find anything wrong so you “investigate” where you are least likely to find something wrong. Union employees are clearly not going to be held accountable for the hiring that they don’t do. And even if some employees now in the union got their first state job via politics they are unlikely to admit it.
Comment by Cassandra Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 8:57 am
Big W,
“My act” is on the road quite often and at each stop people are talking about AllKids, health care for seniors and veterans, raising the foundation level for public school students, funding stem cell research, defending a woman’s right to choose, banning assault weapons, and other planks in the governor’s agenda which he is accomplishing without raising their income taxes or sales taxes.
They are also concerned with the way that they have been lied to by Repubs at all levels of gov’t , particularly Pres. Bush, Cheney, Runsfield, Hastert, Shimkus,Topinka, all the Ryans, and all the rest about issues that affect their everyday lives. The people support a progressive candidate who will increase state services while cutting waste and encouraging economic growth so that their taxes need not be raised. The real people like and respect the governor and are grateful for his efforts on their behalf. If this is not already obvious to most objective observers it will be on election day.
Comment by Bill Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 8:58 am
Bill I swear you are a legend in your own mind.
Comment by DOWNSTATE Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 9:05 am
Is anyone else starting to wonder if “Bill” is really Gov. Blagojevich?
Just kidding… a little.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 9:07 am
Bill
Are they talking about job for vets, oh yeah we get around that by creating internships. I bet debt and pensions really don’t come up to much either.
Comment by OneMan Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 9:09 am
Rich,
Bill is probably not Blagojevich, but I’ve been watching his/her posts closely. He/she is someone relatively high up in the Administration who works on a lot of policy. Definitely a state worker, maybe on the campaign now. I’m guessing someone from Gov’s office, media staff or GOMB. A real believer that is probably going down with the ship.
Comment by Truth Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 9:13 am
Bill,
You might make a note to yourself to revisit these same “real people” in a few years and find out what they think when they finally realize what he’s done to them and their futures.
All you can talk about now are promises, wait until the “real people” have to pay the bills that come due for all these programs (you know, the ones that have been pushed off until after the election cycle).
The Feds will also have a say in crafting the true future image of the Governor: is he a true man of the people, or if he’s only a self-centered, self-serving egomaniac.
Like I said, go revisit those same people in a few years. We’ve seen this story before…
Comment by Animous Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 9:14 am
The governor is too busy healing the sick and walking on water to be Bill in Bill’s world.
Comment by OneMan Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 9:16 am
Off topic a little, but for all it’s worth, if I were in trouble and needed help, I sure would want Bill as my friend. Talk about faithful to a fault!
Comment by Walking Wounded Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 9:29 am
On topic, when the state’s top lawyer is putting distance between you and her, you know something is up. Lisa’s office investigated Blagojevich for awhile, so she knows a lot and she is running away from Blagojevich. She won’t endorse him and she keeps needling him. I don’t know who’s going to win the election, but I know at least one person with the initials RB who will not be Governor in four years.
Comment by Truth Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 9:37 am
Just a question: Since these firms are acting and investigators and trainers (and not legal defenders) can the records they create be obtained by anyone (prosecutors, employee legal defense, etc.) in the legal process?
Also, with the timing of these events, it looks like the Gov’s Office is getting into the spirit of the season {Halloween}.
It looks like their version of the Salem Witch Hunt…
Comment by Animous Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 9:59 am
Truth look back to the postings of the past and BILL admitted to making calls and knocking on doors and if checked out it was probably on state time.
Comment by DOWNSTATE Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 10:27 am
The law is to give Vets Preference….The governor’s office has disobeyed that law countless times. IT has been proven.
Comment by Where's the Leadership??? Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 11:10 am
Anon 8:06 hit the nail on the head. This is not about “investigating illegal hiring practices.” This is about building a defense case for the Governor. This, BTW, is standard corporate procedure.
Because it’s the Governor’s lawyers doing the asking, employees will be under intense pressure to tell the lawyers what they want to hear. If they are later interviewed by the feds and blow the whistle, their original testimony will be used to discredit them.
And, on the off chance someone does have bad things to say, Team Rod can immediately take spin action to distance themselves from that particular hire, find someone else to throw under the bus, and begin mounting their legal defense.
Here’s what I’d do if I was AFSCME. Tell the Gov they want to help with his investigation into hiring practices, send a letter to all AFSCME members asking them to document what they observed (since they don’t actually do the hiring), and hold a press conference where you hand over the reams of stories to the media, the feds, and the Governor’s office.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 11:22 am
Hell yes this is an innoculation effort on the part of Milorad’s people. Nested strategy: intimidate the union to quiet them down prior to the election so individual members won’t campaign hard for Judy. Tie up possible witnesses with legal tricks to make their testimony inadmissible later under client privilege. Make a PR buzz out of nobly “pursuing” corruption. Probe for and eliminate evidence the feds may not yet know about, and finally, identify patsies to take the fall for anything that comes up.
I only this administration put such planning and energy into actually running the state, we’d be a freaking paradise on earth by now. As it is, it’s a gangster’s paradise, for chief crook Milorad.
Comment by And OJ is looking for the real killer Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 11:47 am
oneman–two words
file electronically
Comment by anonymous Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 11:48 am
A word to those called to answer questions by the governor’s goon squad - take an attorney, even if it costs you an hourly fee. They will not speak to you in front of an attorney.
Bill - what part of “THE STATE IS BROKE NOW AND CANNOT FUND THIS GRANDIOSE SCHEMES” do you not understand? You need to stay off the blog and start kissing his ring a bit more.
Comment by Vote ABB Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 12:59 pm
He fights with his father in law. He fights with Daley. And on top of it, Democrat Madigan has totally distanced herself from him. Oh, and when Carol Marin interviewed Tony Rezko, HE didn’t even want to talk too much about whether he has talked to Rod recently or not. No one wants to endorse this guy except–I don’t know–a lot of people (including his own campaign team) who just don’t *get* it???
If this isn’t a one term governor, Illinois is done. Kaput. I mean, we might as well just call it a day. Hello bankruptcy for Illinois!
Comment by Angie Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 1:01 pm
Anon 11:48 am, I did. I was in no rush for them to get the money. So I filed electronically and sent the check via the mail like I do with the Feds.
It took the Feds a week to cash the check.
It took the state so long they sent me a bill with an interest penalty because I filed electronicaly and sent my payment in. I then had to call the state to see if they had finished processing checks (I had to wait 45 mintues to get something besides a busy signal and then 45 minutes on hold (1-800 number so the state was paying for that)) spoke to someone who told me they were still processing payments.
As someone who owed taxes I didn’t really mind I would rather earn the interest on that money than have the state have it. As a taxpayer thinking about all the interest the state was passing up, it ticked me off.
Comment by OneMan Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 1:30 pm
This is totally an innoculation effort on the part of the Rod administration. It has several purposes:
Intimidate AFSCME members so they won’t stick their necks out to campaign/vote for Judy. Threats of revenge against members is why the union didn’t formally declare for Judy now.
Tie up credible witnesses in legal tactics that may make their testimony inadmissible later, or generate counter-claims that weaken the testimony later.
Find and suppress leakers.
Identify patsies to take the fall later.
Make the whole thing a PR exercise to make it look like Rod’s tough on corruption.
If this administration only spent this much effort on governing, instead of on criminal conspiracy, this would be the best state in the union.
Comment by You can't stop the signal Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 1:52 pm
When is the injunction to stop the “investigation going to be filed?
Comment by Huh? Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 2:13 pm
Leadership,
When did the Governor violate the state’s veterans preference laws? How and when was it proven?
Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 2:32 pm
This intimidation by GoverNOT Hairdo’s personally hired attorneys smacks of mob action. Keep it up Elvis. Can you say Federal RICO Act? How about “Obstruction of Justice?”
Comment by Little Egypt Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 2:33 pm
This is kind of off subject, but I just saw a fundraiser for “Women Who Win” honoring (in this order) the Hon. Judy Baar Topinka, Hon. Lisa Madigan, Hon. Carole Pankau, and the Hon. Christine Radogno. The campaign committee (Women Who Win) was created on September 28 of this year.
I could see why Lisa Madigan would want to distance herself from Blago, but don’t you all think it is kind of weird for her to put her name on a fundraiser with 3 other Republican Candidates for Statewide office all running against incumbent Democrats in an election year?
Comment by Jaded Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 2:39 pm
schnorf -
How about a $1500 check and a ghost job in Whiteside County that was promptly moved to DuPage?
Comment by Buck Flagojevich Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 3:01 pm
Man, Bill, you are takin’ a beatin’ today. Where are your homies to back you up? Out campaigning or out looking for new jobs?
If Rod truly “will not stand for corruption of any kind in his administration” we may have a chance in the very near future to see the depths of his testicular virility on this matter.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 4:04 pm
Any possibility that “Bill” was disappointed by the Bears smackdown of the Buffalo Bills?
Comment by Establishment Republican Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 4:08 pm
“Our job is to make sure that government works as efficiently and as responsibly [as possible] and that the men and women who work in state government follow the rules. And when we hear there’s something wrong, we don’t look the other way, we don’t pretend like it didn’t happen and we’re not going to be intimidated by a public employees union because they have their job to do. We have our job to do.†-Blagojevich
Rod’s comments are so laughable, I am at the library and people are looking at me because I can’t control my amusement. LMAO!!
:):):):)
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 4:44 pm
I truly makes no sense for Blago to hire an outside firm to do an investigation on hiring practices and Rutan to see if hiring was done wrong, since as has been pointed out before - every hire has had to be approved by his office since he put the hiring freeze in effect. So, how could hiring be done wrong if his office was watching over if effeciently? They wouldn’t do anything illegal or unethical, would they?
I’m glad that Madigan’s office said something.
I’m glad that the union took a stand for the union members who might be contacted for questioning. No member would have any information worth providing if they were hired under Rutan as I was. Strict guidelines are followed.
It’s about time Blago got put in his place. It’s just too bad that it’s going to happen too late.
Comment by Tessa Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 5:17 pm
“Strict guidelines are followed”
I don’t think so!
Comment by Bill Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 5:21 pm
“He always tries to do the right thing no matter who the alleged offenders are or what the political fallout may be.”
I don’t think so!
Comment by Big Buffalo Blagojevich Bill Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 6:44 pm
“I don’t think so”
You could have stopped at “I don’t think”.
Rich: No way Bill can be Super Rod….all of the words were spelled correctly and the gov just isn’t that swift.
Comment by Anti-Bill Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 6:45 pm
I won’t join the Bill-bashers here, but it’s tempting…
I want to address a common fallacy raised up top by Southern Illinoisan about the public sector “needing a Sarbanes-Oxley Act.”
We need more honest public officials, not more laws. Many of the major reforms enacted for corporations in SOX have been in place for years in Illinois state government, believe it or not.
A few examples:
-The Auditor General is an independent constitutional officer appointed by and accountable to the legislative branch. He selects independent external auditing firms and defines the scope of audits (as prescribed by law) for substantially every State entity. In turn, audit firms receiving work from the OAG are restricted in the type of consulting engagements they may accept from State agencies.
-Directors and CFO’s of State agencies personally sign a letter attesting to the accuracy of the agency’s financial statements and systems of internal control.
-Financial data is publicly available in detailed form.
These SOX-like requirements, present in the Internal Auditing Act, FCIA Act, and State Finance Act, to name just three, are routine aspects of good business practice among well-run State agencies. There are well-run State agencies out there, Cassandra. Fewer than there used to be, though.
Comment by NumbersGuy Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 8:38 pm
If the purpose of this Inquisition, er, ah, investigation is “an internal review of state hiring” - as the Gov himself stated to the Trib - and is intended to “determine whether the administration broke hiring rules and to oversee ‘retraining’ of top hiring officials on how to fill state jobs legally” then why, oh why, are AFSCME employees being interviewed? You will not find a single one of them who has hiring authority! This is nothing more than an attempt by the administration to find the smoking gun before the Feds do; to find out how much is known within employee circles and to locate and intimidate those who know too much.
You will also not find many in the merit comp ranks who truly has hiring authority anymore, since, as noted above, “every single hire in the state requires approval of the governor’s office.” Consequently only those trusted to recommend the proper candidate are allowed that responsibility.
Mr. Fitzgerald - The envelope, PLEASE!
Comment by Public Employee Z Monday, Oct 9, 06 @ 11:42 pm
Hey, Bill, are you a Rutan hired state employee? Do you know how that works? Then leave me alone. The ones where I work at have been done correctly. Wrap your little brain around that one, because I know it’s a difficult concept in Blago’s administration - Rutan done right. Anything merit comp, can’t say that, because they haven’t been. We have incompetency everywhere, with the exception of one highly qualified person I’m afraid we’re going to lose because of who is in charge. Others more qualified got looked over during the hiring process for PSA’s, etc. by the Gov’s office, because they have the final say so. It’s sickening.
Comment by Tessa Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 6:48 am
Tessa,
No Im not and yes I do. I suppose that you blame “incompetency everywhere” on the governor and not on republican holdovers that refuse to leave and spend their state time blogging and trying to sabotage the governor’s administration. I know that you don’t like your new bosses. Tough! Times change and the Gov’s administration is running things right for a change. I know that is a novel concept after 27 years of repub featherbedding and employees doing political work on state time, etc..
The best is yet to come! Four more years!
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 7:15 am
billy,
If you have not worked for the state before Blago and after, you don’t know the level of competency. It’s true, Blago brought in a bunch of people that don’t know how to work within the confines of state government. Sorry, but the rules are different. You should see some of the items Blago’s hired hands try to get reimbursed. Especially their “residences”.
Comment by Shallow Pharnyx Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:40 am
Let’s take the conversation to Tuesday’s post, shall we? Thanks.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 10, 06 @ 8:44 am