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“Unclear” on the concept

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Illinois

* If you missed the Better Government Association’s report last week about how the Chicago Public Schools system was caught fudging its graduation rates, you should most definitely click here. Good, solid stuff.

* But this BGA story about e-mails sent by Nancy Kimme to the Rauner folks regarding hiring? Not so much…

Among them was one sent to Kimme Jan. 6 — less than a week before Rauner was sworn in to succeed Pat Quinn. It came from Dave Gross, chief of staff to Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago. Gross asked Kimme to help save the jobs of two state bureaucrats who were slated to be fired and to be replaced with Rauner political hires.

Though the law bans political considerations in much hiring in state government, that ban doesn’t cover many key policy jobs.

It’s unclear how Gross’s requests were handled. One of the state workers Gross asked Kimme about left state government later that month, records show, and the other left in February.

Um, wait, it’s “unclear” what happened to Gross’ requests? Huh? They didn’t keep their jobs, for crying out loud. How much more clarity do you need?

To sum up, we have a big story about how a Democrat failed to convince a Republican to keep a couple of Democrats on the governor’s payroll.

Wow, BGA. That’s some real Pulitzer-level snooping there.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 8:56 am

Comments

Poor reporting, as usual, on the Kimme story.. Both Chicago papers are marching lock step into irrelevance.

Comment by NotRMiller Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 9:04 am
The standards at BGA are pretty low, so having one really good report every couple of years should be heralded and the usually junk ignored.

Comment by DuPage Dave Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 9:06 am
BGA = Tom Lawless. Hitting .080 with one big home run once.

Comment by LizPhairTax Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 9:15 am
= Kimme went to Michael Drake, the comptroller’s independent inspector general, and he found no fault with her performing transition committee tasks while on state time, according to a Nov. 24 letter he sent Kimme. =

That’s the last paragraph.

Comment by Dirty Red Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 9:20 am
Even at the price of “free” it is hard to see editors using BGA copy. Rauner and the other
1%ers must be laughin’ every mornin’
If you think this is bad go find IPI column on how the Rauner Roboot (good typo) Remap plan will make IL like Detroit’s state and CA w/o the sunshine. It is a doozey.

Comment by Anonin' Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 9:28 am
==Though the law bans political considerations in much hiring in state government, that ban doesn’t cover many key policy jobs.==

I love how exempt jobs are always explained as though they fall into some glaring legal loophole.
You mean to tell me elected officials (or anyone for that matter) want to hire their own staff when they take over an organization??? Gasp

Comment by Jimmy CrackCorn Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 9:30 am
Jimmy CrackCorn +1

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 9:33 am
The BGA story on grad rates yet another time Rahm caught lying. Believe what comes out of his press office at your own risk… so about that budget and those property taxes…

Comment by From the 'Dale to HP Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 9:39 am
We would not know about the CPS story without the BGA. And some commenters are missing the point of the email story. Using private email to conduct state business, and then using that as a basis for declaring the records are not subject to FOIA, is troublesome.

She did the right thing handing them over and I don’t think Nancy intended anything improper, but the administration’s defense is not okay.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 9:44 am
Did Rahm know the graduation rates were inaccurate at the time he quoted them?

Comment by DuPage Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 10:00 am
DuPage,

Relevant quote from Casino:

That means, either he was in on it or he
was too dumb to see what was goin’ on.
Either way, I cannot have
a man like that working here.

Except he’s working here for a few more years.

Comment by LizPhairTax Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 10:23 am
The BGA solicits donations from politicians, elected office holders, lobbyists, and politically active business groups. The salary of their director, Andy Shaw, is paid in part, based on how much money he raises. There is no more blatant example of a conflict of interest in Illinois politics and media today than the BGA. Some occasionally good reporting does not change this.
Unfortunately, having been gutted by revenue losses and huge staffing cuts, the folks who would ordinarily expose the BGA — Chicago’s news gathering organizations — are dependent on the BGA’s free content. It’s a shame…and a sham.

Comment by Huge Conflict Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 11:09 am
Geez, how many emails are we all supposed to keep track of, anyway?

Are people in government not supposed communicate with each other or something?

Comment by Wordslinger Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 11:15 am
The Better Government Association is not actually interested in better government, they are interested in making it appear that they are interested in better government.

Time and time again, they choose issues that grab headlines, and right now using personal e-mail for government work is the hot button issue.

Comment by Just Me Tuesday, Oct 6, 15 @ 12:34 pm