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* So, when Gov. Rauner announced today that he had abolished the staff assistant position at the Illinois Department of Transportation when it was actually abolished in April via an agreement with the Teamsters, was he trying to tamp down coverage of this?…
Gov. Bruce Rauner pledged Monday to continue rooting out improper patronage hiring at the same time his lawyers were attempting to block a federal court monitor’s expanded review of all state administration jobs. […]
Yet, Rauner says a review of all state positions by a special master — appointed in 2014 to investigate the scandal, in which the staff assistant posts were improperly handed out as political favors — is premature, too costly and duplicative of the work it wants the Office of the Executive Inspector General to do. […]
In a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Rauner’s administration argues that the state has already paid $800,000 to the special master; expanding her workload would come at a much steeper cost. It also outlines a newly created Hiring and Employment Monitoring unit under the executive inspector general. […]
The Rauner administration countered Monday that a statewide special master expansion is premature, would unnecessarily complicate the government’s attempts to reform hiring, would cost the cash-strapped state too much and duplicate the work of the newly established Hiring and Employment Monitoring unit.
Kudos to the AP.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 3:19 pm
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Somebody doth protest too much …
Comment by RNUG Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 3:24 pm
Get him Special Master! Oh my God how delicious this is. I can’t wait. This is going to be so good.
Comment by Honeybear Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 3:25 pm
Worried some rock(s) may be lifted???
Comment by Anon221 Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 3:25 pm
Perhaps someone is afraid of what would be found if the “special master” was given the task of looking at all state agencies. I would be interested to have some more details on this new unit under OIG. My guess is the details won’t be that great when or if we get them.
Comment by anonanon Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 3:25 pm
If you really want to stop political hiring, you’d stop political hiring. The fact that you haven’t is no ones fault but yours. You have a lot of CFO, COO, deputy governors, extra Cabinet level positions (Purvis) positions that you could immediately dismiss. But instead, you concentrate on the people at the middle and bottom.
Comment by Thoughts Matter Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 3:29 pm
Makes for good acronym “Hiring & Employment Monitoring Having Another Workaround”….HEM HAW…
Comment by George Carlin Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 3:38 pm
All I know is, I want tickets to a fight between the Special Master and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. For $800,000 they chould’ve hired Chuck Norris, all the patronage hires would’ve fled to Indiana, and as a bonus he’d rip Indiana’s economic guts out just because he could.
Comment by AC Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 4:06 pm
I can think of a million jokes to use for “Special Master” but they would probably get me banned from this site.
Comment by Stones Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 4:16 pm
Nothing to see here. Move along!
Comment by Milkman Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 4:17 pm
One word — one acronym — DoIT.
Comment by Anna Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 4:26 pm
I actually agree with Rauner on this one.
Comment by Anonymouth Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 4:45 pm
Thoughts Matter — you are spot on
Comment by stateandlake Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 4:50 pm
For a guy with such a strong opinion before his election on the importance of following hiring guidelines, he should welcome this with open arms.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Comment by Winnin' Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 4:55 pm
I’ll note there are only about 20 Rutan-exempt employees at IDOT now (in an agency of 5,000). I’m willing to bet that number has probably been reduced after the federal inquiry at IDOT. Other smaller agencies have far more Rutan exempt employees. Thankfully, those numbers are available at accountability.illinois.gov
If I were the guv, I’d probably not appreciate an independent review of this nature in my other agencies either…
Comment by Anon Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 4:55 pm
“would unnecessarily complicate the government’s attempts to reform hiring”
This pretty much says it all.
Comment by anon Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 4:57 pm
He ran on transparency - - now he doesn’t want to be transparent. If Rauner didn’t have anything to hide, he would welcome transparency.
Comment by Mama Retired Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 5:01 pm
Man this guy is full of Bologna.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 5:27 pm
Based on my experiences I believe the Governor is absolutely correct
Comment by Steve Schnorf Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 5:51 pm
== Rauner fights expanding statewide “special master” to monitor hiring ==
‘Oh, yeah. I’m de reformer; ya’all don’t need to MONITOR ME !!!! Just TRUST ME! It’s way too costly.’
Let’s see BigBrain. What is YOUR backlog on vendor payments now? $10B? $15B. And YOU’RE worried about $1M? Outstanding.
Or maybe is it: ‘Don’t want any sniffin’ ’round me.’?
Comment by sal-says Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 5:59 pm
“One word — one acronym — DoIT”
Perfect example - Charges each agency $100 per month per computer on the network to provide “services” that at least one person at each facility/building/prison could perform at their current salary level.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 7:14 pm
So…Rauner’s wife’s Chief of Staff is ok then? Talk about something not needed.
Comment by oldhp Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 7:40 pm
It is about the jobs in Illinois are looked at for duplication of positions, and outdated job descriptions.
Comment by Abouttime Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 7:53 pm
oldhp,that’s a policy question not a Rutan question. In too many people’s minds Rutan has been greatly expanded beyond what it actually covers, political hiring in non exempt positions
Comment by Steve Schnorf Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 8:27 pm
The problem is Steve, that the government (regardless of who the guv is) decides on its own what positions are subject to Rutan and which are not. You can’t even find a law on the books which sets forth the standard. It’s completely arbitrary based upon the opinion of some “exempt” lawyer. Every governor want to preserve as many exempt positions as possible.
Comment by Anon Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 9:06 pm
Rayner remains a complete and utter disappointment.
His action here says “trust me” although his behavior to date makes it unwise to do so.
Comment by Johnny's in the Basement Monday, Sep 19, 16 @ 9:44 pm
4 letters, DCFS. A whole new level of special people. REALLY SPECIAL.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Sep 20, 16 @ 6:51 am
What a hypocrite! The guy that was going to move State government back to Springfield and reform hiring appoints a campaign worker as Chairman of the ICC who then arbitrarily fires some of the most dedicated, knowledgeable employees in Springfield and creates new positions in Chicago. What a joke! I don’t care what you call the person, but Illinois needs someone to oversee hiring. Please!
Comment by Nobody Sent Tuesday, Sep 20, 16 @ 7:48 am
I’d like to see the special master look into the hiring of people that work one place but are paid out of the budgets of somewhere completely different. That seems like a problem that could easily be resolved.
Comment by Delimma Tuesday, Sep 20, 16 @ 9:11 am
Interesting that the guy that created a chief of state position for now state representative Sara Jimenez to the First Lady is now saying how bad it is to add political position.
Talk about patronage first he creates a position of chief of staff for her then forces sangamon county GOP to appoint her to the legislature.
This reminds me of the scene in Casablanca where Louis says he is shocked to find gambling going on in ricks bar and as soon as the words get out of his mouth the dealer hands him his winnings for the night and Louis thanks him and outs the money away
The First Lady had no public schedule the whole time Jimenez served as chief of staff and her records indicate she booked overtime.
Comment by Publius Tuesday, Sep 20, 16 @ 10:08 am
and most of the things being referenced by commenters here are in no way Rutan violations. Gee, a Governor appointed a campaign worker Chairman of a state agency; oh, the shock, the scandal. I’m interested in hearing about the Rutan violations at DCFS. Anyone know anything?
Comment by steves schnorf Tuesday, Sep 20, 16 @ 3:20 pm