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Bad timing

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Illinois

The same day that mega-lobbying firm Ronan Potts was forced by a federal judge to pay more than $400,000 in fines and penalties, one of the governor’s most trusted lieutenants announced she was resigning to work for the firm.

Former state Rep. Julie Curry, a key downstate member of the Blagojevich administration, is leaving her post at the end of the year to start a job that involves lobbying state government.

Curry said she will join a firm headed by John Potts - a principal in the Chicago firm Ronan Potts LLC that on Tuesday was sentenced by a federal judge in a bid-rigging case involving a contract at Chicago’s McCormick Place. Neither Potts nor former state Rep. Al Ronan, D-Chicago, the other leader of the firm, has been charged personally in the case.

Curry claimed she was leaving for “personal reasons.”

Curry, 42, said her motivation to leave her $115,000 job as Blagojevich’s deputy chief of staff for economy and environment is personal. A resident of DeWitt County, she said that during the week, she sees her 7-year-old son about an hour a day, in the morning before her 50-minute commute to Springfield.

I believe that one, mainly because I know her and her situation. Still, this was some bad timing.

Something else in that story also qualifies as big Statehouse news:

The lobbying firm to be headed by Potts will be called Illinois Strategies, she said, adding that she believes Ronan is retiring and that Potts had bought him out.

Al Ronan retiring? Wow.

Curry basically ran a half-dozen state agencies. The directors weren’t allowed to so much as sneeze without her permission. A replacement will be difficult to find because she remains one of the few people who knows what she’s doing in that outfit.

Here’s a thought: Why not let the directors - who were, after all, confirmed by the Senate - actually run their own shows for a change? Nah. Never happen. The guv comes off as a happy-go-lucky type, but his budget director is a master control freak who would never let that idea see the light of day.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Dec 1, 04 @ 4:29 pm

Comments

Why have so many (especially high ranking) women resigned from the Blagojevich Administration in the past year?

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Dec 1, 04 @ 9:51 pm
Why? Like Rich commented, the main ruling body of the Administration is composed of a bunch of control freaks. CMS slowly taking over all main functions of state agencies…When this train wreck comes to full light and the Governor faces the possibility of being a one-term flash in the pan, the incoming administration will have a mess to clean up…All agencies are swiftly becoming ineffective of providing adequate services. There are more instances of disruptions in prisons. You don’t hear about it, because of the control freaks. But it will surface. A warden is getting a no confidence vote…but who put the warden in his position? The Goveror’s staff. DCFS, DNR, Public Aid…can’t provide services. KIDS getting the stink end of the stick. Programs…in disarray. I make it sound like the sky is falling…but in some instances, it is.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 2, 04 @ 10:41 am
If you think larger agencies have problems, imagine what smaller, less visible agencies are facing. Nearly empty departments, new “appointees” with little (or in some cases, no) prior experience, and demoralized staff.

The real story is how the agencies are “making do”, and in most cases, the “making do” has meant two years of chaos.

I’m sure many taxpayers wouldn’t be pleased.

Goudie, take note.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 2, 04 @ 11:48 am
If you think larger agencies have problems, imagine what smaller, less visible agencies are facing. Nearly empty departments, new “appointees” with little (or in some cases, no) prior experience, and demoralized staff.

The real story is how the agencies are “making do”, and in most cases, the “making do” has meant two years of chaos.

I’m sure many taxpayers wouldn’t be pleased.

Goudie, take note.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 2, 04 @ 11:49 am
The taxpayers don’t give a rat’s a$$ about state employees. But they do care about their services provided to them by the state. Roads, driver’s facilities, public health, safety, etc. And when something bad happens, like, say a prisoner escapes from custody and kills a kid…he public will be in uproar about why this happened. Of course the Governor will blame Corrections…which is sad. He looks in the mirror every day to comb his hair…he should look in the mirror and see what he is doing to the morale of the people who keep the state running. Maytag runs out of state because of the fees and regulations Illinois places on corporations and the Governor runs to save those jobs…what about saving the jobs of the very people who campaigned for him and work for him everyday? AFSCME may publically support him in the next election, but the rank and file members will not.

Julie Curry leaving is just another sign of this administration’s ability to keep warm bodies in positions. Constant turnover of incompetent people makes this situation worse. I loved Julie’s comments about how she was so happy to be able to put qualified people in positions that have been shut out in the past. What a joke. As an example, they pull some schmoe who was a sheriff or deputy sheriff up in the Rock Island area and make him a Warden of a prison. A Sheriff makes him qualified to run a state prison with no formal training in IDOC operations? Jeesh. Right Julie, qualified. Good luck in your new job as a schill for companies who want to do business with this adminsitration. This is so transparent is makes me want to puke in my mouth.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 2, 04 @ 12:42 pm