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Quinn sets another trap for himself

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Illinois

* Eric Zorn lays out the trap that Gov. Pat Quinn set for himself on the U of I trustee “scandal” pretty darned well. Here’s a little, but you should definitely read the whole thing…

The commission report was clear that some trustees were more deeply involved in attempting to game the admissions process than others. But rather than try to sort them out, he decided to go for a clean sweep and rely on the trustees to participate gladly in the grand symbolism of it all.

It’s also safe to assume Quinn didn’t anticipate the holdouts would be the only African-American members of the board.

“In my community, resignation is a sign of guilt,” Carroll told WTTW-Ch. 11’s Rich Samuels in an interview broadcast Tuesday. “I am not guilty and I have nothing to do with the admissions scandal.”

She added: “I think I’m due a little bit more respect than to be treated like chattel — thrown out. And I kind of resent that.”

Chattle? Hmm. Nothing like gratuitously employing a word associated with African-American slavery to raise the political stakes.

The other targeted African-American trustee is a wealthy lawyer, and he plans to fight any dismissal in court. The state Constitution allows the governor to remove anyone he has appointed for cause…

The Governor may remove for incompetence, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office any officer who may be appointed by the Governor.

But the Supreme Court has ruled that appointees can fight their dismissals in court.

* If the racial rhetoric cranks up further, we may expect to see the same sequence of events that transpired with Roland Burris. Quinn loudly demanded Burris’ resignation for weeks, then backed off after a group of black politicians and clergy met with him privately and told him to shut the heck up.

Quinn has already extended the deadline for mass resignations several times. Last week, he said he’d give the trustees the weekend to mull over their fate. Earlier this week, he said he would wait until the end of the week. Now, he’s saying next Monday is the drop dead date. That backtracking shows Quinn knows he’s in a bind here.

It’s usually best to think grand edicts through before issuing them. Quinn just never learns. Remember the end of July doomsday? He was forced to back away. Remember his rhetoric about the absolute, desperate need to pass a “mini” capital bill by April? He still hasn’t issued the bonds for that program. Remember his strident vow to fumigate government? Whatever happened to that?

* Related…

* Quinn on the trustee problem

* Quinn postpones deadline for action on U of I trustees

* Campaign finance reform bill isn’t ready for sign time

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 10:27 am

Comments

I think the other trap, if you want to call it that, is that Quinn quickly moved to bounce all the trustees, yet his fumigation of state government and the Blagojevich Budget Staff remains unfinished.

Comment by Hon. Cranial Lamb Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 10:38 am
Quinn should have gone for Senate. You can talk loud and tough there without getting yourself in too much trouble.

Nixon had good advice for politicians: Never promise what you can’t deliver, and always deliver more than you promised.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 10:41 am
Quinn does not have the intestianal fortitude to remove the two remaining trustees, We have already seen Quinn’s cowardice when it came to Burris. The two remaining trustees must be from Crook Co. where the race card gets more use than visa or mastercard.

Comment by fed up Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 10:45 am
I’m more in favor of firing the entire board of trustees than not, but I believe that Shah’s resignation was the most important one. The chair sets the tone…or not….and under the circumstances, he had to go. And he went.

With that overwith, I am less concerned about getting rid of the rest of the trustees than intrigued by this latest Quinn decision quandary especially given his desire to stay on as governor for at least five more years, maybe more.

Does he really have a choice on whether to fire the remaining trustees. How will waiting any longer change matters, given their rather firm statements. Are they being offered something behind the scenes to move on out? And if they get to stay on….how will the others react. Not well, I would guess. If Quinn didn’t have a long history (during a short spell in office) of publicly waffling and backtracking on major decisions, maybe this wouldn’t be so interesting. But it has become a litmus test.

If only he would waffle on his income tax increase. But that seems to be the only thing
he hasn’t waffled on–for individual taxpayers, at least. Given the billions involved, it’s understandable. In Illinois, money trumps all for the pols.

Comment by cassandra Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 10:52 am
Quinn should have gone for Senate.
——————–

Wordlinger, I actually agree Quinn would make a better senator than governor. I frankly think he’d be better than at least 80 of the 100 they have in there now. As governor, he is so-so. Not good, but not ready to boo him yet.

Comment by Niles Township Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 11:01 am
I don’t see these trustees records as squeaky clean personally. They may not have actively engaged in admitting politically backed students, but they sat in complete silence while it was obviously going on all around them. I think he should follow through.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 11:03 am
===but not ready to boo him yet===

I am. As much as I would love the opportunity to support an incumbent Governor* in 2010 and not have to feign support for Hynes instead, Quinn just does not have the political dexterity to lead a state–particularly this state. This is evidenced by the aforementioned backtracking from several stances and his failure to fill his administration with people who have the experience and talent to produce results under the dome. As quirky as he is, he truly isn’t a bad guy–but being the Governor just plain doesn’t suit him.

Why not relegate him back to Lt. Gov where he can continue to throw stones and won’t be burdened with the obligation to actually get anything done?

Comment by Obamarama Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 11:15 am
I think Shah, as chair for a number of years before this admissions scandal became public, had no choice but to resign and it’s to his credit that he didn’t linger.

If Quinn doesn’t fire the two holdouts, you have to wonder what the others (not Shah) will do. Will they stay quietly gone or will they demand to be reinstated, file lawsuits saying they were pressured, and so on.

If this goes on long enough, it will be an unpleasant little accompaniment to the Blago trial, yet more reminders of how poorly the Dems have managed state government during their time at the trough.

Comment by Cassandra Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 11:15 am
This is just a part of a much bigger hypocrisy.

It was all politics that made “affirmative action” programs admit students that wouldn’t have stood a chance of admission if not for their color and ethnicity. I understand less than 40% of students in “special admimissions”, outside of highly tutored athletes, actually graduate . Is Quinn ready to end that practice?

Don’t even get into how many academically “qualified” athletes would be admitted if they couldn’t shoot a basketball or throw a pass.They do, however, show a grad rate similar to the general student body because of athletic department academic support.

How about hiring for U of I? Is Quinn willing to end the patronage contract awards and hiring practices at the campuses? Not a chance!

I’ve worked with many Operations Managers at Big 10 Universities, and the Urbana campus has the Rep of being one the most administratively bloated and inefficient operations in the Midwest.

Is Quinn going to name Trustees who will push for reform of corruption and waste at the Big U in order to make the school affordable to all those deserving admission, or will he just appoint political hacks who’ll keep on looking the other way?

Unless Quinn commits to naming reform minded, no nonsense non-partisan Trustees to replace Blago’s current crop, it appears that Quinn just wants to use the seats to reward campaign contributors and supporters just as Blago did.

If that’s the case, there’s not much value to the state or students in replacing the current Board.

Comment by PalosParkBob Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 12:38 pm
AA thinks they doth protesteth too much.

OK, so they didn’t get caught red-handed clouting people in, like the others. First of all, let’s remember that these two trustees thought it was perfectly acceptable to hire limousines for transport from Chicago to Champaign for Board meetings, only stopping the wasteful practice when the media caught them. Secondly, as I read that Commission report, I saw no free pass for the few Trustees who didn’t personally clout in underqualified applicants. To hold Carroll and Montgomery to a different standard than say, Dorris, who has tried to fill the leadership void and offer constructive solutions for the future instead of just being preoccupied with holding on to his seat, is also discriminatory and unjust.

The more dithering about “acting with finality”, etc., the longer White and Herman slide along toward those fat 5-year bonuses.

Quinn is a guy who walked into a chess tournament with a dime store checkers set and got lucky in the first match.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 12:47 pm
“I’ve worked with many Operations Managers at Big 10 Universities”
————————-
Operations Manager is not a position title I’ve heard used in higher education, Big 10 or otherwise. Was the title capitalized in error? If so, can you provide more information regarding the organizational level and portfolios of the individuals you’ve worked with who held the view that you conveyed above (regarding adinistrative bloat?) Were they referring to UI as a whole or UIUC?

Comment by Customer Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 12:59 pm
I find it hard to believe that someone of Montgomery’s stature has not made a few phone calls or written a few letters during his tenure. Has the Trib dug deep enough or been scared off by threats of litigation?
It will be interesting to see if the Trib continues to scream for reform at the U of I if these two refuse to go or will they pull a Quinn and flip flop?

Comment by Hank Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 1:51 pm
=== It was all politics that made “affirmative action” programs admit students that wouldn’t have stood a chance of admission if not for their color and ethnicity. ====

False, but a common myth/urban legend usually circualted with the phrase political correctness.

Affirmative action programs at universities were insituted to comply with Title VI of the civil rights act of 1964, not to mention section 1981 and the 14th amendment.

To simplify a lenghty discourse, civil rights violations can be demonstrated by showing an exiting program has a disparate impact on a minority group. i.e. the percentage of minorities admitted to an educational program does not appropriatly reflect the same percentage of college going minorities in th population in general.

There were also the requirmenet to overcome an existing system which gave preference to non-minorities so that they had higher grades and test scroes from a previously discrminatory educational system.

So to avoid liability and comply with the law the schools came up with a scoring system for admission which alloted points based upon grades, test scores and other factors. The other factors which can provide adtional points included, but it was not limtied to, being a minority.

The real question is to what extent are these programs needed today.

=== I understand less than 40% of students in “special admimissions”, outside of highly tutored athletes, actually graduate. ===

Your “understanding” would be wrong. Consider Harvard University, not considered an easy school, has one of the most agressive affrimative action programs in the united states. They have a 95% graduation rate for minorities. Some other schools with affirmative action programs include Princeton University, with a minority student graduation rate of 94 percent; Not to mention Brown University, Washington University, Stanford University, and Yale University all with affirmative action admissions and minority graduation rates over 90%.

==== Is Quinn ready to end that practice? ===

yeah we wouldnt want U of I to be associated with the likes of Harvard, Brown, Yale and princeton after all…..

Comment by Ghost Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 3:21 pm
I’d be surprised if Quinn removes the two holdouts. He doesn’t need the fight. He solved the problem by appointing the commission that uncovered the issues. Now “category 1″ has been discontinued and discredited, most trustees have resigned, and the system will be under a microsope going forward.

You can blame Quinn for not insisting on a clean sweep, but he doesn’t need it. He’s already won on the issue.

Comment by james Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 3:22 pm
===You can blame Quinn for not insisting on a clean sweep, but he doesn’t need it. He’s already won on the issue.===

He did insist on a clean sweep. After one or two other ultimatum deadlines were set, he is now going with Monday. He has already backtracked on this issue and if the remaining two do not resign, and the Governor* doesn’t follow through on firing them, it is just another brush stroke in a picture that has been painted of him as an indecisive, ineffective leader.

Comment by Obamarama Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 3:40 pm
No james! Quinn has lost on this issue, and he has nowhere to go. This is yet another example of his lack of leadership prowess.

Also, the hyprocrisy here is that

Quinn will disagree when others during the primary and general, if he makes the latter, will attempt to paint him with the broad bush of guilt just because he part of the blagojevich administration. he will argue that such a broad brush is unfair.

We all know that quinn was more quiet about blagojevich than not, and only found his voice in last year or so of blagojevich’s reign. We all know that quinn praised blago heavily in 2006 before the two were re-elected.

So, on the face of it Gov. Quinn’s opponents be they democrat or republican will be technically right to paint him with a broad brush, though.

Obviously, as per the Mika commission the trustees did not act in concert. So, only those who engaged in questionable behavior should have been forced to resign and/or fired. And, even members of the Mikva Commission admitted that they were troubled by the idea of calling for an across the board resgination solution when some trustees were not accused of, or involved in, any wrongdoing.

@Hank,
So far as the Tribune digging into Montgomery, why should it? The Tribune investigation into clout admission at the U of I is over. The Mika Commission apparently did not find much on Montgomery otherwise you can be sure that it would have outed him the way it did others. So, stop reaching with your suppositions and just deal with the facts as they are today.

@Cassandra,
Say you had worked for Enron which defrauded investors and employees, should you as an employee be sued and held liable for the actions of others? If not, then surely you can appreciate why it is not right to fire all of the U of I trustees.

@Obamarama,
Add to your last sentence the word incapable as well.

Comment by okay then... Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 4:10 pm
Customer:

The operations manager position, which is sometimes called manager of physical plant, facility manager, maintenance manager, or any other of many names, refers to the person who oversees the maintenance, physical plant, capital program, and building and utility facility staff and budgets.

My contacts are primarily those who held those positions other B10 Universities, or one level down from the top, who have taken the generous early retirement packages and have gotten into consulting.

I’m told that while all public universities have their own “empire builders” and patronage fiefdoms, UIUC has taken it to a new level.

One of the manifestations of the management problems of the capital programs at UIUC is that the operatioins department has created a whopping $450 million liability in deferred maintenance while engaging in one of the most ambitious new construction programs in the country.

The university is actually assessing additional student fees for this work while it’s building huge and expensive new buildings in Urbana.

The problems I hear are that some areas of the physical plant are so neglected, such as the Abbott power station on the West side of campus, that many won’t even enter the facility for fear of injury.

I also understand that the staffs out there are so protective of their “turf” that resource allocation often goes to who has the most clout rather than who has the most need for facility improvements and staffing.

I know it’s anecdotal, but I can’t find anywhere in the strategic planning that improving facility organizational efficiency is even being considered at the Big U.

Actually, I brought this issue up to Mr Shah (who’s a well qualifed professional engineer), but somehow we never got to move forward with drilling into this problem.

As we near Chicago know, trying to reform strong patronage driven systems is much like walking through a political minefield, which is why it’s so important that “boat rockers” without political clout or ambition be named to the new Board.

Ghost:

I’m well aware of the judicial activism that created reverse discrimination from the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While we may agree that forcing equality of outcome creates inequality of opportunity, President White and the Board seem to still be in reverse discrimination mode based upon their strategic plan.

Regarding the success rates of special admits, I believe your refusal to address the programs at the UIUC and rather choose to shift the discussion to Harvard and the Ivies is more than a little disingenuous.

I recall reading the 40% graduation rate last year in an article regarding whether the special admit program should be continued in its present form, but I haven’t been able to find the direct reference yet.

The subject and data appears to be strangely missing the University web site.

If you can find it, please post. Please spare us the “apples and oranges” comparisons with Harvard, however. What happens in Cambridge realtes little to what’s going on in UIUC, except for some really wacky leftist faculty.

Comment by PalosParkBob Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 10:29 pm
The people of Illinois who truly care about this scandal, and there are many, need to see some sense that every member of the board cares more about the U of I’s standing and image than their own little ego. In the interest of the perception of fairness the public needs to see all the trustees gone–a clean slate. Then, within hours Quinn can reappoint any and all (including the “holdouts”) if he believes they are clean, or that the political ramifications are too great not to. Hell, he can reappoint them all! But first, the gesture of respect to the people of Illinois needs to be made by all the trustees.

Several of the other trustees (also professing innocence) who did already resign under duress but for the good of the process–should be first in line to raise cain if Quinn caves to the 2 holdouts. And much of the public who were sickened by the Burris mess will not forget the deja vu aspect, either. Quinn does not deserve to be governor if he cannot manage and work out something this simple.

Comment by Responsa Monday, Aug 24, 09 @ 11:06 am