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* Just like his two predecessors before him, Pat Quinn has mummed up about a reported investigation into his top staff…
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn won’t say why one of his top aides is stepping down.
Quinn’s office confirmed Monday that Deputy Chief of Staff Carolyn Brown Hodge resigned late Friday. Monday was her last day on the job.
But neither Quinn nor his aides would say why.
Carolyn Brown Hodge, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, resigned from the governor’s staff Friday night upon reports that the state’s Office of the Executive Inspector General had confiscated her computer to determine whether she was doing political work on state time.
Quinn’s office released a terse statement on Monday: “Carolyn Brown Hodge resigned late Friday. She is wrapping up a few pending matters today before leaving the position as deputy chief of staff.”
Quinn’s actual quote…
“She filed her resignation,” Quinn said. “That’s all I can say, period.”
And Dan Hynes wants an investigation…
Democratic governor candidate Dan Hynes [yesterday] called for an investigation into why a top aide to Gov. Pat Quinn resigned late last week.
* Unlike the previous administrations, I kinda doubt that this is a systemic problem with Quinn’s shop. But it is interesting to me how predictable this cycle has become. First, denial, then silence, then reluctant parsing of words, then more silence followed by a call for an investigation by a political rival.
And it’s also mind-boggling to me that Hodge would do any sort of campaign work on state time after what we’ve all been through in the past seven years. She knows better. But, as I’ve come to learn this past decade or so, nothing should ever surprise anybody around here.
Despite all this, let’s try not to go totally medieval on Hodge today. There might be a decent explanation for all this, so keep your powder at least a little dry.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:01 am
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Hodge resigns when the IG’s office shows up and confiscates her computer. After that happens Hynes calls for an investigation. How wonderful.
I’m calling on the post office to deliver the mail today.
Comment by Scooby Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:04 am
These charges always make me wonder just how much campaign work is being done for someone to raise a stink about it. Did she fire off one or two emails from a state computer and email address? Did she edit a spreadsheet she had completed at home? Was she running a full-fledged campaign out of her state office?
There seem to be degrees to this kind of activity, but opponents will be quick to pounce on any crumb.
Comment by Fan of the Game Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:08 am
Thanks for the cautionary missive Rich…Quinn can’t say anything probably cuz it’s a legal matter…innocent until proven otherwise folks…
Comment by Anonymous45 Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:10 am
Given that state employees, from the Governor on down, are prohibited from disclosing ANY information about an investigation by the Inspector General, what do you want him to say? If anybody says anything, including even confirming that an investigation is under way, they make themselves liable for a OEIG probe themselves. It’s Kafkaesque, but that’s the way the Legislature wrote the law.
Comment by soccermom Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:10 am
I agree Rich, I don’t think this is systemic under Quinn. What it is, in my opinion, is plain old laziness, the source of much mixing of government/politics.
How hard is it to set up a private office away from the Capitol? How hard is it to walk a block or two if necessary, to tend to some urgent political matter? Doing things the right way is hard, but there is simply no excuse for taking shortcuts when the whole freaking world is hypersensitive to even the appearance of impropriety.
Lazy and sloppy is a bad combination.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:13 am
==These charges always make me wonder just how much campaign work is being done for someone to raise a stink about it. Did she fire off one or two emails from a state computer and email address? Did she edit a spreadsheet she had completed at home? Was she running a full-fledged campaign out of her state office?==
Given the scandals over multiple administrations the last decade, does it really matter “how much” is being done on state time? Short answer: no. And anyone who gets caught doing it should be fired based on their sheer stupidity alone.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:18 am
That Sunshine Project would come in handy right now.
Comment by yipes Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:22 am
Fan of the Game, evidently it was sufficient enough for her to resign over. So, there you go.
I agree that Hynes should not beat the issue to death, but then again…
who knows, maybe Carolyn Brown Hodge will come forth to vindicate herself or shed light on the matter. As of this weekend she was referring all press inquiries to her attorney.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:23 am
I agree with soccermom, bosses do have to be careful what they say in these situations, even if they’re politicians. The legal aspects apply to everyone.
Comment by formerGOPer Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:24 am
Will County Woman, I understand that. I am speaking of these cases in general, not this specific case. And I agree with 47th Ward, It should be easy to have an office outside of your state office to do such business.
Comment by Fan of the Game Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:30 am
Don’t spend any time bashing her. If it’s true, she’ll get what she deserves eventually. Karma is funny like that. As a human being I wish her well. As a simple matter of fact though, I can all but assure you she will not be missed.
Comment by Oh Carolyn Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:32 am
I don’t think Quinn should be required to say anything at this point, since it would be speculative. And why is Hynes calling for an investigation when there apparently already is on. And although I know, I know I said this about Blagojevich too, but I still believe that when looking at potential government wrongdoing, one should still think fools are more likely than
knaves.
Given the amount of money we have to pay for our state employees these days, we should haven’t to suffer fools or knaves. But that’s another topic.
Comment by cassandra Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:32 am
I don’t think Quinn should be required to say anything at this point, since it would be speculative.
Speculative on the part of whom? Quinn????? I think he knows what happened, Cassandra. As governor he was made aware of what the Inspector General’s Office has in terms of evidence. Nobody’s keeping him the dark.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:40 am
There can be a fine line between government and politics. I wouldn’t rush to judgement here without any facts.
But the truth is, Quinn created his own brand as a self-described reformer and “maverick.” He will and should be held to a very high standard on ethics.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:41 am
Contrary to what Will County Woman says, I don’t think the Governor gets briefed on an OEIG investigation until it is completed. Again, by state law. So it’s cheap to criticize the Governor for following the law.
Comment by soccermom Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:44 am
It’s still speculative until the official investigating agency makes its report. That why we taxpayers pay big bucks for oig offices. They have the final official say, I believe. I don’t think we want high state officials investigating
their own staff members. That would definitely be a step backward.
Comment by cassandra Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:44 am
Wordslinger, I agree with you. Now, if Hynes wants to dwell on that, then he most certainly should. That is fair game.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:45 am
Should we be surprised? No.
Where this can be damaging to Quinn is in the fact that he’s always presented himself as some kind of squeaky clean reformer who was going to “clean up” the mess left by his running mate. It’s not like this was some low-level employee. This was one of his closest aides.
There very well could be a good explanation for this. There have been whispers for quite some time about what she was doing on state time.
Regardless, this hurts the image Quinn has been trying to project. When it’s one of your closest aides, it can’t be brushed aside as a minor allegation.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:45 am
A reporter calls an elected offical about an issue in the upcoming election. Do you expect that official to run across the street to take all calls from the press?
When it comes to a few months before an election, all governing (or non-governing, such as ignoring revenue deficiencies by the legislature)is political. The lines get pretty blurred.
We can ask public officials to have private phone lines for political calls - many legislators have them now in their Springfield offices. But they are still in their state offices when making or receiving those calls. The same applies to computers - we can ask top aides to have separate laptops for political stuff, but it still takes place in the office. Karl Rove and Dick Chaney refused to share their emails with archival sources, because the contents were “sensitive” — almost certainly political. A little realism here, please.
I don’t know who will take over Hodge’s appropriate governmental functions, including notices of grant opportunities from federal and state sources. She has been with Quinn since his Lt. Governor days and perhaps earlier. I wish her well and that Quinn hires her onto his political staff budget through at least November.
Comment by Capitol View Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:47 am
===There can be a fine line between government and politics===
Isn’t that Blagojevich’s defense, Word? There is a line, fine or not, and you shouldn’t walk anywhere near it let alone cross it. In the trenches, people like Carolyn Brown Hodge know exactly where the lines are. If they don’t, they never should be in a position like she was, as deputy chief of staff.
You’re right though, I don’t know the facts of this case so I am withholding judgment on what, if anything, she did that was inappropriate. Resigning was a smart move though. That takes the lines off the table for her going forward.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:48 am
Soccermom, I can appreciate that and I understand what you are suggesting. But I don’t believe that Quinn doesn’t know why she resigned and whatever evidence exists on her. Here’s Quinn quote: “She filed her resignation,” Quinn said. “That’s all I can say, period.”
The “that’s all I can say, period” part of that soccermom, raises red flags, for me, in that he is fully aware of the nature charges against her. Did the OEIG give him prepared document outlining anything? No. Maybe not. Was he briefed? Yes.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:51 am
A reporter calls an elected offical about an issue in the upcoming election. Do you expect that official to run across the street to take all calls from the press?–Cap View
Yes, we do. As a matter of fact Mark Brown of the Sun-Times and John Kass of the Tribune recently wrote about this new phenomenon in Illinois politics post George Ryan etc.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:54 am
CBH certainly did an outstanding job publicizing the availabiity of federal and non profit grants to those inside and outside government…I hope someone can duplicate her excellent effort in these lean times…I am reserving judgement until the full story is out…
Comment by Anonymous45 Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:54 am
47, I think Blago’s defense is that he did nothing wrong and everyone’s out to get him.
As far as a fine line between government and politics, there certainly can be one. On the one hand, you can have Scott Fawell prying off the “Property of SOI” plates from furntiture and moving it into campaign offices. On the other, you can have phone calls, emails and computer work.
Let’s not pretend politics can be completely separated from the work of elected officials.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:56 am
Each state agency has a liaison to the EOIG office, they are kept in the loop about investigations, the Gov’s office has one as well.
Comment by anon Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:57 am
The most honest thing is to to ask a question or two, raise eyebrows at the answer if you don’t like it and simply back off until the facts are in.
There is infinite supply of brickbats to be thrown when the facts emerge. They won’t spoil. It is unfair to wildly speculate or create conspiracy theories because you are eager to benefit from what happened.
Comment by Plutocrat03 Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:01 pm
I like Quinn. I think the best thing for him to do is to discuss the matter openly and frankly. I think the stance that he is taking initially is the wrong approach, particularly post Blago’s ouster and in the face of Blago’s upcoming trial. Quinn should bite the bullet here and demonstrate that he is definitely a depature from his predecessors.
I agree with these two:
- Anon - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:45 am:
- anon - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 11:57 am:
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:02 pm
Our reformer isn’t demonstrating the reform we need.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:06 pm
The most honest thing is to to ask a question or two, raise eyebrows at the answer if you don’t like it and simply back off until the facts are in.
- Plutocrat03 - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:01 pm:
LOL. Watch Perry Mason or Law and Order much? So, after the eyebrow is raised for dramatic effect, cue dramatic music too?
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:07 pm
Where is SuperFitz when we really need him? It looks like Mr. Reform ain’t ready for reform just yet.
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:10 pm
I am trying to remember what the ethics laws say and I could be wrong, but I don’t think Quinn can comment on an ongoing investigation…Maybe someone else knows. I don’t know if Dan Hynes really wants to go there with this. The rumor going around here for the last year is that Hynes has been running all over the State running for higher office and not exactly on the job. The same thing could probably be said about him if someone started looking into it.
Comment by Trapped in the Thompson Center Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:14 pm
Do people really think Hynes should just drop it and wait for the OIG report? A deputy Chief of Staff is possibly doing work against Hynes with Government resources. What candidate wouldn’t be outraged and make this an issue?
Comment by Cosmic Charlie Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:14 pm
How about a comment from Cindy Canary (Illinois Campaign for Political Reform)? Or does she keep quiet because her friend Jay Stewart works for Quinn?
In Illinois, the reformers are more cynical than the politicians.
Comment by yipes Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:17 pm
But that’s OK, Charlie, because she works with Quinn, the original Mr. Clean. Everybody knows he is Mr. Reform. He’s honest. He would never sanction this. Let’s just give her a pass. Let’s let the oig bury this until after the election.
How about this? How about we investigate all the rest of Quinn’s flunkys and Rod’s holdovers in state gov’t and see who else is breaking the law?
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:19 pm
“Where is SuperFitz when we really need him? It looks like Mr. Reform ain’t ready for reform just yet.”
Bill, your man Blago left him a little busy at the moment.
Comment by Leave a light on George Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:20 pm
Oh come on, guys.
The Office of the Executive Inspector General took her computer… they would be the people that, you know, investigate ethics breaches.
An the law that created that office requires no public discussion by any parties about the investigation while its in progress.
Comment by John Bambenek Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:23 pm
===but I don’t think Quinn can comment on an ongoing investigation===
The governor can’t go into specifics, but he could say a whole lot more than he did. Like, for instance, “I’m very disappointed….”
Instead, he mummed up.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:27 pm
If we had any smart reporters or state and federal investigators in Illinois, they would be camping out in every election board in the state this week watching scores of government employees come and go while checking petition signatures.
In 1998 George Ryan’s campaign used dozens of employees from the Secretary of State’s office in the petition challenge to kick the Libertarians off the ballot as reported in the Tribune by Cornelia Grumman after that election.
In 2002, all kinds of government employees, mostly from DNR, were helping Jim Ryan try to kick Cal Skinner off the ballot. It was also reported that pretty much the entire staff at Judy Baar Topinka’s office were “out sick” working on petition challenges on one day. Same thing with Michael Madigan’s staff working to kick Ralph Nader off the ballot.
During this budget crunch, if any of our government offices can handle gobs of their employees out “sick” working on petition challenges then those offices are obviously over-staffed and wasteful and the people running them are unfit and should be fired or voted out.
Seriously, reporters and prosecutors, go camp out in election boards and read the sign-in sheets for names. Compare those names to government payroll lists.
Are 1/3 of Madigan’s staff using “sick” days this week while showing up at the election board? If so, ask him why he is wasting money being over-staffed.
If I had Lisa Madigan’s job right now, I would easily be able to find dozens and dozens of government employees doing campaign work using taxpayer resources. What is she doing? Are her employees helping Dad kick people off the ballot this week? Or doing their jobs?
Comment by TaxThePoor? Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:28 pm
Uh Trapped, two major papers in this state along with Rich Miller had to remind the governor during the height of the state’s budget battles to stop running for governor and just govern. Please keep in mind that the budget did not get passed on time and went into over-session. The result of which was a stop-gap budget, which it can be argued did more harm than good for the state.
Also earlier this year, it was reported that a Quinn political campaign operative was offering “facetime” with the governor for $15,000 while the GA was session. As memory serves the operative remained in her post and her transgression excused by the governor as “mistake” or something to that effect. Some have questioned the Governor’s kinda blassez attitude in this matter, but gave him the benefit of the doubt nonethless because of his Mr. Let the Sun Shine in Clean image.
I don’t know about your claims about “rumors” about Hynes. Maybe you are correct; I don’t know. I’m not sure that Quinn supporters really want to go where you are suggesting. As we all know, Hynes was not running for governor prior to Mid -Late July. However it could be argued that Quinn has been running for governor since he took the Oath of Office. Again, this would be based on documents written at the time by political observers, not just “rumors”.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:29 pm
TaxThePoor, you can’t restrict what those employees do with their time off. I see your point about staffing levels, but if they’re off the clock, they’re off the clock.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:30 pm
Oh Carolyn - you obviously don’t know Carolyn Brown Hodge. She worked 60 hour weeks, was always careful to tell people they had to call her on her personal phone instead of the state phone, and was excellent coordinating issues for Quinn.
It is really despicable that someone who knows nothing about her just throws in a snide and brainless comment about a very nice person.
Comment by Tom Joad Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:30 pm
===Let’s not pretend politics can be completely separated from the work of elected officials===
Last I checked, this is about a staff member, not an elected official. And isn’t Rod’s defense saying, in effect, that there was no shakedown of a racetrack owner, it was just about a campaign donation? Even Rod knew enough to always operate our of his political office.
Again, it is laziness, not necessarily actual corruption, that causes incidents like this. And I’m not some naive do-gooder. I’ve worn two blackberries, I’ve been up close and personal with the temptation to cut corners, and I know from experience that the easy way is the surest way to read about yourself in the newspapers.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:40 pm
Tom Joad, if what you wrote about Carolyn Brown Hodge is true, then I agree with you. And, I think she should definitely come forward to vindicate herself and restore her professional name and reputation. Based on what you write of Carolyn, I would hope that the governor would shed more light on the matter(s) surrounding her resignation.
Since you know her, do you have any idea as to why she resigned under such a cloud of suspicion?
I had to check back over my posts to make sure that I wrote nothing untoward about Carolyn Brown Hodge. I did not. Sorry that others did.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:40 pm
Tom Joad, I like her too and have for years, but try to keep your own powder dry as well.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:43 pm
WS, I agree that there certainly is a line, but I think we agree it’s not fine and frequently not crystal clear. I could cite you a quick half-dozen questions which your agency ethics officer couldn’t begin to give you an answer as to whether it would be a violation or not. That can make it tough for even well-intentioned people to comply.
Comment by steve schnorf Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:57 pm
Rich, finish your quote:, “I’m very disappointed….”
By an investigation that I cannot legally confirm or deny, much less comment upon? By rumors of allegations? By what, exactly?
What we know for sure is that Ms. Brown Hodge resigned, and there are rumors of an investigation. If the investigation finds wrongdoing, those findings will be made public. Until then, it would be improper for the Governor to comment.
From the OEIG website:
Are complaints kept confidential once received by the Office of Executive Inspector General?
All records pertaining to an active investigation are considered confidential and therefore not generally subject to public release. … However, if an investigation results in a finding that an employee engaged in misconduct, the results of such an investigation and the names of the witnesses may become public.
Comment by soccermom Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:57 pm
===By an investigation that I cannot legally confirm or deny, much less comment upon? By rumors of allegations? By what, exactly?====
By her abrupt resignation if need be. He can certainly say more than he did.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:01 pm
Yes Rich, IF, HUGE IF, they are off the clock AND were not promised anything in exchange for taking days off to work on a petition challenge. Nothing wrong with reporters and prosectors nosing around to find out if they are taking personal days off while working on campaigns. And nothing wrong with looking into a government office where more than half of the employees are out at a time working on campaigns to see if maybe they were motivated by other reasons to do that work.
You may assume they are all legally doing the work and had no promises made to them in exchange for that work, but we all should know better based on history. This year is as good as any to finally put an end to the practice of government employees working on petition challenges.
Not that I would favor such a law, but if they can ban government employees from donating money to their employer’s campaign, why can’t they ban those employeees from donating time on the campaigns?
You pretty much have to be a nut job to volunteer to work on a petition challenge for weeks and weeks without getting anything in return. I find it really hard to believe that we have that many government employees in this state willing to work on petition challenges for free without getting or being promised anything for it.
Then think of how much time and energy this state would save if we just got rid of the entire petition challenge process and instead made our elections free and equal like a lot of other states and countries.
Comment by TaxThePoor? Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:02 pm
===Nothing wrong with reporters and prosectors nosing around to find out if they are taking personal days off while working on campaigns.===
Reporters, yes, prosecutors, no. They ought to have some sort of reason to go sniffing around.
===You pretty much have to be a nut job to volunteer to work on a petition challenge for weeks and weeks without getting anything in return.===
You may be surprised to know that some people actually live for this craziness. I know lots of them.
And, yes, some are doing it for their jobs. Legislative staffs have always had a political component. But should legislatures be nothing at all about politics? It’s a question that needs a lot more debate and I’m open to it.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:05 pm
I find this story baffling. On the one hand, judging by how often one saw Carolyn Brown Hodge by Quinn’s side, wherever he went, I can’t believe that he was not completely aware of her activities. On the other hand, as experienced as she is, I can’t believe that she did not know the steps to take to keep her activities as the Governor’s assistant distinct from her political activies; i.e., keeping a time log that distinguishes them and being sure not to do any political activities out of her State office or using her State computer or computer account. So I am literally in a state of disbelief.
Comment by jake Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:08 pm
(Anonymous 11:18, please get another handle.)
It does seem odd that someone like Hodge would get caught up in something like this. I’m sure we’ll know more once the investigation has been completed. I agree with Rich, though, re: the predictability of subsequent events. Not that the investigation isn’t important, but it seems to be getting an awful lot of press attention.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:09 pm
==A reporter calls an elected offical about an issue in the upcoming election. Do you expect that official to run across the street to take all calls from the press?–Cap View
Yes, we do. As a matter of fact Mark Brown of the Sun-Times and John Kass of the Tribune recently wrote about this new phenomenon in Illinois politics post George Ryan etc.==
“We” might expect that, but the Ethics Act doesn’t require it of an elected official. Only state employees are banned from engaging in politicking on the clock. Elected officials (as well as state employees) are banned from soliciting or accepting contributions on state property and from “misappropriating” state employee services for evil purposes, but they can take political phone calls on their state phones during office hours without violating the ethics act.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:18 pm
I don’t know about you guys, but it seems strange to me that Carolyn Brown Hodge would resign when her computer was confiscated to determine if she did anything wrong. Why not wait until the investigation is over? Was her resignation forced? Are there other reasons that would made her resign? If inspectors find nothing can be re-instated to her position? Someone asked yesterday if Carolyn Brown Hodge is now working on the Quinn campaign, is she?
Tom Joad and others describe Carolyn Brown Hodge as being exemplary, or a model, government employee. They way people have written about her, it is clear that she was a major player in the Quinn administration and functioned almost like a righthand for the guv.Seems strange that the guv doesn’t have more to say. but ok. whatever.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:28 pm
I am sure all politicians besides Quinn are just clean as a whistle…right? Those in glass houses ought to be careful about throwing stones. If an executive officer had to police his staffers use of electronic communication all day, she/he would get nothing done…this is a personal decision right or wrong by the staffer, PERIOD.
Comment by Anonymous45 Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:28 pm
“Unlike the previous administrations, I kinda doubt that this is a systemic problem with Quinn’s shop.”
— Rich Miller
Are you serious Rich?
* Quinn didn’t stand silently by while Blago tried to sell every state resource that wasn’t tied down?
* Hodge didn’t report to Quinn?
* Quinn didn’t know about his aide soliciting campaign contributions with special-interest groups to get “face time” with Quinn back in May?
Your notion Quinn is different than the rest of the political hacks in Illinois shouldn’t be fostered.
?
Comment by whatwhat Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:35 pm
Anon 1:18p I sure hope you don’t work for the state..You can not take political calls on the state phone…(here’s a small cut and paste from the summary of the Ethics Act.:
Prohibited Political Activities §5-15
A State employee cannot participate in any of the following activities during any compensatedtime (other than vacation, personal, or compensatory time off). An employee may never engagein any of these activities using State resources (such as State office telephones, State cell
phones, photocopiers, or computers).
Comment by Former State Employee 2 Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:40 pm
Here’s the whole thing:
http://inspectorgeneral.il.gov/pdf/ethics_act_summary.pdf
Comment by Former State Employee 2 Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:42 pm
@Will County Woman
Seriously WCW. How much is the Hynes campaign paying you to push this nonsense???? My guess is $3-5 a post with a max out at $20 a day. You can’t go read ten posts of any article on this blog without you going off again and again on some “Dan Hynes is our Savior” diatribe. It is far beyond old.
Comment by Al's Beef Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:45 pm
Try not to assume intent with others, AB. Someone might ask you the same thing.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:49 pm
“Reporters, yes, prosecutors, no. They ought to have some sort of reason to go sniffing around.”
Valid point, although tell that to Lisa Madigan and her Caballes v. Illinois police dogs. “Sniffing around” according to Lisa Madigan is not a search and does not violate the 4th Amendment. Police dogs have more sniffing power than prosecutors?
But yes, prosecutors should have a reason. I’ll go write a few letters right now. That should be all the reason they need, but if they need more, I’ll just go get a couple sign-in sheets and highlight the government employee names and send it to them for investigation. Simple enough.
“You may be surprised to know that some people actually live for this craziness. I know lots of them.”
General campaign craziness, yes, petition challenges to knock people off ballots, I really hope not.
If you know people that live for the pleasure of kicking people off of ballots, please let us know their names so we can try to keep them out of power and out of politics.
In fairness, I have not seen pleasure on the faces of volunteer petition challengers. You don’t see passion from people challenging petitions, you see a bunch of grumpy, young, temp-like workers kicking people off ballots.
Prosecutors sitting in on a petition challenge that are open to the public shouldn’t be a problem and is legal sniffing. When they see the obvious after day 3, they’ll have more than enough info to investigate.
As for the actual topic of the post, I hope it is some ticky tacky little technicality that caused her to resign. That would show integrity and a hopeful sign that people are taking ethics seriously.
Don’t do campaign work using taxpayer resources, period.
Quinn could’ve said more and should and will have to.
Comment by TaxThePoor? Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:50 pm
Anonymous45, that’s the problem. The expectations of Quinn are higher because of who he is, or was, and the way he established his political career.
He and his supporters can’t have their cake and eat it too.
On the one hand it’s quinn is the state’s most honest and preeminent reformer, but then when it hits the fan under his administration it’s a bit of different story/take.
You’re absolutely right that he cannot police the actions of his employees. But his reaction in this instance or in the instance of the campaign operative who promoted “facetime” with him for $15,000 or his refusal to release his telephone records concerning his use of his personal phone to conduct state business raises legitimate questions. His reactions have tended to fly in the face of everything for which he has ever stood politically/government official speaking.
Yes, he is held to a high standard not only because of the office he holds, but also because he in fact set that high standard.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:50 pm
Actually, all they have to do is go to the State Board of Elections website and look at the names, dates, and times of people that are looking at petitions. That’s reason enough to do more sniffing around to see if they were off the clock.
Comment by TaxThePoor? Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:07 pm
Former State Employee 2, you might want to read the statute you posted again. It specifically applies to “state employees”. That is a defined term in the ethics act, and it does not include elected officials.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:09 pm
This surpises me. CBH, I thought (still do) was one of the good ones with the best of intentions.
There are many others Quinn should have taken out that will hurt his election effort.
Sadly, Quinn has eliminated VERY few Blago appointees.
You can find them at most agencies. At DCEO, the Entrepreneurship program is filled w/ Blago hack field staff who have done little or no work since their Blago/Lavin inception a few years ago. They are “supervised” by Jaime Viteri who should have been gone a long time ago.
But when you retain and promote Jack Lavin who Directed DCEO and the Entrepreneurship Program as well as the $Million$ grant to nowhere, that is what is to be expected. They will be Quinn’s downfall.
However, I do not think Hodge is not in the same league as the Blago holdovers.
Comment by Larry Mullholland Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:11 pm
==If you know people that live for the pleasure of kicking people off of ballots, please let us know their names so we can try to keep them out of power and out of politics.==
Well. I wouldn’t say that I exactly live for it but it is a lot of fun. Especially when you get a whole sheet thrown out at once while the opposition stands there helpless. I’m looking forward to binder checks this weekend.
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:14 pm
@ Al’s Beef
LoL. I haven’t written anything positive about Dan Hynes today. I haven’t written anything that can remotely be described or construed of as a “Dan Hynes is our Savior” post today or any day.
The only post that I can recall that may have rubbed Quinn folks the wrong way was the one in which I discuss Quinn’s penchant for running governor more than governing throughout this year. People have taken notice of the fact that he is actively and agressively campaigning while the state is in crisis and falling to pieces. Some people have said that Quinn seems detached. Some people have said that Quinn seems oblivious. Some people have said that he seems disengaged or distracted or in over his head. Some people have said that under the Quinn administration we have gone from the frying pan into the fire because he hasn’t been able to effectively resolve or mitigate the problems that we have and face, next year figures to be pretty brutal.
I have no control over what people think of Quinn or Hynes. I like Quinn and Hynes, and I stated that pretty clearly yesterday. Best of luck to them both!
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:20 pm
I think Quinn’s response is simple:
Carolyn Brown Hodge is a close friend of mine who has done a lot of good, but unlike the previous two administrations, no one is above the law as long as I’m Governor.
Case closed.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:25 pm
YDD,
That sounds exactly like my old buddy Rod. So does a lot of other stuff Quinn spews. He learned at the knee of the master.
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:29 pm
I was hoping my old friend CircularFiringSquad might weigh in on this post, but he must be down with H1N1 or something.
Anyway, I have to agree that for once, PQ is actually saying too little. He clearly has the ability to say more without getting into the OIG/Ethics Act problem, but has chosen not to.
My guess is that his GC, an ex-AUSA, is telling him to follow the Fed approach and say nothing, politics be darned.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:30 pm
AA,
Circi is busy slamming your other old friend Jim Ryan in another thread.
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:35 pm
Thank you Bill. I don’t doubt you are one of the rare few that take pleasure in kicking people off ballots.
I wonder what this state would be like if for every hour spent volunteering to kick people off of ballots an equal hour was volunteered toward finding waste, fraud, and abuse in government. Or ending poverty. Or ending the taxation of poor people. Or improving schools.
Comment by TaxThePoor? Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:38 pm
WCW: methinks you should take the rest of the week off, or get a day job…:)
Comment by Anonymous45 Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:56 pm
Bill -
The difference here is that in Quinn’s case, its his own Inspector General leading the charge, not the feds.
TTP -
Add me to the list with Bill. And then let me counter:
If reformers spent as much time campaigning as they do whining about how hard it is to get elected under the current rules, we’d have alot less waste, fraud, abuse, poverty, mal-taxation, and failing schools.
Look at the Chicago City Council today: reformers won big in 2007 because they listened to guys like former Madigan staffer Jerry Morrison who understand how the machine works. You have to understand the Machine in order to take it apart.
And tapping your heels together three times and wishing the Machine didn’t exist is NOT a campaign plan.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 3:13 pm
Yellow pup,
Wasn’t Carolyn Brown Hodge paid $119,158-a-year year to serve as Pat Quinn’s Deputy chief of staff?
Didn’t Quinn choose Hodge assist him in running the governor’s office?
You act like Quinn didn’t even know Caroline Hodge Brown, let alone hand-pick her as Deputy Chief-of-staff. Further, you are daft if you really belive the public doesn’t remeber Pat Quinn was Rod Blagojevich’s Lt. Gov. If nothing else Quinn has poor luck when dealing with corrupt people!
Comment by Whatwhat Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 3:41 pm
Anonymous45,
lol.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 3:48 pm
Tom Joad, you are perhaps the biggest hypocrite on the face of this beautiful Earth we all inhabit. Read your own comment: “Oh Carolyn - you obviously don’t know Carolyn Brown Hodge. She worked 60 hour weeks, was always careful to tell people they had to call her on her personal phone instead of the state phone, and was excellent coordinating issues for Quinn. It is really despicable that someone who knows nothing about her just throws in a snide and brainless comment about a very nice person.” Ok, so you ramble on and on about details that had nothing to do with what I said and THEN call my comment “despicable” because I (according to you) made a “snide and brainless comment” in my post. So let me get this straight. You go and do the exact same thing (calling my comments “snide and brainless” is a despicable thing to do, for those who are scoring at home) when the whole basis for your post was to tell me it was wrong to do that? Unbelievable! I could justify every remark I made in my original post but you don’t deserve that after what you wrote. I feel sorry for you.
Comment by Oh Carolyn Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:24 pm
YDD, just because one is whining doesn’t make them a reformer. Very, very few continue whining year after year about the need to reform our election laws so we have more political competition compared to the many that only whine when their candidate is targetted. One election whiners outnumber real reformers and give real reformers the unfair label of being whiners. The people you speak of are whiners, not reformers, which is why they do more whining that political action.
Comment by TaxThePoor? Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:29 pm
Not only have I given up commenting on Will County Woman’s pro-Hynes diatribes, I’ve just given up even reading her posts. Whether I agree with others here or not, I appreciate their points of view. But the constant pro-Hynes preaching has gotten old and it is only November 3. I’ve said for months, she is either a relative or on the payroll. I think someone above nailed it though, they must now be paying her per post.
Comment by Chi Gal Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:38 pm
- Chi Gal - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:38 pm:
Not only have I given up commenting on Will County Woman’s pro-Hynes diatribes, I’ve just given up even reading her posts. Whether I agree with others here or not, I appreciate their points of view. But the constant pro-Hynes preaching has gotten old and it is only November 3. I’ve said for months, she is either a relative or on the payroll. I think someone above nailed it though, they must now be paying her per post
———————————————–
chi girl doesn’t read. obviously. lol. i haven’t written any “pro-hynes” diatribes on this thread or at all today for that matter.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:58 pm
I wonder how long this investigation is going to last. I know of several cases that took almost three years. From the looks of OIG’s reports off their website, they need more help.
Comment by Can't Say My Nickname Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 5:28 pm
While not exactly parallel in nature, those interested in Hodge’s activities should have a look at Sunshine’s reporting on BonusGate in PA:
http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Pennsylvania_%22Bonus-gate%22
Comment by Quinn T. Sential Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 7:57 pm
To quote the late great Lt. Columbo; “just one more thing”
What happens to the impact of the timing of this thing if she comes forward with the:
“I was just following orders” defense?
Is that more; or less meaningful, before, or after the primary (assuming Quinnn wins the primary)
Comment by Quinn T. Sential Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 8:10 pm
I am a Republican friend of Carolyn’s who probably does not agree with very many of her (Democrat Party) positions on anything. But i know that she is very meticulous about what she does do with respect to political vs. work. She does stay in a motel in Springfield all week, and seems to me to be on call 7 days a week - I have seen her field calls from the governor saturday night and sunday mornings at church. Personally, I am glad that she is out of that rat race in Sprinfield, even though she was a dedicated advocate for rural Illinois concerns. I hope that the Governors office can find someone as well qualified and dedicated to represent the interests of those of us that live in state south of I80. This issue will be resolved, but unfortunately it will take a year to do so.
Comment by InParis Wednesday, Nov 4, 09 @ 9:03 am
Will County Woman
14 posts?
Comment by ls Wednesday, Nov 4, 09 @ 9:20 am