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* From the Bruce Rauner campaign earlier this morning…
Day 8: No Quinn Response on Illegal Hires
It’s been more than a week since Pat Quinn began dodging questions about dozens of illegally hired patronage cronies who remain in state jobs. These are the same illegal hires that denied hard-working Illinoisans – especially our veterans – the opportunity to compete for state jobs.
Who is Pat Quinn protecting? Why are dozens of illegally hired cronies still working in the Quinn administration?
* The campaign also pointed to this News-Gazette editorial…
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner has challenged Quinn’s enthusiasm for correcting the abuses that occurred during his tenure as well as that of his predecessor Rod Blagojevich. Rauner says “dozens” who were hired illegally remain on the IDOT payroll in contravention of Quinn’s order to clean house, suggesting that those with more clout were protected while those with less were sacrificed for public relations purposes. […]
Gov. Quinn has admitted that what occurred on his watch was inappropriate and pledged to put an end to the wrongdoing. If he does not follow through on his promise [to clean house], the damage to his credibility will be significant.
* The governor was pressed again on the matter today…
Pushed if any one hired as a "staff assistant" at IDOT remains on payroll under another title, Quinn says he'll have agency "review" matter.
— Monique Garcia (@moniquegarcia) September 5, 2014
Obviously, he knows there are still “tainted” folks on the IDOT payroll. It’s a dodge, but it buys him some time.
*** UPDATE *** Rauner campaign…
Quinn Doesn’t Deny Illegal Hires Still at IDOT
“While Pat Quinn is unwilling to fire his illegal patronage hires, Illinois voters will get a chance to fire Pat Quinn in November.” – Rauner spokesperson Mike Schrimpf
Earlier this morning, Pat Quinn was confronted about dozens of illegally hired patronage cronies who remain in state jobs. Despite dancing around a series of questions, Quinn never denied the facts. Instead, he said he would ask his new transportation secretary to “review it.”
Review it? Pat Quinn told the people of Illinois he had already reviewed it and led the people of Illinois to believe that he took decisive action.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 10:46 am
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The only other thing he can do is remind people that Rauner is rich.
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 11:00 am
Vote for the Corrupt or Vote for the Rich.
Where is Big Jim Thompson. Can we start a write-in candidacy for ex-Gov Big Jim?
Seriously, these two are the best Illinois has to run the state?!
Comment by Winning with Sheen Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 11:06 am
== Can we start a write-in candidacy for ex-Gov Big Jim?==
So instead of having a choice between corrupt or rich, you’d rather vote for corrupt AND rich?
Comment by Anonymoiis Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 11:16 am
As a Governor Rauner would find out quickly, separating government employees from their jobs is not nearly as easy as separating private sector employees from their jobs, like it or not. Some of these employees may have at least minimal civil service protections, including layoff rights, and some may have so much clout that Quinn feels he has to find another place for them some way some how. Election coming up, you know.
Rauner will face the same problems with his own patronage staff, and he will have patronage staff, although maybe he’ll be more careful with their job descriptions.
Comment by Cassandra Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 11:16 am
I get why this is wrong, however, I don’t understand how having held positions, though incorrectly classified, leads to firing them if they are now in a protected position. I mean, they had to interview seperately for that position. If they were double expempt, they had no “rights” to it, so it is a new hire having nothing to do with the first. Firing all of those still in the “staff assistant” positions is fine, they’re expempt, but if someone got a union job after, they can’t just be terminated because they used to hold a job that was incorrectly hired based on political clout. Those jobs were considered double expempt, correct? Then the folks who took those jobs did nothing wrong, just the ones who misclassified them. If they got into another job, a union job, they can’t just be fired. Sorry, that’s just not how it works.
Comment by Jimbo Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 11:40 am
He’s using new IOT Secretary Erica Borggren as a human shield. Way to hide behind those West Point skirts!
Comment by Buckeye Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 11:46 am
Winning with Sheen
=Where is Big Jim Thompson.=
Are you serious, or is your sarcasm font not working? Jim Thompson ran the =ultimate= patronage operation, in part under the blurred vision of US Attorneys he picked. His patronage operation also engaged in systematic violation of Veteran’s Preference.
Comment by Anyone Remember Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 11:50 am
Jimbo, Rationalizing is how you get into these messes in the first place.
Comment by A guy... Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 11:59 am
There is a strong need for the Governor’s team to have a plan to handle this scandal.
Next month, it is going to get worse.
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 12:00 pm
He buys any more time on this one and Rauner’s gonna have to lend him a watch.
Comment by A guy... Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 12:06 pm
Nice job by Rauner campaign on remembering to mention veterans. It needs to be front and center.
As for people now being legally in protected jobs, correct me if I’m wrong but the point remains that they jumped ahead of others(including the vets) to get the jobs due to their original staff assistant job.
Comment by mcb Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 12:11 pm
Jimbo, you are deluding yourself. First, ’staff assistants” are the tip of the iceberg, the positions that these folks got were largely “invented”, the positions go way beyond the limitations of the Rutan decree, and the slippery, corrupt process that moved people from those positions to Rutan-covered positions - and union protection - was not an accident. No innocents here.
And, wasn’t Big Jim’s administration the one that was sued and thus caused the Rutan decree? - just sayin’. The state has the rules. Follow them.
Comment by Mister M Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 12:50 pm
Jumbo, look at it this way. These “Staff Assistants” were allowed to skip the merit process because they were being appointed to positions in which political affiliation was part of the job. Turns out it wasn’t, and they were then able by one of several means to parlay that into an appointment to a merit based and protected position, ahead of vets as another commenter pointed out. The other ramification is that when there is a change in administration, the new administration has employees affiliated with their opponents political party (theoretically - remember, that’s how they got in originally) in protected positions throughout the agency and can play havoc with the new administration initiatives. (I’m not saying these are ALL political people; don’t know that.) That is why the validity of their initial appointment is so important. Kind of the same way any evidence found by police due to an illegal search must be thrown out. If not, what’s the downside to an administration trying to fill all positions illegally? No incentive to follow proper hiring procedures if you can protect your people this way. Ryan tried several such schemes when Rod came in and for the most part was successful.
And Anonymiis - LOL!
Comment by Original Rambler Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 1:12 pm
Oh, for God’s sake, let’s stop this nonsense and call it what it is: “It is what it is” a phrase used by the Democrats in the IDOT organization! “These” people (i.e. Democrats) were hired from the great City of Chicago and Cook County because they could no longer stay at these entities, for whatever reasons, and did not receive insurance benefits, or weren’t old enough to collect retirement benefits from the great City or County. Ergo, come on board to the State (IDOT) and get ready to start collecting! They are not being Fired, or Laid Off, because they’re being hidden. Many have also received positions that are protected: i.e., Bureau of Maintenance Team Section Technician, now being called Operations Supervisor II, which is a Rutan position, which the interviews were “rigged” and the Bureau Chief of Maintenance cooperated with all the “rigging” because he likes making (not earning) over $100K per year!
Comment by Gone, but not forgotten Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 1:41 pm
Gone, but not forgotten - no arguments. Don’t forget all the reorganizations and “material reorganizations” and all of that. It happens within an atmosphere of fear and total control of the personnel and organizational processes by political operatives.
Comment by Mister M Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 1:57 pm
Jimbo - you’re overlooking that some of the Rutan-exempt Staff Assistants were able to laterally transfer into Rutan-covered positions without interviewing. It’s probable that there are IDOT employees who came in as Staff Assistants, obtained their “protections” without going through any competitive process, and have continued to move up and around and up at IDOT for years.
Comment by LittleOleMe Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 3:11 pm
Big Jim was known to give full-throated defenses of patronage back in the day.
He was pretty nimble with that line-item veto for projects in districts of members who gave him grief, too.
And he understood the value of state contracts as well, lol.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Sep 5, 14 @ 3:22 pm