By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – A new report says Illinois Democrats, largely under former Gov. Pat Quinn, filled a state agency with hundreds of illegal political hires.
The report from a court-appointed investigator shows Quinn, House Speaker Michael Madigan and other Illinois Democrats used the Illinois Department of Transportation to hire political allies, give some of them extraordinary raises, and even put them in positions where they had no relevant experience.
One hire ushered in by State Rep. Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero, was a bank manager who was placed in charge of inspecting roads.
The report said staffers for Quinn kept lists of people looking for patronage hires. They would send their resumes to IDOT and other departments and then pressure them to make the hire. One department head lost their job after resisting the political hires.
The report connects Speaker Madigan’s office with a number of political hires. In one instance, the report says a man whose trade was that of a former bricklayer was hired to monitor complaints about equal opportunity hiring. The clout hire was also given what the report calls “an unusually high raise” at the request of Quinn’s office.
A spokesman for Madigan did not return a request for comment.
“We were pleased that the special master [court-appointed investigator] got the facts out,” said Chicago lawyer Michael Shakman, a plaintiff in the case that led to the investigations. “Her job goes on. Part of it’s the fact that it’s out in public record but it’s the process she’s now engaged in which is to develop a proper list of exempt positions and to see to it that the state’s employment policies and practices don’t allow this kind of unlawful conduct.”
Faisal Khan, CEO of the non-profit watchdog Project Six and previously the Chicago City Council’s first inspector general, was saddened but not surprised.
“I think this is a problem that we know we’ve had in Chicago and Illinois for a long time,” he said. “This practice has been going on for decades, costing taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars. And if we start putting people who are unqualified to inspect roads, now we’re putting lives in jeopardy.”
Khan said the state needs a hiring commission that will oversee every new hire and scrutinize them based on qualifications, not who they know.
Quinn created a commission to reform patronage hires after the arrest of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The report said no changes were fully implemented as a result of that commission.
The investigator was appointed in November 2014 after Shakman and other plaintiffs were not convinced that the government inspector did enough to uncover the full extent of the patronage hires.
Illinois law allows for the political hiring of certain positions in state government that serve at the leisure of the governor, but the positions named by the report exceed that legal scope.
The political hires still have to show a level of qualification for the position as well. The position of staff assistant was used to get around much of these rules. Since initial reports were released, Gov. Bruce Rauner has moved to eliminate the improper hires and the position of staff assistant as well.
But the report says that even though Rauner has fired most of the clout hires, a number of them are still employed because of union protections.
“Many individuals hired illegally into the staff assistant position remain employed in other positions. Individuals hired illegally into other state positions also remain employed. Many of the individuals who facilitated the illegal hires, continue to work for the state. Additionally, many of the practices that enabled the illegal hiring of staff assistants and others continue to exist,” according to the report.
