Executive Report Goss replaces Murray as CETA administrator With a U.S. Justice Department investigation of the Governor's Office of Manpower and Human Development (GOMHD) reported to soon begin, Gov. James R. Thompson chose to replace L. W. "Bill" Murray, Jr. as head of the agency. However, the governor's office says that the move had nothing to do with the federal investigation. Murray, a former associate professor at Sangamon State University, was replaced by Robert P. Goss, who has been an intergovernmental relations officer with the U.S. Department of Transportation since last June. Goss took over GOMHD, which annually administers $120 million in Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA) grants to the jobless and poor, on June 9. The specific reason for the change in leadership which had long been rumored is unclear. In a UPI story on June 2, Thompson aide James Williams is credited with saying that Murray had been fired. But according to Williams, "Nobody said fired. The governor felt that he wanted a guy with closer ties to Washington and the Congress. Murray agreed and decided to step down." As to the possibility of criminal mismanagement of the agency under Murray, Williams pointed out that the Illinois Department of Law Enforcement conducted a thorough examination and "found no evidence of criminal activities." Aside from rumors, the facts indicate only that after serving 16 months in the difficult position as head of GOMHD, Bill Murray turned out to be the wrong man for the job. Illinois Items Three community-based agencies will share in $200,000 released by the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (DMHDD) for financing human service programs (for more information see page 22). The agencies are the Rock Island Association for Retarded Citizens in Moline, the Esperanza School in Chicago and Pioneer Center for the Exceptional in McHenry. These agencies are among the first of local programs to be given state funds for such programs. The local groups must finance one-fourth of the operation out of community resources. DMHDD will distribute $15 million over the next six months to local agencies emphasizing programs which reduce unemployment, avoid unnecessary institutionalization or help troubled adolescents. The new state solar energy office has received a federal grant of $106,000 to begin its operations. The new solar energy office is under the guidance of the Division of Energy which is to be moved from the Department of Business and Economic Development to the Institute for Environmental Quality on July 1. The solar energy office will coordinate the state's alternative energy research efforts. It is anticipated that $1.5 million in federal funds will be available for the office's development during the next five years. A site for the proposed Department of Revenue building was selected in Springfield May 23 by the Capital Development Board (CDB). The new facility will house all activities of the department, now split between two locations. The site is located four blocks north of the Capitol and just west of the Springfield business district. Two new displaced homemakers centers funded in part under CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) will be located in Chicago and Carbondale to aid women who must find jobs after the death of a spouse, divorce or other loss of income. Services offered by the centers will include counseling, career guidance and development, placement in educational or training programs, support groups and workshops relating to preemployment needs. A $600,000 training and employment project for wards of the state is being initiated by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). By providing career and college counseling, job and college placement and vocational training to wards, 16 years old and over, the DCFS hopes to help the youths avoid the welfare dependency cycle. Federally funded motorcycle training centers are being opened at seven state universities to promote motorcycle safety. The courses are for all applicants who fail the motorcycle licensing examination or anyone else interested in receiving expert training. LaSalle-Peru Vocational Center, which serves 18 area high schools, has been granted $420,177 in Capital Development Bonds for building a new addition. Gov. Thompson released the funds on May May 11. A long-sought bridge over the Illinois River at Ottawa will become a reality because of funds provided by the federal government. Federal funds will provide 70 per cent of the $1.4 million needed to build the bridge substructure and 70 per cent of the $7.5 million needed to put the structure in place. It will take at least a year for the bridge to be completed. A new 1,500-acre state park near Shabbona was dedicated by the governor on May 4. The park's location was proposed over 10 years ago by the late state Sen. Dennis J. Collins of DeKalb. Illinois state government employees will become the first in the nation to use a new telephone control system where callers will talk to a computer. When it is fully operational, over 4,000 state employees seeking to make long distance credit card calls will be using the system. The cost of placing credit calls will be greatly reduced by using the existing state telephone networks. Costs will be reduced from $42,000 to $23,500 per month with the new system, a savings for the state in excess of $200,000 per year. 30 /July 1978/Illinois Issues
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