IPO Logo Home Search Browse About IPO Staff Links

Names

Appointments

Michael J. Hamblet, Wilmette, as a member of the State Board of Elections by Gov. James R. Thompson effective August 29 pending Senate confirmation. Hamblet is a partner in a Chicago law firm and a member of the Illinois Building Authority. He filled the board position vacated by Michael E. Lavelle who resigned August 1 to become chairman of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Hamblet was among three Democratic nominees whose names were submitted by Secy. of State Alan J. Dixon to the governor according to the board's new appointment procedures. The other two were Richard Flowers, an attorney for the city of Chicago, and David M. Hartigan, Kenilworth, an attorney and brother of former Lt. Gov. Neil Hartigan.

William J. Schilling, Springfield, as assistant director of the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) by Gov. James R. Thompson effective September 1 pending Senate confirmation. An attorney, Schilling was previously assistant deputy to the governor. He is heading the department's office in Chicago. (For details on problems in DFI, see "Illinois Items" on p. 30.)

Lt. Gov. Dave O'Neal was elected to the executive committee of the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors (NCLG), effective August 11. The committee sets all business and policy proposals for the NCLG.

Peg Blaser, Springfield, as special assistant to the governor on women, by the governor, effective September 1. Previously director of boards and commissions for the governor, she replaced Marianne Smigelskis, Chicago, who resigned for economic reasons.

Diana L. Yost, Chicago, as deputy director of the State of Illinois Office in Brussels, Belgium, operated by the Department of Business and Economic Development (BED), effective in August. Yost joined the BED staff in 1974 and developed the Illinois Target Industry Program, which focuses on industries exporting through direct mail and catalog exhibits. Her previous position with BED was managing director of trade promotions in Brussels.

Pat Smith, Springfield, as assistant to the director, division of educational and rehabilitation services, Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), by division director Lee A. Iverson in July. Previously Smith worked in the department's office of community relations.

Appointed to the Illinois Racing Board by the governor effective March 21 for a term ending in July 1980 was Robert G. Ward, Decatur, president and general manager of Schodel's, Inc. He replaced Tish Hewitt, Rock Island, who resigned. The post pays $150 per day worked.

John L. Gilbert, Godfrey, as a member of the Civil Service Commission, by Gov. Thompson effective August 9 for a term ending in March 1979. Gilbert, an attorney, Continued on back cover.

32/October 1978/Illinois Issues


replaced Leonard W. Ross, Rock Island, who resigned. The position requires Senate confirmation. Commission members receive $5,000 yearly.

Robert H. Goldman, Springfield, as a member of the Illinois Recreation Council, by Gov. Thompson, effective July 25 for a term ending in July 1979. Goldman is president of the Central Office Equipment Company and replaced Paul T. Lively, Evanston. The position is unsalaried.

Tom Laue, Springfield, as Illinois correspondent for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in July. Laue joined Robert E. Boczkiewicz who is in charge of the Globe's Springfield office. Expanding its Illinois coverage, the Globe has also set up new bureaus in southwestern Illinois. Replacing Laue in his previous post of United Press International bureau manager in Springfield is David Fields, Springfield.

Resignations

Lucy Reum, Oak Park, as chairman of the Illinois Racing Board, effective August 8. A former delegate to the Illinois Constitutional Convention, Reum was one of former Gov. Dan Walker's Republican appointees to the racing board.

Harry Wirth, Harrisburg, as top aide to Department of Conservation Director David Kenney, effective June 30. Wirth returned to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale to assume an administrative, position.

Theodore B. Peterson, Urbana, as dean of the College of Communications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, effective in August 1979. Peterson was appointed dean in 1957; he is resigning to return to full-time teaching. A search committee will seek candidates for the deanship.

Deaths

Former Lt. Gov. John W. Chapman, 83, on August 17 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Chapman, a Republican, was lieutenant governor from 1953 to 1961. Previously from Springfield, he was executive secretary to Gov. Dwight Green from 1941 to 1949 and served on the Pardon and Parole Board.

Honors

Gov. James R. Thompson, was presented with a plaque from McCall's magazine for his efforts toward helping working mothers in Illinois. Reasons for the citation included instituting flexible working hours for state employees and appointing women to policy level positions in state government.

Three Illinois cities won the 1978 Community Development Energy Conservation Awards, sponsored by the Institute of Natural Resources to promote energy conservation through community development programs. Receiving awards from Gov. Thompson on August 12 were: Evanston, for the most innovative program, involving community instruction in energy conservation and alternate resources such as wind and solar energy; Naperville, for the most effective program, because of its wide range of conservation efforts; Springfield, for the most extensive program, which made use of city resources to assist community residents in conservation.

Among senior counselors admitted to practice in Illinois in 1928, the Illinois State Bar Association honored in June retired Illinois Supreme Court Justice Walter V. Schaefer, Chicago, and three past presidents of the association: James G. Thomas, Champaign; Gerald C. Snyder, Waukegan, and Stanford S. Meyer, Belleville.

Tom Theiss, Greenville, as Illinois Teacher of the Year for Region III of the Correctional Education Association, by the association in May. Theiss, who teaches at Vandalia Correctional Center, developed one of the most successful General Educational Development (high school equivalency) programs in the Department of Corrections' school district.

Report on prison discrimination

A task force appointed in May by Gov. James R. Thompson and headed by Lt Gov. Dave O'Neal, completed its investigation of reported discrimination and other problems at Joliet and Stateville Correctional Centers. Riots occurred at Stateville and Pontiac the same week the task force's preliminary report was submitted to Gov. Thompson on July 24. A deadlock was ordered at Pontiac, Stateville and Joliet prisons. As of September 6 all three prisons were still in deadlock though some prisoners were being allowed showers. The task force reported in July that the recommendations to stop discriminatory practices made by a previous task force headed by O. W. Goldenstein, chairman of the College of Human Learning and Development. Governor's State University, Park Forest, are good and have been ordered into effect. However, O'Neal's task force stressed that it could not find hard data to back up the earlier recommendations.

Other findings of the task force included: a shortage of correctional officers at both institutions and a wide-ranging lack of clean facilities at Stateville. The task force recommended that salaries of correctional officers be raised, especially at the entry level, and a recruitment program be developed to obtain qualified and professional officers. They also stressed the need for the Stateville Center to be physically cleaned up.

Serving on the task force with O'Neal were: Robert Bright, deputy director, Department of Corrections; Michael Mahoney, executive director, John Howard Association, and Gayle Franzen, special assistant to the governor for corrections.

'I believe women add the common sense to government that we desperately need in this country."
— Sharon Sharp, Republican
candidate for secretary of state

Read about the secretary of state race inside, pp. 12,13.


Illinois Periodicals Online (IPO) is a digital imaging project at the Northern Illinois University Libraries funded by the Illinois State Library