It's official:
Energy Director Witte,
Labor Director Bernardi

Two acting directors of state departments were named to fill those posts permanently by Gov. James R. Thompson December 15. Michael Witte of Springfield now heads the Department of Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), and Al Bernardi, also of Springfield, heads the Department of Labor. In announcing the appointments the governor said, "Both of these men have served capably as acting directors and I am happy to submit their names to the Illinois Senate for confirmation as permanent directors."

Witte, who has been acting director of ENR (formerly the Illinois Institute of Natural Resources) since the resignation of Frank Beal in November, was previously deputy director of the department. He served as assistant director from 1978 to 1981, and before that held various management positions in the old Illinois Department of Business and Economic Development's division of energy.

Bernardi, who became acting director of the Department of Labor after the resignation of William Bowling last March, was previously assistant to the director of the state Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities. He had also served as assistant to the Illinois secretary of transportation from 1969 to 1972. Senate confirmation is required for both appointments.

Boards and Commissions

Herbert A. Strade, Oak Brook, as a member of the Commission for Economic Development, by the governor effective July 14. Strade, who is with the Sheffield Management Company, was appointed for a term ending June 30, 1983. Senate confirmation is required for the nonsalaried appointment.

Marshall Holleb, Chicago, as a member of the Illinois Building Authority, by the governor effective August 10. Holleb, a senior partner in the Chicago law firm of Holleb & Coff, replaces Harvey Schwartz, Skokic. Holleb currently serves as chairman of the Council on Aging. The appointment is nonsalaried and requires Senate confirmation.

Anton R. Yalukas, Evanston, as a member of the Metropolitan Fair and Exposition Board, by the governor effective July 29. Valukas, an attorney with the Chicago law firm of Jenner and Block, replaces Dan K. Webb, the newly appointed U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, for a term ending May 31, 1986. The non-salaried appointment requires Senate confirmation.

Frank J. Mason, Springfield, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Illinois State Historical Society, by the governor effective in April. Mason, who operates a real estate firm in Springfield, replaces John R. Gehlbach, Lincoln, who resigned. His two-year nonsalaried appointment was confirmed by the Senate.

Elected to four-year terms on the Illinois Humanities Council May 17 were: Nathaniel Ober, Evanston; Daniel E. Tucker, Evanston; and Roselta Wheadon, East St. Louis. Ober is superintendent of schools at Evanston Township High School; Tucker is an editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune; and Wheadon is president of State Community College in East St. Louis. This brings council membership to 19 with equal representation from the general public and the educational fields of the humanities.

At its meeting the council also elected new officers for one-year terms. They are: Lacey Baldwin Smith, Willmette, chairman; Ann Kaplan, DeKalb, vice-chairman; and Frederick Hickman, Winnetka, treasurer. Dr. Robert Klaus, director of the council, announced that 13 community organizations and educational institutions were awarded grants totaling $135,051, the largest — $19,636 — going to DePaul University for the second and final year of a public discussion and videotape project called "Festivals in Illinois."

Milton L. Hocking, Jacksonville, as a member of the Civil Service Commission, by the governor effective June 24. Hocking, the mayor of Jacksonville, replaces Roy Pechous, Berwyn, for a term ending March 1987. The appointment requires Senate confirmation.

February 1982/Illinois Issues/29

Ryan elected chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court

Justice Howard C. Ryan, a member of the Illinois Supreme Court since 1970, was elected by his fellow justices to a three-year term as chief justice of the court, effective January 1, 1982. Ryan succeeds Justice Joseph H. Goldenhersh in the post.

Prior to being elected to the Supreme Court, Ryan had been an appellate judge in the Third Judicial Circuit, and before that had served as a circuit judge from 1957 to 1968 (the last four years as chief judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit). Ryan began his judicial career in 1954 as a LaSalle County judge; previously he was an assistant state's attorney in LaSalle County. Ryan, who lives in Tonica, is also chairman of the Illinois Courts Commission.

Redmond resigns after 22 years in the House

Former House Speaker William A. Redmond (D., Bensenville), a member of the state House of Representatives for the last 22 years, announced in December he will resign to accept an appointment by Gov. James R. Thompson as a member of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. The only Democrat to be elected to the House speakership three times, Redmond was first elected to the legislature in 1960.

In announcing the appointment, the governor said, "A man with the knowledge and resources that Bill Redmond has cannot be ignored in state government. His 22 years in the General Assembly have given him a vast background in Illinois government, one that I am pleased to call on."

Redmond will have the power to pick his succesor in the House, since by law vacancies are filled by the county chairman of the respective parties within the district. Redmond's term on the review board runs from January 11, 1982 to January 19, 1987. Senate confirmation is required for the appointment.

Prisoner Review Board/Department of Corrections

Joseph P. McCombs, Champaign, has been appointed chairman of the Prisoner Review Board, by the governor effective July 1. McCombs, who succeeds James R. Irving, Aurora, as chairman, was an Illinois state policeman from 1958 to 1970, and a special agent in the criminal division of the Department of Law Enforcement from 1970 to 1978, when he was appointed to the board.

Irving resigned his chairmanship to accept an appointment by Michael P. Lane, director of the Department of Corrections, as deputy director of the department's juvenile division. He had served as chairman of the board and its predecessor, the Parole and Pardon Board, since 1977.

Donald J. Turner, Cairo, was appointed as a new member of the Prisoner Review Board in July, but resigned after giving an "incorrect answer" during questioning by attorneys for the governor about whether he had ever been investigated before, according to the governor's office.

Corrine C. Franklin, Jerseyville, was appointed to the review board effective October 27. Franklin, a court reporter, replaces Joseph T. Dakin for a term ending January 17, 1983.

Appointments

Olive Schell Foster, Springfield, was appointed state historian by the Illinois State Historical Library's Board of Trustees effective November 23. Foster, who has been acting state historian since the resignation of William Alderfer in March, will continue to serve as executive director of the Illinois State Historical Society. Foster had previously been assistant state historian since 1977. From 1959 to 1977 she served as director of the school services division of the historical library. Foster is a member of the Illinois Council for Social Studies and the American Association for State and Local History. She has also written extensively on Illinois history.

Kirk Dillard, Chicago, and Jim Owens, Springfield, as the governor's liaisons to the state Senate and House, respectively,by the governor effective December 16. Dillard, a student at DePaul Law School in Chicago, had previously been a consultant to the Senate judiciary, appropriations and education committees since September 1980, and before that an assistant on the Senate minority staff. He succeeds John Washburn, who was appointed director of the governor's Office of Legislative Affairs in September. Owens, who had been legislative liaison for the state Department of Transportation since October 1979, succceds John Ryan, who joined the Department of Mental Health and Development Disabilities as special assistant to the director.

Bill Rolando, Jerseyville, as deputy director of the department of personnel in the Secretary of State's Office, by Secy. of State Jim Edgar effective in December Rolando, who previously worked for Edgar as special assistant for the physically impaired, was in the real estate business prior to joining state government. He succeeds Steve Blakeman, who resigned.

State Rep. Josephine K. Oblinger (R., Sherman) has been appointed to the Federal Council on the Aging by President Ronald Reagan. Oblinger, who served as director of the state Department on Aging from 1977 to 1978, is in her second House term. The council was established in 1973 to advise the president, Congress and various federal agencies on the needs of the elderly. Oblinger was appointed to the council for a term ending June 5, 1984. U.S. Senate confirmation is required for the appointment.

Elected to one-year terms as officers of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association at its annual meeting in November were: Arthur E. MacQuilkin, Downers grove, as chairman of the board; William D. Leighton, Ottawa, as vice chairman of the board; and William C. Croft, Glenview, as treasurer. MacQuilkin is president of Industrial Filter and Pump Mfg. Co., Inc., Cicero; Leighton is president of Oak State Products, Inc., Wenona; and Croft is chairman of Clements National Company, Broadview.

30/February 1982/'Illinois Issues

Kathy Rem, Chicago, as public information officer for the state Department of Registration and Education, by department director Gary Clayton effective August 27. Previously, Rem had served as assistant press secretary in the office of Lt. Gov. Dave O'Neal. She replaces Ed Nash, Springfield, who resigned to accept a position as public affairs officer for the Department of Transportation.

Deaths

Clell L. Woods, clerk of the Illinois Supreme Court since 1975, died in Springfield December 19 at age 61. Upon hearing of his death, both the governor and Chief Justice Joseph C. Goldenhersh paid tribute to Woods for the excellence of his work as Supreme Court clerk. An attorney, Woods was a deputy in the clerk's office from 1946 to 1960. In 1961 he was elected Sangamon County justice of the peace and in 1965 was appointed magistrate of the 7th Judicial Circuit. Woods resigned that post the following year to become chief deputy clerk of the high court.

Retirements

John Touhy, Chicago, will retire as chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee in 1982. Touhy, who has been chairman of the committee since 1973, repre-sented three different districts in the Illinois House from 1950 to 1970, and served as speaker of the House from 1965 to 1967. Touhy's successor will be picked after new committee members are elected in the March primary.

Resignations

Donald S. Glickman, Springfield, as executive director of the Capital Development Board (CDB) effective December 31. Glickman, who has served as executive director of the board since 1976, resigned to "pursue other avenues of professional opportunity and development," according to Samuel K. Skinner, chairman of the CDB. The board will look for candidates for Glickman's post both within and without state government.

Thomas W. Jenkins, Crystal Lake, as special counsel to the state Department of Insurance effective September 16. Jenkins was the depanment's liaison with the Illinois Insurance Exchange and worked with the General Assembly to pass anti-arson and anti-fraud legislation over the last two sessions. He will return to private practice with the Chicago law firm of Lord, Bissel and Brook.

32/February 1982/Illinois Issues

Honors

Robert Mandeville, director of the Bureau of the Budget, received the National Governors' Association Award for Distinguished Service on August 11. In a news release the governor said that Mandeville "has done an excellent, if not always publicly popular, job in helping me keep the State of Illinois on a sane and sound fiscal course. He richly deserves this honor." Mandeville was one of 21 winners nationwide in the fifth annual awards given to recognize distinguished service to state government by state officials and private citizens.

Three Illinois companies were among 33 winners nationwide in the Food Processing Awards Program sponsored by the magazine Food Processing in July. The three films were: Liquid Carbonic Corporation, Chicago, for development of an improved food freezing process; A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company, Decatur, for development of a corn bran dietary fiber source for such products as snack foods and processed meats; and the Scholle Corporation, Northlake, for development of a high-speed packaging system.

Charles Collins, Albion, and Samuel Robb, Pinckneyville, were selected as "Environmental Teachers of the Year," July 17 at the annual conference of the Illinois Association of Regional School Superintendents and the State Board of Education in Springfield. Collins teaches fourth grade at Albion Grade School; Robb is a vocational agriculture instructor at Pinckneyville High School.

Readers of the Illinois Political Reporter, a monthly nonpartisan newsletter, have selected Senate President Philip Rock (D., Oak Park) and Rep. Michael Madigan (D., Chicago) as the "most effective" legislators of the 1981 legislative session. Sen. William Marovitz (D., Chicago) and Rep. Bob Kustra (R., Glenview) were voted the "best freshman" legislators of the session. Voting results appear in the October issue of the newsletter.

The Congress of Illinois Historical Societies and Museums was presented an award of merit by the American Association for State and Local History at the 15th annual meeting of the congress September 19 in Springfield. Organized in 1967 to provide local historical organizations a forum in which to share information and expertise, the congress was cited for its 15 years of service to local historical societies and museums in Illinois. Nearly 200 local historical organizations belong to the congress, which was recognized as the official association of Illinois museums in 1979.

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