Names

Thompson heads Reagan's Illinois reelection campaign

Gov. James R. Thompson was named head of President Reagan's reelection campaign in Illinois in November, after a drawn-out backstage struggle with former state Sen. Donald Totten (R., Hoffman Estates). Totten, a conservative, headed Reagan's Illinois campaigns in 1976 and 1980 and in 1980 was also responsible for Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Named as co-chairpersons for the Illinois campaign were U.S. Reps. Henry Hyde (R-6, Bensenville) and Lynn Martin (R-16, Rockford). Robert Stuart Jr., chairman of the board of Quaker Oats, was named finance chairman for the campaign.

Rumsfeld to troubleshoot for U.S. in Middle East

Former Illinois Congressman Donald H. Rumsfeld, Winnetka, was appointed special U.S. representative in the Middle East by President Reagan, effective November 3. From 1963 to 1969, Rumsfeld, a Republican, represented what was then Illinois' 13th District in the U.S. House. In 1969, he joined the Nixon administration as head of the Office of Economic Opportunity and subsequently served as head of the Cost of Living Council and as U.S. ambassador to NATO. In 1974, under President Gerald Ford, Rumsfeld served as White House chief of staff and later as defense secretary. Currently, he is president and chief executive officer of the Chicago-based G.D. Searle & Co. (see Illinois Issues, September 1978, pp. 10-13).

Interim RTA board appointed

Legislation aimed at reforming northeastern Illinois' chronically ailing transit system was signed by Gov. James R. Thompson November 9. It abolished the 13-member Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) board and created in its place a nine-member interim board that will oversee RTA operations until a new permanent board is appointed, which is to be done no later than October 1, 1984.

John D. Kramer, secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation, was appointed by the governor to chair the transition board. The remaining members were chosen by the governor, by Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and by the leaders of the Illinois House and Senate:

Richard William Austin, Flossmoor, and Glencoe Mayor Florence Boone, by the governor. Austin, a partner in the Chicago law firm of Winston & Strawn and president of the Chicago Bar Foundation, also served as the first chairman of the Chicago South Suburban Transit District. Boone, who currently chairs the Six County Council of Mayors' executive committee and serves on the National League of Cities' transportation and communication policy committee, is a past vice president of the Northwest Municipal Conference.

Pastora San-Juan Cafferty and Jackie Vaughn, both of Chicago, by Mayor Washington. Cafferty is a professor of social sciences at the University of Chicago; Vaughn is vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union.

Stuart Brody, Oak Park, by Senate President Philip J. Rock (D-8, Oak Park). An attorney with the Chicago law firm of Brody and Stein, he has served as general counsel to the Amalgamated Transit Workers Union since 1975. Brody has also served as an advisor to the New York Transit Union.

Albert Hosier, Oak Brook, by Senate Minority Leader James "Pate" Philip (R-23, Elmhurst). A partner in a construction and real estate consulting firm, Hosier is also a member of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce's tax committee and is a past trustee of the Hinsdale Sanitary District.

Clark Burrus, Chicago, by House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-30, Chicago). A former Chicago comptroller, Burrus is currently an executive with the First National Bank of Chicago and a member of the Chicago Board of Education.

Jeffrey R. Ladd, Woodstock, by House Minority Leader Lee A. Daniels (R-46, Elmhurst). An attorney with the Chicago law firm of Boodell, Sears, Sugrue, Giambalvo & Crowley, Ladd is a former trustee of the Illinois Board of Higher Education and has served both as a member and chairman of the Board of Governors. He has represented suburban bus carriers in cases involving the RTA and was also a delegate to the 1970 Constitutional Convention. Priorities for the interim board are drafting a new fiscal 1984 RTA budget, certifying various cost-saving measures for the Chicago Transit Authority and conducting a nationwide search for an executives director for the RTA. Members receive $1,000 a month while the interim board is in existence. (For more detailed information about the RTA reform package, see "Legislative Action," pp. 37-38.)

Chicago World's Fair Authority named

Members of the Chicago World's Fair Authority were named by Gov. Thompson and Mayor Harold Washington in November. Thompson and Washington each made 13 appointments to the authority and jointly named Thomas Ayers, a Glen Ellyn resident and retired chairman of Commonwealth Edison, as chairman of the rulemaking body for the 1992 event. They also named Frank Considine, Winnetka, as deputy chairman.

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The governor's appointments were James Bere, Hinsdale, chairman of Borg-Warner Corporation; Considine, who is chairman of National Can Corporation; Stanton Cook, Kenilworth, publisher of the Chiago Tribune; Ronald Gidwitz, Chicago, president of Helene Curtis Industries; Joel Herter, Elmhurst, managing partner of WoKand Company-Midwest; James Hoge, Chicago, publisher of the Chicago Sun-Tims; William Ives, Hinsdale, managing partner of Keck, Mahin and Cate; Robert Malott, Kenilworth, chairman of the FMC Corporation; Eugene Moats, Chicago, president of Service Employees International Union; Lee Phillip, Chicago, director of special events programming for WBBM- TV; John Simon, Glencoe, partner in the firm of Friedman and Koven; A.D. Van Meter, Springfield, chairman of the Illinois National Bank; and William Wirtz, Winnetka, president of Wirtz Corporation and the Chicago Black Hawks professional hockey team.

Mayor Washington made the following appointments; Mario Aranda, Chicago, executive director of the Latino Institute; Pastora San-Juan Cafferty, professor of social sciences at the University of Chicago; James Geocaris, Chicago, a lawyer with the firm of D'Ancona, Pflaum, Wyatt & Riskind; William Malone, Chicago, political science professor ar Chicago State University; Lester McKeever, Chicago, managing partner of Washington, Pittman and McKeever; Donald A. Petkus, Park Ridge, vice president of Commonwealth Edison; Rev. Ed Riddick, Chicago, vice president of Operation PUSH; Perry Snyderman, Highland Park, attorney and member of the Illinois Capital Development Board; Barry Sullivan, Chicago, chairman of First National Bank of Chicago; Dempsey Travis, Chicago, president of Sivert Mortgage Corporation; Rebecca Sive-Tomashevsky, Chicago, public affairs director for Playboy Enterprises; Bernard Weissbourd, Evanston, chairman of Metropolitan Structures Company; and Addie Wyatt, Chicago, vice president of the International United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

Quern resigns as Thompson's chief of staff

James R. Thompson accepted the resignation of Arthur F. Quern, his chief of staff and director of government operations, effective November 30. Quern left ihis post to join the Rollins Burdick Hunter Company, an insurance brokerage subsidiary of Combined International Corns, as vice president for administration in its Chicago office. Quern came to the governor's office in 1979, after serving two years as director of the Illinois Department of Public Aid. Prior to that, he had worked in the Ford White House and in the New York State governor's office during Nelson A. Rockefeller's administration.

Governor's appointments

Bob Thompson, Springfield, as chief fiscal officer in the governor's office, effective October 11. Thompson, a former member of the governor's campaign committee, served as an administrative assistant in the Department of Children and Family Services before taking this new position. He replaces Dan Long, who accepted a post in the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs. Long was named chairman of the financial commitment review committee by department director Michael T. Woelffer, effective October 1. The committee has the politically sensitive task of dispersing grant money to local governments. He replaced Charles Baker, who resigned to take a job in the private sector.

Harold L. Schmeilski, Peoria, as state fire marshal, effective December 1. Schmeilski has been with the Peoria Fire Department for 30 years, serving as chief for the last four. He succeeds Jack Carter, who had held the post since 1977. Carter became safety officer for the Department of Conservation in December. Schmeilski's appointment requires Senate confirmation and pays a salary of $32,500 annually.

Bill S. Forcade, Chicago, and John C. Marlin, Urbana, as new members of the Pollution Control Board (PCB). The appointments are a result of recent legislation that expanded the PCB from five to seven members in an effort to achieve greater geographical balance on the environmental rule-making panel. Forcade joined the PCB in May 1983 as a hearing officer after serving seven years as general counsel for Citizens for a Better Environment. Marlin, an entomologist, has worked for the Central States Resource Center since 1972 and is now its executive director. Both men, whose terms will end July 1, 1986, receive annual salaries of $37,000. The appointments were confirmed by the Senate November 3.

Norma Shapiro, Amboy, as a member of the State Board of Elections, replacing John Countryman, DeKalb, who is running for state representative from the 76th District. Shapiro was formerly a member of the Amboy City Council and is the widow of the late Senate Republican leader, David Shapiro. Her appointment to the eight-member board, which consists of four Republicans and four Democrats, was confirmed by the Senate November 4. Her term expires June 30, 1985; she receives an annual salary of $15,000.

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James S. Montana Jr., Highland Park, as a judge on the Court of Claims. Montana, a partner in the law firm of Pierce, Lydon, Griffin and Montana, will hear worker's compensation disputes on the recently expanded five-member court. Montana, whose appointment was confirmed by the Senate November 3, serves a term ending January 18, 1988, and earns $25,000 annually.

Robert Kjellander Jr., Clarendon Hills, as a new member of the Toll Highway Authority's board of directors, for a term ending May 1, 1985. Kjellander, a former member of the Thompson administration, most recently served as manager of the governor's 1982 campaign. Currently, he is assistant executive administrator of the Illinois State Medical Society. Kjellander replaces Dennis Voss, who was recently appointed to the Metropolitan Sanitary District. Reappointed to the authority's board was former Sen. James C. Soper (R., Cicero) for a term ending May 1, 1987. Soper served as a state senator from 1966 to 1978. The appointments, which were confirmed by the Senate October 20, carry a $15,000 annual salary.

Virgil C. Wikoff, Champaign, as member of the newly expanded Liquor Control Commission. A Republican and former state representative, Wikoff also served as Champaign's mayor and liquor commissioner for eight years. He is currently chairman of the board of Lyman-Wikoff Inc. This appointment follows General Assembly action increasing the commission's membership from three to five. Wikoff, whose appointment was confirmed by the Senate November 3, will serve a term ending January 18, 1988, and receive a salary of $10,000 annually.

Named to the nine-member Human Rights Commission and confirmed by the Senate November 3 were: Manuel Barbosa, Elgin, a partner in the law firm of Miller, Feda and Barbosa, reappointed chairman; Lillian A. Mitchell, Carlyle, former director of the Centralia Head Start Program, reappointed as member; Rebecca Sive-Tomashefsky, Chicago, public affairs director of Playboy Enterprises, board member of the Midwest Women's Center and member of the Chicago World's Fair Authority, reappointed as member; and Oscar Williams, Chicago, vice president and facility manager of Drexel National Bank, newly appointed. Williams replaces Arnold Pearson Jones, whose term expired. Members receive an annual salary of $20,000; the commission's chairman receives $22,500 annually. Their terms will expire January 19, 1987.

Jon A. Simmons, Chicago, as a student member of the Illinois State Scholarship Commission, effective July 1, 1983. Simmons, a student at Columbia College, replaces Gretchen Winter, whose term expired. The commission consists of nine members who regularly serve six-year terms. As a student member, Simmons will only serve a two-year term, ending July 1, 1985. This appointment requires Senate confirmation and pays expenses only.

New faces on the Agricultural Export Advisory Committee are: Gary Benjamin, Wheaton, vice president and economics advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, replacing Carl Hensen; Richard Burket, Blue Mound, vice president and assistant to the chairman, Archer Daniels Midland, Decatur, replacing Walter Brown; Richard Stone, owner and operator of Stone Seed Farm, Pleasant Plains, filling a vacancy; and John Twomey, Monmouth, president and general manager of Twomey Company, Smithshire, replacing Edgar Cook. They will serve two-year terms ending January 1, 1985. The appointments were confirmed by the Senate October 20 and pay expenses only. The committee acts as an advisory panel to the state Department of Agriculture, making recommendations concerning trade policy. It also acts as a consultant to companies wishing to enter the export market. The committee is comprised of one nonvoting and 20 voting members.

Attorney General's Office

Elaine W. Hirsch, Evanston, was appointed chief of the newly established disabled persons advocacy division in Atty. Gen. Neil F. Hartigan's office, by Hartigan, effective August 1, 1983. Hirsch was previously a legislative assistant to state Sen. Arthur L. Berman (D-2, Evanston). This new division will address matters concerning the handicapped.

Other Hartigan appointments, which became effective in October, are:

Don Templeman, Springfield, as internal auditor. Templeman, the former director of the corporations division in the Secretary of State's Office, replaces Tom Pigati, who resigned to take a position in the Department of Nuclear Safety.

Bill McGuffage, Chicago, as an administrative assistant in the Attorney General's Chicago Office. A former Chicago police officer and criminal investigator, McGuffage has spent the last nine years as a legislative liaison with the State Board of Elections.

In addition, Atty. Gen. Hartigan himself was named in October to chair a special committee established by the National Association of Attorneys General to study how the laws of the 50 states are meeting the needs of the nation's elderly. The committee will examine statutes which address such problems as health care, fraud, physical attacks, age discrimination and nursing home abuses. The committee is also seeking the involvement of the nation's older lawyers, judges and prosecutors who would be willing to spend part of their retirement time helping resolve the legal concerns of the aged.

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The Judiciary

John A. Krause, Geneva, was appointed chief judge of the 16th Judicial Circuit by his fellow circuit judges, effective December 5, 1983. He succeeds Marvin Dunn.

Circuit judges in the 10th Judicial Circuit appointed Charles A. Covey, Dunlap, as an associate judge. Covey was previously in private practice.

Other appointments

Philip Bradley, Springfield, as administrator of the Bureau of Disability Adjudication Services in the Department of Rehabilitation Services, by director Robert W. Granzeier effective September 12. Bradley previously served six years as associate director of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association. He replaced Norval J. Hickman, who resigned to take a federal job in Washington.

Sharon Buchanan McClure, Springfield, as Southern Illinois University at Carbondale's government relations officer, effective December 1. Formerly education unit chief for the Illinois House Republican staff, McClure most recently served as deputy executive director of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association. She replaces Keith R. Sanders, who resigned in June to become dean of SIU-C's College of Communications and Fine Arts. In her new post, McClure will coordinate the university's relations with the Illinois General Assembly. The appointment is subject to approval by SIU's Board of Trustees.

Patricia A. Wallace, Wheaton, as president of the Illinois State Historical Society by its members at their 84th annual meeting in Springfield, October 21-23. Wallace, director of the DuPage County Historical Museum and founding president of the Lombard Historical Society, will serve a one-year term. Members also elected five new directors, a senior vice president and 21 vice presidents. Mark Plummer, professor of history at Illinois State University, will serve a one-year term as senior vice president. The following directors will serve three-year terms: Glen L. Bower, Effingham; Julie Cellini, Springfield; Eileen Cunningham, Carrollton; Raymond E. Hauser, St. Charles; and John R. Power, Jacksonville.

U.S. Rep. Richard Durbin (D-20, Springfield) as president of the New Members Democratic Caucus on November 10. Durbin will serve a one-year term beginning with the second session of the 98th Congress. He succeeds Rep. Barbara Boxer of California, as head of the caucus, which is composed of the 62 freshman Democratic members of the House.

Jean Coultas Statler, a native of Jacksonville, as public affairs director for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, by assistant administrator for external affairs, Josephine S. Cooper, effective October 25. A former aide to Sen. Charles H. Percy, Statler had earlier worked with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, first as a legislative counselor for energy and environment and then as a reporter for the chamber's National Week newspaper.

Honors

Kathleen Weber, of the Edwardsville Community Unit District 7, was named Illinois Teacher of the Year at the State Board of Education's "Those Who Excel" awards banquet, held at Chicago's Americana Congress Hotel October 28. Weber, who has 13 years of teaching experience, received the honor for outstanding creativity in conducting her second grade class at N.O. Nelson School. She advocates hands-on experience as an important part of education, incorporating games, activities and materials which allow children to participate in the learning process by "doing." Weber has even used puppets to aid children in overcoming their inhibitions in troublesome learning areas.

In all, 122 awards were presented in five different categories: classroom teacher, school administrator, school board member, student (grades 7-12) and parent or other community member. A 24-member committee representing 13 education associations selected winners from six regions of the state. Criteria for selection centered around the level of constructive change, leadership and excellence achieved by an individual.

As Illinois Teacher of the Year, Weber will compete for the National Teacher of the Year award this spring, sponsored by Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corporation, Good Housekeeping and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

The New Jersey-based Allied Corporation received the National Enviroinmental Industry Award for developing a new hazardous waste treatment method at its Metropolis plant. The award, made by the President's Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Industry Council, was presented to the company November 1 during ceremonies on the White House grounds. Alan Hill, head of the President's Council on Environmental Quality called the work at the plant "one of the premier examples of pollution control." Members of Allied's chemical sector process technology group developed a way to chemically treat one stream of hazardous waste with another in order to produce synthetic fluorspar — which is used in the manufacture of anhydrous hydrfluoric acid at another Allied location. This eliminated the need for storage or disposal of 1,000 cubic yards or hazardous solid waste monthly.

Deaths

Frank H. Whitney, 70, on November 8 in Springfield. Whitney, a certified publc accountant, became Illinois' first auditor general in 1958. Prior to accepting this position, he had been Springfield''s finance commissioner. In 1961, he returned to private practice. A member of the Illinois Society of CPAs and of the American Institute of Accountants, Whitney was also active in the Illinois State Historical Society.