Names

A new year and a new commerce commission: Bushnell and Teclaw get top appointments

Change came January 1 for the Illinois Commerce Commission (I1CC). It was the day that the state's new Public Utility Act (P.A. 84-617; S.B. 1021) became effective. While much of the act centered on the regulatory process itself, the legislation made a number of structural changes at the commission. By New Year's Day, the commission had a new chairman, a new executive director, two new commissioners and two state-appointed advocates for special groups to watchdog commission review of utility cases.

Mary B. "Meg" Bushnell of Stillman Valley and a commissioner since November 1983 was appointed by Gov. James R. Thompson December 17 to try and iron out the new role of commission chairman. As chairman, Bushnell retains responsibility for shaping policy as head of the seven-member commission that rules on utility rates in the state. But the new utility act split the commission's leadership authority between the chairman and a new position of executive director.

Charles E. Teclaw was the unanimous choice of the commissioners on December 17 for the new executive director position. A former member of the commission's staff who has been director of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's regulatory analysis office since 1984, Teclaw is responsible for managing the 390-member commission staff and for allocating resources within the commission. The chairman of the commission formerly had authority to direct all staff and resources. Under the new act, the chairman cannot act alone in dealing with the executive director and the staff; only the majority view of the commissioners can rule on the actions of the executive director — including his appointment. This layering of responsibility and authority was intended by the legislature to better protect consumer interests, but some groups, including the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, are wary that the new arrangement "merely changes the bureaucratic structure of the process." The chairman's loss of power was speculated to be one of the reasons that Philip R. O'Connor resigned as chairman, but he denies that the restructuring had anything to do with his decision to leave the commission.

Chairman Bushnell became active in utility issues in the early 1970s when she tried to block licensing of Commonwealth Edison's proposed nuclear power plants at Byron and Braidwood. She is a partner in Walnut Creek Farms, a family-owned farming operation in Ogle County, and in Walnut Creek Inc., a grain merchandising firm. Her appointment as chairman does not require Senate confirmation, her annual salary is $63,500, and her commissioner's term expires in January 1987.

Teclaw, who holds degrees in mathematics, physics and economics, was manager of the IlCC's policy analysis and research division from 1979 to 1984. His annual salary as executive director is $65,000.

Two new commissioners were appointed and another reappointed by Gov. Thompson in December. The new commissioners are Paul Foran of Danville and Raymond Romero of Chicago. Reappointed was Calvin Manshio of Chicago. Annual salaries for commissioners are $55,000, and the Senate must confirm the governor's action.

Foran, a partner with the Danville law firm of Doggett and Foran since 1980, has also been a special assistant attorney general, representing the Illinois Department of Transportation in public utility rate cases and railroad abandonment proceedings. Specializing in government regulation of business in law school, he has argued cases before the I1CC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Interstate Commerce Commission. He was appointed to fill out O'Connor's term, which expires in January 1988.

Romero has been with the Chicago office of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund since 1980, first as a staff attorney and since December 1982 as associate counsel-director. On the board of directors of the Illinois division of the American Civil Liberties Union, he is involved with a number of Hispanic social service groups. Romero is replacing Stanford Levin who is returning to teaching at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville; the term expires in January 1991.

Manshio, an attorney, was first appointed a commissioner in January 1985 to fill the seat vacated by Daniel Rosenblum. Manshio's reappointment is to a full five-year term.

The new utility act also created an Office of Public Counsel to represent Illinois rate-payers before the commission, state and federal courts and agencies. Stephen J. Moore of Chicago was appointed to head the new office by Gov. Thompson December 17. Moore has been an assistant attorney general in the public utilities division of the Attorney General's Office and has represented the public in utility proceedings before the commission since July 1982. Before joining the Attorney General's Office he was staff attorney and then managing attorney for the Legal Services Organization of Indiana Inc. and a staff attorney for the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation. Moore's appointment to the five-year term requires Senate confirmation; his salary will be set by the State Compensation Review Board.

The Office of Illinois Small Business Advocate was created by another new law (P.A. 84-686; S.B. 406), and William G. Shepherd of Wilmette was named by the governor December 17 to head the new office. Shepherd will represent small-business utility customers. Legal counsel to the Senate Republicans since April 1983, Shepherd was an assistant attorney general in the public utility and environmental control division of the Attorney General's Office from December 1981 to April 1983. His appointment to the five-year term requires Senate confirmation, and his salary will be set, too, by the State Compensation Review Board.

State Sen. Bloom dies in home blaze

A fire January 11 claimed the life of Sen. Prescott E. Bloom (R-47, Peoria). The 43-year-old senator died shortly after fire-fighters found him in an early morning blaze at his Peoria home. Also killed in the fire was his daughter, Jennifer, age 3. His son, Jeffrey, 7, survived the blaze.

Bloom, a Peoria native, was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1974. His most recent committee assignments included minority spokesman on Senate Appropriations II. He also served on Appropriations I, Finance and Credit Regulations and the Joint Sunset Regulatory Committee. Bloom was also vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. He drew national media attention recently when he participated in an undercover investigation of Medicaid fraud in Chicago. He was also co-chairman of a special Senate committee looking into Medicaid problems. In honor of the late senator, Gov. James R. Thompson announced a new program for college students interested in working for state government. The Prescott E. Bloom internships in Government program will combine two existing programs, the Curry Summer Internship and the Dunn Fellowship. During his years in office, Bloom sponsored an internship program for Bradley University students, as well as a week-long orientation for high school students from his district.

Bloom had been seeking reelection to a fourth term at the time of his death. At press time January 14, no one had been named to fill the Senate vacancy. He was also on the Republican State Central Committee representing the 18th District.

36/March 1986/Illinois Issues

Coffey resigns Senate seat

Sen. Max E. Coffey (R-53, Charleston) has resigned from his Senate seat to give the Republicans a better chance at keeping it in the fall elections. Coffey, 46, announced January 28 that he was leaving immediately rather then at the end of this year's legislative section. He had previously said he would not be seeking reelection.

Coffey was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1974. He moved to the Senate in 1976 where he served on the Senate Agriculture Committee and was minority spokesman on the Transportation and Appropriations I committees.

Rep. Harry "Babe" Woodyard (R-105, Chrisman) was the only announced Republican on the primary ballot for the 53rd District. County Republican chairmen in the district were expected to appoint Woodyard to complete Coffey's term, putting him in the incumbent position for the November election against Democratic candidate Alan Holderfield of Mattoon.

Hasara replaces Oblinger in Illinois House

In the midst of a local political brouhaha over deadlines, Karen Hasara has been named to fill the seat in House of Representatives District 100 left vacant by Josephine Oblinger since December 1. Oblinger resigned to take a post with the Thompson administration beginning December 1.

Hasara, 45, was sworn in January 20, more than a month after Oblinger left, While the Illinois Constitution and election laws state legislative vacancies shall be filled within 30 days, local Republicans contended that the 30-day rule did not start until January 15, the day Oblinger had informed the three Republican county chairmen in her district of her resignation. Hasara was appointed that same day. In the end House Democrats decided not to challenge the appointment.

Born and raised in Springfield, Hasara was circuit clerk of Sangamon County from December 1980 until her appointment to the House. She was a member of the Sangamon County Board from 1975 to 1980. Hasara will occupy Oblinger's House office in Room E-l, Stratton Building. Her telephone number is 782-5798. She will also take over the two district offices located at 111 W. Main Cross, Taylorville, 62568, phone (217) 287-1311, and 117 W. State, Nokomis, 62075, phone (217) 563-7014.

Task force to study COGA-1 coal gasification options

In an attempt to keep synthetic fuel research and production alive in Illinois, Gov. James R. Thompson announced the formation of a state task force of top cabinet members to help develop the proposed $800 million COGA-1 coal gasification project in Macoupin County.

Members of the COGA-1 Task Force are: Harry R. Hanley, Illinois secretary of transportation; Michael T. Woelffer, director of the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs; Don Etchison, director of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources; Michael B. Witte, director of the Department of Conservation; J. Thomas Johnson, director of the Department of Revenue; and Richard J. Carlson, director of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The task force will investigate state-level development incentives and funding alternatives. It will also coordinate the efforts of federal, state and local officials interested in supporting the COGA-1 project. The COGA-1 project would produce a high quality anhydrous ammonia from high sulfur Illinois coal.

Governor's other appointments

Gov. James R. Thompson made an avalanche of mid-winter appointments and reappointments to a variety of boards, commissions and councils in January.

William Brogan, an Oak Lawn resident, was reappointed for another term as chairman of the Illinois State Labor Relations Board. The reappointment, which requires Senate confirmation, runs through January 22, 1990. The full-time position pays $50,000 annually.

Olga Durham of Charleston was named to the Illinois Housing Development Authority. Durham is currently Charleston's commissioner of public health and safety. The appointment requires Senate approval, the position pays expenses only, and the term expires January 9, 1989.

The governor filled three positions on the Rehabilitation Services Advisory Council, a panel that advises the director of the Department of Rehabilitation Services on issues affecting disabled persons. The appointees are Sally Hoerr of Peoria, president of the Illinois Alliance for Exceptional Children and Adults; Robert McCann of Park Forest, a retired school teacher; and Daniel Sidmore of North Aurora, a field sales manager at Williams Manufacturing. Only expenses are paid, terms expire January 14, 1991, and the Senate must confirm the appointments.

Two vacancies on the Carnival Amusement Safety Board were filled: Norbert Meyer of Evergreen Park, director of Miller Amusements Inc., and Robert Driskill of Blue Island, owner of McDermott Amusement Company, will serve through January 17, 1989, if confirmed by the Senate. The positions pay expenses only.

Two appointees to the Governor's Council on Health and Physical Fitness are Jacqueline Farley of Chicago, a consultant for employee health and fitness at Farley Industries, and Frederic Whiteside of Rock Island, coordinator of athletic activities at Augustana College. They will serve indefinite terms and without pay. The appointments do not require Senate confirmation.

Glauberman steps down as Daniels' chief of staff

Zale Glauberman, a fixture on the Springfield legislative scene, has resigned as House Republican chief of staff. Glauberman, 46, who has worked in state government since 1971, left the position in early January to become a political consultant. Statehouse insiders were jolted by the announcement made by House Minority Leader Lee A. Daniels (R-46, Elmhurst) that Glauberman would be leaving. Glauberman will remain an adviser to Daniels under a one-year $30,000 contract.

Glauberman first came to Springfield in 1971 as an assistant to then-Speaker W. Robert Blair. He signed onto Gov. James R. Thompson's first gubernatorial campaign as research director and then served as Thompson's legislative liaison. Later he was top aide to then-Speaker George H. Ryan, and when Ryan was elected lieutenant governor, Glauberman stayed with the House Republicans. He has been Minority Leader Daniels' staff chief ever since.

Citing Glauberman's leaving as part of the reorganization and consolidation of his staff, Daniels named Chris Freveletti to temporarily oversee staff operations. Until her promotion, Freveletti, 28, served as Daniels' press director, and the press and policy divisions will now be merged into a single staff. Freveletti has been with Daniels since 1984, when she left a news production job with Channel 7 in Chicago. She is a graduate of Sangamon State University's Public Affairs Reporting Program.

March 1986/Illinois Issues/37

Other changes in the GOP House staff include the departure of Kathy Breidert, who was Daniels' top assistant in Chicago Also, Joe Bongiorao, who served as legal counsel, has left to work in the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office. Bill Rodman, who worked under Bongiorno, was named as his replacement.

School Board Association elects officers

Representing almost 600 school boards statewide, the members of the 1985 Illinois Association of School Boards (1ASB) Delegate Assembly elected a new president and vice president for the coming year during the lASB's tour-day Joint Annual Conference in Chicago in November.

Illinois Central College associate professor of agriculture Wayne L. Sampson was elected president. He is a member of the Morton Community Unit District 709 board of education and was vice president of the IASB from 1983 to 1985. Sampson has held several other IASB posts including executive committee member and delegate to the National School Boards Association.

Barbara Wheeler, an attorney in private practice and president of Downers Grove High School District 99 board of education, was elected vice president. She is co-chairman of the Supporter's of Education Network of DuPage and a member of the School Management Foundation of Illinois. Wheeler is also a member of U.S. Congressman Harris Fawell's Advisory Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education.

Parks new ICBC board member

Teresa Parks, a central Illinois advocate for nursing home residents, was elected to the board of directors of Illinois Citizens for Better Care (ICBC) in December. As a member of this statewide nursing home watchdog organization, Parks will help monitor state enforcement of nursing home laws, develop legislation concerning the rights of nursing home residents and review ways to improve care in nursing homes.

Parks, a Creve Coeur resident, is the coordinator of nursing home advocacy for the Mental Health Association of Illinois Valley. She recruits and trains volunteer advocates who help nursing home residents and their families cope with any problems or complaints and generally attempt to improve the quality of life in nursing homes. This program was the state Mental Health Association's 1982 "Program of the Year."

38/March 1986/Illinois Issues

Hospital association board members, officers

History was made in October when Michael Mitchel, vice president and secretary of Economy Folding Box Corporation in Chicago, was named chairman of the Illinois Hospital Association (IHA) board of trustees for 1986. Mitchel, life trustee of Mt. Sinai Hospital Medical Center of Chicago since 1967, is the first board chairman in the IHA's 67 years of existence who is not a hospital employee.

Mitchel, whose one-year term began January 1, also serves on the boards of the Council for Jewish Elderly and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. In 1983 he received the IHA's Trustee of the Year award.

Four other board officers were elected during the IHA's 63rd annual meeting in October. They include: chairman-elect, Richard V. Livengood, president of the Lakeview Medical Center in Danville; secretary, Sr. Sheila Lyne, R.S.M., president of Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago; treasurer, Ted L. Kilerman, president and chief executive officer of St. Elizabeth Hospital, Granite City. Immediate past chairman is William E. Kessler, executive director of St. Anthony's Hospital in Alton.

Ronald G. Spaeth, president and chief executive officer of Highland Park Hospital, was elected to serve a three-year term on the 29-member board. Five others were reelected to three-year terms on the board: John G. Eresian, vice president of fiscal affairs for Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago; Robert J. Krug, vice president of fiscal services at Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago; James M. Malloy, hospital director at University of Illinois Hospital, Chicago; Sr. Mary Anthony Menting, S.C.S.C., administrator at St. Joseph's Hospital in Breese; and Roland D. Olen, executive director at St. Mary Hospital in Quincy.

Former U.S. attorney Dan K. Webb, partner in the Chicago law firm of Winston and Strawn, and Robert Magnuson, president of Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, were elected to fill two unexpired terms on the board. The two one-year terms began on January 1.

Thompson nominates four to serve on Federal Export Coal Commission

In December Gov. Thompson recommended to U.S. Secy. of Commerce Malcolm Baldridge the names of four Illinoisans to serve on the newly created Federal Export Coal Commission. The commission was authorized by the Coal Enhancement Act of 1985 to find out why U.S. coal isn't competitive in world markets and how to improve existing coal export sales figures. The governor's nominees are John J. Banovic, an Illinois native currently living in Silver Spring, Md., international secretary-treasurer for the United Mine Workers of America; Frank Beal of Chicago, vice president of Inland Steel Coal Co.; Robert Neubauer of Matteson, vice president for coal transportation, Illinois Central Gulf Railroad; and Garry J. Scheuring of Oak Park, executive vice president for Continental Illinois Bank. The nominees represent the four groups from which the commission's 20 private-sector members will be chosen: export coal producers, coal labor representatives, coal transporters and financial institutions with an interest in financing U.S. coal exports.

CMS' Jordan new HUD administrator for Midwest

Gertrude Jordan, a member of Gov. Thompson's administration for the past seven years, was appointed Midwest regional administrator of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by Secy. Samuel R. Pierce. Jordan, most recently assistant director of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, was sworn in during ceremonies at HUD's regional headquarters in Chicago. At HUD she will be responsible for all policy and administrative operations of the agency in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

March 1986/IUinois Issues/39

Jordan, who worked in state government for the past 16 years, began her career as assistant director of Public Service Career Programs with the Illinois Department of Personnel, promoted within a year to program director. She was appointed by Thompson in 1979 as assistant director of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS). When DAS merged with the Department of Personnel in 1982 to become the Department of Central Management Services, Jordan remained as assistant director of the new agency.

Block resigns top spot at USDA

U.S. Secy. of Agriculture John Block, the Illinois pork producer who brought Reaganomics to America's farms, resigned January 7 to pursue a career in the private sector. Block, 50, stated that he had accomplished the legislative goals he'd set a year ago, citing the recently signed 1985 Farm Bill as an example. That legislation, which takes steps toward eventually reducing federal farm subsidies and moving to a more market-oriented farm economy, falls short of Block's original proposals for greater reliance on exports and immediate, deeper cuts in federal spending for agriculture.

Often badgered by critics, Block started such controversial programs as the payment-in-kind (PIK) program, in which farmers were paid with surplus grain for idling acres.

Block said his plans for the future were indefinite, but that he does not intend to return to farming.

Landmarks Council awards first endangered building grant

Metropolis' McCartney Music Hall, built in 1893 and described as "one of the finest opera houses in the state," might be getting a facelift soon, thanks to a $500 grant from the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois (LPCI). The award was made through the LPCI's Endangered Historic Building Grant Program which is administered by the Landmarks Preservation Fund. The money will be used by the Massac County Historical Society to fund an engineering study to assess the hall's structural soundness. The building, most recently known as the Masonic Temple, had been slated for demolition by its owner, the city of Metropolis. The city has agreed to sell the property, and the society now hopes to see the building restored as a music hall, dinner theater and community center.

The grant was the first award to be made thus far in the endangered building grant program's current year (which ends in June 1986). The program provides emergency funds to local preservation groups working to save historic buildings threatened by unsympathetic alteration or demolition.

Applications for the $500-$ 1,000 grants are being accepted by the LPCI. The grants may be used for "soft" costs — such as feasibility studies, architectural services or structural analyses — or for costs of urgently needed construction.

(Local preservation groups and municipalities wanting to save a historic building should contact Therese S. Kelly, administrator of the Landmarks Preservation Fund, Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, 407 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60605.)

Deaths

Former state Sen. Richard Larson, 78, on December 20 in Phoenix, Ariz., following a long illness. Larson began his political career when elected in 1952 to the Illinois House where he served four years. He was elected to the state Senate in 1958 and served there until 1970. Larson was chairman of the Conservation Committee and a member of the Legislative Audit Commission. Although a Republican, Larson's Senate voting record was independent. He often broke away from party doctrine, backing welfare and mental health measures, as well as the 1969 state income tax.

Setting the record straight

We wish to apologize to Crete B. Harvey for misspelling her name in our December issue. She served on the Southern lllinois University Board of Trustees. From 1976 to 1984, Harvey was Republican National Committeewoman from Illinois.

40/March 1986/Illinois Issues