It's sadly appropriate that projects editor Donald Sevener and Statehouse bureau chief Jennifer Davis teamed up on this month's coverage of the governor's race. By the time you read the September issue, both will have moved on.


Sevener, who spent five years helping to nudge this magazine toward a higher standard of excellence, is now communications chief for the Illinois Board of Higher Education. His intellectual rigor, integrity and political instincts will be missed here.

He guided to fruition the magazine's series on bioethics and regionalism, as well as our first computer-assisted analysis of government appointments. And his skill as an essayist helped to raise the bar on the kinds of pieces we want to publish, as his contribution this month shows.

Davis, who spent a year and a half helping our readers toward a fuller understanding of state policy and politics, is now a reporter for the Peoria Journal Star. It is, most of all, her energy and commitment that will be missed.

On policy questions, Davis' contributions on the subjects of welfare reform and education funding-to cite only two-provided information and analyses beyond what was available to readers of most publications. And it's hard to imagine teaming up with anyone else during the very wee hours on the final day of a legislative session.

For an editor-especially at a publication as small-yet-ambitious as this one-losing talented people is a tragedy. By any measure, quality public affairs journalists do not come a dime a dozen.

The good news is that both have agreed to contribute their thoughts and their writing to the magazine occasionally. Meanwhile, their hard work was integral to getting this issue to you. We begin with Sevener's assessment of what Illinois will and won't need from its next governor as we head into another century. "The times," he writes, "call not just for a new governor, but a new kind of governor."

Though the state's treasury is flush, jobs are plentiful and crime rates are declining, he writes. "Illinois will be poorly served if its next governor is complacent, timid or content with the status quo." Despite the good times, "there are worrisome trends, stubborn issues and persistent problems that call for a governor who can transcend politics as usual."

Turn to page 12 to find out what some of those problems are, and what leadership qualities they require.

And turn to page 15 to find out what qualities the two top candidates for governor possess. Davis argues they may have taken different paths, but George Ryan and Glenn Poshard are political cousins. Her extended interviews with both candidates begin on page 16.

Additional profiles of Ryan and Poshard are available on our home page at http://www.uis.edu/~ilissues/ ilissues.htm. 

4 | September 1998 Illinois Issues