By THOM M. SERAFIN
Springfield correspondent for the Capital Information Bureau, a state radio news network, he has been covering the Illinois legislature for the past year. Serafin has a B.A. in Communications and an M.A. in Public Affairs Reporting.

Lobbying on lie detector law led George Lindberg into politics; now he's State's first Comptroller

GEORGE LINDBERG is Comptroller of Illinois. He wants to meet his job head on, as his description of the office implies: "The Office of State Comptroller can best be described as the business office of State government. In a way, it's the taxpayer's watchdog, because no State funds can be disbursed without my approval or deposited to the State treasury without my approval."

Lindberg, Illinois' first Comptroller, is from Crystal Lake, northwest of Chicago. He was born in 1932 in his father's medical office which doubled as the family's living quarters. Lindberg married Linda Merlo, his secretary, in 1964 and they continue to live in Crystal Lake. His wife does some volunteer work, but spends most of time rais ing their two children, Karen, 9, and Kristen, 7. In the time that remains, she's called on to be a politician's wife. Lindberg served three terms in the State legislature.

In meeting Lindberg, one is immediately impressed by two things: his language and his stature. He's 6'2" and weights 215 Ibs., and he speaks with ease and fluency. At one time he was athletic, but in 8th grade, he broke his foot playing ball; it never healed correctly. Consequently, he was deterred from active participation and became a sports photographer.

Lindberg isn't a veteran, because he was born with an eye defect. While attending Northwestern he received a notice from Uncle Sam for a physical examination. He failed the exam because of the muscle condition of his eyes. He's had three eye operations. The first operation in 1941 was the first such operation ever performed on a human being. It was only moderately successful and had to be repealed in 1956 and 1967. It was in 1967 that he began wearing glasses. When it comes to politics and government, however, Lindberg has a clear notion of what he sees.

Our conversations took place over the phone from Crystal Lake and in his office in Springfield. Lindberg was very gracious throughout the interviewing process.

Q. George, you've mentioned several times that your office is always open. Can anybody walk in to see you? What's a work week like?

A. Well, the work week is generally this — into the Chicago office on Monday morning and then down to Springfield for Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Sometimes I return to the Chicago office on Wednesday afternoon or Thurs day afternoon and touch base there. I try to steal a Friday or a Monday as often as possible at home. I have an office in my home which is where I try to get my dictation caught up for the week before it gets too stale. Because I have an "open door" policy here in the office and in Chicago, anybody that calls in or comes in I see or talk to personally, and that plays havoc on the orderly disposition of paperwork. So I either cart it home with me and try to steal a day by myself, or else I do it on the weekend.

Q. What ever got you started in politics?

A. The situation developed in 1959 when a bill was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly that curtailed the use of expert polygraph testimony in civil and criminal cases. A t the time I had been with John Reid & Associates (Chicago-based polygraph testing firm)

for jour years and we were very dissatisfied with the legislation. We lobbied for changes in that legislation, but it became law anyway. There was strong labor support for anti-polygraph legislation in order to prohibit the use of the polygraph in connection with employment or continued employment.

As legal counsel for Reid & Associates. I was assigned the task, not only on behalf of Reid but on behalf of the whole profession, to write articles and to lobby for the defeat of this type of legislation. Then in 1964, the Moss Committee, the government operations sub-committee of the Congress, held hearings and Professor Fred Inbau of Northwestern and John Reid and I acted as the spokesmen for the industry — the profession — and appeared at those hearings. Well, all of this lobbying and the contact with federal and state governments whetted my appetite for serving in the Illinois General Assembly.

Shortly after the reapportionment occurred in 1965, I received a call from George Mahin who was a good friend of mine, and John Woods, also a good friend of mine. Woods, a polygraph examiner who has assisted us in the effort to defeat the anti-polygraph bill, alerted me to the race in the 32nd District (a new Senate District with no incumbent) in an area formerly represented by Bob Colson. I announced for State Senate in October of 1965. Realizing the dominance of Lake County over McHenry County in that district, we determined that it would be very unlikely that a McHenry County resident like myself could be elected, but that using the advantages of cumulative voting I would have a good shot at the Stale Representative race in contention with two incumbents, John Henry Kleine and Francis Berry of Libertyville. Kleine is from Lake Forest. I ran and

36/Illinois Issues/February 1975