The state of the State

Thompson names agency directors

AFTER promising swift changes in state government during his campaign, Gov. James R. Thompson was experiencing delays in filling his cabinet appointments following his inauguration January 10. Four weeks later the new governor had yet to name five cabinet directors — Children and Family Services; Financial Institutions; Labor; Mines and Minerals; and Public Health.

Thompson said he would not be pushed into filling these remaining positions at the "sacrifice of quality." Rather he blamed the delays on the time consumed presiding over the Senate in its record-setting balloting for a president, the energy problems caused by severe January weather, sessions working on the budget, working on his task force's reorganization proposals and getting his "own house in order."

Unmentioned as a reason for the delays was the small appeal Thompson's two-year term might have for prospective cabinet members.

In the first real move to show Thompson's priorities, he retained Charles Rowe January 20 as acting director of Department of Corrections to work on Thompson's plan to deal with the "unprecedented crisis within the state's penal system." Rowe plus Charles English, as deputy director, and Daniel Weil, as special assistant to the governor on corrections, will work as a team on the problem. English was superintendent of the Cook County House of Corrections and Well, an attorney, is taking a 90-day leave of absence from the Chicago law firm of Winston and Strawn to work on the program.

His other appointees include:

Joan G. Anderson, director of the Department of Registration and Education. Mrs. Anderson, commissioner of the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago, was an unsuccessful candidate in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor last year.

Cpl. Lynn E. Baird, superintendent of the Illinois State Police. Baird was in the Executive Security Division of the Illinois State Police and handled Gov. Thompson's security during his campaign.

John R. Block, director of the Department of Agriculture. A board member of the Illinois Agricultural Association since 1972, Block plans to continue farming but will resign his position as treasurer of the Spoon River Farm Services Co-Operative.

Langhorne M. Bond, secretary of the Department of Transportation. Bond was reappointed to this position he has held since 1973.

William J. Boys, director of the Department of Personnel. Boys had recently been assistant director of the Senate minority staff and had served as deputy director of the Department of Personnel.

John W. Castle, director of the Department of Local Government Affairs. Castle had been chairman of the DeKalb County board and president of the Urban Counties Council of Illinois.

Dr. Robert A. deVito, director of the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities. DeVito has served in the department since 1969 as superintendent of the John T. Madden Mental Health Center in Hines. He had also been an associate professor of psychiatry at Loyola University.

Robert L. Donahue, chairman of Capital Development Board. Donahue has most recently worked for the Chicago mortgage firm of Pain and O'Brien.

Donald L. Duster, director of the Department of Business and Economic Development. An executive with Commonwealth Edison for 15 years. Duster is a past president and board member of the Chicago Commons Association.

Leo Eisel, director of the Environmental Protection Agency. Eisel was director of the division of water resources in the Department of Transportation under Gov. Dan Walker. He had also served as the Illinois commissioner to the Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission, the Great Lakes Basin Commission and the Ohio River Basin Commission.

Tyrone C. Fahner, director of the Department of Law Enforcement. An attorney with the law firm of Freeman, Rothe, Freeman and Salzman in Chicago, Fahner had served as an assistant United State attorney from 1971 to 1975 where he had worked with Thompson.

David Kenney, director of the Department of Conservation. A political science professor at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Kenney served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1970 and is an authority on Indian inhabitants of pre-statehood Illinois.

Richard L. Mathias, director of the Department of Insurance. Currently an associate counsel for Allstate Insurance Company, Mathias had served as Gov. Richard Ogilvie's deputy legal counsel from 1969 to 1972.

Josephine Oblinger, director of the Department on Aging. Most recently assistant to the president of Lincoln Land Community College, Mrs. Oblinger had been chairperson of the Committee on Senior Citizens of the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies and was on the board of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program in Springfield.

William K. Peltier, chairman of Illinois Lottery Control Board. Peltier was formerly president and chief executive officer of Biddle Advertising, Inc., of Bloomington and Chicago. Ralph F. Batch, superintendent of Illinois State Lottery, where he has served since July 1974.

Theodore D. Puckorius, director of the Department of General Services and interim director of the Department of Finance. Puckorius was commissioner of automated data and telecommunications services in the U.S. General Services Administration.

Arthur F. Quern, director of the Department of Public Aid. A former deputy assistant to President Ford on domestic affairs, Quern has also served on the White House Domestic Council and as deputy assistant for domestic affairs to Vice President Nelson Rockefeller.

A. D. Van Meter Jr., State Housing Development Board. Van Meter was president of the Illinois National Bank of Springfield.

James R. Washburn, director of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Washburn, a former House minority leader, served as administrative officer for the Illinois Veterans Commission from 1953 to 1962.

Robert M. Whitler, director of the Department of Revenue. Whitler was administrative vice president of the Corporate Services Division of Horace Mann Educators Corp. in Springfield. He had formerly served as director of the Department of Statistics and Data Processing of the Illinois Office of Education.

The following have been named acting director or chairperson of the agency or board indicated:

John F. Howell, Jr., Department of Finance, where he was associate director.

Lucy Reum, Illinois Racing Board, on which she has served as a member since 1973. — Mary C. Galligan 

March 1977 / Illinois Issues / 25


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