Names

O'Connor named chairman of Illinois Commerce Commission

Philip R. O'Connor, Chicago, was named chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission (IlCC) by Gov. James R. Thompson, effective January 18. O'Connor succeeds Michael V. Hasten, who did not seek reappointment. Hasten had been chairman since March 1979.

O'Connor most recently was political director for the Citizens for Thompson campaign committee. He served as director of the Department of Insurance from July 1979 to July 1982 and also chaired the Accounting and Financial Regulatory committees of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Previously he was deputy director for research and urban affairs in the Department of Insurance and had served as an aide to Gov. Richard Ogilvie. O'Connor's salary as IlCC member and chairman is $47,500; his appointment requires Senate confirmation.

Hasten will advise the governor and the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs on telecommunications issues and will serve as a member of the Governor's Task Force on Utility Regulatory Reform.

Office of the State Treasurer

Robert E. O'Keefe, Springfield, as deputy treasurer, by newly elected state Treasurer James H. Donnewald effective January 10. O'Keefe was majority staff director for the Illinois Senate and had served on the Senate Democratic staff since 1969. Previously, he was with the Illinois Civil Service Commission.

U.S. Rep. Michel's district offices

Former state Reps. Ray LaHood (R., East Moline) and Craig J. Findley (R., Virginia) were named to staff positions by U.S. Rep. Robert E. Michel (R-18th, Peoria), effective in January. LaHood is special assistant to Michel in the congressman's Peoria office; Findley is working in Michel's new district office in Jacksonville. LaHood lost to M. "Bob" DeJaegher (D., Silvis) in the 72nd District House race in November; he had been appointed to the "old" 36th District House seat to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Rep. Ben Polk (R., Moline) in July. Findley, who is the son of former U.S. Rep. Paul Findley, lost in the 46th District state Senate race to Richard Luft (D., Pekin). Findley had represented the "old" 48th District in the previous Illinois House.

The Judiciary

The following judges have resigned from office:

Richard F. Scholz Jr., Quincy, as circuit judge of the 8th Judicial Circuit, effective December 5, 1982. Scholz had been a judicial officer since 1958. He was an active member of the Illinois Judicial Conference and served as chairman of the Juvenile Problems Committee and the Court Services Committee.

William K. Richardson, Galesburg, as associate judge of the 9th Judicial Circuit, effective November 1, 1982. Richardson had been a judicial officer since 1966 and served as clerk of the Knox County Circuit Court from 1943 to 1966.

International trade and port promotion

Vincent J. Cannella, Chicago, and William J. Guyton, Wilmette, were named to the International Trade and Port Promotion Advisory Committee by the governor, effective in November. The committee, composed of 12 governor's appointees, four legislative members and the director of the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, advises the governor and DCCA on how to improve international trade. Of particular concern is slippage in exports of Illinois agricultural products and heavy machinery. Cannella is an accountant with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Company. Guyton is vice president of A. T. Kearney Incorporated. The appointments, which filled vacancies on the committee, pay expenses only and require Senate confirmation. The terms expire January 17, 1983, but it is expected that both members will be reappointed.

Adult technical and vocational education

The following new members of the Advisory Council on Adult Technical and Vocational Education were appointed by Gov. James R. Thompson, effective August 1982: Chris Anderson, Sycamore, student, Kishwaukee Community College in Malta, replacing Cindy Carson; Delores Bass,

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Highland Park, chairman, Executive Committee of the Womens' American Organization, Midwest District No. 8; Robert M. Beckworth, Lombard, manager, Small Business and Education, Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, replacing Gus Vertiz; Roscoe Mitchell, Chicago, director, equal opportunity employment and administrative services, Zenith Radio Corporation, replacing Robert A. Stalls; Jesse M. Rios, Chicago, president, National Council of the American Federation of Government Employees, replacing Guadalupe McDougald; and H. Frances Smith, Glenwood, education relations manager, Illinois Bell Telephone Company. Reappointed to the council were: Ronald Morehead, Normal, field representative, AFL-CIO; and Donna Werner, Macomb, executive secretary, Commission on the Status of Women.

The Smith and Anderson appointments have terms ending June 30, 1984. The remaining appointments expire June 30, 1985. These appointments do not require Senate confirmation. Council members are reimbursed for expenses only.

Other appointments

Jerome Stermer, Chicago, as executive director of the Legislative Advisory Committee on Public Aid, by the committee, effective November 1, 1982. Stermer served as associate director of the advisory committee for three years prior to his appointment as executive director. He replaces John W. Casey, who was recently appointed president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of metropolitan Chicago.

William M. Vetter Jr., Buffalo was elected international vice president of the Data Processing Management Association (DPMA) at its annual meeting October 17 in Chicago. Vetter, who will serve for a one-year term commencing January 1, is responsible for programs and services for DPMA, the largest professional association in computer information management with 40,000 members. Vetter is currently manager of the bureau of information and communication services of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services.

Sen. Prescott Bloom (R-47th, Peoria) as chairman of the Commerce, Labor and Economic Development Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), by conference president William Passannante in September. The committee is part of NCSL's Assembly on the Legislatures. Originally known as the Regulatory Improvement Committee, it has been expanded in scope by Passannante to focus on efforts to expand state economies and create jobs as well as to reform regulations. At a meeting held in Oklahoma City in November, the committee heard from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on its efforts to reduce regulatory burdens for the states and also discussed small businesses and economic growth.

Nelson H. Stringer, M.D., Chicago, as medical director of the Illinois Family Planning Council (IFPC) by the board of directors, effective October 1. IFPC is the not-for-profit management agency through which funds for family planning under Title X of the Public Health Services Act are dispersed in Illinois. The council has 49 delegate agencies in the state which receive some of their funding in this manner. As medical director, Stringer supervises all medical programs and is responsible for standards for planning programs in Illinois which are funded by the council. Stringer is an attending physician at Rush Presbyterian St. Lukes Medical Center, Chicago, and assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Rush Medical College.

Alice N. Gordon as environmental permitting/regulatory affairs specialist for Harza Engineering Company, Chicago, effective September 27. As a liaison between Harza engineers and government agenices, Gordon advises on permit requirements for many types of projects including coal and hard rock mines, hydroelectric plants and transmission lines. She also maintains files on federal and state regulatory and permitting requirements for projects undertaken by Harza, a Chicago-based engineering consulting firm. Prior to joining Harza, Gordon was with Atlantic Richfield Company in Denver.

Resignations

Robert Kjellander, Clarendon Hills, as long-time member of the Thompson administration and most recently manager of the governor's 1982 campaign for reelection. Kjellander became assistant executive administrator of the Illinois State Medical Society effective January 1. He had served as Senate liaison for Gov. Thompson in 1977, director of personnel from 1978-1980, and legislative affairs director in 1981.

Patrick Quinn, Oak Park, as executive director of the Coalition for Political Honesty (CPH), after winning election to the Cook County Board of Tax Appeals in November. Quinn will remain an active board member of CPH, which under his leadership has taken part in controversial campaigns on legislative ethics and pay hikes, tax limits, the right of Illinoisans to propose legislation by initiative — and the successful drive to put the Cutback Amendment on the 1982 ballot. Succeeding him as executive director is his brother, Tom Quinn, Chicago, an attorney with Schiff, Harding & Waite, who has worked with CPH since its founding in the fall of 1975.

Honors

John Bradburn, Elgin, received the first "Outstanding Faculty Award" presented by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), at a banquet in New Orleans October 13. Bradburn, a mathematics instructor at Elgin Community College, was nominated for the award by Elgin trustee John Duffy, and selected by the ACCT National Awards Committee over some 30 nominees nationwide. Bradburn was chosen based on his excellent teaching and leadership qualities, including his innovative work in "meshing high school, community college and university math sequences."

Elaine Parker, Aurora, as the 1982-83 Illinois Teacher of the Year, by the State Board of Education at its annual "Those Who Excel" awards banquet held in Springfield October 27. Parker, a second grade teacher at Nancy Hill School in Aurora, emphasizes getting children to think "because they will have to create new ways in both the technical and social fields." She made key contributions to the curriculum of Aurora West School District 129 and helped organize a major community effort to upgrade neighborhoods around the school where she has taught for 17 years. □

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