Names

Countryman assumes Ebbesen's House seat

John W. Countryman, DeKalb, was sworn in March 27 as the new state representative from the 76th District. A member of the State Board of Elections from 1978-1983, Countryman was chosen by the district's Republican party officials to fill the seat vacated by former state Rep. Joseph B. Ebbesen (R., DeKalb). Ebbesen resigned his House seat March 1 to become coordinator of optometric investigations in the Department of Registration and Education.

Countryman, who served as chairman and vice chairman during his tenure on the State Board of Elections, resigned from the board in September 1983 following Ebbesen's announcement that he would not seek reelection in 1984. Unopposed in the March Republican primary, Countryman will face Democrat Jordan Gallagher of Sycamore in the November election.

Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board

The governor has named the three member panel to begin interpreting the state's new collective bargaining act and establish rules and regulations for implementation. The Illinois Education Labor Relations Board is chaired by Martin Wagner, Urbana, professor emeritus and former director of the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of Illinois. He is also a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. Other board members are Wesley Wildman, Evanston, council to Veder, Price, Kaufman & Kammholz of Chicago and a former senior lecturer in industrial relations at the University of Chicago; and Edna Krueger, Elgin, a teacher in Elgin's Unit 46 School District. Wildman has practiced management labor law for 30 years, and Krueger has been active in collective bargaining issues in her area for more than 30 years. In accordance with the new statute, the board members drew lots to establish their respective terms at the organizational meeting. Krueger will serve a term of two years, Wildman, four years and Wagner, six. Wagner will receive a yearly salary of $50,000, while the two members will receive $45,000 annually. The three appointments were confirmed by the Senate February 28.

Department of Financial Institutions

Department of Financial Institutions director Michael E. Fryzel made the following appointments, effective in March:

Victor J. Pambianco, Riverton, as supervisor of the credit union division. Pambianco has been a legislative liaison with the department for over two years and previously worked in the governor's office. He replaces Ray Johnson, who resigned to go into private business with Johnson & Associates of Springfield.

Brenda J. Seipel, Springfield, succeeds Pambianco as legislative liaison. Seipel previously worked for the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities where her responsibilities included legislative and personnel matters.

Sandquist elected chairman of Sunset committee

Former state Rep. Elroy C. Sandquist Jr. (R., Chicago) was elected chairman of the Select Joint Committee on Regulatory Agency Reform by its members in March. A member of the Illinois House from 1977 to 1983, Sandquist co-authored the legislation that established the committee and charged it with reviewing the need for regulation and/or licensing of professions, occupations, trades, businesses and industries. Currently up for review by the committee is the regulation of public utilities by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

Serving with Sandquist on the "sunset" committee, as it is commonly known, are four other public members: Andrew Raucci, Chicago; Todd Renfrow, Springfield; Bruce Stratton, Springfield; and Margaret Zagel, Chicago. Legislative members of the committee are Sen. John A. D'Arco (D-10, Chicago), Sen. Prescott E. Bloom (R-37, Peoria), Rep. Richard H. Brummer (D-107, Effingham), Sen. Clarence A. Darrow (D-36, Rock Island), Rep. Dennis J. Hastert (R-82, Yorkville) and Rep. Daniel M. Pierce (D-58, Chicago). Also on the committee are the director of the Bureau of the Budget, Robert L. Mandeville, and the chair of the Economic and Fiscal Commission, Sen. Dawn Clark Netsch (D-4, Chicago). Public members will serve until March 1985; legislative members until January 1985.

Illinois Judicial Conference

The Illinois Supreme Court recently made several appointments and reappointments to the executive committee of the Illinois Judicial Conference:

Wayne C. Townley, 11th Judicial Circuit, was named chairman; and Philip Romiti, 1st District Appellate Court, was named vice chairman. Michael C. Close, Cook County Circuit Court, and Frank X. Yackley, 13th Judicial Circuit, were reappointed as members. Newly appointed members are William Cousins, Cook County Circuit Court, and Anthony M. Peccarelli, 18th Judicial Circuit.

The executive committee assists the Illinois Supreme Court in conducting the Judicial Conference, which studies issues pertaining to the administration of justice and makes recommendations for its improvement. The conference also supervises Illinois' judicial education program of annual and regional seminars and makes specific recommendations for improving substantive and procedural law.

The Judiciary

Circuit judges in the 10th Judicial Circuit selected fellow judge Peter J. Paolucci as chief judge, effective January 1. He succeeds Stephen J. Covey.

Circuit judges in the 19th Judicial Circuit appointed Ward S. Arnold, Union, as an associate judge, effective February 16.

The following judges have resigned from judicial service:

John P. McGury, Chicago, circuit judge, Cook County Circuit Court, effective February 19. A judicial officer since 1965, McGury has served as presiding judge of the support division of the Cook County Circuit Court and in the juvenile division.

Brockton D. Lockwood, associate judge, 1st Judicial Circuit, effective March 31. Lockwood had been an associate judge since 1978.

Other appointments

Jacqueline T. Atkins, Chicago, as a member of the Board of Education by the governor, effective upon Senate confirmation. Atkins, a corporate counsel at Independence Bank of Chicago, fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Starline Carter in January. Atkins will complete Carter's term which ends January 21, 1985. Board members receive expenses and $50 per diem.

Ron Allen, Springfield, as supervisor of the Department of Conservation's (DOC) division of information and education, by DOC director David Kenney, effective February 1. Allen worked with the division when he first came to DOC in 1982 from the Armco Steel Corporation of Springfield, where he was plant manager. He most recently served in the department's land and historic sites bureau. He replaces Phil Chiles, who is on a two-year leave of absence doing missionary work with Liberia Christian College in Liberia, West Africa.

Honors

Atty. Gen. Neil F. Hartigan received the Illinois Citizens for Better Care (ICBC) first annual "Public Service Award" on March 8 in Chicago. ICBC cited Hartigan's establishment of a nursing home task force to develop policies on long-term care issues and his action to prevent abuse and neglect of nursing home residents as examples of his leadership in nursing home reform in the state. In accepting the award, Hartigan stressed the need for stricter enforcement procedures and tougher penalties for violators in the nursing home business. The ICBC is a privately funded citizen action organization dedicated to improving the lives of Illinois' nursing home residents.

"Best Legislator Awards" were presented to six state representatives in March for their work during the 1983 session by the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO). The awards were based on how often a legislator supported bills dealing with what the IVI-IPO see as key issues, including election reform, education, consumer rights, social services and better government. While it supports a wide variety of issues, the IVI-IPO's overriding concern, according to a spokesperson for the group, is to encourage legislators to vote on the issues, rather than according to party and/or special interest considerations.

Honored by the IVI-IPO were Rep. Woods Bowman (D-4, Evanston), Rep. Carol Mosely Braun (D-25, Chicago), Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-26, Chicago), Rep. Ellis B. Levin (D-5, Chicago), Rep. Helen F. Satterthwaite (D-103, Champaign) and Rep. Terry A. Stezco (D-78, Country Club Hills). This was the first time since 1969 when the awards were established that no state senator qualified for recognition.

Deaths

Pollution Control Board (PCB) member and former state Rep. Donald B. Anderson (R., Peru), 57, on March 12 in Chicago. Anderson, who represented the 45th District between 1975-1980, was appointed to the PCB by Gov. Thompson in 1981. Active in civic affairs, Anderson helped found the Starved Rock Library System and the Peru Youth Center.

May 1984/Illinois Issues/39