Thompson appoints Frech, Martin, other top agency heads

As he embarked on his fourth term as governor of Illinois, James R. Thompson chose two new agency directors and reappointed 22 others. The appointments, which require confirmation by the Senate, were effective January 23 and will run for two years.

The new director of the Department of Conservation is Mark Frech of Springfield. Most recently Thompson's deputy campaign manager, he previously served in the governor's personnel office, first as assistant director (1980-83) and then as director (1983-85). The appointment of Frech, a member of Thompson's Conservation Advisory Board, was endorsed by the Illinois Environmental Council and the Illinois Sportsmen's Legislative Coalition. He replaced Michael B. Witte who resigned in November.

Labeling it "a brilliant move by the Governor," Chicago Federation of Labor president Bob Healey summed up labor's view of Thompson's appointment of Gwen R. Martin to head the Department of Labor. The Arlington Heights resident, who has been with the Communication Workers of America since 1972, has also served as vice president of the Illinois AFL-CIO since 1978. Martin replaced E. Allen Bernardi who retired.

Reappointed to the governor's "cabinet" were the following: Aging — Janet S. Otwell; Agriculture — Larry A. Werries; Alcoholism and Substance Abuse — William T. Atkins; Central Management Services — Michael A. Tristano; Children and Family Services — Gordon Johnson; Commerce and Community Affairs — Jay Hedges; Corrections — Michael P. Lane; Employment Security — Sally A. Ward; Energy and Natural Resources — Don Etchison; Environmental Protection Agency — Richard J. Carlson; Financial Institutions — Michael E. Fryzel; State Fire Marshal — Tom Bestudik; Human Rights — Joyce E. Tucker; Insurance — John Washburn; Lottery — Rebecca Paul; Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities — Ann M. Kiley; Military and Naval — Harold G. Holesinger; Nuclear Safety — Terry Lash; Public Health — Bernard Turnock; Registration and Education — Gary L. Clayton; Rehabilitation Services — Susan S. Suter; and Transportation — Gregory Baise.

Four agencies, the departments of Mines and Minerals, Public Aid (see below), Revenue and Veterans Affairs, were searching for new directors as of February 13, and James B. Zagel, director of the Department of State Police since 1980, was nominated for an appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by President Ronald Reagan at the end of January. He will remain in his state post until the federal appointment is confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Coler to Florida; Taylor moves up

Was it the snow? Shortly after Illinois' first real winter storm of 1987, Gregory L. Coler announced that he would leave the helm of the Illinois Department of Public Aid (DPA) on February 1 and head for Florida's sunny southern clime. Appointed by Gov. Thompson on January 30 to serve as acting DPA director was Michael Taylor of Springfield. A nationwide search is being conducted for Coler's permanent replacement.

Coler, who was appointed to the DPA post in 1983, is the new secretary of the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, that state's largest agency and the largest state-administered social welfare agency in the nation.

Taylor has been with the department since August 1984 and its executive deputy director since October 1985. As DPA's chief of hospital services, he was responsible for designing and implementing the Illinois Competitive Access and Reimbursement Equity (ICARE) program. ICARE negotiates contract rates with hospitals for medicaid recipients. Taylor previously spent two years with the Economic and Fiscal Commission (1974-76) and eight years (1976-84) with the Bureau of the Budget.

Groves named chancellor of regency system

Roderick T. Groves of Springfield was named chancellor of Illinois' regency university system effective December 3, after serving as acting chancellor since July. He had been the system's vice chancellor for academic affairs. Groves replaced William R. Monat, who resigned the chancellorship after one year and is now a professor of political studies at Northern Illinois University.

Groves, 50, joined the Board of Regents and in 1973 as academic planning coordinator. He is a political scientist, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi and holds a bachelor's degree and doctorate from the Unversity of Wisconsin in Madison. He taught political science at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb for seven years before joining state government in 1971.

Groves' appointment followed a nationwide search and was recommended to the board by Regent D. Brewster Parker of Lincoln, chair of the board's search committee. Members of the search committee were regents Clara Fitzpatrick of Evanston and Harry L. Wellbank of Crystal Lake and Joint University Adisory Committee Chair Charles Sampson of Springfield. Regent Chair Carol Burns of Peoria served as ex-officio member.

Illinois Jobs Training Coordinating Council

Gov. James R. Thompson in January announced the appointments and reappointments of 21 members to the Illinois Jobs Training Coordinating Council. The council advises the governor on the best ways to implement the federal Jobs Training Partnership Act, which sends federal dollars to Illinois to train dislocated and unemployed workers.

Members from Chicago include: Samuel C. Bernstein, director of policy and planning, Kane-McKenna Associates Inc.; Maria Cerda, assistant to the mayor, Mayor's Office of Employment & Training; Nancy Cowles, public affairs associate, Midwest Women's Center; Pedro Galva, president, Assurance Corporation; Scott Gelzer, vice president, MGT Cornerstones Inc.; and Charles Porter, project director, Employment & Training Tecnical Assistance Project.

Members appointed from around the state include: Moline Mayor Robert W. Anderson; Joyce A. Brown of Peoria, deputy director, Tri-County Urban League Inc.; Quincy Mayor Verne Hagstrom; Mary Virginia Hartman of Mounds, co-owner and operator, Hartman Farm; Patricia W. King of Salem, executive director, Salem Chamber of Commerce; Melissa Kostial of Prairie View, executive director, Warren Township Youth Services; and Karen E. Larson of Decatur, executive director, Champaign Consortium; Robert J. Marcusse of Peoria, president, Economic Development Council of the Peoria Area; Rockford Mayor John McNamara; Joseph P. Monaghen of Palatine, director, Cook County President's Office of Employment Training; Bonnie Neraty of Villa Park, administrative assistant to the president, Iron Workers District Council of Chicago; Janet M. Payne of Westville, plant administrator and safety director, Plastics Inc.; Mervyn C. Pilotte of Waukegan, director, Lake County Area Vocational Center; Linda E. Trager of Elgin, executive director, Kane County Department of Training and Employment; and Bradley Woodruff of Elgin, executive director, Centro De Informacion Y Progresso.

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All appointments to the council were effective immediately and require Senate confirmation. Terms expire July 1, 1988, with the exception of Neraty, whose term expires July 1, 1987. Cowles replaces Pam Anderson on the council. Galva replaces Margarita Martinez, Hartman replaces Joseph Williams, Neraty replaces William Bounds, Kostial replaces Shirley Brussel and Pilotte replaces Marie Malinauskas. All others are reappointments. The positions pay expenses.

Nevling new chief of Natural History

Lorin Nevling of Downers Grove was named the new chief of the Illinois Natural History Survey, the largest biological survey in the nation, in January by the Illinois Board of Natural Resources and Conservation. Nevling succeeds Paul Risser, who became vice president of research for the University of New Mexico-Albuquerque last July. Lawrence Page, who has served as acting chief since that time, will remain with the survey, conducting aquatic research. The survey's 230-member staff studies animal and plant life in the state to determine how to protect and use these natural resources for the benefit of Illinois residents. Collections of Illinois plants and animals are maintained at the 128-year-old survey, a division of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources. Nevling conducted research and oversaw research collections at Harvard University for 14 years. He joined the staff of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History in 1973 as chairmann of the botany department. Four years later, he became assistant director for science and education, and in 1980 he became director of the museum. Besides conducting extensive research in the United States and abroad, Nevling has authored more than 75 scientific articles, serves on several boards and holds many professional appointments.

Hickmann, Cummings get top posts at Abandoned Mines

Gov. George H. Ryan, chairman of the Ababdoned Mined Lands Reclamation Council (AMLRC), in January announced the appointments of Springfield residents Timothy J. Hickmann as executive director of the AMLRC and Theresa Cummings as assistant director. Hickmann, who was supervisor of planning and realty for the AMLRC, replaced Sue Massie, who resigned to join Massie, Massie and Associates, a land planning and design firm specializing in historic preservation. Cummings filled a previously vacant position. Both appointments were effective immediately.

Hickmann, who oversees the 36-member staff, was a researcher at the Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and a land reclamation specialist with the Department of Mines and Minerals before joining the AMLRC in 1982 as field supervisor of the agency's Marion office. He later moved to the council's Springfield office to serve as a resources planner. As executive director, Hickmann, 31, receives $37,000 annually.

Cummings, 53, formerly executive director of Springfield/Sangamon County Community Action Inc., will receive an annual salary of $25,000.

The AMLRC, established by the General Assembly in 1975, oversees the reclamation of coal mine areas abandoned before August 1977, the year of passage of a federal law requiring active coal operators to reclaim their sites.

Appointments, reappointments to Illinois Council on Aging

Gov. James R. Thompson appointed and reappointed several members to serve three-year terms on the Illinois Council on Aging. A 31-member advisory body for the Department on Aging, the council includes eight legislators and 23 citizens, more than half of whom must be senior citizens.

As the official state and federally mandated advocacy body on aging to the governor and the Department on Aging, the council reviews and reports on the department's distribution of public funds, evaluates and reports on state programs and services for the aging and consults with departmental staff on the operations of the department. According to Williard C. Rasmussen of Park Ridge, administrator of the St. Matthew Lutheran Home in Park Ridge and chairman of the council for the last five years, one of the major efforts of the council during the past year involved the formation of the Task Force on the Status of Older Women in Illinois. Future efforts will include discussing the council's role in the generational equity debate, which focuses on what and how many resources should be targeted to older and younger generations, and the federal Older Americans Act of 1965, which is scheduled to be reauthorized by Congress this year.

Reappointed members include Rasmussen; Ernest E. Hanson of DeKalb, retired administrator of Northern Illinois University; Regina Merritt of Western Springs, retired public welfare administrator; Robert J. O'Connor of Aurora, an attorney and new chairman of the Region 2 Area Agency on Aging board of directors; Margo Schreiber of Hanover Park, an administrator of the DuPage County Department of Human Services in Wheaton; the Rev. William S. Warfield of Quincy, chaplain at the Illinois Veterans' Home in Quincy; and Eleanor Wooten of East St. Louis, retired educator and member of the Southwestern Illinois Area Agency on Aging board of directors.

Newly appointed members include Dorothy Hittmeier of Springfield, aide to Sen. William F. Mahar Jr. (R-19, Homewood); Margaret Ward of Danville, retired school administrator and teacher. Two more members remained to be named at press time.

Terms for all these members expire January 1, 1989.

Public administrators

Gov. James R. Thompson in January announced more appointments and reappointments to public administrator, guardian and conservator positions in several Illinois counties (see "Names," February 1987, for earlier announcement).

New appointments, by county, include: Coles — John A. Dively Jr., 28, of Charleston, self-employed attorney; Gallatin — Joe E. Wright, 72, of Shawneetown, retired owner and operator, Wright Funeral Home; Jasper — Harold G. Webb, 65, of Newton, retired trust officer, People's State Bank of Newton; and Johnson — William E. Elliott, 54, of Vienna, vice president and cashier, Drovers State Bank. Dively replaces Karen Fuqua, Webb replaces Vernon R. Hildebrand and Elliott replaces Chester Lawrence. Wright fills a vacancy.

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Reappointments include: Kankakee — Duane J. O'Connor, 43, of Kankakee, attorney, Smith & O'Connor; Lake — Joseph Vogler, 50, of Gurnee, buyer and merchandising consultant, Winner Sales Co.; LaSalle — Wayne R. Whitmore Jr., 41, of Mendota, attorney, Wayne R. Whitmore Jr., Attorney at Law; Lee — Lucille K. Henning, 53, of Dixon, real estate broker, Long & Associates; Marion — Michael R. Jones, 39, of Centralia, attorney, Branson, Jones & Branson; Vermilion — Harlan R. Hosch, 66, of Danville, real estate broker, Paxton Real Estate; and Woodford — Don B. Peioletti Sr., 74, of Eureka, attorney, Peioletti & Peioletti.

All appointments and reappointments were effective immediately and require Senate confirmation. Terms expire December 4, 1989, with the exceptions of Elliott's, which expires December 5, 1988, and Wright's, which expires December 3, 1990. The positions pay fees only.

IDOT's Smith chairs national highway safety group

Melvin H. Smith, director of the Division of Traffic Safety for the Illinois Department of Transportation, has been elected chairman of the National Association of Governors' Highway Safety Representatives (NAGHSR) in Washington, D.C. NAGHSR coordinates information and development of public policy on major highway safety issues. Smith's term runs through November 1987.

Washburn new veep for national insurance association

Illinois insurance director John E. Washburn of Mundelein has been elected vice president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Washburn has been an active member of the NAIC since his appointment as director of insurance in November 1983. As vice president, he will serve as chair of the executive committee.

NIPC's new president: Charlie Thurston

Charlie A. Thurston of Wheaton was elected president of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) in December by the board of commissioners. Thurston, appointed by Gov. James R. Thompson to the NIPC, is division vice president of Northern Illinois Gas. He succeeds Dean Cunat of McHenry as president. Cunat, a member of the McHenry County Board, has served on the commission since 1980 and had been its president since December 1983.

A member of the NIPC since 1977, Thurston has served as its vice president for planning and policy development and chair of its legislative committee. Last year he was elected by local government officials from around the country to the National Association of Regional Councils' board of directors. Earlier in the Thompson administration Thurston served on the Task Force on the Future of Illinois.

Other officers elected by the 30-member NIPC board are: vice president — Sheila H. Schultz of Wheeling, president, village of Wheeling; secretary — Elizabeth L. Hollander of Chicago, planning commissioner, city of Chicago; treasurer — Donna P. Schiller of Lake Barrington Shores, executive director, Illinois Legislative Project; vice president for planning and policy development — Eleanor S. Rostron of Waukegan, member, Lake County Board; vice president for governmental services — Edward W. Paesel, mayor of Sauk Village; and vice president for water quality management — Constance Zimmermann of Glen Ellyn, member, DuPage County Board. All will serve one-year terms as officers.

The NIPC is the comprehensive planning agency for the six-county Chicago metropolitan area. In addition to planning, the agency provides technical and research assistance and reviews federal grant requests for local governments.

Other appointments

Bernard J. Turnock, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, appointed Thomas J. Schafer as chief media spokesman for the Springfield office effective January 5. Schafer, 34, was bureau chief for the Gannett News Service in Tallahasse, Fla., from 1983 to 1986. Prior to that, he served as Gannett's chief correspondent in Springfield for nearly three years. He also worked six years as a reporter for the Rockford Register-Star. As a public information officer, Schafer will be paid $41,500 a year.

It's another case of the right hand being unaware of the left. Anna J. Merritt, a contributing editor to Illinois Issues ("State Reports") since August 1978, slipped quietly into the post of assistant director of the University of Illinois' Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA) last September. Merritt, who had been an editor/staff associate with the institute since 1978, was appointed to her new position by IGPA director Robert Rich. The institute is broadening its focus, and Merritt is responsible for various parts of this five-year expansion. She serves as liaison to IGPA's new Chicago office, helps establish policy for new programs and oversees fiscal matters. Merritt is also planning to publish a newsletter about the "new" IGPA.

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Donald G. Hughes of Springfield was appointed in January by Illinois State Chamber of Commerce President Lester W. Brann Jr. to serve as the organization's legislative department manager. Hughes, who will work out of the chamber's Springfield office, replaced Joseph Ciaccio Jr., who resigned last fall to become associate director-general counsel of the Illinois Railroad Association. For the past several years, Hughes, has been state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. He has also served as director of program development for Triton College in River Grove and was a legislative assistant to Lt. Gov. George H. Ryan when Ryan was speaker of the. Illinois House of Representatives.

McDermott disbarred

Joseph E. McDermott, who declined his election as Cook County circuit court judge in November after running unopposed, was disbarred as an attorney in December by the Illinois Supreme Court. He earlier had pleaded guilty to bribing judges and policemen in order to fix drunken driving cases and had agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in the government's case against Cook County circuit judge John H. McCollom. McDermott spent two weeks in jail in November for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury. In early December he filed an affidavit with the Illinois Supreme Court declining the judgeship and promising not to run for judicial office in the future.

Suter chosen outstanding working woman

Susan S. Suter, 36, of Springfield, director of the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services, was featured as one of Glamour's 10 outstanding young working women for 1987 in the magazine's February issue. Suter, who lost the use of her legs due to polio at age two, now directs 2,200 employees in more than 50 offices across the state with an annual budget of almost $150 million. She has been responsible for increasing the number of Illinois centers for independent living from two to 11, as well as workforce placement and training programs, educational options, legal action to open mass transit to disabled persons, the formation of the first statewide coalition of citizens with disabilities and the establishment of an annual disabilities rights conference. Currently, she is a national advocate and media spokesperson for disabled persons.

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