PEOPLE
Edited by Rodd Whelpley
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SHIFTS AT THE TOP
George H. Ryan moved quickly to fill
his staff roster. His first appointment
was Robert H. Newtson, who was named
chief of staff. Newtson, 45, of Springfield has been a close aide to Ryan since
the 1980s. He was chief of staff for
House Republicans when Ryan was
minority leader and speaker. He also
served as chief of staff when Ryan
moved to the lieutenant governor's office
and again, among other duties, in the
secretary of state's office. Newtson wrote
Ryan's position papers for the campaign
for governor, and he served as the direc-
tor of Gov.-elect Ryan's transition team.
Newtson began his duties on inaugura-
tion day and will earn $115,000 a year.
Outgoing Gov. Jim Edgar's chief of staff
was Mark Boozell.
Katherine Selcke will be the deputy
governor of program and planning, a
new cabinet slot. Selcke, of Hinsdale,
worked on Ryan's campaign position
papers with Newtson, the governor's
chief of staff.
Ryan kept a campaign pledge by
naming a deputy governor for education, another new cabinet position. He
chose Hazel Loucks of Edwardsville,
higher education director of the Illinois
Education Association and an assistant
professor of educational administration
at Southern Illinois University in
Carbondale. Ryan said during the campaign that the leaders of the state education department were out of touch with
parents and teachers and needed more
direction from the governor.
In announcing the 28 appointments to
state director and cabinet level positions
on the day after his inauguration, Ryan
kept several of the more popular members of former Gov. Jim Edgar's cabinet,
and brought along some staffers from
his secretary of state's office. Like the
400 members of his transition team,
Ryan went for a mix of gender, geography, race and ethnicity.
Ryan crossed party lines to name his
new director of the Washington, D.C.,
office. Bernie Robinson was chief of staff
for Democratic U.S. Rep. James R
McGovem of Massachusetts. As a candidate, Ryan promised the office would
do a better job of getting tax money
back from the federal government.
Robinson replaces Terri Moreland.
Steven Schnorfwill be Ryan's budget
director. He had been Edgar's budget
director.
Cabinet level reappointments included
Jess McDonald, director of the Department of Children and Family Services;Howard A. Peters III, secretary of the
Department of Human Services, Brent
Manning, director of the Department of
Natural Resources; Lori Montana, director of the Department of Lottery; Kirk
Brown, secretary of the Department of
Transportation.
Ryan named 12 other cabinet positions:
Aging. Margo Schreiber of Carol
Stream, the administrator of the
DuPage County Department of
Human Resources, will replace
Maralee I. Lindley.
Agriculture. Joseph Hampton of Windsor has been a farmer for 28 years and
replaces Becky Doyle.
Corrections. Donald Snyder of Pittsfield, a former sheriff who was deputy
director for administrative services
for Corrections. He replaces Odie
Washington.
Employment Security. Linda Renee
Baker will move over from the state
Department of Public Aid, where she
was assistant director. The former
director was Lynn Quigley Doherty.
Financial Institutions. Sarah Vega,
supervisor of the credit union division
of the agency, replaces Frank C.
Casillas.
Human Rights. A former supervisor at
the department, Carlos Salazar, was
an equal employment opportunity
officer in the secretary of state's office.
He replaces Rose Mary Bombela.
Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency. Thomas Skinner, an environmental attorney with former Gov, Jim
Thompson's law firm Winston &
Strawn and the son of former U.S.
Transportation secretary Sam Skinner.
The former director is Mary A. Gade.
Insurance. Nat Shapo, research and
program development coordinator
from the secretary of state's office.
Arnold Dutcher had been acting
director.
Professional Regulation. Leonard
Sherman, director of administrative
hearings for the secretary of state,
replaces Nikki Zollar.
Public Aid. Ann Patia, who served as
associate secretary at the Department
of Human Services, replaces Joan
Walters.
Revenue. Glen Bower was assistant to
the secretary of state in 1998. He has
been assistant director and general
counsel at the Department of Revenue
and chair of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board. Ken Zehnder had been
director.
State Police. Sam Nolen served as acting director in 1991 and is a 38-year
veteran of the police department.
Gene Marlin had been acting director.
Ryan named others to his staff:
Deputy chief of staff in Springfield.
Kevin Wright held the same position
for Secretary of State Ryan and
replaces Alien Grosboll.
Deputy chief of staff in Chicago. Rich
Juliano served in the same job for
Ryan as secretary of state and replaces
Andrew Foster.
Director of policy development. State
library Director Bridget Lamont.
General counsel. Diane Ford moves
over from the same position with Ryan
at secretary of state. She replaces Chief
Legal Counsel Elena Kezelis.
Governor's press secretary. Dave
Urbanek held the same position at the
secretary of state's office.
Deputy press secretary. John Torre will
hold the position in Chicago, where he
held the same position for Secretary of
State Ryan.
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34 February 1999 Illinois Issues
RETURN OF THE DEMOCRATS
The other side of the political aisle
Secretary of State Jesse White and Comptroller Dan Hynes, the first
Democrats to hold statewide executive posts in four years, began settling
into their digs at the Capitol last month.
Secretary of state
Jesse White, the first member of his party to head the job-rich secretary of state's
office in nearly two decades, tapped Thomas Benigno as his deputy. Benigno headed
White's campaign. He named his daughter, Glenna White, director of accounting
and revenue. She worked previously as an accountant in George Ryan's office. Terri
Coombes is the new director of policy and planning. She served the same role on
House Speaker Michael Madigan's staff. White picked Mary Lou Kearns as his
director of community and senior services. Kearns has been the Kane County
coroner for 22 years and has run unsuccessfully several times for higher office. She
lost the race for lieutenant governor to Corinne Wood last year and in 1986 lost to
J. Dennis Hastert for the 14th U.S. House seat. Kearns is a registered nurse and
lives in west suburban St. Charles. Todd Renfrew, director of public works in
Springfield, was named senior adviser to the chief of staff on business affairs.
White also named former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon and Chicago Transit Authority
Chair Valeric Jarrett to help with his transition. A former state lawmaker and,
more recently, Cook County's recorder of deeds. White gave his 35-member transition team until April 1 to outline recommendations in 13 policy areas. Among his
responsibilities, the secretary of state oversees driver's license offices. On that front,
White will have his hands full. Before the election, federal prosecutors indicted
workers in a suburban facility for allegedly selling licenses to commercial drivers.
White's co-executive transition directors are Michael Igoe of Vedder, Price,
Kaufman & Kammholz and Gary Strell of Government Information Systems in
Springfield. Members of the team include Michael Bakalis, a professor at Northwestern University who is a former state comptroller and the last elected state
superintendent of public instruction; Thomas Donovan of the Chicago Board of
Trade; Thomas Hardy, a press secretary for former Gov. Jim Edgar; Don Johnson,
the president of the Illinois AFL-CIO; Jerome Joyce, a former state senator from
Reddick; Mary Lou Kearns; The Rev. Eugene Kole, the president of Quincy
College; Joan Parker of the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois; and David Vite of
the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.
Comptroller
Dan Hynes, among the youngest statewide officials in Illinois history, named
Ann L. Sundeen, Don Templeman and Keith Taylor as assistant comptrollers. Sundeen was chief budget analyst for House Speaker Michael Madigan. Templeman
ran a deferred compensation plan for Central Management Services. Taylor was
the downstate director of Hynes' campaign. Kevin Schoeban, an appropriations
analyst for Madigan, is legislative affairs director. Gail Handleman, who was
campaign manager and press secretary for Hynes' campaign, is now his communications director.
Hynes also named four individuals to his comptroller transition team.
Chicagoan Bruce Sagan heads the group. Sagan has served on the boards of the
Illinois Housing Development Authority and the Chicago Housing Authority and
was the publisher of the Southtown Economist newspaper, now The Daily
Southtown. He publishes the Hyde Park Herald. Loretta Durbin is vice
president of Government Affairs Specialists, a legislative consulting firm in Springfield. She worked for former Democratic Senate President Phil Rock and Senate
Democratic Minority Leader Emil Jones. Chicagoan William M. Filan, a longtime
political staffer, has worked for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Filan
runs his own political consulting firm. Melody Hobson is a senior vice president at
Ariel Capital Management Inc., a Chicago-based investment firm.
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Second-in-command
laps her team
Lieutenant Gov. Corinne Wood
named Dave Bender and Eric Robinson for her staff. Bender, who worked for the
state agriculture department, is Wood's
new chief of staff. Robinson, former
Gov. Jim Edgar's press secretary, will
handle press for Wood. Bender and
Robinson both hail from Lincoln.
Barbara Stewart joins Wood's staff as
director of policy. Stewart was deputy
chief of staff at the lieutenant governor's office from 1995 to 1997. She
served on former Gov. James R.
Thompson's policy and program staff.
Chris Hensley of Lake Bluff will be
chief of strategic planning. Hensley
served as Wood's legislative assistant. He
then co-managed her campaign for lieutenant governor.
Tom Faulkner of Chatham is senior
policy assistant. Faulkner served as chief
of staff to former First Lady Brenda
Edgar.
Rhonda Miner of Springfield is director of scheduling. She will also supervise
; the office's travel and advance staff.
Miner served in that capacity for former
state Comptroller Loleta Didrickson.
She was also a scheduler for former
Govs. James R. Thompson and Jim
Edgar.
Brittan Bolin will be legislative affairs
director. She served in the same capacity
for the state comptroller's office. Prior
to that, she was on the Illinois House
Republicans' staff.
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Simon undergoes
multiple bypass
Former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon underwent heart surgery last month. At press
time, he was resting at home. He's
expected to make a full recovery from
the six vessel bypass graft surgery, which
was performed January 5 at St. John's
Hospital in Springfield.
He had experienced no symptoms, but
the decision to perform surgery was
made after an angiogram.
Simon, 70, of Makanda is currently
director of the Public Policy Institute
at Southern Illinois University in
Carbondale.
Illinois Issues February 1999 35
PEOPLE
THE LONG GOODBYE
Jim Edgar gave lllinoisans more than a
year's notice that he didn't plan on trying to
renew his lease on the governor's Mansion.
Almost immediately, he and the media
begun to place an eight-year administration
into context. But the all-important business
of final assessments picked up between
the November election and the January
inauguration. According to an aide, Edgar
grunted some 25 media interviews during
his final month in office. One aired on
Illinois Public Radio's State Week in
Review the weekend before Edgar moved
on to a new career in academia. Produced
by WUIS at the University of Illinois at
Springfield, it was anchored by Rich
Bradley. the station's news director, and
Bill Wheelhouse, the station's Statehouse
bureau chief Illinois Issues editor Peggy
Boyer Long participated. The following is
an edited version of that program.
Q: Education has been one of the things
that you've talked about for all of the
eight years you've been in office. And I
think you've made some remarkable
progress. But It did not reach the level
you had hoped. I wonder if that remains
a disappointment for you?
A: In the area of education, we achieved
what we wanted. What we didn't
achieve was the tax reforms. The [per
pupil] foundation [spending] level is
in place. We did get the [property] tax
caps, which in many ways probably
hurt our efforts to get the tax swap [for
funding education more from income
taxes than property taxes] because it
took a lot of the pressure off in the
suburbs. And that's where most of the
opposition to the tax swap came from.
Q: You've been talking about the possibility of a tux swap [for school funding]
since you were in the legislature. What
do you think would have to happen for
that to take place?
A: I had a task force take a look at that,
headed up by Tim Bramlet, the head of
the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois.
That group wasn't able to come up
with a consensus about what to do.
They all agreed we needed to do something. But because of the current tax
structure in Illinois, particularly the
two-tier [property tax] system in Cook
County, where you have a different rate
for corporations and homeowners,
that has made it difficult to try to figure
out how you'd do a swap so it doesn't
look like it's just a bailout for corporations. That is one of the obstacles that's
going to have to be dealt with before
we see across-the-board property tax
relief in the manner of trying to shift
more [of the burden for funding
schools] to the state income tax.
Q: Were there any other disappointments?
A: The biggest frustration for me was the
Baby Richard case. In government, we
talk about hundreds of thousands of
people. The Baby Richard case was a
person, and a family. And you watched
that being destroyed because of the
[state] Supreme Court, because of our
judicial system. To this day, whenever I
see the clips of that baby being torn
away from the only mother he knew, it
bothers me that that happened because
of government.
Q: You say it was because of the Supreme
Court. Do you have reason to believe the
court could have decided otherwise?
A: Yes, I do. It wasn't a unanimous vote. I
think the tenor of the decision, too, the
way that Judge [James D.] Heiple went
after the adoptive parents was shameful. I don't think that sent a positive
message [about government] out there.
And when something like that
happens, that just puts a chill through
the adoption process. I had a lot of
parents who had adopted children
during that period come up and [tell
me that] they were just living in terror
that something like that could happen
to them.
Q: I want to afford you an opportunity to
talk about the media. Comment on your
assessment of the effectiveness of media
coverage print, television, radio.
A: I think that, unfortunately, the media
today does not go into enough depth
to understand what's happening in
government. I recognize that's not necessarily the fault of the reporter. Very
often, they're getting instruction from
their city desk or their editor. Also
maybe this is more the Chicago than
the Springfield media there's a
tendency toward pack journalism.
There's one topic somebody raises and
that's all they talk about. And they stay
on that for weeks and weeks, and
months and months. But I think also
there's a great cynicism among the
media. That's probably healthy to some
extent. But I don't think things in government and politics are as bad as at
times it appears in the media. There's a
tendency to spend more time on the
negative. Now, I also understand that
hard news, talking about what goes on
in state government, can be dull. This is
not always exciting. And I realize when
you're trying to sell papers or sell
advertisements on radio or television,
you want something that entertains
people. But government's not entertaining. Government's serious business.
And, unfortunately, I think because of
the marketplace the news media has
been forced to be more concerned
about entertainment than hard news.
That makes it more difficult for the
average citizen to really understand or
have a chance to make a decision on
what's happening in government.
Q: Do you have a sense of how you'd like to
be remembered by historians?
A: I think I'd like to be remembered as a
good governor who was honest, I mean
intellectually honest, [whom] they
could trust. I think it's very important
that people can trust their elected officials. And I would hope people had
trust in me, not always agreed with me,
but felt that I was trying to do my best
and did a good job.
Edgar's own take on his historical legacy,
Meeting the Challenge: The Edgar
Administration, 1991-1999, is available in
the State Library. Meanwhile, for a more
objective view, the University of Illinois at
Springfield has reissued Bob Howard's
book Mostly Good and Competent Men,
with a new chapter on Edgar. It can be
purchased for $19.95 by calling
217-206-6502.
36 February 1999 Illinois Issues
Legislative leaders
shuffle their lineups
Democrats made a few changes in the
state Senate, moving James DeLeo, who
represents Chicago's 10th District, up
the ranks. DeLeo, who had been that
party's caucus chair, is now an assistant
minority leader. He replaces Howard
Carroll, who formerly represented the
city's 8th District. Carroll ran unsuccessfully for Congress. Margaret Smith
of Chicago's 3rd District is now caucus
chair. Evelyn Bowles of Edwardsville,
who represents the 56th District, is now
deputy caucus chair.
Over in the House, the Republicans
made some leadership changes. Former
conference chair Art Tenhouse of Liberty, who represents the 96th District, was
named deputy minority leader. He
replaces Robert Churchill of Lake Villa,
who represented the 62nd District.
Churchill ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state. The new assistant leaders
are Tom Cross of Oswego, who represents the 84th District, and Dan
Rutherford of Chenoa, who represents
the 87th District. Cross and Rutherford
replace Judy Biggert of Hinsdale,
District 81, who moved on to Congress,
and Jack Kubik of LaGrange Park,
District 43, who left politics to work in
his family's newspaper business.
Patricia Reid Lindner of Aurora, who
represents the 65th District, is now
conference chair.
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PEOTONE
Gelling off the ground?
Pressure for a third major airport in
the Chicago area was ratcheted up a
notch last month when the South
Suburban Mayors and Managers
Association hired former U.S. Sen. Alan
J. Dixon to lobby for a site at suburban
Peotone. "It's clear Chicago is not a two-
airport city. It needs several more and
certainly a third one. And there's no
possibility of expanding O'Hare," says
Dixon. "I hope we can find some common ground with the federal government, the state legislature and with
Congress. The facts speak for themselves." Dixon successfully pushed for
the conversion of downstate Scott Air
Force Base into MidAmerica Airport,
which is designed to handle civilian and
military aircraft.
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Senator Sullivan sworn in
Political consultant David C. Sullivan got the nod from northwest suburban
Republicans to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the sudden December 1 death of
Marty Butler (see January 1999, page 35).
Sullivan, 34, took a leave last year from his job as intergovernmental affairs adviser
to the secretary of state to be the political director of George Ryan's gubernatorial
campaign. The Park Ridge Republican has worked in other campaigns and has been a legislative aide to senators from the Chicago suburbs.
Party officials from Butler's northwest suburban 28th District voted unanimously
to appoint Sullivan to the vacancy Butler had been the district's senator since 1991.
A month prior to his December 1 death, he was elected to another four-year term.
Ryan was among dignitaries on hand when Sullivan was sworn in on December 30
in Des Plaines.
Sullivan, a Marquette University graduate, lives in Park Ridge with his wife Dm
and their four children.
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APPOINTMENTS
Scott R. Fawell of St. Charles was appointed chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which operates Chicago's McCormick Place
and Navy Pier. Fawell managed George Ryan's campaigns for governor and secretary
of state. He recently served as Ryan's assistant secretary of state and chief of staff.
Chicago foundations name executives
New presidents will take the helm of two high profile
Chicago-based philanthropies this year, and the search is
on for a leader of a third.
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This month Deborah Leff begins her duties as president
and CEO of Second Harvest, the largest hunger relief
organization in the United States. Second Harvest
distributes food and groceries to 26 million people
through its network of 188 regional food banks in the
United States and Puerto Rico. The regional food banks,
in turn, supply the food to local soup kitchens, shelters
and Kid's Cafe programs. Left leaves The Joyce
Foundation, an $850 million grant-making organization
that funds public policy-based efforts to improve the
quality of life in the Midwest. Leff had served as Joyce
Foundation president since 1992. The foundation is
already seeking her successor. A search committee expects to complete its initial
screening of applicants by the middle of this month.
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Jonathan F. Fanton, president of the New School for Social Research in New York
City, will become president of The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in
September of this year. Fanton steps in for Adele Smith Simmons, who announced that
she will leave the foundation this fall after 10 years as president. The MacArthur
Foundation awards grants in the United States and abroad to individuals and organizations who work on community and human development, education, population,
conservation and human rights issues. The foundation's $4 billion worth of assets make
it one of the nation's 10 largest foundations.
Federal reserve taps Bush for advisory council
Malcolm M. Bush, president of The Woodstock Institute in Chicago, will join the
council that advises the Federal Reserve Board on matters concerning consumer credit.
The Fed announced last month that Bush is one of 10 new members named to the 30-
member Consumer Advisory Council, which exercises its powers under the Consumer
Credit Protection Act. Bush has worked with the Chicago Federal Reserve Board and
has taught social policy at the University of Chicago and at Northwestern University.
The Consumer Advisory Council meets three times a year in Washington, D.C.
Illinois Issues February 1999 37
PEOPLE
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QUOTABLE
"0ne of the FOGs (forces of good) has penetrated
the inner sanctum. "
Freshman state Rep. Julie Hamos, a Chicago Democrat, recounting the
Comment after her election of a former fellow public interest advocate.
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IT'S A GOVERNMENT JOB
The flu bugs can run
but they can't hide
It may not be as dramatic as the Andromeda Strain, but
when communicable disease outbreaks occur in Illinois, the
on-scene scientists call Carl W. Langkop.
At the Illinois Department of Public Health, Langkop
works with a 13-member team and the staff of approximately
90 departments of public health around the state.
Recently, he has advised communities on such diverse
outbreaks as leptospirosis in Lake Springfield, food-borne
pathogens and meningococcal disease (meningitis). After
assessing the nature of an outbreak, he advises on-site health
care personnel on investigation and control.
Langkop says that the range of situations he encounters
makes his job challenging. In fact, small outbreaks are more
frequent than some might imagine. There have been five
clusters of meningococcal outbreaks in Illinois since 1990: in
Champaign, Dixon, Jacksonville, Livingston and Springfield.
According to Langkop, these situations can get intense. The
severity and high fatality rate associated with meningitis call for
extreme measures to combat its spreading.
The work is unpredictable. Langkop, who holds a bachelor's
degree in biology and a master's degree in public health, says
that one case of Hepatitis A on Monday might be different
from another on Friday. "There really is not a 'regular day,' and
that makes it interesting," he says.
Cyclospora is a human pathogen sometimes found in fresh produce
imported from other countries and an enemy of Carl W. Langkop,
chief of the state's communicable disease control team.
COURTS COMMISSION
One member steps down
Justice Moses Harrison II resigned last month from the
Illinois Courts Commission. "There has been a lot of controversy," Harrison said in a printed statement. "I think this might
be a good time for me to withdraw so that the new group can
make a fresh start without controversy."
Critics argued the panel showed favoritism to Supreme Court
Justice James D. Heiple, who was charged in 1996 with abusing
his authority in an attempt to avoid a traffic ticket. The commission reprimanded Heiple, but it could have removed him
from the bench. Further, Harrison, who headed the panel, was
named to the post by Heiple and heard Heiple's version of the
altercation during a casual conversation before misconduct
charges were filed against Heiple.
Two new watchdogs take their posts
In one of his last acts as governor, Jim Edgar named two
trusted colleagues to new positions on the panel that disciplines
judges. Former Edgar spokesman Mike Lawrence and Paula
Wolff, who headed Edgar's first gubernatorial transition team,
will sit on the Courts Commission. The unpaid positions were
created by a constitutional amendment passed last November
giving the governor authority to add two nonjudges to the five-
member commission.
Lawrence believes he and Wolff will bring a fresh perspective
to the panel, which has operated out of the limelight. "The
public knows little about the procedures of the commission. I
think that's one reason the governor wanted to expand it," he
says. "It's in the interest of the judiciary to open up the process
without sacrificing any confidentiality."
Edgar said he sought gender and geographical balance in
selecting Chicagoan Wolff and Lawrence, who now lives in
Carbondale. But he said he also wanted to name people who
aren't attorneys, or part of the system. "They understand the
process and government. They won't get rolled by anyone. They
have a sense of fairness."
A longtime journalist, Lawrence was managing editor of the
Quad-City Times and state capital bureau chief for the Chicago
Sun-Times. In 1987, he became then-Secretary of State Edgar's
spokesman and policy adviser. He took on the same role after
Edgar was elected governor. In 1997, Lawrence became associate director of the Southern Illinois University Public Policy
Institute.
Wolff is president of Governors State University in University Park. She was an adviser to Gov. Richard B. Ogilvie from
1970 to 1972 and director of policy and planning for Gov.
James R. Thompson from 1977 to 1990. She served on Edgar's
Task Force on Human Services Reform and chaired the Edgar appointed Commission on the Status of Women in Illinois.
The constitutional amendment allowing nonjudges to sit
on the commission was requested by Edgar and approved
overwhelmingly by voters.
38 February 1999 Illinois Issues