On his first full day as Illinois’ new governor, Rod Blagojevich dramatically displayed his reform agenda by firing dozens of his predecessor’s allies and ordering a freeze on state hiring.
“I intend to use every power I have and my discretion as governor to eliminate unqualified, unnecessary and overpaid individuals wherever I find them in state government,” the Democrat declared in January 2003.
The symbolism of Executive Order 1 was an electric way of telling Illinois voters that the cronyism associated with Republican George Ryan was over. But the job freeze had another effect: concentrating personnel decisions within Blagojevich’s office, which has to sign off on agency hires and promotions.
Now, a federal criminal grand jury probe, at least two investigations by Blagojevich’s inspector general and a host of complaints by ex-state workers are raising questions about the governor’s vow that qualifications, not politics, determine who gets a state job.
A Tribune examination of job placements in agencies that have been under investigation found a system that has allowed the Democratic governor’s allies to secure high-paying, high profile positions despite questionable experience.
Blagojevich has said the state and federal inquiries are not “a bad thing if you’re confident that your systems are working and that you know that you try to do things honestly, ethically and responsibly.”
Yet Blagojevich’s hiring system has resulted in at least three men with no law-enforcement experience–a factory supervisor, a car-parts manager and a farmer–getting jobs as assistant prison wardens. In one case, a former Blagojevich campaign worker with a history of drunken driving arrests even got a job in traffic safety.
Blagojevich aides say the candidates went through proper channels, earning the positions regardless of political pedigree. They also point out that the state payroll has dropped to 57,000 employees from 69,000 since 2003, though much of that was due to an early-retirement program instituted by Ryan.
Since at least March, federal prosecutors have been conducting an investigation into alleged hiring irregularities involving two top Blagojevich hiring officials and a top personnel officer at the state’s child-welfare agency, documents reviewed by the Tribune show.
Prosecutors also have used subpoenas to demand hiring records from the Departments of Children and Family Services, Transportation and Corrections and from the governor’s office, dating to March 2002, when Blagojevich won the Democratic primary for governor.
Last week, the Tribune disclosed that a September 2004 inspector general’s report found that two top officials in the governor’s office ratified personnel moves that ultimately let two politically connected men bypass veteran-hiring rules.
Firings in state prisons have spawned lawsuits. Attorney Scott Schimanski of Shorewood has filed 16 cases on behalf of former wardens and assistant wardens contending that political decisions have resulted in inexperienced people replacing career employees.
Since Blagojevich’s inauguration, Jesse Tinajero, Don Rumsey and Stephen Scates have been hired as assistant wardens at youth prisons.
Tinajero’s work history includes being a supervisor at the spring factory once owned by Blagojevich’s father-in-law, Ald. Richard Mell (33rd). Blagojevich aides note that Tinajero was a foster parent, part of a mentoring program for at-risk youths and had valuable managerial experience. Tinajero is now chief of security at a state transitional facility for soon-to-be-released inmates in Chicago.
Falling out with Mell noted
Aides to the governor said Tinajero’s connection to Mell had nothing to do with his hiring, and they noted that Blagojevich and Mell had a public falling out earlier this year. But Tinajero was hired more than a year before the family feud erupted.
Rumsey used to work for a pair of Downstate Democratic congressmen. Before that, Rumsey ran his family’s auto parts business and, months before he was hired, had applied to be manager of a Sears store in Paducah, Ky. A Blagojevich aide said Rumsey’s planning skills are valuable in his job.
Scates, the part-time mayor of Shawneetown, has run one of the state’s largest family farms for most of his career and also sold irrigation equipment. A member of a prominent Democratic family, Scates was named assistant warden of programs at the Illinois Youth Center in Harrisburg in July. Blagojevich aides said Scates’ involvement in youth baseball, his time on a local school board and his experience managing the farm aided him at the facility.
Another corrections employee is Neil Rossi, brother of a top Blagojevich lieutenant, Tony Rossi. Neil Rossi, who had been with the agency since 1988, was placed in an assistant warden’s post last year at the Jacksonville Correctional Center. In September, he lost a set of keys, including a master key to open offices, cellhouses and two locked wings, prompting a four-day lockdown that confined inmates to their cells.
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“There has been no action taken because the investigation is continuing,” Corrections Department spokeswoman Dede Short said. “It is my understanding that the keys have not been found.”
At the Department of Transportation, Donte Buonaguidi was hired in November 2003 to a supposedly politically immune position as an equal opportunity compliance officer. Buonaguidi was hired even though he was sentenced in the 1980s to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to extortion and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Officials said Buonaguidi disclosed his criminal background before taking the job and said he was hired because he worked on similar employment issues for the Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Housing Authority and the Cook County Highway Department.
A few months earlier, Transportation hired former Blagojevich campaign worker Rodney Hale to head up administrative work for its traffic safety division despite a drunken-driving charge a few months earlier. Hale already had a 1996 drunk-driving conviction on his record. Transportation Department officials said he was well qualified for his job, which focused on administrative issues. Hale’s employment ended a few months ago when he was charged with drunken driving again. He has pleaded not guilty.
The agency also hired Josh Hartke–cousin of Chuck Hartke, a former state representative and the current state agriculture director–as an administrator in Downstate Paris. Before that, Josh Hartke was a computer programmer at the University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine. He said he submitted a job application through proper channels and said his cousin had nothing to do with his hiring. Transportation Department officials said his technology background suited the job.
In the state’s Department of Employment Security, which is supposed to help people find jobs, Shawna Young, a 45-year-old woman whose husband has a real estate venture with Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko, secured an internship that turned into a job as a recruitment manager.
Before joining state government, Young worked for the Cook County chief judge’s office organizing domestic violence training.
Before that, according to her state application, she worked as a sales associate at Neiman Marcus.
A Blagojevich aide acknowledged that Young did not have a great deal of experience before taking her job with the Employment Security Department, which is why she got the internship, which is typically used for college students. The aide said Rezko had nothing to do with her securing the state job.
In 2004, the executive inspector general investigated allegations of hiring irregularities that resulted in several workers being ousted from the Employment Security Department.
In one case, investigators found that an employee was hired for an opening in northwest Illinois but allowed to work in the Chicago headquarters, where he wanted to be, to avoid rules meant to favor military veterans for jobs.
Investigators blamed the incident on Georgia Brahos, a Mell supporter who was brought in as head of human relations in the department, administration officials said. She left the administration rather than be fired, a Blagojevich aide said. Brahos did not return calls.
`Proper systems’ in place
Bradley Tusk, Blagojevich’s deputy governor, said the actions “clearly show that proper systems were put in place and they worked.”
The department did fire Brahos co-worker Surami Garcia, who was accused of telling job candidates to claim falsely they were in college in order to qualify for student jobs. A hearing officer for the state Civil Service Commission recently ruled Garcia should not be fired, and the full commission is considering her case.
Now Brahos is back in state government, but she’s not on any Blagojevich payroll. Instead Brahos is working for Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, a Republican gearing up to run against Blagojevich.
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