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* Dan Petrella…
(A) new report Thursday from a court-appointed watchdog suggests since Pritzker took office in January 2019 his administration has taken steps that have made it more difficult for those charged with monitoring state hiring practices to ensure political considerations aren’t influencing who gets government jobs.
Court monitor Noelle Brennan wrote in a court filing that her communication with the governor’s office and other state agencies, which “had been very productive over the years,” “has been diminished by new restrictions placed on the (court monitor’s) ability to communicate freely with agency personnel.”
“We believe these new restrictions imposed by the Governor’s Office are unproductive to the previously cooperative efforts of the parties to eliminate unlawful patronage, reform state employment practices and implement lasting improvements,” Brennan writes in the court filing.
Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said the assertion that there are new restrictions on communication is “false.”
“There are no new restrictions, and the state will be responding in court shortly,” Abudayyeh said in a statement.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:35 am
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It is “normal” for any new administration to restrict communications until they figure out what’s what. Let’s see what happens going forward.
Comment by Anyone Remember Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:40 am
This will be very interesting to watch.
This Administration has been uber-deliberate in filling spots, citing past issues with other administrations or the business as usual patronage.
If a judge agrees with the monitor, that message of a new day will take a hit. How can it not?
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:45 am
Why would the court monitor be free to speak with state agencies on her own? CMS is the state’s hiring agency. I would think that all communication should go through them. No idea whether they are being obstructionist, but if I were a state agency I wouldn’t speak to the court monitor on my own anyway without it going through CMS first.
Comment by Demoralized Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:46 am
Brennan has been milking this and similar cash cows for decades. God bless Pritzker for trying to shut off the spigot.
Comment by DougChicago Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:52 am
== CMS is the state’s hiring agency. ==
CMS doesn’t do the hiring at my agency.
Comment by Birds on the Bat Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:52 am
Have been in several IDOT interviews where a representative of the special master is sitting in the corner observing the proceedings. It is a little unnerving.
Comment by Huh? Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:52 am
This is all part of the Shakman scam. The monitor charged the state millions last year to do work the state already does. She‘a going to everything to keep that spigot flowing. It’s about time an elected official fought back against this.
Comment by Boots Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:54 am
I’m not sure what else the monitor wants. There are very few positions left where you don’t have to do a competitive interview to hire someone. There used to be far more positions where you could hire whomever you wanted without conducting interviews.
Comment by Demoralized Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:57 am
Go look at what she did with the City of Chicago and how long she milked that cash cow. You will also notice the judge in both IDOT and City of Chicago cases are the same person. State also needs to look into her billable hours.
Comment by Anon Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:13 am
There’s been some serious mission creep to the Special Master’s duties.The specifics matter, but I’m not per se sad if a Governor pushes back a little.
Comment by Boog Alou Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:14 am
– It is a little unnerving. –
That’s the point.
Comment by JB13 Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:33 am
It’s no big deal. Dhs is now hiring replacement workers at my site. And we thought Rauner was bad.
Comment by Generic Drone Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:36 am
=== It’s no big deal. Dhs is now hiring replacement workers at my site. And we thought Rauner was bad.===
You keep bringing this up and I’m not sure what you mean. Are the replacement workers scabs?
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:51 am
As a 25 year employee of the tollway their has been at least 15 to 20 people hired in the last 6 months making at least 150k to 180k from the CHA. Wonder what Noelle Brennan thinks of this? How could Pritzker let this happen?
Comment by STATE WORKER Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 11:07 am
== It is “normal” for any new administration to restrict communications until they figure out what’s what. Let’s see what happens going forward.==
This administration couldn’t even get their own office fully staffed until well into Spring session, so it’s not surprising communication wasn’t where it should’ve been the first few months. That’s on them and I’d guess a result of their lack of preparation on day one.
Comment by fs Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 11:08 am
Based on what I’ve heard, I have to agree with Doug and Anon. Brennan and the special master office have supposedly used ridiculously thin arguments to extend themselves into numerous areas of hiring that wasn’t part of their initial mission, to the point that several agencies have so far been unable to fix the hollowing out of state government that occurred under previous administrations. One can only assume it’s done by design to keep the taxpayer cash flowing. The judge sides with the special master on everything because the state never bothers to push back. I’d hoped Pritzker would do it, but that statement from Jordan sounds like they’re going to cave instead.
Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 12:20 pm
This all has to be understood in the context of recent history. JB announced his campaign in April of 2017. Rauner fires his staff on July 12, 2017. By July of 2017 it was assumed that JB would handily win. Rauner’s people were already making plans and jumping ship. it was at this point that agencies began working harder to re-classify exempt positions to non-exempt, giving personnel code protections to people hired by rauner, and shrinking the number of positions JB could fill.
Hiring in Illinois is a mess. Every new position needs to be reviewed by the special master, it’s created a bottle neck and like many people here accurately point out, the special master has turned into a personal enrichment scheme for the players involved, and it needs to go, or at very least have it’s power constricted. Otherwise it’s going to take years to create needed positions and hire people to make government work.
And the question needs to be asked, what’s worse, JB hiring someone close to his campaign who believes in his policies? or someone being hired because of their personal connections in the springfield network, who likely doesn’t believe in JB’s policies. in both cases neither candidate has the right education, experience or knowledge for the job.
Comment by Merica Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 12:43 pm
LHM - spot on.
Merica - the special master was more of a force in reclassifying positions. The Rauner administration spent a lot of time rolling over when they should have been fighting. I don’t think they had the proper personnel in those discussions.
Comment by Original Rambler Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 1:33 pm
@ da big bad wolf. They are doing the job of staff already employed. So yes
Comment by Generic Drone Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 3:03 pm
There’s a strike?
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 3:18 pm
Nope. Cant strike. They just allowed others to come in. Making us train them. If they won’t do certain tasks, we have to. Not right.
Comment by Generic Drone Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 3:51 pm
- State Worker - not sure if tollway comes under Ruttan. Now If it does and what your saying is true then that’s a problem. Surprised Marni hasn’t written about that
Comment by Hard D Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 4:13 pm
STATE WORKER and Hard D - Marni has an article in the Daily Herald today about the hiring of former CHA employees at the Tollway. In addition to the number of CHA employees joining the Tollway, someone needs to write about how they are creating new executive level positions for most of these new people. Hasn’t the executive staff increased by at least 50% (or somewhere around that number) because of the creation of these new jobs for the CHA people?
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Feb 10, 20 @ 10:51 am