By Jamey Dunn
Amid continuing controversy over the circumstances surrounding the resignation of his former top aide, Gov. Pat Quinn named a new chief of staff today.
Quinn tapped Michelle Saddler, who has been secretary of the Department of Human Services since last October. Prior to then, she served as director of policy for Quinn. Grace Hou, who was the Department of Human Services assistant secretary for programs, now serves as the agency’s acting secretary. UPDATE: Hou declined the appointment for "personal reasons" according to a written statement from the agency. She remains assistant secretary for programs. Quinn has since named Grace Hong Duffin, former DHS chief of staff, as acting secretary.
Quinn's former chief of staff Jerry Stermer resigned unexpectedly on Sunday. He said he was stepping down after the Chicago Sun-Times reported on an internal probe into campaign-related emails sent from Stermer's state account. Stermer sent three such emails and later reported himself to Quinn’s inspector general, James Wright. Wright issued a report recommending that Attorney General Lisa Madigan file a complaint against Stermer before the state Executive Ethics Commission. A member of Quinn’s staff notified Wright that he was being replaced on the same day he turned in his report.
At the Chicago news conference held to announce Saddler’s appointment, Quinn adamantly denied allegations that there was a connection between the report and the decision to replace Wright. “It is false. It has not a shred of truth.” He said Wright was given notice in the morning on August 13, and that he was not aware that Wright’s report had been issued until that evening.
Quinn said his office had been looking for a new inspector general since March and had interviewed Wright’s replacement, Ricardo Meza, in late June.
“I don’t think [Wright] labored under any assumption that I was going to reappoint him. I, for more than a year, was looking for a replacement,” Quinn said. Wright told the Sun-Times that he did not know Quinn’s reasons for replacing him.
Quinn said he does not interfere with his inspector general’s work and had only met Wright once. “I keep total distance from that office. … I do not interfere in any way shape or form with the office of inspector general. Never have. Never will.”
Stermer likely faced a suspension for his relatively minor ethics violations, according to Quinn. But instead, he opted to resign after the report was leaked to the press. “I feel very badly for Jerry because he is an exemplary public servant. He made a couple of mistakes. … He was willing to take whatever discipline would be administered.”
Quinn called Saddler a “committed idealistic person” who is “hard working” and “honest.”
“I am me,” said Saddler, who also worked for Quinn when he was state treasurer. “I bring all the strengths and shortcomings that a person might have, but I work hard. I believe in honesty all the way. And I believe in partnership. So I look forward to a continued partnership with our legislators, our employees, our providers and our advocacy groups. And of course with all our state agencies and Gov. Quinn.”
Showing posts with label Jerry Stermer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jerry Stermer. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Quinn takes hits on exit of top staff member
By Jamey Dunn
State Sen. Bill Brady, the Republican candidate for governor, took a shot today at Gov. Pat Quinn over the exit of one of his top staff members.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Quinn’s chief of staff, Jerry Stermer, resigned after the newspaper posed questions about Stermer sending campaign related emails from his government email account. UPDATE: Quinn is scheduled to name a new chief of staff tomorrow afternoon.
It is illegal for public employees in Illinois to handle political tasks on the job or use state resources for campaigning.
Stermer, the former president of the advocacy group Voices for Illinois Children, said in a written statement: “Last year, I inadvertently used my state email account to send three emails that the Office of Executive Inspector General (OEIG) later found to be prohibited under the state's Ethics Act. While my intention was not to do anything wrong, I recognized that a mistake was made and quickly disclosed this information to the Governor's Ethics Officer -- a former Assistant U.S. Attorney -- who recommended that I provide the information to the OEIG for appropriate investigation. I voluntarily provided the information to the OEIG for investigation, and made it clear that I was prepared to accept the consequences for my mistakes.”
According to the Sun-Times, the governor removed Inspector General James Wright on August 13, the same day he was briefed on a report from Wright recommending that Attorney General Lisa Madigan file a complaint against Stermer before the state Executive Ethics Commission.
Brady responded with a statement today. “This is yet another stunning report involving the administration of Governor Pat Quinn. Today’s revelation suggests that on the very day Pat Quinn was confronted with evidence by the Inspector General of an ethics violation, Pat Quinn put his political interests before citizens yet again and fired the Inspector General himself.
But the Quinn administration claims the report and the replacement of Wright, who was appointed by Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, were not linked. “Ricardo Meza was appointed by Governor Quinn to head the Office of the Executive Inspector General on August 15, 2010 after a lengthy search process, which began in the Summer of 2009. Ricardo Meza replaced an Inspector General appointed by the previous administration whose term expired in 2008. The replacement was not in response to this or any other specific OEIG report, and these events are in no way connected,” a statement from the governor’s office said.
Kent Redfield,an emeritus professor at the University of Illinois Springfield and director of the Sunshine Project, a nonprofit campaign contribution database connected to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said it would be more useful to Brady’s campaign to frame it as an issue with Quinn’s managerial skills than his ethics. “It’s much easier to make the case that Quinn is incompetent [than corrupt.] … That Quinn’s a nice person but he isn’t up to the job is an easier sell.”
Redfield said Stermer’s offense seemed “minor,” and he was surprised that Quinn thought they warranted a resignation. However, he said: “In this day in age, because everybody believes that everybody is corrupt, you have to bend over backwards not to create this situation.”
Stermer’s departure, along with the losses of other key staff members, might make voters consider whether Quinn’s employees have confidence in their boss’ ability to win the general election, Redfield said. “It certainly is curious, and it is just one more thing that the governor doesn’t need at this point. … At some point, people are going to ask whether this is a rats-deserting-the-sinking-ship sort of thing.”
State Sen. Bill Brady, the Republican candidate for governor, took a shot today at Gov. Pat Quinn over the exit of one of his top staff members.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Quinn’s chief of staff, Jerry Stermer, resigned after the newspaper posed questions about Stermer sending campaign related emails from his government email account. UPDATE: Quinn is scheduled to name a new chief of staff tomorrow afternoon.
It is illegal for public employees in Illinois to handle political tasks on the job or use state resources for campaigning.
Stermer, the former president of the advocacy group Voices for Illinois Children, said in a written statement: “Last year, I inadvertently used my state email account to send three emails that the Office of Executive Inspector General (OEIG) later found to be prohibited under the state's Ethics Act. While my intention was not to do anything wrong, I recognized that a mistake was made and quickly disclosed this information to the Governor's Ethics Officer -- a former Assistant U.S. Attorney -- who recommended that I provide the information to the OEIG for appropriate investigation. I voluntarily provided the information to the OEIG for investigation, and made it clear that I was prepared to accept the consequences for my mistakes.”
According to the Sun-Times, the governor removed Inspector General James Wright on August 13, the same day he was briefed on a report from Wright recommending that Attorney General Lisa Madigan file a complaint against Stermer before the state Executive Ethics Commission.
Brady responded with a statement today. “This is yet another stunning report involving the administration of Governor Pat Quinn. Today’s revelation suggests that on the very day Pat Quinn was confronted with evidence by the Inspector General of an ethics violation, Pat Quinn put his political interests before citizens yet again and fired the Inspector General himself.
But the Quinn administration claims the report and the replacement of Wright, who was appointed by Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, were not linked. “Ricardo Meza was appointed by Governor Quinn to head the Office of the Executive Inspector General on August 15, 2010 after a lengthy search process, which began in the Summer of 2009. Ricardo Meza replaced an Inspector General appointed by the previous administration whose term expired in 2008. The replacement was not in response to this or any other specific OEIG report, and these events are in no way connected,” a statement from the governor’s office said.
Kent Redfield,an emeritus professor at the University of Illinois Springfield and director of the Sunshine Project, a nonprofit campaign contribution database connected to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said it would be more useful to Brady’s campaign to frame it as an issue with Quinn’s managerial skills than his ethics. “It’s much easier to make the case that Quinn is incompetent [than corrupt.] … That Quinn’s a nice person but he isn’t up to the job is an easier sell.”
Redfield said Stermer’s offense seemed “minor,” and he was surprised that Quinn thought they warranted a resignation. However, he said: “In this day in age, because everybody believes that everybody is corrupt, you have to bend over backwards not to create this situation.”
Stermer’s departure, along with the losses of other key staff members, might make voters consider whether Quinn’s employees have confidence in their boss’ ability to win the general election, Redfield said. “It certainly is curious, and it is just one more thing that the governor doesn’t need at this point. … At some point, people are going to ask whether this is a rats-deserting-the-sinking-ship sort of thing.”
Friday, October 02, 2009
October issue: Jerry Stermer, "Voice for the man"
Get a glimpse of who helps shape Gov. Pat Quinn's agenda and style in the October edition of Illinois Issues magazine. Maureen McKinney profiles Jerry Stermer in the "Voice for the man."
Read the third and final installment of a three-part series on the plight of nonprofits in Illinois. Crystal Yednak writes, "Joining forces: To prepare for an uncertain future, nonprofits collaborate rather than compete."
And if you want to read about the anticipated effects of this year's state budget banking on delaying payments to certain Medicaid providers, read my feature, "Pay delay."
As always, our columnist Charlie Wheeler gives valuable context and analysis about what legislators and the governor have done by booting the tough choices into next year.
I also provide analysis about how "small budget cuts hit home in a big way." Case in point: grant-funded programs for people with disabilities and college students are in limbo.
And executive editor Dana Heupel gives the national context to Illinois' budget woes in his monthly column.
Our print readers also can read two guest essays: the first by Brent Never, who adds to the picture of how nonprofits are at the mercy of the state; the second by Jack Van Der Slik, who analyzes why politicians shrink from raising taxes as long as they can. Also available in print-only are more articles about campaign finance, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, a lawsuit over Chicago's parking meters, the closure of Howe Developmental Center, the attack of the waterhemp weed and other Illinois issues.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Quinn's cabinet and agenda take shape
Gov. Pat Quinn’s has selected two relative outsiders as his first picks for behind-the-scenes staff. He named a social service advocate for children as his chief of staff and a former U.S. attorney whom he’d met less than a month ago as his chief legal counsel.
Jerry Stermer of Elmhurst said this morning that he accepted the chief of staff position because the administration would put “children first.” That’s rounding out Quinn’s agenda that, so far, has prioritized a capital construction program, a plan to chip away at the state’s $4 billion in unpaid bills, a yet-to-be announced education plan and an ethics reform package.
Stermer is the founder and 22-year president of Voices for Illinois Children, a privately funded group based in Chicago that advocates for health care and education. The group worked with former Gov. Jim Edgar in a failed attempt to change the state’s tax structure to fund public education, relying more on state income taxes and less on property taxes. The measure has been proposed numerous times in various forms since then, but Senate President John Cullerton, who now controls the flow of legislation in his chamber, is a proponent.
Stermer and Quinn acknowledged during a Chicago news conference this morning that taxes are on the table as part of a “rescue plan” for the state budget, but they also used the words “fairness strategy” to indicate tax breaks or deductions for low-income families. “We do want to have in Illinois a tax code that is fair to parents raising kids,” Quinn said. “I think I saw once that our state gives more tax breaks to those raising thoroughbred horses than it gives to parents raising children. We’re going to change that.”
Stermer’s group also worked with previous governors to increase the number of children with health insurance through state-sponsored programs, including former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s All Kids program. Stermer said the organization supported Blagojevich’s attempt to expand the FamilyCare benefits to middle-income families, although he did not take a stance on the legal challenge of whether Blagojevich overstepped his authority by skirting the legislature to do so.
Stermer’s background includes working for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services from 1973 to 1979, followed by a supervisory position with the Legislative Advisory Committee on Public Aid. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador in 1968 through 1970. He met Quinn in the 1970s, when he said in our profile of the soon-to-be governor that Quinn introduced him to working on campaigns of independent- and reform-minded people who ran against the Chicago Democratic machine.
Ted Chung of Highland Park said Quinn called “out of the blue” to offer him the job as chief legal counsel about three to four weeks ago. He said that could be an asset. “I don’t have a lot invested emotionally in this man,” he said alongside Quinn in the news conference. Because of that, he said, he will “absolutely” be willing to tell the governor “no” when needed. “When called for, not only to say no, but to say no very clearly, very loudly, very unambiguously.”
One of his jobs will be to work with the new Illinois Reform Council, which is expected to recommend a series of ethics reforms by mid-April.
Chung, among other positions within the City of Chicago, was Mayor Richard Daley’s former deputy chief of staff for public safety. He also worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois between 1998 and 2004. He graduated from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and earned his law degree from Northwestern University Law School in Evanston. He was the editor in chief of the Northwestern University Law Review.
Jerry Stermer of Elmhurst said this morning that he accepted the chief of staff position because the administration would put “children first.” That’s rounding out Quinn’s agenda that, so far, has prioritized a capital construction program, a plan to chip away at the state’s $4 billion in unpaid bills, a yet-to-be announced education plan and an ethics reform package.
Stermer is the founder and 22-year president of Voices for Illinois Children, a privately funded group based in Chicago that advocates for health care and education. The group worked with former Gov. Jim Edgar in a failed attempt to change the state’s tax structure to fund public education, relying more on state income taxes and less on property taxes. The measure has been proposed numerous times in various forms since then, but Senate President John Cullerton, who now controls the flow of legislation in his chamber, is a proponent.
Stermer and Quinn acknowledged during a Chicago news conference this morning that taxes are on the table as part of a “rescue plan” for the state budget, but they also used the words “fairness strategy” to indicate tax breaks or deductions for low-income families. “We do want to have in Illinois a tax code that is fair to parents raising kids,” Quinn said. “I think I saw once that our state gives more tax breaks to those raising thoroughbred horses than it gives to parents raising children. We’re going to change that.”
Stermer’s group also worked with previous governors to increase the number of children with health insurance through state-sponsored programs, including former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s All Kids program. Stermer said the organization supported Blagojevich’s attempt to expand the FamilyCare benefits to middle-income families, although he did not take a stance on the legal challenge of whether Blagojevich overstepped his authority by skirting the legislature to do so.
Stermer’s background includes working for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services from 1973 to 1979, followed by a supervisory position with the Legislative Advisory Committee on Public Aid. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador in 1968 through 1970. He met Quinn in the 1970s, when he said in our profile of the soon-to-be governor that Quinn introduced him to working on campaigns of independent- and reform-minded people who ran against the Chicago Democratic machine.
Ted Chung of Highland Park said Quinn called “out of the blue” to offer him the job as chief legal counsel about three to four weeks ago. He said that could be an asset. “I don’t have a lot invested emotionally in this man,” he said alongside Quinn in the news conference. Because of that, he said, he will “absolutely” be willing to tell the governor “no” when needed. “When called for, not only to say no, but to say no very clearly, very loudly, very unambiguously.”
One of his jobs will be to work with the new Illinois Reform Council, which is expected to recommend a series of ethics reforms by mid-April.
Chung, among other positions within the City of Chicago, was Mayor Richard Daley’s former deputy chief of staff for public safety. He also worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois between 1998 and 2004. He graduated from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and earned his law degree from Northwestern University Law School in Evanston. He was the editor in chief of the Northwestern University Law Review.
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