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Gubernatorial candidates weigh in on hiring, ethics, campaign finance

by Dan Kalnes — last modified 2007-02-05 23:07

AP News wire story published in The Dispatch on September 21, 2006 , 12:52 AM

Gubernatorial candidates weigh in on hiring, ethics, campaign finance

http://qconline.com/archives/qco/sections.cgi?prcss=display&id=306823&comment_sub=done#comments

CHICAGO (AP) -- Republican Judy Baar Topinka says she doesn't object to making public lists of unsuccessful candidates for state jobs who lost out to people with political connections, something Gov. Rod Blagojevich has refused to do citing privacy laws.

Critics have said the names should be released so people can know if the administration is following hiring laws, such as giving veterans preference for jobs.

The administration has released the names at least once before but has refused to do so lately. It's a position Blagojevich sticks to in an Associated Press candidate questionnaire.

All three candidates, including Rich Whitney of the Green Party, responded to the questionnaire that asked questions on issues including ethics, state hiring practices and campaign finance reform.

While Topinka says she has "no objection" to the idea of releasing candidate lists, she did say she would have to look at the legal implications of doing so. Whitney said he would release them.

Questions about state hiring practices come as the Blagojevich administration is under federal investigation for how it doles out jobs. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in June that "very serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud" have implicated several state agencies.

Blagojevich has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He has said his inspector general will root out any problems, which the governor consistently has blamed on "a few bad apples."

Associated Press reviews have found top administration officials have approved hirings for jobs covered by laws and court rulings meant to keep those posts free from politics.

Whitney said he favors an independent hiring and promotion bureau to ensure politics doesn't factor into filling state jobs covered by the civil service code or Rutan, the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on an Illinois case challenging patronage.

Topinka said she would like to create a new certification requirement for state civil service hiring under which agencies would have to certify that veterans preference and Rutan rules were followed.

Blagojevich said he would continue to follow the state's personnel code.

When shenanigans in state government are uncovered, some have called for public disclosure of any wrongdoing unearthed under the more aggressive, independent system of inspectors general that Blagojevich and lawmakers set up.

Blagojevich touts the system in his questionnaire and says now that it's in place he's "open to looking at ideas to improve these positions."

Topinka said she supports legislation to make inspector general reports public and also supports "greater public disclosure" of ethics violations uncovered by the executive inspector generals.

Whitney favors open meetings where executive inspectors general would report on ongoing investigations, while protecting people's anonymity at that stage. He says there should be a system like the one that disciplines attorneys, where someone's name is made public after they are found to have committed an ethical transgression.

Illinois has been dubbed as a haven for so-called "pay-to-play politics" because the state doesn't limit campaign contributions and has no rules to stop donors from getting state contracts or jobs.

Both Blagojevich and Topinka, a three-term state treasurer and former lawmaker, have been criticized for accepting contributions from people or institutions who do business with the state.

Blagojevich has said he won't stop taking money from firms that do business with the state until a law is passed that applies to everyone. He favors campaign finance reform at the state level that's similar to what is enforced on the federal level. He said legislation he proposed would have eliminated contributions from corporations and unions, including contractors and vendors, and limited individual donations at $2,000 per election.

Topinka has said there is no connection between her accepting contributions from banks and other financial institutions and how her treasurer's office does business. She supports limiting or eliminating contributions from some individuals and groups. For example, she favors prohibiting anyone with state contracts totaling $25,000 from donating to the officeholder who awarded the contract. She also would like to see prospective bidders on state contracts worth more than $10,000 be required to disclose contributions they have made to the official awarding the contract.

Whitney supports a complete ban on corporate campaign contributions, as well as a ban on contributions from state contractors, their owners and officers.

"We need to improve the horrible reputation that our State now has as a haven for crooked politics and politicians," Whitney wrote in his questionnaire.

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