The culture of corruption is a well-known fixture in Chicago and Illinois politics where it doesn’t matter what you know, it matters who you know. We have one governor on his way to jail and the one before him currently serving time for corruption. You would think the current governor, Pat Quinn, who bills himself as a reformer would change things. You would be wrong.
One way Quinn has continued the culture of corruption is by stacking state boards and commissions, many paying lucrative salaries for little to no work, with political allies. For instance, pro-choice activist Terry Cosgrove was appointed to the Human Rights Commission and has been a lifelong friend of the Democratic Party of Illinois and Quinn.
Quinn, however, has a new twist on board appointments. Many of these bodies are restricted by state law from having too many members of one party on them. This modest requirement is an attempt to ensure decisions are made on the merits instead of on the politics. Governor Quinn has gotten around this requirement by having Democrats label themselves as “Independents” when it comes to board appointments in an apparent end-run around the law and what likely is illegal behavior.
How prevalent is this problem? Here is a list of boards and commissions I examined to see if Quinn was following the law.
- Capital Development Board – 4 Democrats maximum, 6 Democrats serving and no Republicans
- Housing Development Authority – 5 Democrats maximum, 7 Democrats serving
- Board of Education – 5 Democrats maximum, 7 Democrats serving
- Board of Higher Education – 7 Democrats maximum, 14 Democrats serving and no Republicans
- University of Illinois Board of Trustees – 5 Democrats maximum, 6 Democrats serving
- Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees – 4 Democrats maximum, 5 Democrats serving
- Human Rights Commission – 7 Democrats maximum, 9 Democrats serving
- Health Facilities and Services Planning Board – 5 Democrats maximum, 6 Democrats serving
- Educational Labor Relations Board – 3 Democrats maximum, 4 Democrats serving
- Medical Disciplinary Board – 5 Democrats maximum, 6 Democrats serving
- Judical Inquiry Board – 4 Democrats maximum, 5 Democrats serving
These are boards with real power that either spend a good deal of taxpayer dollars or wield great sway over the voters. You can view the official party affiliation at the state website appointments.illinois.gov. To verify true party affiliation, I checked state voting records. Under state law, if you vote in a primary for a party, you are a member of that party. That is how I discovered many “independents” on these boards are really lifelong Democrats, many giving a good deal of money to Democrats for office.
As another egregious example of this apparent corruption, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees was ousted a few years ago in the wake of a patronage admissions scandal. In response, Gov. Quinn was able to appoint a new board to the University and proceeded to stack the board with Democrats in violation of the law. It gives the appearance of trading one set of patronage for another.
Some of these officials may be good public servants. However, the law exists in an attempt to ensure these bodies operate in a bipartisan manner. Gov. Quinn has decided the law just doesn’t apply to him.
Illinois deserves better than a governor who apparently engages in a pattern of deception to hide information from the citizens in an attempt to stock government. The law is clear and by engaging in this behavior, it calls into question the legality of any decision made by these bodies.
Update: The Quinn administration has responded by saying one of the Capital Development Board members left in April. Until this morning he was still listed on the website. Even with that vacancy, 5 Democrats serve and only 4 are allowed by law.