SHIFTS AT THE TOP Michael P. Madigan of Springfield has been promoted to director of legislative affairs for Gov. George Ryan. He had been a member of the governor's legislative liaison staff. He replaces Chip Woodward. Chip Woodward of Springfield is now deputy auditor general. Woodward served as Gov. Ryan's director of legislative affairs. He worked for Ryan when he was secretary of state and for Gov. Jim Thompson. Stacey Robisch of Springfield is the new director of Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka's legislative division. She had been assistant government affairs manager at the Illinois Press Association. |
BIG PEOPLE ON CAMPUS
Gov. Ryan named three new members to the boards of trustees of the University of Illinois, Eastern Illinois University and Western Illinois University.
Lawrence Eppley of Palatine is set to serve on the U of I board until 2007. He's a CPA and a lawyer and a university alum. He works for Bell, Boyd and Lloyd LLC.
Julie Ward of Springfield will hold a seat on Eastern's board through 2007. She is the assistant director of governmental affairs for the Illinois Association of Realtors. She's a graduate of Eastern.
Dace Richardson of Wheaton has joined the board at Western. Richardson, the manufacturing engineer manager for the Baton Corp., is a graduate of that university.
Liquor Commission taps new director
Mark Bishop of Wilmette is now executive director of the Illinois Liquor Control Commission. He had served as the commission's chief financial and operations officer. He previously worked at the Illinois Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.
Common Cause names a leader
David Starrett of Springfield, who has been with Illinois Common Cause for seven years, is the group's new spokesman and lobbyist. He replaces Jim Howard of Chatham, who will work on contract for the Illinois Coalition for Competitive Telecommunications as its director of policy. That group represents AT&T and other companies in the debate over state regulation of the industry.
Bankers' association chooses a VP
Linda Koch of Springfield is the new executive vice president for the Illinois Bankers Association. She replaced Jeff Rodman, who took a job with a bank in South Dakota. Koch began her career with the bankers' association in 1989 after working five years for the Illinois House of Representatives, staffing the banking committee.
Federal probe widens Bid rigging was added to the charges in an ongoing federal probe of the licenses-for-bribes scandal during Gov. George Ryan's tenure as secretary of state. The feds allege that property manager Larry Hall and suburban Chicago builder Jerry DiSalvo engineered contract frauds that involved kickbacks. The number of indictments in the probe is 41. |
B I TAbraham Lincoln Marovitz Illinois' first Jewish state senator, Abraham Lincoln Marovitz, took that role to heart and promoted human and civil rights. When the long-time federal judge died last month at 95, he left a legacy of compassion and social consciousness. One story: When an Illinois legislator came to Springfield and was shut out of hotels because he was black, Marovitz decided to bed down at the train station, the lodging available to Corneal Davis. That illustrates the major lesson gleaned by his nephew, William Marovitz, who also served many years in the legislature. "He taught me to always be there for other people, to make as many friends as you can," says the younger Marovitz. "He told me, 'Someday when you need them, they'll be there and they'll remember all the kind things you've been doing for them.'" Indeed, the elder Marovitz counted the powerful and famous among his friends. After becoming a judge in 1950, he went on to swear into office both of Chicago's Mayors Daley. Celebrities such as Jimmy Durante and Bob Hope also were among his pals. "He met them when they were starting out in nightclubs in Chicago and he was good to them." But Marovitz says his uncle made it his goal to perform a good deed every day, and he was just as likely to show kindness to an elevator operator or a janitor as a rising star. That sense of right governed Marovitz as a legislator. "In terms of politics, the thing he taught me was, 'Always remember you have to look at yourself in the mirror,'" Marovitz says. " 'Do what you think is the right thing to do.' " Maureen Foertsch McKinney |
QUOTABLE
| " I've been here too long. I now get to listen to Democrats talking about deregulation. It's a sure sign that I've been here too long. " |
Danville Republican state Rep. Bill Black responding to comments by Bathalto Democratic Rep. Steve Davis during a meeting of the House Telecommunications Rewrite Committee. Lawmakers must decide whether to rewrite or extend Illinois' telecommunications regulations. Those regulations, which expire at the end of June, govern competition within the industry.
