Names
Candidates
James R. Thompson resigned as
United States attorney for the northern
district of Illinois and on July 1 announced his candidacy for the
Republican nomination for governor in
1976. Thompson, a native of Chicago, is
a graduate of Washington University in
St. Louis and Northwestern University
law school. As federal attorney since
1971, he attracted attention for his
prosecution of some 350 public officials
and their associates. He also served as a
prosecutor in the office of Cook County
state's attorney, and on the staff of the
Illinois Attorney General William Scott,
who has announced he will not be a
candidate for governor. Earlier a
political unknown, Richard Cooper of
Winnetka, announced he would seek the
Republican nomination. He is chairman of the Board of Weight Watchers,
Inc.
The only announced Democratic candidate at midyear was W. Dakin Williams, Collinsville attorney and brother of the playwright, Tennessee Williams; Williams is a four-time loser for the Democratic nomination for U.S. senator. Speculation centered on State Treasurer Alan Dixon and Lt. Gov. Neil Hartigan as possible rivals to Gov. Walker for the Democratic nomination. Walker reacted to Thompson's announcement with words that left little doubt as to his intentions: "I can beat any mentioned Democratic candidate in the primary and any announced Republican in the general election."
Confirmations by Senate
Donald Johnson, Riverton, as director,
and William E. Jones, Chicago, as assistant
director, of the Department of Labor; Kenneth Holland, Des Plaines, as director of
the Department on Aging; Thomas B.
Kirkpatrick, Jr., Chicago, as executive
director of the Dangerous Drugs Commission; Robert K. Touhy, Geneva, as assistant
director of the Department of General Services.
Members of boards and commissions confirmed and their terms include A. Stephen Paydon of Plainfield, Capital Development Board, until January 1979; Carolyn W. Bergan, Chicago, and Carl Busby, Chicago, State Board of Education; Harold E. Fay, Alton, and Evelyn Kaufman, LaSalle, Board of Governors of State Colleges and Universities, until January 1981; Dr. Rudolph S. Shoultz of Springfield, Children and Family Services Advisory Council, until January 1979; George Janchenko of Summit, Harry Condon of Pekin and Carol A. Reitan of Normal, Local Government Affairs Advisory Committee, until January 1977; Lloyd E. Arras of Columbia, St. Louis Metropolitan Area Airport Authority, until January 1978; Scott R. Randolph and William A. Gregory, both of East St. Louis, and Bruce E. Miller of Lovejoy, until July 1977, and Delmar E. Valine, Sr., of East Carondelet, until July 1976, all on the Southwest Regional Port District Board.
Others confirmed are Raymond E. Hale of New Grand Chain, Board of State Fair Advisors, until January 1976; Ray H . Garrison of Flossmoor, Illinois Racing Board, until July 1977; Michael Berz of Bourbonnais, Liquor Control Commission, until February 1980; Ralph Carey of Herrin, James North of Marissa, and Nelson Rule of Pickneyville, State Mining Board, ail until January 1977; Martin L. Silverman of Highland Park, State Police Merit Board, until March 1981; Patrick S. DeMoon of Bloomingdale, Board of Banks and Trust Companies, until January 1976, Daniel Alvarez, Chicago, Department of Labor Board of Review, until January 1977; John A. Dolio of Chicago, Chicago Urban Transportation District, until July 1978; David R. Whitmore of Waukegan, Waukegan Port District Board, until June 1981; S. Barry Lipin of Skokie, International Trade and Port Promotion Advisory Committee, until January 1977.
Confirmed as members of the Metro East Exposition and Performing Arts Authority were Irving Dilliard of Collinsville and Sibyl Bellis of East Alton, terms until June 1976; Ruth Scrivner of Belleville and Lowell Burger of Lebanon, terms until June 1977; and Preston K. Johnson of Belleville, Jerry Blue of Highland and Art Griffin of Granite City, terms until June 1978.
Appointments
Sandy Guettler as the first woman managing director of the Illinois Office of
Tourism, by Joseph Pisciotte, director of the
Department of Business and Economic
Development. Ms. Guettler has served as
the office's public relations manager since
October 1973. Her new appointment was
effective immediately (June 19).
James Moynihan of Springfield as acting director of Capital Development Board's statewide construction activities by the CDB (July 1). He will fill the vacancy created when executive director Donald R. LeFevre returned June 30 to the Real Estate and Construction Division of IBM from which he had taken a 27-month leave of absence.
Frank Tiedemann as assistant director for public affairs of the Department of Business and Economic Development. He will coordinate the public affairs and promotion activities of the Office of Tourism, Film Services, Graphic Design, and Public Information, and his appointment was effective immediately (June 24).
State architect Kenneth G. Groggs as a member of the Illinois Architect Examining Committee by Donald E. Stackler, director of the Department of Registration and Education.
Harold A. Caswell of Old Greenwich, Connecticut, as district tax administrator of the Illinois Department of Revenue's New Jersey office in Hackensack. He will direct some 30 auditors who handle the state's tax collecting agency's out-of-state accounts in the eastern half of the nation.
Phillip Freeman of Chicago as deputy prisoner advocate for the Department of Corrections. An ex-offender, Freeman will investigate resident grievances and advise administrative personnel on those grievances and will be headquartered in Joliet.
Elections
State Rep. John Fary (D., Chicago) was
elected to Congress July 8 from Illinois' 5th
Congressional District. Fary defeated the
Rev. Francis X. Lawlor in the special election held to fill the vacancy created by the
death of Rep. John Kluczynski.
John W. Day of Wood River was elected an associate judge by the circuit judges in the 3rd Circuit and assumed the position July 1 for a four-year term. The vacancy was created when William Johnson of Glen Carbon failed to win the retention vote in April.
Other
Sylvia C. Blanco, Chicago, who was commissioned a second lieutenant June 28 when
she and 35 male classmates completed their
annual training at Camp Lincoln,
Springfield, was the first woman to attend
the Illinois National Guard Military
Academy. The instruction, designed to give
the knowledge necessary to be military platoon leaders, was not changed for her
benefit.
Three of the seven members of the Chicago Transit Authority are appointed by the governor; four' are appointed by the mayor of Chicago. Each appointment by the governor is subject to approval by the mayor and vice versa (Ill . Rev. Stat., ch. Ill 2/3, sec. 320). Reciprocal approvals were routine until at the end of June when Gov. Dan Walker refused to approve Marshall Suloway, Chicago commissioner of public works and the nominee of Mayor Richard J. Daley for CTA chairman. Suloway, in response to a Walker inquiry, had failed to recant his support of the Crosstown Expressway, a project supported by the mayor and opposed by the governor which—as much as anything— has become a symbol of the conflict between the state's two leading Democrats.
September 1975 / Illinois Issues / 285