Holland new state auditor general

William G. Holland of Springfield was appointed Illinois auditor general by the General Assembly, effective August 1, by a resolution introduced by Senate President Philip J. Rock (D-8, Oak Park). Holland, 41, who was Rock's chief of staff, succeeds Robert G. Cronson, the first auditor general who took early retirement in December. The legislative constitutional office pays an annual salary of $73,676, and the appointment as prescribed in the Constitution is for a 10-year term. (For details on the approval of Holland's appointment, see "Legislative Action Special Section," Illinois Issues, August/ September 1992, page 46.)

Replacing Holland as Rock's chief of staff, also effective August 1, was Linda Kingman of Wilmette. The position pays an annual salary of $67,000. Kingman, 33, was formerly director of Rock's Chicago office. Rock is not seeking reelection in November but presides as Senate president until the new General Assembly is seated in January.

Ryder acting director of DCFS

Sterling "Mac" Ryder, 53, of Springfield was named acting director of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) by Gov. Jim Edgar, effective August 31. Ryder replaced Sue Suter, who resigned September 1 rather than in mid-September as previously scheduled. As of September 3 no timetable had been set for the appointment of a permanent director.

Ryder, who was DCFS executive deputy director since May, came to DCFS as general counsel in 1991 when Suter was appointed director. When Suter was Department of Public Aid director, Ryder was public aid general counsel, from 1989 to 1991. From 1986 to 1989 he was legal adviser with the State Board of Education. From 1971 to 1986, he was with the Illinois Legislative Reference Bureau, including service as its deputy director from 1981 to 1986.

Ryder takes over DCFS while it deals with budget cuts requiring layoffs of 365 workers and a federal consent decree requiring reforms, including a mandatory reduction in caseloads. As Ryder took over, plaintiffs in the federal case threatened to seek a contempt of court ruling against the agency, and a former employee filed a complaint against the agency with the Illinois Civil Service Commision.

As acting director, Ryder keeps the annual salary he earned as general counsel: $74,592. As director, Suter's annual salary was set by law at $71,069.

Engel associate director for environmental agency

David J. Engel of Springfield was named associate director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency by director Mary A. Gade, effective May 4. His annual salary is $72,756. He replaced Delbert Haschemeyer, who was named the agency's ombudsman for small businesses that must comply with the federal Clean Air Act 1990 amendments. Engel, 33, worked for five years with the Sidley & Austin law firm of Chicago and was an associate with its environmental group.

Department of Revenue's public information office

Michael D. Klemens, 43, of Springfield was named manager of the office of public information for the Department of Revenue by director Douglas L. Whitley, effective August 24. Klemens replaced Kevin Johnson; his annual salary is $39,600. Previously Klemens was the Statehouse bureau chief for Illinois Issues, where he had worked since October 1986.

Department of Employment Security's public information

Illinois Department of Employment Securities Director Loleta A. Didrickson appointed Shari Hanhardt-Kertez of Deerfield as director of public information, effective March 21. Kertez, 42, previously was the senior media relations specialist at Loyola University Medical Center. Kertez replaced Karen Fahrion.

Human Rights Commission's chief administrative law judge

Jane F. Bularzik, 44, of Springfield was appointed chief administrative law judge by the Illinois Human Rights Commission, effective August 1. She has worked for the commission since January 1990 and has been the acting chief judge since December 1991, when the former chief judge, the late Patricia A. Patton, was hospitalized. The position pays $3,631 per month.

The 13-member commission ajudicates charges of civil rights violations concerning employment, housing, public accommodations and financial credit; charges are initiated by the Department of Human Rights.

34 /October 1992/Illinois Issues

The Illinois Judiciary

The Illinois Supreme Court announced the following appointments, assignments and resignations:

Cook County Circuit

Chief Judge Harry Comerford appointed Associate Judge D. Adolphus Rivers of Chicago as supervising judge of the 1st Municipal District, effective July 27.

Circuit Judge Louis J. Giliberto of Chicago accelerated his December 7 resignation (reported in August-September Illinois Issues) to be effective August 31. Giliberto was eligible to run for retention in 1992; he withdrew too late for candidates to file for his post in the 1992 primaries. His successor will be elected in 1994; in the meantime the vacancy caused by his resignation can be filled by appointment.

Circuit Judge Richard H. Jorzak of Chicago retired, effective July 31. A judicial officer since 1964, Jorzak had served as presiding judge of the circuit court's domestic relations division.

11th Circuit

Wayne C. Townley Jr. of Bloomington accelerated his December 6 retirement (reported in March Illinois Issues) to be effective September 30. Voters in his circuit will elect a successor in November; the only candidate running is Republican John P. Freese of Normal.

13th Circuit

Circuit Judge William P. Denny of Ottawa accelerated his December 7 retirement (reported in February Illinois Issues) to be effective September 1. Voters in his circuit will elect a successor in November. Candidates are Eugene P. Daugherity of Ottawa (Democrat) and Howard Chris Ryan Jr. of Utica (Republican).

21st Circuit

The circuit judges of the 21st Circuit selected Circuit Judge Daniel W. Gould of Kankakee as chief judge for a term beginning August 11 and ending December 1. He succeeded James Blunk.

Appointed by the circuit judges as an associate judge, effective July 27, was J. Gregory Householter of St. Anne, an attorney in private practice and assistant Kankakee County public defender.

Lapinksi to Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts

John J. Lapinski of Lombard was named associate director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts by Acting Director William M. Madden, effective July 15. Lapinski was previously an arbitration administrator for DuPage County, where he had served since 1989.

Vilas chairs United Way of Illinois

Faith L. Vilas of Wilmette was elected chair of the 40-member United Way of Illinois' board of directors for a one-year term at its annual meeting July 17 in Oak Brook. She succeeded Clark W. McKee of Rochester, who had been chair since 1990. A member of the board since 1989, Vilas began working as a United Way volunteer in 1956. She worked for the United Way of Chicago from 1972 to 1984, and since 1984 she has been a board member for the United Way Crusade of Mercy, which is the fundraiser for United Way organizations in Chicago, suburban Cook County, DuPage County and parts of McHenry, Lake and Will counties. Vilas is vice president/treasurer of the board of the Brunswick Public Charitable Foundation and a member of the Evanston Community Foundation Board.

1990 Chicago metre area Community Fact Book The Local Community Fact Book Chicago Metropolitan Area, 1990 is scheduled for publication in 1994 by a consortium of Chicago-area universities led by the University of Illinois-Chicago. William Erbe, professor of sociology at UI-C, was named project director and chairman of the 1990 Fact Book Consortium by the university's Sociology Department in June. The consortium, which also includes representatives from Loyola University, Northwestern University, Roosevelt University and the University of Chicago, appointed Andrew Montgomery, a research associate professor in UI-C's School of Public Health Nursing, as data coordinator and Christopher Reed, an associate professor of history at Roosevelt University, as historical coordinator. Both appointments were effective in June. The project is funded by a two-year grant from the John D. and Catherine T.MacArthur Foundation ($50,000), the Chicago Community Trust ($35,000) and Woods Charitable Fund Inc. ($15,000). Seventy-seven Chicago communities are represented in the 1990 fact book. The additions are Edgewater, which broke off from Rogers Park, and O'Hare. Also featured are 52 metro area cities, extending as far north as Kenosha, Wis., as far south as Gary, Ind., and as far west as Hoffman Estates. Included for the first time are Buffalo Grove, Carol Stream, Orland Park and Wheeling. "Business people can use the fact book for markets. Government people can find the population and composition of communities. Community organizers can use it to explain to foundations and outside funders what kind of base they're working with," said Erbe. "One of our underlying assumptions is that every group coming into a community makes a contribution in one way or another," said Reed. "Our goal is inclusiveness," he said. Writers and community contributors from all over the metropolitan area will meet November 14 to discuss objectives and guidelines at a historical forum and training session. Montgomery said that a complete review of census data has been delayed because UI-C's social science data archives were still waiting in late August for a corrected tape from the census bureau. So far the biggest surprise to him is Chicago's population loss of about 200,000 from 1980 to 1990, while the total metropolitan area remained about constant. Fact books combining local history and census data are a Chicago tradition, going back to 1938. According to Reed, the focus of the 1990 edition will be a metropolis in flux during an era of transnational corporations and capital mobility. Besides the census data, the fact book's data base includes information from such sources as United Way research on metropolitan communities, vital statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health and crime incidence statistics from the Department of Sociology at Loyola University. With the exception of "median number of years in school," which the census bureau discontinued, the 1990 census data replicates everything used in 1970 and 1980. For purposes of comparison, the 1980 data is included in the 1990 fact book. Margaret S. Knoepfle

October 1992/ Illinois Issues /35

Peters new NIPC executive director

The Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) appointed Phillip D. Peters, 52, of Evanston as executive director, effective August 1. NIPC's deputy director since 1981, Peters began work at the commission in October 1963. He replaced Lawrence Christmas, who retired after serving 12 years as executive director. The position pays an annual salary of $78,000.

The 35-member commission, created by the General Assembly in 1957 as the intergovernmental planning agency for the six northeastern Illinois counties, released its "Northeastern Illinois Metropolitan Region Strategic Plan for Land Resource Management" in June. (See "NIPC speaks on growth and decline trends, taxes and land management," Illinois Issues, June 1992,pages 17-19.)

Bower reappointed chair, U.S. Railroad Retirement Board
Former state Rep. Glen R. Bower of Effingham was reappointed chairman of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board by President Bush August 10 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate August 12. The first chairman reappointed in 25 years, his new term expires in August 1997; he's been chairman since April 1990. An assistant director of the Illinois Department of Revenue from 1983 to 1990, Bower served two terms in the Illinois House, 1979 to 1983, as a Republican representing the 54th District. Headquartered in Chicago, the railroad board administers retirement, survivor, disability, unemployment and sickness benefits totaling over $7.5 billion annually for almost 900,000 beneficiaries now on its rolls and about 275,000 current rail employees. Bowers said that at this point the railroad pension fund appears to be sound for the next 20 years and "quite possibly" for the next 75 years. He said the big variable is railroad employment. Actuarial projections have factored in the downturn in employment, but a slump below what is already projected would affect the pension fund, Bower said.

Gilbert to ABA Health Informatics Committee

Francoise Gilbert, a partner with Altheimer & Gray, Chicago, was named chair of the American Bar Association's new Healthcare Informatics Committee, effective August 1. The appointment was made by Ellen Flannery, chair of the association's Science and Technology Section.

The informatics committee will study electronic data exchange issues specific to the health care industry, such as electronic benefit transfer or computer-based patient records, and it will develop policies to ensure data security and patient and provider confidentiality. According to Gilbert, the issues are costs and confidentiality.

Electronic data interchange between health care providers and insurance companies can expedite payments, and a group of hospitals could use data interchanges for ordering supplies jointly at less cost than separately. Confidentiality is involved in the transfer of patient records, particularly under new "smart card" systems, which enable health care providers quick access to medical records but are difficult to regulate to protect privacy. Gilbert is also interested in international cooperation in setting standards for electronic data interchange; the first countries with which she will confer are France, England and Canada.

Former state legislator McLendon dies

Former Illinois legislator James A. McLendon, 86, of Santa Monica, Calif., died in his home of a heart attack July 31. A graduate of Northwestern University law school, he was the first African American in Cook County to serve as master in chancery in what was then, 1947, the Superior Court of Cook County. He served on the Illinois Industrial Commission from 1949 to 1953, was president of the Cook County Bar Association from 1957 to 1958 and was an attorney for the Chicago Transit Authority from 1958 to 1965. McLendon served in the General Assembly from 1967 to 1983: as state representative from Chicago's 24th District, 1967 to 1969, and from its 22nd District, 1971 to 1979; and as state senator from the 22nd District, 1979 to 1983.

Platt heads Heartland Water Resources Council

Michael D. Platt, 36, of Yates City was named executive director of the Heartland Water Resources Council, effective July 1. Platt succeeded Bonnie W. Noble, who resigned in January to head the Peoria Park District. The Heartland Water Resources Council is a not-for-profit corporation seeking to save the Peoria Lakes and the Illinois River. The council's current interests are in water quality and the effects of rapid sedimentation.

A graduate of Monmouth College, Platt had worked for the Illinois Department of Agriculture since 1978, spending the last 10 years as an adviser to the state's 19 soil and water conservation districts in northeastern Illinois. In May he received the department's 1991 Director's Service Award.

36/ October 1992/ Illinois Issues

Interfaith Organizing Project wins award

The Interfaith Organizing Project (IOP), a church-based community organization on Chicago's near west side, won the metropolitan area's first annual Community Organizing Award. Sponsored by the Woods Charitable Fund and the Wieboldt Foundation, the $15,000 award was presented at the Newberry Library June 22. Also honored at the ceremony was Monsignor John J. Egan, a pioneer in community organizing who currently serves as assistant to the president for community affairs at DePaul University.

IOP won the award for successfully resisting attempts by the Chicago Bears (in 1987) and the Bulls/Blackhawks (in 1989) to displace low-income residents on the near west side to build a stadium. When the Bulls/Blackhawks Stadium Joint Venture offered near west siders immediate cash settlements for their homes, it got the agreed-upon IOP response: "We work as a single group. You have to deal with us collectively." On May 8, 1991, IOP negotiated a settlement with the Stadium Joint Venture and the city for $20 million in community improvements for the current residents of the area.

The settlement includes: replacement of housing for residents displaced by the new stadium; zero-interest loans of $650,000 for 75 units of additional housing; development of a new park, library and drug store; and continuing support for innovative education.

Steere state chamber's new tax program chief

Robert D. Steere, 38, of Springfield is the new director of tax programs and general counsel for the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce. Steere was appointed in May by Sally A. Jackson, the chamber's president designate and chief executive officer (Jackson took office June 15). Besides serving as general counsel, Steere lobbies the General Assembly on business tax issues and develops the chamber's policies on taxes and the state budget. With its 6,000 members, the chamber is the state's largest and most diverse business organization.

Like Jackson, Steere is a veteran of the Thompson administration. He worked for the former governor from 1981 to 1991, serving as general counsel to the governor from 1981 to 1984 and general counsel to the Bureau of the Budget from 1985 to 1989. In 1989 he became general counsel to the Department of Revenue and in 1990 was named its deputy director, serving in both posts until 1991. Before joining state government, Steere was a tax specialist for Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Co., now KPMG-Peat Marwick.

DES training center wins national productivity award

The Department of Employment Security's Training, Information and Resource Center (TIRC) was one of 25 programs in 13 states to receive a 1991 Exemplary State and Local award from Rutgers University's National Center for Public Productivity in June. Created with the help of a consulting firm, TIRC uses in-house trainers and a well-stocked information center to improve the productivity of the department's 3,000 employees. TIRC fills a gap left when 22 employees engaged in training were laid off in 1984. Compared to the old method of delivering training, TIRC's estimated cost-saving in fiscal 1991 was $260,000. Consultants write the training manuals with the help of in-house experts; employees learn to run the sessions. The center also has 250 items in its lending library on such subjects as stress, career and family, business math and business writing.

Staff contributors include Margaret S. Knoepfle and Charles Swearingen.

October 1992/ Illinois Issues/37