Names                        

Continued from page 28

Edgar sets up a new commission to
cut red tape for businesses

By executive order, Gov. Edgar created the Commission on Regulatory Review on January 13. The five-member panel is to help business and industry cut through red tape and work to revise what the governor calls "unjustified and unreasonable rules and regulations that could inhibit and threaten a growing Illinois economy."

Chair of the new commission is Richard S. Williamson, 44, a partner with the Chicago-based law firm of Mayer, Brown & Platt. Williamson directed the President's Regulatory Review Task Force under former President Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s.

Other members of the commission are: Samuel K. Gove, director emeritus and professor emeritus of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana; Sondra A. Healy, chair of the board of Turtle Wax Inc.; Diane Swonk, senior regional economist and vice president of the First National Bank of Chicago; and Lee H. Walker, retired national distribution buyer for Sears, Roebuck and Company and currently president of the New Coalition for Economic and Social Change, a think tank based in Chicago.

The commission will work closely with the Illinois Economic Development Board chaired by Commonwealth Edison president Samuel K. Skinner. Though the commission had not met as of February 10, one commission member said the board will review state regulations and send those judged "troublesome" to the commission, which will in turn make recommendations to the governor as to whether or not regulations should be revised.

The commission will have staff support from the governor's office, the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs and various regulatory agencies. Members of the commission may be reimbursed for expenses, but they will not receive a salary.

Five new commissioners to
Guardianship and Advocacy
Commission

Five members of the 11-member Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission were appointed recently by the governor and two others were reappointed. Serving three-year terms, the commissioners oversee three state executive programs: Office of State Guardian, Legal Advocacy Service and Human Rights Authority, which together safeguard the rights of persons with disabilities. The commission guides policy for those people with disabilities, either mental or physical, who have no family or friends to care for them.

A spokesperson for the commission says that the number of people needing the state's help, "the guardian of last resort," is increasing. With a budget of under $5 million, the programs are expecting to provide services affecting nearly 28,000 Illinoisans in this fiscal year.

Joining the commission are Christopher A. DeAngelis, KPMG Peat Marwick, Chicago; Ronald B. Grais, with the law firm Dickinson, Wright, Moon, VanDusen and Freeman, Chicago; Joseph Lassner, professor emeritus of Loyola University, Chicago; Aaron M. Schmidt, The Packaging House Inc., Chicago; and Nancy M. Wyant, Wyant Surveying Co., Benton.

Reappointed to a term ending June 30 is LeRoy Ufkes, an attorney in Carthage. Barbara Leardi of Edwardsville, a special education teacher in the Maryville School District, was reappointed to a term ending June 30, 1996.

Commissioners are paid expenses only and require Senate confirmation.

30/March 1994/Illinois Issues

Weigand and Reineke promoted
at Illinois Commerce Commission

David Weigand, 40, of Tinley Park is the new chief of the Illinois Commerce Commission Transportation Police. He replaces Aubrey Moore, who is currently executive assistant to Phillip Gonet, executive director of the commission. Promoted to take Weigand's former position as assistant chief of police is Ronald J. Reineke, 33, of Springfield.

Weigand joined the commerce commission police in 1988 and has served as district commander in Elmhurst, assistant chief and acting chief. Prior to joining the commission, Weigand was with the Chicago Ridge Police Department for 13 years. Weigand studied law enforcement at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills and at the University of Virginia. He graduated from the Chicago Police Academy in 1975, the Illinois State Police Academy in 1988 and the FBI National Academy in 1992.

Reineke also joined the commerce commission police in 1988. Prior to his appointment to assistant chief, he was commander of the Mount Vernon office, where he not only

March 1994/lllinois lssues/31

supervised other personnel but also the computerization of databases used by the officers. Before joining the commission police, Reineke was an investigator with the Illinois Department of Agriculture. He received a bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and has completed one year of graduate work at Northern Illinois University at DeKalb.

Karr named Bramlet's
replacement at IRMA

Rob Karr, 26, is the Illinois Retail Merchants Association's new manager of government relations. The association represents over 23,000 stores of all sizes and merchandise lines across the state. Karr replaces Tim Bramlet, who resigned to take a position with the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois (see Illinois Issues, February 1994, page 34). Based in Springfield, Karr will coordinate the association's lobbying activities and continue as the editor of their journal tracking legislative action. He will also be the legislative coordinator for the Illinois Food Retailers Association, the Midwest Hardware Association and the Midwest Dairy Products Association.

Prior to joining the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Karr was associate director of government affairs for the Illinois Manufacturers' Association. He received his bachelor's degree from Illinois State University in Normal.

Behrens, Dobmeyer and Johnson
receive community service
fellowships

Behrens Dobmeyer

The Chicago Community Trust, a foundation that supports charitable groups that serve people of the greater Chicago area, awarded its 1994 Community Service Fellowships to three local leaders: the Rev. Thomas Behrens, executive director of The Night Ministry; Douglas Dobmeyer, executive director of the Public Welfare Coalition; and Irene Johnson, president of the LeClaire Courts Resident Management Corporation. The awards of up to $75,000 each will cover a stipend equal to the awardee's current salary, tuition, travel, lodging and related expenses, including the cost incurred by the employer who is granting a leave of absence for the fellowship year. Behrens, with The Night Ministry for 17 years, works with homeless, runaway and street youth. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and holds master's degrees from McCormick Theological Seminary and the Jane Addams Graduate School of Social Work. Behrens will use his fellowship to study the developmental stages of adolescence and the influences that lead to teens ending up alone, whether they are homeless or separated from any supporting family. He will also take advantage of the time to develop his own communication skills in order to enhance his abilities to articulate his experiences in working with the adolescents. Dobmeyer directs advocacy efforts of the Public Welfare Coalition, a statewide group working on welfare issues, public policy and public education programs on behalf of public aid recipients. Prior to joining the coalition, Dobmeyer was executive director of Residents for Emergency Shelter and the Center for Street People. Since moving to Chicago in 1971 as a VISTA volunteer, Dobmeyer has worked to serve the needs of low-income people.

He plans to use his year to develop his media skills and to research other advocacy efforts and how other movements have worked with the media to advance social issues.

Johnson has been president of the LeClaire Courts Resident Management Corporation since 1989. She is a member of the National Association of Resident Management Corporations, vice president of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition in Washington, D.C., a member of the Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and serves on the advisory committee for the Center for Community Change, also in Washington. Johnson will pursue professional training in community development with an emphasis on motivating and working with people in building viable, self-reliant and stable communities. She also plans to continue development of her public speaking skills as well as examining strategies for working with the media on articulating community issues.

Johnson

The Community Service Fellowship program gives individuals an opportunity to further their knowledge and abilities in specialty areas within professional community service.

Jacqueline Vaughn dies;
Reece elected new president of
Chicago Teachers Union

Jacqueline B. Vaughn, 58, of Chicago died January 22 after a long illness. She was president of the 31,000-member Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) for the past decade and in her third term as president of the 70,000-member Illinois Federation of Teachers. Vaughn attended Chicago public schools and earned a bachelor's degree from Chicago Teachers College in 1956 and a master's degree from Chicago State University in 1965. She did post-graduate work at Harvard on a language arts fellowship.

Vaughn

Concluded on back cover

32/March 1994/Illinois Issues