PEOPLE
Edited by Rodd Whelpley
SHIFTS AT THE TOP
Robert C. Winchester of Rosiclare
was appointed deputy chief of staff by
Gov. George Ryan to oversee issues
pertaining to southern Illinois. Ryan
announced creation of the office for
southern Illinois in his first State of the
State speech. Winchester, who has held
a number of positions within state government, represented the state's southernmost district in the Illinois House
from 1975 to 1985.
Ronald J. Gidwitz of Chicago will
be the new chair of the State Board of
Education, pending Senate approval.
He is a partner in GCG Partners, a
private investment firm. Gidwitz
replaces Louis Mervis, who is retiring
after 15 years of service.
Janet Steiner of Carlinville and
David Gomez of Burr Ridge were
named by Ryan to the Board of Higher
Education. Steiner is a professor at
Blackburn College. Gomez is
president and CEO of David Gomez &
Associates. The appointments require
Senate confirmation.
Robert F. Casey, a former state
legislator and Kane County state's
attorney, was named administrator of
the Illinois Gaming Board. He will
help analyze legislation for the five-member board and oversee compliance
with current gaming laws. Casey
replaces Michael Belletire, who
announced in February he was leaving
to work in the private sector.
Jack Kubik, a former state representative from LaGrange Park, has been
named executive director of the Illinois
Racing Board. The seven-term legislator retired from the House in 1998. The
board has nine members appointed by
the governor to six-year terms. They
must be confirmed by the Senate.
Rhoda A. Pierce of Highland Park
has been chosen executive director of
the Illinois Arts Council. Pierce, who
has been with the council for 13 years,
has served as deputy director since
1991 and has been acting executive
director on several occasions.
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Attorney General Ryan reorganizes his office
Attorney General Jim Ryan recently completed a reorganization of his office's key
management staff with the addition of former Gov. Jim Edgar staffers Blair Tinkle and
Karen Loeb. New in key positions are:
• Chief of staff. Richard Stock of Clarendon Hills used to share second-in-command
duties as deputy attorney general with Stephen Culliton, who left the office last July
to become a judge in DuPage County.
• Chic/deputy attorney general. Carole Doris of Downers Grove has been promoted
from her position as chief of Ryan's department of public advocacy.
• Deputy chief of staff for policy and legislative affairs. Blair Tinkle of Chicago
formerly served as legal counsel to Edgar.
• Deputy chief of staff for administration. Ed Ludwig of Bartlett has been supervising
these functions as chief of administration since Ryan took office in 1995.
• Deputy attorney genera! for civil litigation. Roger Flahaven of Chicago is a
20-year employee of the attorney general's office; he previously served as chief of
government representation.
• Deputy attorney general/or criminal justice. Robert Spence of Batavia was promoted
from his old post as chief of public safety.
• Solicitor general. Joel Bertocchi of Chicago was previously an assistant U. S.
attorney.
• Deputy attorney general for Springfield and regional coordination. Mardyth Pollard of
Springfield was previously Ryan's head of policy and public affairs.
• Chief of program development and strategic communications bureau. Karen Loeb of
Springfield will head Ryan's newly created program. She was previously a key
program development staffer with Edgar.
Death penalty gels more scrutiny
The state Supreme Court created a 17-member judicial committee and charged the
panel with reviewing the way capital cases are handled in Illinois and other states.
The move means all three branches of state government are taking a look at the
death penalty process. Republican state Attorney General Jim Ryan launched his own
review, as have the Democratic leaders in both legislative chambers.
Consensus across partisan and jurisdictional lines on the need even to study an issue
is unusual. But 11 men have been released from Death Row in the past decade — three
of those in the past four months — either because charges were dropped, they won
acquittals upon retrial or new evidence was discovered. That's almost as many as have
been executed under the state's 1977 death penalty law. In March, the state carried out
its 12th execution under that law.
Thomas Fitzgerald, presiding judge of the Criminal Division of the Circuit Court of
Cook County, will head the high court's panel. He and 16 other criminal trial judges
from throughout the state will study the trial and sentencing processes in capital cases.
They could recommend ways to ensure competency of legal counsel or creation of a
training program for judges who preside over capital cases.
In a concurring opinion, Chief Justice Charles Freeman wrote that "even the best
system can be improved upon." Noting the other inquiries into the death penalty
process. Freeman added: "Our action ensures that this court has a committee in place
which can assimilate the ideas generated in these other forums, particularly those ideas
which may fall within the purview of this court's rule-making authority."
Meanwhile, Justice James Heiple issued a dissent to the order, arguing the purpose
of the committee "is to show that the Supreme Court is doing something regarding
media-induced concerns about the death penalty."
The court set no deadline for recommendations, but asked the committee to conduct
its study in a timely fashion.
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36 / May 1999 Illinois Issues
Six more charged
in licensing scandal
Another round of current or
former state employees was
charged last month with selling
commercial driver's licenses for
campaign cash.
Charged with issuing fraudulent
licenses were Marion Seibel of
Lemont, the former manager of
the McCook driver's licensing
facility; and George Velasco, of
Westchester, a former manager at
McCook and a current employee
at the Bridgeview facility.
Seibel was arrested February 9,
but Velasco and four others were
charged for the first time in the
April 6 indictments. Since last fall,
a total of 13 people have been
charged in the federal government's ongoing Operation
Safe Road investigation (see
"Corruption charges brought
against former state workers,"
Illinois Issues, November 1998,
page 35).
Illinois Department of Transportation employee William
O'Connor, of Brookfield, and two
other transportation workers,
Edwin Diaz and Miguel Calderon,
both of Chicago, were charged
in the case along with Gonzalo
Mendoza, a Stickney man with
trucking industry connections, and
independent trucker Nikola
Blagojevic of Lyons.
The recent indictment
contends Mendoza, O'Connor and
others solicited bribes of $200 to
$1,200 from prospective commercial driver's license applicants and
brought them to Seibel or Velasco.
The federal government contends that more than 250 unqualified applicants illegally obtained
commercial licenses or permits
out of the McCook facility.
Secretary of State Jesse White is
planning retests for 203 drivers
who got permits or licenses from
the McCook facility from 1991 to
1998, the time of the scandal.
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Legal eagles swoop in on DuPage 7
Prosecutors are on trial in DuPage County, and that's pitted two of the state's top
lawyers against one another.
Serving as special prosecutor in what is has been dubbed the DuPage 7 trial is
William Kunkle, who prosecuted serial killer John Wayne Gacy On the defense side
is Patrick Tuite, whose client roster is a virtual who's who of Illinois' infamous:
organized crime boss Rocco Infelise; Judge Richard LeFevour, who was convicted
in the Operation Greylord judicial corruption investigation; and Richard Bailey,
who was convicted of murdering heiress Helen Brach.
The DuPage 7 are Dennis Kurzawa, Thomas Vosburgh, Robert Winkler and James
Montesano, four DuPage County law enforcement officers, and Thomas Knight,
Patrick King and Robert Kilander, three former prosecutors. They are accused of
framing Rolando Cruz for the 1983 murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico.
Cruz served 12 years in prison before being acquitted during his third trial in 1995
(see page 24).
Williamson takes the helm of the state GOP
Chicago lawyer Rich Williamson will replace Harold Smith, who officially stepped
down last month as the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. Williamson of
Kenilworth was the party's candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1992. He lost the general
election to Carol Moseley-Braun. He also served as an assistant to Presidents Ronald
Reagan and George Bush.
Gov. George Ryan recommended Williamson for the post after his initial endorsement of House Minority Leader Lee Daniels met with criticism from Senate
President James "Pate" Philip (see page 41).
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Illinois Issues May 1999 / 37
PEOPLE
BITS
David L. Robinson
David L. Robinson, who represented the Springfield area as a member of
the Illinois House from 1977 to 1979, died March 27 in Houston. He was 51.
Robinson officially left politics after an unsuccessful congressional bid in 1980
and spent the past 10 years in Mexico City as a partner with an investment
banking firm. "He always kept abreast of happenings in Central Illinois," says
Democratic state Sen. Vince Demuzio of Carlinville. Demuzio, who remembers
Robinson as a loyal person and a good friend, also characterized him as "a very
bubbly guy. He had lots of energy and lots of ideas. He loved politics."
James C. Taylor
Chicago's South Side lost a powerful advocate with the March 18th death of
former state lawmaker James C. Taylor. He was 69. Taylor worked his way up
through the city's Democratic Party, eventually becoming a ward superintendent
and later serving as a deputy chief of staff to former Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne.
He served the South Side area as both a representative and a senator from 1969
to 1983. "He was a great man who truly cared about people and worked hard to
make their lives better," says former colleague and Senate Minority Leader Emil
Jones of Chicago. Says Jones, "He was a true friend to me and the people he
represented."
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Big people on campus
Illinois State University in Bloomington will have a new president this
summer, but he'll have a familiar face.
ISU has announced that Vice
President and Dean of Student Affairs
Vie Boschini will become the 16th
president of the school. He is expected
to take office July 1.
Boschini has been with ISU since
1997. He replaces President David
Strand, who announced his intention
to retire a year ago.
***
Edward T. Duffy of Arlington
Heights has been tapped by the
governor to chair the Illinois
Community College Board. He is
the chief operations officer of the
National Jockey Club. The appointment requires Senate confirmation.
***
Jeffrey Gindorf was elected as
president of the University of Illinois
board of trustees at its annual meeting. He has taken the reins from
Susan L. Gravenhorst, who served as
president for two years.
Gindorf, of Crystal Lake, is a 1980
graduate of the U of I, with a degree
in engineering. He is now a physician
in McHenry County.
***
Samuel K. Gove of Urbana and
Cordelia Meyer of Chicago have been
reappointed to the Illinois Board of
Higher Education, pending Senate
approval.
***
The National Association of
Student Affairs Professionals has
tapped Melvin C. Terrell as it president-elect. Terrell is vice president for
student affairs/public affairs at
Northeastern Illinois University in
Chicago. He will serve one year as
president-elect of the professional
association beginning in February
2000, and will then assume the
presidency.
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38 / May 1999 Illinois Issues