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Many interns hired by state have political connections

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By The Associated Press

Here are examples of people hired as interns during the Blagojevich administration, along with their agency, salary and political connections:

–Christopher M. Beaty, 29; Corrections, $34,560; son of Department of Natural Resources administrator Mike Beaty, who has contributed $1,475 to Democrats.

–Patrick A. Blair, 45; Commerce & Economic Opportunity, $45,972; son-in-law of Sen. Deanna Demuzio, D-Carlinville.

–Brenda F. Cockrum, 63; Healthcare & Family Services, $45,360; sister-in-law of U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, a Belleville Democrat.

–Susan Coers, 52; Emergency Management, $34,560; unsuccessful Democratic House candidate in 2002.

–Robert L. Fanning, 25; Environmental Protection, no longer on payroll; son of Mary Fanning, Blagojevich's payroll and benefits administrator.

–Anna Giacomini-Frew, 27; Emergency Management, $32,400; niece of Sangamon County Democratic Party Chairman Patrick "Tim" Timoney.

–John D. Gulley, 27; Commerce & Economic Opportunity, $37,260; worked on staff of then-Sen. Larry Woolard, D-Carterville, who is now a DCEO executive.

–Anne L. Hawkinson, 24; Central Management Services, no longer on state payroll; daughter of former Blagojevich homeland security chief Carl Hawkinson.

–Steve M. Hayden, 31; Natural Resources, $49,680; husband of Blagojevich's director of environment and office of boards and commissions.

–Lauren M. Jasculca, 25; Commerce & Economic Opportunity, no longer on state payroll; daughter of Richard Jasculca of Jasculca/Terman, a public affairs firm that has given Blagojevich $100,000.

–Barisa M. Meckler, 22; Healthcare & Family Services, $30,000; daughter of attorney Bruce Meckler, whose firm has given $98,500 to Blagojevich.

–Aaron P. Phelps, 32; Human Services, $50,800; cousin of Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Norris City.

–Brock A. Phelps, 31; Transportation, $64,280; brother of Rep. Phelps.

–Dennis M. Ralph, 33; Natural Resources, $55,008; cousin of Blagojevich's legislative director.

–Bernard J. Ysursa Jr., 34; Corrections, $46,656; son of Belleville lawyer who individually or through his law firm has contributed $71,200 to Democrats.

Sources: Illinois Department of Central Management Services, State Board of Elections, state comptroller, interviews.

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AP Exclusive: State government interns have political ties to Democrats

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By JOHN O'CONNOR

AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – They're related to prominent Democrats. They worked on political campaigns. They've given, or their families have, hundreds of thousands of dollars to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

And now the Democratic governor's administration has put them on the payroll as state interns – positions that get them in the door for permanent jobs without following typical hiring procedures, including veterans preference laws.

Agencies under Blagojevich have hired 263 "public administration interns" since taking office. At least one-third have helped Democratic candidates, donated to their campaigns or are related to someone who has, an Associated Press analysis of public records found.

The AP review, which included thousands of campaign documents, addresses and state employment records since 2000, suggests future interns or their relatives contributed at least $1.3 million to Democrats, including more than $400,000 to Blagojevich.

Many of the internships are far from entry-level jobs.

One intern was the $54,000-a-year head of an agency's human resources office. Another was an agency's legislative liaison – the same work he had done as a permanent employee for another department. Two dozen interns had been on the state payroll before.

Interns with political connections also were more likely to win permanent jobs and to get raises. Sixty-five percent of interns with identifiable connections were promoted to permanent state jobs, compared with 41 percent of the others.

The interns include:

–Barisa Meckler, who volunteered for Blagojevich when he was in Congress and whose father's law firm has given Blagojevich $98,000.

–Steve Hayden, husband of a high-level Blagojevich aide.

–Brock and Aaron Phelps, relatives of a Democratic state lawmaker and a former congressman who now works for Blagojevich.

Although it wouldn't be unusual in Illinois for a new administration to reward political activists with jobs, Blagojevich took office in 2003 promising to clean up what he described as previous governors' corrupt, patronage-heavy hiring.

But he too is battling accusations of "pay-to-play" politics from critics in both parties, and state and federal investigators are reviewing his administration's employment practices.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said politics is "not a factor" in hiring interns, pointing out that the AP found no connections to two-thirds of the interns hired. She also noted that Blagojevich has hired fewer interns than Republican governors Jim Edgar and George Ryan did.

"Agencies are supposed to look at education and relevant work history and look at that in light of what the particular need of the agency is," Ottenhoff said.

Public administration internships, which can last six months to two years, were designed to bring bright people who lack experience into technical and managerial state jobs. Interns make less money than other state employees, but after the internship they often are promoted to full administrative positions – with raises.

And the administration may hire them without having to follow laws giving military veterans preference for state jobs or for ensuring an agency has enough minorities.

Rep. Dan Reitz, D-Steeleville, acknowledges helping his 23-year-old son, Nicholas, get an internship.

Reitz said the administration called him for recommendations when they were hiring legislative liaisons, and he suggested his son, who had volunteered for Blagojevich in college. Nicholas Reitz is a $40,000 intern for the Agriculture Department.

Some interns didn't need family connections – they had their own.

The Chicago law firm of Bruce Meckler, who is representing Blagojevich in the state attorney general's investigation into allegations that he has traded jobs for contributions, has given the governor's campaign more than $98,000.

But Meckler said that had nothing to do with his 22-year-old daughter getting a $24,000 internship with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services in April. That's because Barisa Meckler, who didn't return calls seeking comment, volunteered in Blagojevich's Washington office while he was in Congress.

"She actually worked for him before I ever gave anything to the man," Bruce Meckler said.

State Rep. Brandon Phelps said his brother, Brock, and cousin, Aaron Phelps, didn't need his help. He said they had worked for many Democratic candidates over the years, including their uncle, former congressman David Phelps, now assistant state secretary of transportation.

"They were always doing campaign work, political work, community work, and they're pretty well known," said Brandon Phelps, D-Norris City.

Aaron Phelps, 32, a $50,800 administrator for the Human Services Department, declined to comment. Thirty-one-year-old Brock Phelps, the Transportation Department's director of governmental affairs at $64,280, did not return a message left on his cell phone.

Some of the interns were already familiar faces at state agencies.

Reitz was a permanent legislative liaison – essentially an agency's lobbyist – for the State Fire Marshal when he moved to the same position as an intern at the Agriculture Department. Officials at the bigger agency wanted to make sure Reitz was the "right fit," spokeswoman Chris Herbert said.

Kevin Tirey of Springfield, 32, has been a state employee since 1998. He was special assistant to the director of the Capital Development Board when the Environmental Protection Agency tapped him to be the agency's $54,000 human resources manager – as an intern, spokeswoman Maggie Carson said.

While Blagojevich's office maintains that connections don't matter, some of the governor's closest advisers helped relatives get internships.

The governor's legislative director, Joe Handley, passed along the resume of cousin Dennis Ralph, Ottenhoff said. Ralph, 33, was hired as a Natural Resources Department intern in June 2003 and since has been promoted and given a 28 percent raise to $55,000.

Jill Hayden, a Blagojevich aide who oversees environmental issues and the office of boards and commissions, brought 31-year-old husband Steve's resume to the administration before he was hired at Central Management Services, Ottenhoff said.

She dismissed the significance of the personal connections, saying both Ralph and Hayden are qualified.

"Does the fact that Jill knew her husband had a certain background and forwarded his resume give him any favoritism? No," Ottenhoff said. "The agency has to look at what their needs are and what this particular individual has to offer."

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EDITOR'S NOTE: John O'Connor has covered Illinois government and politics for The Associated Press since 1998.

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By JOHN O'CONNOR

AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Veterans and minorities advocates, along with political rivals, on Monday accused Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich of using government internships to skirt state hiring law and reward political friends.

One Republican rival blasted Blagojevich for an "extraordinary abuse of hiring practices" after The Associated Press reported that at least one-third of the 263 interns hired by the administration are tied to prominent Democrats or their financial backers.

An AP examination of payroll records, addresses, and campaign finance records dating to 2000 suggested future interns or their relatives contributed at least $1.3 million to Democrats, including more than $400,000 to Blagojevich. Others had worked on Democratic campaigns, including those of Blagojevich, who took office in 2003 vowing to end cronyism in hiring.

Interns with clear connections were more likely to be promoted out of the internships – lasting six months to two years – into permanent jobs with pay raises, the AP found. In hiring interns, the state need not follow laws giving preference to veterans, minorities, or barring political appointments.

"This is an extraordinary abuse of hiring practices and a move that defies ethics and common sense," Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron Gidwitz said in a statement.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said again Monday that the governor has used internships "less frequently, more selectively" than his predecessors. She dismissed claims that they are used to sidestep hiring laws, adding that Blagojevich has a strong record of enacting ethics reforms.

Internships, Ottenhoff said, allow Blagojevich's cabinet departments "to take people who show a lot of promise to contribute to their agencies and make sure they have either the specific training or an interim period to make sure that they are the right fit."

Edwin Eisendrath, a former Chicago alderman challenging Blagojevich in next month's Democratic primary, said the practice shows Blagojevich's government "is for sale."

"If you think the personnel rules are wrong, like veterans preferences, then stand up and say so and change them, but don't violate them, and don't violate them on behalf of your funders," Eisendrath said.

Roy Williams Jr. of the Illinois Association of Minorities in Government said the report agrees with what members tell him.

"The complaint has always been the minorities and the veterans have a tougher time because a lot of the rules don't apply when you're in an intern position," Williams said.

He said he will request a list of interns and their races.

A spokesman for Illinois' department of the American Legion said state commander Eugene Thompson is concerned about the report.

"The job preference is one that we fought for and we are very concerned that practices are skirting those things that we helped establish," Frank Prosser said.

The AP found that some of the internships were not entry-level positions – one intern served as the $54,000-a-year human resources manager for an agency, and another became an intern after serving in the same capacity, in a permanent position, for another agency.

"I've never heard of internships that pay $50,000 or $60,000," Gidwitz said. "These internships are simply a way to reward those who pay their dues to Democratic campaigns."

Jim Oberweis, another Republican seeking Blagojevich's job, said it is "typical conduct for this say-one-thing, do-another governor."

Mary Lee Leahy, a prominent Springfield lawyer and Democrat who has won landmark lawsuits over state hiring in the past two decades, said her understanding of the program was to give new graduates with an interest in government a foot in the door. She said she has been told in the past that current state employees were not eligible for internships.

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By JOHN O'CONNOR

Associated Press Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – A major contributor to Gov. Rod Blagojevich has received a half a million dollars in contracts for cleaning work experts say is unnecessary or could be performed less expensively by state employees.

In one case, PWS Environmental Inc. got more than $7,000 to clean a brand-new, unused salt-storage dome in suburban Chicago and apply a corrosion-resistant concrete sealer – duplicating work the dome's builder performed just months before, according to documents and Associated Press interviews.

In the past five years, the Cicero firm has made political contributions totaling $65,000, mostly to Democrats. It has been hired by the state to wash salt domes, office buildings, bridges, rest area structures and even Transportation Department trucks despite a lingering budget crisis and state-owned equipment that could do the work.

One reason IDOT hired the company to wash corrosive salt from bridges rather than following the past practice of assigning state employees to do the work, spokesman Mike Claffey said, is that the agency is understaffed as a result of budget cuts.

And he said IDOT was moving road salt out of storage domes and cleaning them to cut deterioration and extend the domes' lives, although the agency could provide no examples of domes that had failed.

Richard Hanneman, president of the Salt Institute trade organization, said he had never heard of washing a concrete-and-wood salt dome.

"I'm having a hard time envisioning why you would do it," Hanneman said.

In all, PWS Environmental has received contracts for $522,000 in state work this year, up from just $2,860 in 2001. Blagojevich took office in 2003.

The state has paid or has been invoiced for work totaling $298,000, according to records, but PWS is contracted for $223,900 in future jobs. Typically the state may cancel contracts for work not yet performed with 30 days' notice.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Cheryle Jackson defended the contracts, saying Transportation Secretary Timothy Martin thinks he can save money by washing salt domes to slow deterioration and putting employees to work on roads instead of cleaning bridges.

"The secretary looked at this area, these kind of ongoing and extensive repairs as an area that's ripe for savings," Jackson said. Claffey said if the company washed domes and bridges statewide, IDOT could save $5 million a year in repair costs.

But a third of the contracts – $175,000 – were to clean the masonry facades of four buildings, including the Transportation Department's massive headquarters in Springfield. Former department engineers said such cleaning had never been done.

Sen. Dale Risinger, R-Peoria, a retired IDOT district engineer, questioned the wisdom of cleaning building exteriors while Illinois faces a budget crunch bad enough that lawmakers decided the state could not afford Blagojevich's proposal to borrow $2 billion for new roadwork.

"Would we rather be putting the money on the road or making the building look a little brighter?" Risinger asked.

PWS was an early backer of Blagojevich, first giving to the Democrat's gubernatorial campaign in June 2000, according to state records. The company and President William Mologousis have contributed a combined $24,780 to Blagojevich and $5,670 to his father-in-law, Chicago Alderman Richard Mell, or Mell's 33rd Ward Democratic organization.

Mologousis said the contributions and contracts were not related. He pointed out that the master contract the company won was competitively bid, although state records show PWS was the only bidder.

Pressure-washing a building exterior knocks off dirt and mold that trap moisture and ruin the facade, Mologousis said.

IDOT said two of the buildings had to be cleaned, at a cost of $49,000, because they were being transferred to the control of the Department of Central Management Services. Neither Claffey nor a CMS spokeswoman could explain why that meant they had to be washed.

PWS also cleaned a "smoker's hut" at a Schaumburg maintenance yard and scoured the exteriors of buildings at rest areas, according to information supplied by IDOT.

The agency did not respond to requests for additional details about the projects.

Retired IDOT engineers said the exteriors of rest-area buildings have never been cleaned, either, and state employees typically washed bridges and trucks.

"We've always done our own pressure-washing," said Jerry Allen, who retired six months ago after 40 years at IDOT, including 20 years in charge of eastern Illinois maintenance yards.

"As far as pressure-washing a new salt dome, I don't really see the need for that because you've got new concrete," he said, adding that it was a waste of labor to move salt out of existing domes to do the work.

PWS has been paid at least $28,000 to clean six domes where the state stores road salt.

The cleaning bill for the new one, on Interstate 57 in Markham, was $7,067. IDOT offered conflicting explanations for the work.

The agency first said the builder poured a defective concrete wall that had to be patched, requiring PWS to wash off the mortar dust and seal the concrete against corrosion.

But Bob Ryan of Bushnell-based Ryco Distributing Co., the dome's builder, said the state approved the construction and that his company applied a state-required concrete sealer.

Asked about Ryan's comments, IDOT spokesman Claffey then said the first coat of sealer was mistakenly put on and that the agency intended for the Markham dome to be part of a pilot project using a new, improved type of sealer applied by PWS.

Mike Rippel, another former IDOT engineer, said he sometimes hired private companies to clean bridges but his crews handled most of them – and never washed salt domes. Although IDOT now says washing salt domes will protect steel parts from rust, Rippel said only two domes were replaced during his tenure and that was because they were too small, not deteriorated.

"It may be a good idea," Rippel said, "but in all my years, nobody ever mentioned washing the inside of a dome."

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By JOHN O'CONNOR

Associated Press Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The president of a cleaning firm that got $522,000 in business from the Illinois Department of Transportation is related to a top IDOT executive, officials acknowledged Tuesday.

William Mologousis of PWS Environmental Inc. is married to the sister of IDOT finance and administration director Robert Millette.

Millette refused to speak to The Associated Press, but IDOT spokesman Matt Vanover said Millette was not involved in awarding the contracts.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich continued to stand by the contracts, an aide said.

The AP reported this week that the Cicero firm has been hired for pressure-washing state office buildings, bridges and even road salt storage domes – work that experts said is unnecessary or could be performed more cheaply by state workers.

PWS even power-washed a new salt dome on Interstate 57 and applied a corrosion-resistant concrete sealer just months after the dome's builder had done the same thing.

The revelations fueled criticism from foes of Blagojevich that he operates a "pay-to-play" government. One potential rival in next year's gubernatorial election announced a fundraiser in which a $50 contribution earns an "honorary sponsorship" to one of "Blagojevich's infamous salt domes."

The firm and Mologousis individually have contributed more than $30,000 to the political campaigns of Blagojevich and his father-in-law, Chicago Alderman Richard Mell.

Vanover released a memo Tuesday dated April 26 in which Millette said he was recusing himself from any decisions on PWS contracts. Vanover said Millette was not required to take such action.

By the time Millette had written the memo, PWS had already performed $200,000 worth of work, including power-washing the Harry Hanley Building where Millette works.

"He had nothing to do with hiring this firm," Vanover said. "He said when they were at the Hanley building, he saw them there and was aware that they were there, but he had no direct contact in this being done."

Vanover said when Millette was asked by a staff member about PWS' work in Springfield, Millette said he couldn't be involved and wrote the memo.

"You have a state employee who went out of his way to recuse himself, was not at all involved in this, and went beyond even what was legally required in disclosing conflict of interest," Blagojevich spokeswoman Cheryle Jackson said.

Jackson pointed out that PWS originally was hired by the Department of Central Management Services – not IDOT – under a "master contract" that lets other agencies use the firm. PWS was the only formal bidder on that contract, but officials said three other companies submitted proposals that did not meet technical requirements for the work.

Mologousis did not return messages left at his office Tuesday.

IDOT said it is pressure-washing structures to reduce corrosion and extend the buildings' lives. But experts and lawmakers said employees could wash bridges, as they previously did, and office buildings could wait until Illinois weathers its budget crisis.

No one had ever heard of washing salt domes before.

"It's one thing to steer the contracts to your friends for things that somebody has to do or, at least, traditionally we've done," said Sen. Christine Radogno of LaGrange, a top budget negotiator for Republicans. "But that's where I think this one crosses over, in that we're making the work up."

Rep. Lovana "Lou" Jones, D-Chicago, questioned why the work needed to be done during a budget crisis. She scoffed at the idea that IDOT doesn't have enough employees to do the work itself.

"IDOT's understaffed? IDOT has 6,529 employees. I have no sympathy for them," said Jones, who chairs a House appropriations committee.

DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett, a likely Republican candidate for governor, offered the $50 "honorary sponsorships" for each of PWS' power-washing projects.

"Once again, Rod Blagojevich is rubbing salt in the wounds of taxpayers," Birkett said. "What's next, a contract for sandblasting Oak Street beach?"

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By JOHN O'CONNOR

Associated Press Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Gov. Rod Blagojevich refused to answer questions Wednesday about half a million dollars in state contracts that went to a firm with family connections to the governor's Transportation Department, while the agency's chief clamped down on spending.

Meeting with reporters at a bill-signing in Chicago, Blagojevich would not discuss the deal that gives $522,000 to PWS Environmental Inc. The company's president, William Mologousis, is the brother-in-law of Transportation's director of finance and administration, Robert Millette.

"I'm going to ... leave those questions to the people who are responsible for them," Blagojevich said, ignoring follow-up questions about whether he is responsible for the department.

Earlier Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Timothy Martin tightened spending procedures. In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, Martin ordered that he personally approve expenditures over $25,000 "beginning immediately." A spokesman said it was related to the beginning of a new fiscal year Friday, not the PWS contract.

Meanwhile, the owner of a competing firm called the state bidding process for the pressure-washing contract "ridiculous."

Justin Tintori, owner of Tintori Powerwashing of Springfield, said specifications for the power-washing contract were written so generally that he could not offer a reasonable bid. State officials deemed his company was not technically qualified, giving the job to PWS.

The bulk of the work is for PWS to power-wash office buildings, bridges and even salt storage domes, including cleaning and putting concrete sealer on a new dome just months after the builder did the same thing.

Experts have said the work is unnecessary – particularly during a state budget crisis – or could be performed more cheaply by state employees. Legislators from both parties have criticized the deal.

PWS and Mologousis have contributed more than $30,000 to the political campaigns of Democrat Blagojevich and his father-in-law, Chicago Alderman Richard Mell.

Millette for a second day rejected an Associated Press request for an interview. An IDOT spokesman said Millette had no role in his brother-in-law's company winning the state contract.

Millette signed a memo dated April 26 disassociating himself from any decisions regarding PWS, but that was after the company already had done $200,000 worth of work.

But two employees who report to Millette were on the team that decided who would get the contract, IDOT spokesman Matt Vanover said. He said the two did not know about the connection between Millette and PWS.

In his memo to staff, Martin ordered that no one at IDOT "may contract for any expenditure greater than $25,000 without my signature of acknowledgment."

Although the message begins, "Beginning immediately," it ends by saying it takes effect Friday. Vanover said he was unaware of any connection between the memo and the contract. He said it was a reminder to staff to watch spending as the new fiscal year begins, but Vanover couldn't say whether Martin issued a similar directive last year.

"The secretary is basically tightening up, saying, 'Hey, new fiscal year, let's keep a close eye on expenditures,'" Vanover said.

PWS was hired under a "master contract" developed by the Department of Central Management Services with input from officials at IDOT and other state agencies. That contract allowed any agency to use PWS at predetermined prices.

State records list PWS as the only bidder for the job, but officials said three other companies submitted proposals that were disqualified because they did not meet the technical requirements set by the state.

Tintori complained the requirements included many odd provisions.

Bidders had to account for all overhead costs, such as union labor and renting equipment, without knowing the minimum size of the jobs, he said. They also had to come up with a price for each square foot of cleaning, even for items like dump trucks that aren't generally measured by the square foot.

"I showed it to different people who were involved in state contracting," Tintori said, "and they all looked at it and said, `I don't understand it' because it was not descriptive."

CMS spokesman Justin DeJong called Tintori's comments "sour grapes" because using square footage is the most "effective way to measure these types of services."

Blagojevich signed legislation Wednesday relating to health care for senior citizens. Afterward, he was repeatedly asked whether power-washing salt domes is an appropriate way to spend money or whether he has any concerns about the link between PWS and Millette.

"We're here to talk about our senior citizens," he said repeatedly.

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Associated Press writer Maura Kelly Lannan in Chicago contributed to this report.

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By JOHN O'CONNOR

Associated Press Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – A state Transportation Department executive at the center of an investigation into a contract given to his brother-in-law's firm resigned from the agency, officials said Monday.

Robert Millette e-mailed his resignation to Transportation Secretary Timothy Martin on Saturday, spokesman Matt Vanover said. It is effective Wednesday.

Millette, who is paid $95,000 a year as finance and administration director, has been on paid leave since July 1. He was put on leave the day Martin asked for an investigation following a series of articles by The Associated Press about a firm owned by a Millette relative that got $522,000 in work for pressure-washing state buildings and structures.

"I believe that he wanted to move on for what was best for his family and for the department," said Vanover, who would not release the resignation e-mail because it is considered part of a private personnel file.

Millette, 33, did not return a message left on his cell phone Monday. He was paid $15,800 during his two-month suspension.

The AP reported in June that Cicero-based PWS Environmental is owned by William Mologousis, the husband of Millette's sister. It performed high-power cleaning work, mostly for IDOT, on buildings, bridges, trucks and even salt-storage domes, work that experts said was unnecessary or could be performed by state employees.

Martin suspended Millette the day he turned the matter over to Gov. Rod Blagojevich's inspector general. The inspector general's office would not comment Monday.

The FBI also questioned IDOT employees about the contract in early July.

Another AP report revealed that Millette had changed an agency rule on overtime last winter in a way that benefits managers with his wife's job classification. Millette's wife, Angela Korbar, who is a personnel manager in the Transportation Department's Carbondale office, was hired in January 2004, the same month Millette took the uncommon step of moving his office to Carbondale, rather than working out of Chicago or Springfield.

The rule change Millette approved allowed people in Korbar's position to take compensatory time off for overtime worked. IDOT officials said Millette did not intervene to get Korbar hired and changed the overtime rule in response to Martin's request to find incentives for middle managers.

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Doc: 00268362 DB: research–d–2005–3 Date: Thu Sep 1 15:01:07 2005

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AP Exclusive: IDOT exec pressed for action on pressure-washing contract

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By JOHN O'CONNOR

Associated Press Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – A former Transportation Department executive who has denied any part in getting a relative a half-million dollar pressure-washing contract was asking for action on such a contract last fall, according to e-mails obtained by The Associated Press.

Robert Millette, who resigned as IDOT's director of finance and administration effective Wednesday, wrote to a subordinate, "Find out if that Pressure Washing contract has been signed and is ready to go," according to a Nov. 22, 2004 e-mail.

The Department of Central Management Services had not finalized the deal, Millette was told in an e-mail reply, but would send copies of it and two unrelated service contracts the following week.

So Millette ordered a message be sent to the chief procurement officer at CMS – and that his own name be excluded from the message.

"Send to Mike Smith at CMS," Millette wrote. "Don't cc me. Tell him we need to get this going asap."

Millette has said through spokesmen for IDOT and Gov. Rod Blagojevich that he had no role in state work worth $522,000 being awarded to Pressure Washing Systems, or PWS Environmental Inc.

The Associated Press reported in June that the Cicero-based firm is owned by William Mologousis, who is married to Millette's sister. Experts question whether the work PWS performed, such as washing salt-storage domes and building exteriors, is necessary.

PWS has contributed more than $30,000 to Blagojevich and his father-in-law, Chicago Alderman Richard Mell.

Millette did not return messages left on his cell phone and at his home this week. Chicago lawyer Kevin Milner, who said he is representing Millette, declined to comment. Millette's brother-in-law did not return a message left at his office.

Millette has said he recused himself from the issue entirely when he realized the potential conflict. The Department of Transportation released a memo – dated April 26, 2005, after PWS had already done $200,000 in work – in which Millette ordered that all documents on the matter go to his deputy.

But the November e-mails show he had already taken an active interest in pressure-washing matters.

None of the e-mails specifically references Pressure Washing Systems, but they came at the time CMS was finalizing a deal with the company – the only power-washing contract CMS has, spokesman Justin DeJong said Thursday.

DeJong would not comment on the e-mails, and IDOT spokesman Matt Vanover referred questions about them to Blagojevich's inspector general, who is investigating whether the contract was handled improperly. Deputy Inspector General Gilbert Jimenez declined comment.

Vanover said earlier this summer that Millette became aware of the potential conflict only after seeing PWS cleaning IDOT's Springfield headquarters in April. When asked about the contract later, Vanover said, Millette disclosed the issue in the recusal memo.

"He had nothing to do with hiring this firm," Vanover said in June.

After the AP reported Millette's family connection to PWS, Transportation Secretary Timothy Martin referred the matter to the inspector general and suspended Millette, with pay, from his $95,000 job. He made $15,800 while on suspension.

On Monday, after the AP asked about the e-mails, Vanover said Millette was resigning. Millette e-mailed his resignation to Martin last Saturday, Vanover said. He would not release the message, saying it was part of a private personnel file.

Although available to agencies statewide, PWS did most of its work for the Transportation Department. It used high-pressure spray to clean buildings, rest areas, trucks and salt domes, including one that had never even been used.

State officials have said the PWS contract was competitively bid, although the other bidders were deemed unqualified for the job and their proposals rejected.

PWS, which previously had done only $2,860 in state work in 2001, was paid $283,566 in the fiscal year that ended June 30. IDOT cut ties with the firm July 1 – the day Millette was suspended – until the investigation is over. The agency still has contract obligations of $138,320 with the firm, including money owed for work performed.

Another $100,000 PWS contract with IDOT signed June 13 remains unused, according to the state comptroller's office.

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AP Exclusive: Documents show governor's office approved new hires

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By JOHN O'CONNOR

AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office reviewed and approved the hiring of state employees – often by name – for hundreds of routine jobs such as highway workers and plumbers, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

Despite the governor's claims that his office did not decide who would be hired for civil service jobs, which are nonpolitical, those positions are among nearly 1,800 hires, promotions, transfers and salary increases aides to the governor OK'd in the months following Blagojevich's 2003 inauguration, according to hiring lists officials maintained.

The job-seeker's name was included in nearly 1,200 cases. Blagojevich and his aides repeatedly have said the administration's hiring practices were "blind" – meaning his office, for budget reasons, made the final decision on whether to fill jobs but never knew the names of individuals being hired.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said the lists were in the format used by the previous governor and only were used until the new administration could set up a system that didn't include identities. Hiring decisions made from the lists were not made based on names, she said.

For years, the Democratic governor has been dogged by allegations that he hands out state jobs to campaign donors and political allies, which he adamantly denies. His hiring practices are under investigation by federal, state and local prosecutors, although Blagojevich has not been charged with any crime. He has acknowledged that federal scrutiny includes the work of his personnel director, Joe Cini.

Blagojevich repeatedly has said that politics plays no role in hiring any but the highest-level policymakers.

A governor is allowed to fill some high-level state jobs with anyone he wants, but most jobs are covered by civil service or other rules that require hiring decisions to be based solely on merit, including such factors as experience, test scores and military service. In some cases, notations on the lists indicate the employee is covered by a union agreement, where hiring would be even more strictly controlled.

On the lists obtained by the AP, some pages were signed by top Blagojevich deputies. All had an "approved" column with boxes that had to be checked before a hire could go through.

A separate memo from that period also obtained by the AP emphasized the authority of Blagojevich's personnel office. "All hires and fires must move through this office," a staffer wrote to the Department of Public Health.

These newly obtained lists are different from another Blagojevich hiring list that surfaced recently. The other list showed nearly 300 job-seekers and the politically influential people who recommended them for the positions, but the latest lists say nothing about political sponsors.

Instead, they offer a glimpse into the governor's office's control over routine hiring and promotions.

Ottenhoff acknowledged that early in the administration, aides to the governor, his budget office, and other agencies had regular meetings to determine which jobs would be filled. She said they focused on whether a position was absolutely necessary during a budget crisis, not on which individuals were in line for jobs.

"When the governor came into office, government was running," she said. "There were requests pending, decisions that needed to be made, so we came in and out of necessity had to, in the transition, keep things moving forward while we put together a better and more permanent system for keeping agencies accountable."

But people familiar with the process, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the documents, said personnel director Cini and a representative from the budget office discussed job-seekers' names during the meetings.

An e-mail from Cini's personnel office is more direct.

"If Joe doesn't sign off on it, it doesn't happen," the April 2003 memo said. "All hires and fires must move through this office."

Cini referred questions to Ottenhoff, who said the staffer was wrong in describing the process and that neither Cini nor anyone in his office told her to write the e-mail. The staffer no longer works for the state.

Despite the claims, the lists suggest officials were approving individuals for those jobs, in many cases for civil service positions. They include more than 400 job titles, including correctional officer, highway maintainer, office coordinator, plumber, horse custodian, sewage plant operator, cook and psychologist.

Accompanying the lists is a March 2003 e-mail from CMS, transmitting the names and positions to Blagojevich's aides, including Cini and deputy chiefs of staff at the time, Carl Hawkinson, Louanner Peters, Julie Curry and Margaret Houlihan.

Several pages include the signatures of Curry and Hawkinson, accompanied by the word "approved." On one page signed by Curry, a note next to one name questions why it is on the list because the administration had fired her. Curry, now a lobbyist, did not return a call seeking comment.

Hawkinson, who left the administration last winter, said he didn't recall the lists and never had anything to do with hiring employees by name.

About 700 of the 1,800 actions on the list had begun under Blagojevich's predecessor, Republican Gov. George Ryan, but the Blagojevich administration still provided a final stamp of approval.

Earlier attempts by The Associated Press to get information on the hiring process were rebuffed.

In response to a March 30 Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to the pending transactions committee, CMS said it had none. To an identical request, Blagojevich's budget office would not confirm that such documents existed, but said if they did, they would be exempt from disclosure under FOIA.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: John O'Connor has covered Illinois government and politics for The Associated Press since 1998.

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Examples of state jobs on governor's office approval list

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By The Associated Press

Lists maintained by Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration shows the governor's office was asked to approve 1,800 hires, transfers, promotions and other requests which, in nearly 1,200 cases, included the name of the individual. The lists, obtained by The Associated Press, are contrary to the administration's claim that the governor's office approved filling positions, but not the names of people being hired. Here are some examples from the lists, including the agency, the personnel action, the name of the person, and the job title.

Agriculture; Probationary Appointment; Beckmier, Dennis; Products & Standards Trnee.

Banks and Real Estate; Promotion; Cuva, Martin; Bank Examiner 2

Capital Development Board; Promotion; Perrine, Loren; Inf. Systems Analyst 2

Commerce & Economic Opportunity; Probationary Appointment; Jones, Ned; Weatherization Spec. II

Corrections; Trainee Appointment; Acevedo, Manuel; Public Admin. Intern

Employment Security; Reinstatement; Abrams, Marcella; U.I. Revenue Analyst I - Intermittent

Environmental Protection; Promotion; Derochi, Rochelle; Admin. Asst. 1

Human Services; Trainee Appointment; Alford, Melissa; M.H. Tech Trainee 1

Insurance; Probationary Appointment; Szperra, Gene; Actuarial Assistant

Liquor Control Commission; Probationary Appointment; Riordan, Bernard; Liquor Control Special Agent 1

Lottery; Inter-Agency Transfer; McCoy, Paul; Guard 2

Natural Resources; Promotion; Day, Jacqueline; Office Admin. IV, Opt. 1

Public Aid; Promotion; Luna, Sharon; Office Coordinator, Option 2

Public Health ; Trainee Appointment; Route, Erskine; Public Administration Intern

State Police; Promotion; Jordan, Wendy; Admin. Asst. 1

Transportation; Probationary Appointment; Cameron, Stephen; Highway Maintainer

Transportation; Intra-Agency Transfer; Reazer, Della; Executive Secretary 3

Veterans Affairs; Probationary Appointment; Berchtold, Tina; Veterans Nursing Asst. Certified

Veterans Affairs; Probationary Appointment; Laurich, Bernard; Support Service Worker

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Key points on governor's hiring lists

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By The Associated Press

THE LISTS: 1,800 state government hires, promotions, and transfers from the months following Gov. Rod Blagojevich's January 2003 inauguration that indicate the governor's office had to approve each. In nearly 1,200 cases, the job transactions include the name of the individual.

NAMING NAMES: The lists, obtained by The Associated Press, are contrary to the administration's claim that its hiring process was "blind" – that while aides to the governor and his budget office approved filling positions, they did not know the name of the person being hired.

THE RESPONSE: Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said it appears the lists were created before the administration began a new personnel-approval system that ensured names of individuals weren't included. She said hiring decisions on the lists were made solely on merit.

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AP Exclusive: New Blagojevich hiring form included blank for names

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By JOHN O'CONNOR

AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – A hiring form Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office created to track state job decisions early in his tenure included a space for the applicant's name, despite the administration's assertion that it switched to a "blind" system for filling routine jobs soon after he took office.

A copy of the hiring form obtained Thursday by The Associated Press lists "name" alongside boxes to fill in the job title, salary information and possible start date. The form also asks agencies to check a box indicating whether the job falls under state rules requiring it to be filled by merit, not political considerations, or whether it is exempt from those rules.

The forms indicate they went to Joe Cini, the governor's personnel director, and Lon Monk, his chief of staff at the time.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said state agencies using the new forms did not fill in the box for names when requesting to fill jobs protected from political decisions, although she acknowledged some early forms submitted might have included names erroneously. Names also are excluded from the administration's current electronic system, she said.

State and federal investigators are looking into Blagojevich's hiring practices, including Cini's work.

Judy Baar Topinka, the state treasurer challenging Blagojevich in November's election, and other Republicans say a hiring process with names in the mix raises questions about whether the governor is approving protected jobs based on personal or political considerations, or whether they're based solely on merit.

"It is very difficult to believe anything that comes out of this governor, out of his office," Topinka told reporters in Chicago on Thursday. "This goes right to the heart of his office. He obviously was involved."

The AP reported Wednesday that the governor's personnel agency, the Department of Central Management Services, compiled the lists around the time he took office in 2003. They included 1,800 positions – nearly 1,200 accompanied by names – and aides to the governor and his budget office had to sign off on each new hire, promotion, transfer and salary change.

Those lists followed the format in place under Blagojevich's predecessor, Republican Gov. George Ryan, Ottenhoff said. She said names weren't considered in hiring. The electronic system put in place in October 2003 automatically excludes names for protected posts, she said.

In the transition from the Ryan system to the computer-based process, hires were approved using the paper form the AP obtained Thursday. It is led by a spot for the applicant's name. It was submitted by an agency after a new hire was approved, and it went to Cini, then Monk, who now is Blagojevich's campaign manager.

Although not a legal requirement, agencies were instructed not to include the names of candidates for jobs covered by civil service laws or a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, known as Rutan, that prohibits hiring on the basis of politics for most state jobs.

"If it was a Rutan-covered position, in the area where it says `name,' the agency would just put, `Rutan-covered candidate,' and that's how our electronic system works now, too," Ottenhoff said.

She acknowledged some early forms agencies submitted might have included names simply out of habit.

The space for names was there only for positions that are allowed to be filled with political considerations, Ottenhoff explained. She said there was no reason not to identify those candidates – who serve at the will of the governor – even though the form was for fiscal review only.

"The governor has every right to know who is going to be taking policymaking position within the administration," Ottenhoff said.

The governor's budget office denied a March Freedom of Information Act request from the AP for documents related to the hiring system.

In addition to Topinka's remarks Thursday, Republican state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, who ran for governor against Topinka in the primary election, called on the Illinois attorney general to investigate and take steps to preserve potential evidence.

"This administration knows they are the target of prosecutors," Brady said in a statement. "In that kind of situation, the pressure to destroy or alter evidence is intense."

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Associated Press Writer Don Babwin in Chicago contributed to this report.