Gov. Pat Quinn had been said to be scouring around for a replacement for Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunities Director Warren Ribley. Then, earlier this week, Ribley was reappointed.
Director Ribley is quite well-liked and respected at the Statehouse, but he got in a little trouble with the law and other rumors swirled and Quinn, by all accounts, wanted him gone.
Word is that the administration couldn’t find a suitable replacement. The governor isn’t all that popular with corporate types these days, what with the tax hike and all. Plus, Quinn’s chief of staff Jack Lavin used to run DCEO and still exerts a lot of influence over the agency. Those who knew this fact were reportedly not sure they could run the agency as they saw fit.
Ribley is actually a pretty good director, so the state won’t be worse off with this reappointment. He was initially appointed to the job by Quinn in 2009.
Like many higher-ups in the governor’s administration, Ribley worked for Quinn at the treasurer’s office way back when. Chief Lavin is another of many from Treasurer Quinn’s staff.
The governor is infamous for not doing national searches or bringing in too many outsiders. For instance, Quinn recently chose Salvador Godinez to run the Department of Corrections. Godinez had been a fixture at IDOC (starting in Dan Walker’s administration, where Quinn also worked and where some of his current people and kitchen cabinet advisers, like Al Ronan, come from) until he began running Cook County’s jail. Sheriff Tom Dart will reportedly conduct a national search to find a successor. When was the last time we saw Quinn do a high-profile national search for anyone? You may disagree with Mayor-Elect Rahm Emanuel’s choice to run the Chicago school system, but he’s at least trying to bring in a fresh set of eyes from another state. That’s something you just won’t see with this governor.
Quinn is also appointing Jay Stewart to run the Division of Professional Regulation at the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Stewart is the governor’s senior counsel. Before that, Stewart ran the Better Government Association. But before he did that, Stewart worked for Lt. Gov. Quinn. See the pattern?
So, irony of ironies, when Quinn finally does try to bring in an outsider to replace Director Ribley, he can’t pull it off and then decides to do what he always does and sticks with what (and who) he knows.
From the Capitol Fax Blog
Illinois Politics 
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