Judge orders monitor in IDOT political hiring lawsuit

A judge has ordered a hiring monitor at the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) in a lawsuit alleging the agency has violated rules banning political hiring.

Wednesday's decision goes back to the original Shakman Decree in 1972, barring patronage hiring.

Five years ago, litigation began about possible violations of Shakman at IDOT. Even though the appointment of a special IDOT monitor is the result of years of legal maneuvering, it comes two weeks before a statewide election.

Illinois Executive Inspector General Ricardo Meza spent three years investigating political hires in the department. The report was cited several times as a federal judge ordered a monitor for the agency.

"There was a circumvention of the hiring process as it relates to staff assistant positions," Meza said.

In August, after the report was issued, Gov. Pat Quinn replaced the department's secretary and eliminated the staff assistant positions amid other policy changes against political hiring and transfers.

Quinn did not comment in public about the appointment of federal monitor. His running mate, Paul Vallas, addressed the decision at a campaign event Wednesday.

"The governor inherited problems that have been existing for probably four decades, and in 28 of those 40 years, we had republican governors," Vallas said. "The governor is going to solve the problem with or without the monitor, but if a court believes a monitor will reinforce, so be it."

Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner had a statement prepared immediately after the proceedings while at a campaign event in Indiana.

"I've been calling for a federal hiring monitor because I knew that Pat Quinn is engaging in the same kind of illegal activity that Rod Blagojevich did," Rauner said. "I'm not a politician, I'm a business guy, I want to grow companies and jobs in Illinois, and I've been frustrated with this corruption and cronyism, I've seen it for a long time."

Michael Shakman began the litigation four decades ago to fight patronage hiring.

He says despite the timing, the legal fight continues on behalf of taxpayers and those looking for a fair shot at employment.

"Fairness. People want jobs and jobs are important, and if jobs aren't made available to qualified applicants because they don't have clout, that's not only unfair but it violates the law," Shakman said.

Shakman expects a monitor to be appointed within a few weeks. The monitor will be assigned to look at what problems existed at IDOT and how to make sure there is no political favoritism in employment moving forward.