Feds probe political hiring in Illinois
The United States Supreme Court ruled (in the Rutan decision of 1990) that party affiliation could not be used as the basis for hiring and promotions. Try telling that certain Illinois politicians.
Nearly two months ago, the state of Illinois fired two CMS (Central Management Services) Department staffers as the result of allegations that they manipulated a job-applicant grading system to “hook-up” well-connected Democrats.
That prompted a federal probe into whether IL Governor Rod Blagojevich’s administration violated a federal ban on political hiring.
Now, Sam Flood, former St. Clair County Clerk and a local Democratic bigwig (and former aide to Blagojevich), has become one of the targets of the FBI probe, following allegations of unscrupulous activities in conjunction with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
The allegations stem from the recent settlement of a federal anti-discrimination lawsuit against Flood (Interim Director of the IL Dept. of Natural Resources) as filed by Ray Coleman, who was allegedly denied a promotion to a supervisory position.
However, Flood’s son, Scott, was given the position, despite concerns regarding in his credentials (or lack thereof). You see, Scott Flood, formerly a glorified head janitor for the St. Clair County juvenile detention home, was deemed more qualified for promotion than Ray Coleman (a black Republican) with a college degree and experience as a superintendent of Madison County’s Horseshoe Lake.
It seems that Scott Floods’ whiteness, genetics and political affiliations were all the qualifications that were required….or so daddy Flood thought.
Ray Coleman’s “difference of opinion” and tenacity, as well as a sit-down with the FBI, may, ultimately, prove to be key to exposing the rampant political biases (in hiring) at the state level and throughout southern Illinois.
Coleman’s claims of racial and political discrimination (not to mention nepotism) won out. The result is the exposure of not only Sam Flood, but, potentially, numerous appointees of Blagojevich who may be found guilty of political hiring, in violation of the Supreme Court ruling of 1990.
In a political year in which Blagojevich is running for his political life, this scandal may well come back to haunt him at the polls.
Subsequently, we may soon come to see that Charlie Powell’s vote fraud conviction and incarceration may just be the tip of the iceberg of political corruption within the state democratic machine.
Scott Flood’s promotion from glorified janitor to head of Natural Resources (for Region 4) is typical of what patronage politics has become: no regard for qualifications, flagrant discrimination and brazen implementation.
George W. Bush gave us a glimpse of what inept appointees produce during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Blagojevich and Flood appear determined to match Bush’s stupidity at the state and local levels.
Just think, it was an African-American security guard who exposed the Watergate break-in, which ultimately lead to the demise of President Richard Nixon.
Now, in 2006, another brother, simply trying to do his job, may potentially contribute to the downfall of the governor of Illinois.
Whatever the case, one would think in a society so quick to sue and a media so quick to expose impropriety, that these politicians would finally learn their lesson.
Kind of sounds too much like right, huh?
EMAIL: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com.