Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday defended three administration officials named in a federal hiring probe and said the investigation was an opportunity to show “that we do things right.”
In his first comments since reports about an expanding federal investigation, Blagojevich said he “had a great deal of confidence” in the hiring system his administration put in place after his 2002 election.
Earlier this week, federal subpoenas were served on the governor’s office, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Department of Children and Family Services, seeking personnel records dating to March 2002.
The subpoenas are part of a federal grand jury investigation probing potential wrongdoing by two top hiring officials in Blagojevich’s office and DCFS’ top personnel director.
A letter from the U.S. Justice Department seeking a potential witness’ cooperation with federal prosecutors noted that a grand jury had been convened “regarding allegations of criminal wrongdoing of Victor Roberson, Robin Staggers and Joe Cini in relation to public corruption.”
Cini is the director of the governor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, the clearinghouse for state jobs, where Roberson works as a deputy. Staggers is the deputy director in charge of hiring at DCFS.
Neither Blagojevich nor anyone else involved in hiring within the administration has been accused of wrongdoing. The governor warned that the public shouldn’t jump to conclusions as a result of the disclosures.
“What we’re talking about here are requests for information, period. Nobody in this latest round of these requests has been accused of any wrongdoing,” Blagojevich said. “Not the personnel director, he’s not been accused of any wrongdoing. Not his assistant, he’s not been accused of any wrongdoing. Or not Miss Staggers at DCFS, she’s not been accused of any wrongdoing.”
Despite the governor’s comment, a spokeswoman for DCFS confirmed Wednesday that Staggers was placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday. Spokeswoman Diane Jackson said the decision was “an initial response to serious allegations that were reported.”
Speaking to reporters following the opening of a new state emergency operations center here, the governor said he considered the investigation an opportunity to showcase changes the administration has made in hiring practices.
“I think this scrutiny is going to show that our systems are working and that we’ve done this the right way,” he said.
Blagojevich said that in the weeks after he won election but before he took office in January 2003, he and his staff consulted with numerous lawyers and former Gov. James Thompson, who headed his transition team, about the best way to make hiring decisions. Blagojevich promised to reform state government following the scandal-scarred administration of George Ryan, who is currently on trial.
“I think, in many ways, I was fortunate enough to be governor in the wake of the previous administration, Gov. Ryan’s administration. As we were building our administration, we were mindful of some of the things that happened before, some of the structures that were not in place,” he said. “And as we constructed our administration, we were determined to make sure we built in systems that could make sure that we protect the taxpayers’ money and that we do the best job we possibly can to make sure that people work, work honestly and do the people’s business to the best of their ability.”
He said that his administration stressed that qualifications were key in all state employees who have been hired since he became governor in January 2003. “Qualifications. All the time. Again, the decisions that are made when it comes to who gets hired in different places, those decisions are made through a whole system that we have established,” he said.
Blagojevich’s administration has sought to link the subpoenas to allegations made in January by the governor’s father-in-law, Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), who said high-level state board and commission appointments were exchanged for campaign cash. Mell later recanted the claims under threat of a lawsuit by top Blagojevich fundraiser Christopher Kelly. Blagojevich has said federal investigators questioned him about those allegations in February.
The governor noted that investigators are scrutinizing government at every level, from the Bush administration to Chicago’s City Hall. And he sought to differentiate the state situation from the ongoing investigation of patronage in Mayor Richard Daley’s administration. The mayor’s patronage chief has been indicted in that probe.
Blagojevich said when news broke about allegations of hiring irregularities at City Hall, he asked Cini about it “just to make sure that we’re not operating that way.”
“I called up our patronage …” the governor said, catching himself as he used the common title for the head of the state’s hiring operation. “He’s not even that, he’s intergovernmental affairs director, we even changed the name, and just to get some reassurance … and his answer kind of summed it up: Of course, we don’t do those things.”
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