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It’s in the vault, and that makes
Lincoln Mayor Beth Davis happy.
The check for $10,000, which came from
the Member Initiative fund of former state Sen. Robert Madigan of
Lincoln, has finally arrived, and the city can go ahead with its
plans to restore the Lincoln Well in time for the Sesquicentennial
in August. Davis believes the $10,000 will cover most or all of the
cost of the well restoration.
The well, just outside the VFW Post at
915 Fifth Street and across from the Postville Courthouse State
Historic Site, was the one Abraham Lincoln and the other lawyers and
judges traveling the 8th Judicial Circuit would have gotten a drink
from.
When trying cases at the Postville
Courthouse, Lincoln would stay at the Deskins hotel, which was
located on the site of the present VFW hall, just across the street
from the courthouse. Patrons of the hotel used the well water.
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Davis plans to install an old-fashioned
pump and also a drinking fountain at the well site, which will be
dedicated during the Sesquicentennial. The city will also be selling
about 1,100 bricks that were taken from the old well, which will be
coated with a preservative and will carry a plaque saying they are
from the Lincoln Well.
The city
opened the well in May of 2001 and hoped to make it usable. However,
water pumped from the well was contaminated. To make the well safe,
it will probably have to use water from the city’s water supply
rather than groundwater.
[Joan Crabb]
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The appointments represent a bipartisan
approach, as Blagojevich announced that a key member of the previous
administration will serve in his cabinet. The list of appointees
also includes individuals with extensive experience in the private
sector.
"My commitment to thoroughly changing
and reforming state government extends to every department and every
agency in every part of Illinois," Blagojevich said.
"I am directing the people whom I am
appointing today to carry out my vision for change, for a government
that works for all the people of Illinois and that does more with
less," he said.
Blagojevich named six agency directors
on Friday. They include new directors of the departments of
labor,
transportation and
employment security, as well as the state’s
tollway authority and the office that coordinates the operation
of state government. In addition, the governor called for the
reappointment of the current director of the state’s
Environmental Protection Agency.
"These men and women will be vital
members of a team that approaches state government with a renewed
energy and a firm commitment to serve the people of this state, grow
our economy, protect workers, preserve our natural resources and
address the frustrations of commuters," the governor added.
"They each bring vital experience and
are committed to a fresh approach," he said.
The appointments Blagojevich announced
on Friday include:
Timothy
W. Martin -- Illinois Department of Transportation
Martin is the current chief operating
officer of the Chicago Public Schools. From 1992 to 1997, he was
chief highway engineer at IDOT. In that role, he directed the
relocation of Lake Shore Drive and the start of the Museum Campus on
the city’s lakefront, as well as the reconstruction of State Street.
He also worked with city’s Department of Public Works, the
Department of Planning and Development, and Midwest Consulting
Engineers.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in
engineering and a master’s in business administration from the
University of Illinois.
Michael
J. Fenger -- Department of Labor
A resident of the greater Rockford
area, Fenger has more than two decades of experience in
administrative and union management at the International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers, Local 364, where he represented more than
1,200 workers. He also serves as a Winnebago County sheriff’s public
safety commissioner and was appointed to the Fidelity Investment
Board in 2001. During the 1970s, Fenger worked as a foreman, general
foreman and in other management positions for various electrical
contractors.
He completed a year of electrical
apprenticeship in 1970 and earned his bachelor’s degree from Antioch
University in 1994.
Michael M. Rumman --
Central Management Services
Rumman most recently served as the CEO
of Veritel Corporation, which manufactures and distributes voice
verification biometrics systems for network and physical access
security. He served from 1997-2000 as president of Peoples Energy
Services, an affiliate of the Peoples Energy Corporation. He has
also led projects for Accenture LLC, where he developed detailed
business initiation planning. Earlier in his career, he had
extensive experience in the private sector, including work at
General Motors Corporation.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in
economics from the University of Michigan and received his master’s
in business administration from Northwestern University.
Renee
Cipriano -- Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Cipriano has been asked by Gov.
Blagojevich to continue in her capacity at the state’s Environmental
Protection Agency, which she has directed in Springfield since 2001.
In that role, she is responsible for the implementation and
administration of all environmental laws and programs for the state.
She also served as co-chair of the governor’s Energy Cabinet.
Prior to her appointment to the EPA,
she served as a senior advisor on environmental and natural
resources to then-Gov. George Ryan. In the mid-1990s, she was
associate director and chief counsel of the Illinois EPA. She has
also served in private legal practice, as a partner in the
environmental law group at Schiff Hardin & Waite.
She earned her undergraduate and law
degrees at Loyola University in Chicago.
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Jack
Hartman -- Illinois Toll Highway Authority
Hartman has served as the executive
vice president for construction, engineering and facilities at the
Chicago Transit Authority since 1997. In that role, he is
responsible for the CTA’s Capital Development Program, which
includes the rehabilitation of the Douglas, Ravenswood and Red
lines. The $2.5 billion program has been on schedule and on budget.
He manages more than 400 buildings and 24 million square feet of
space, with 1,400 employees and an operating budget of $150 million
per year.
From 1992-96, he was a deputy
commissioner at the city’s Department of Aviation, where he served
as project manager for the Midway Terminal Project and several
initiatives at O’Hare.
In both agencies, he successfully
implemented "change management" strategies.
He has also coordinated the CTA’s "Make
a Difference Program" which has won two awards from USA Today for
its emphasis on volunteerism.
Brenda
Russell -- Department of Employment Security
Russell serves as resident vice
president of CSX Transportation, Inc. She has previously served as
vice president for community relations and as counsel for CSX.
As a senior associate at Carney &
Brothers, Ltd. during the early 1990s, she counseled lenders and
developed loan documentation for the nation’s third largest
minority-controlled bank. She is currently a member of the executive
committee of the Metropolitan Planning Council.
She is a graduate of Harvard University
and holds a law degree from the University of Virginia.
---
"My first assignment to these directors
is to make it clear to all of their employees that this
administration is enthusiastic and well-prepared to bring about
dramatic change to the state government, and we hope every employee
shares our commitment to reform," Blagojevich said.
The governor’s prior announcements this
week also underscored the new administration’s commitment to change.
On Tuesday, the governor’s first full
day in office, he issued executive orders and additional directives
taking action aimed at restoring people’s faith in their leaders and
imposing greater discipline on state spending.
Blagojevich terminated the employment
of individuals in more than 30 positions that were filled in the
closing weeks of the previous administration.
Blagojevich also placed a hold on
departments and agencies, preventing the hiring of new personnel.
Citing the figure of more than 13,000 state cars, he froze the
acquisition of new vehicles in state departments and asked for a
review of all cars in their fleets.
On Tuesday, the new governor also
appointed Mary Lee Leahy, an attorney who is renowned for her work
specializing in ethics and personnel issues, to serve as a special
investigator for employment and personnel, to revise state hiring
rules, and to find unnecessary and unqualified personnel.
On Thursday, Blagojevich cited the
state’s enormous $4.8 billion deficit as evidence of the need for
fundamental reforms of Illinois’ spending and revenue practices and
an opportunity to enact such reforms.
Blagojevich said that he and his budget
staff will review the budget "line by line" to find wasteful
spending, identify unnecessary positions or nonessential entities
within state government that can be consolidated or eliminated, push
for increases in federal dollars, and carry out a plan to economize
the state’s purchase of prescription drugs.
He also announced the creation of a
Council of Economic Advisors who will advise the governor on all
aspects of economic growth. The panel will function similarly to the
White House panel of the same name and will focus on helping enhance
the state’s revenues through an improved climate for economic
development and job creation.
Blagojevich also said that he would
call for more public involvement in the budget process. Blagojevich
said that the he and Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn would engage in public
events around Illinois to "hear the ideas of people who pay for
state government: the taxpayers."
Blagojevich drew parallels between a
set of reform-oriented initiatives he announced earlier this week
and his goals for dramatically changing the way the budget is
crafted.
He called his reforms "signals to
Springfield that they cannot count on the comfortable old ways."
"The same
spirit of change will shape our approach to the budget."
[Illinois
Government News Network
press release] |
