SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner campaigned on a pledge to tackle patronage hiring in Illinois, but one of the first employees of his new administration is the sister of one of his top aides.
State payroll records reviewed by the Quad-City Times' Springfield Bureau show Emily Clamp was hired on Jan. 16 for a $70,008 per year job at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
A Rauner spokeswoman says the 25-year-old is "well suited" for the position based on her college studies, but her sister, Sarah Clamp, was political director of Rauner's successful campaign for governor against Democrat Pat Quinn.
Sarah Clamp is now is on the state payroll as the governor's $90,000-per-year director of special projects.
The hiring of Emily Clamp comes after Rauner focused much of his campaign on hiring practices during Quinn's tenure as governor, including putting politically connected people, campaign workers and "cronies" into state jobs.
In his inaugural address last month, Rauner bolstered that theme, saying he wants to strengthen ethics in the executive branch.
"I will send a clear signal to everyone in our state, and to those watching from outside our borders, that business as usual is over," Rauner said. "It stops now."
Emily Clamp's hiring four days after Rauner was sworn into office also occurred after the Republican businessman from Winnetka had imposed a hiring freeze on state government.
Alden Loury, a senior policy analyst with the Chicago-based Better Government Association, said the hire raises red flags, especially after Rauner's attacks on Quinn.
Read the entire article by clicking on the following: Sister of top Rauner aide gets state job
Rauner’s reacion to questioning about this hiring:
Governor unsure about details of hiring
Kurt Erickson The Southern Springfield Bureau
SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner says he still doesn't know the details behind his administration's hiring of the sister of one of his top aides.
In an interview on WGN radio Thursday morning, Rauner responded to questions about the Jan. 16 hiring of Emily Clamp to a $70,008 per year job at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
As first reported Monday by The Southern Illinoisan's Springfield bureau, Clamp, 25, is the younger sister of Rauner aide Sarah Clamp, who served as the governor's political director during his successful campaign last year against Democrat Pat Quinn.
Sarah Clamp now serves as the governor's $90,000-per-year director of special projects.
"Frankly, I don't know too much about that," Rauner told the radio station. "Somebody told me about this relationship. I don't know all the details of this case you're talking about."….
Read the entire article at: http://thesouthern.com/news/local/state-and-regional/governor-unsure-about-details-of-hiring/article_be70257d-234c-50f8-a288-ed209f0ec2c9.html
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