The Edgar Administration Managing Government

Kustra headed the Illinois Rural Affairs Council, which addresses concerns of rural education, health care and economic development. He was chairman of the Illinois Rural Bond Bank, which provides low-cost financing to local governments, and he helped to create the Illinois Main Street program to assist communities with downtown revitalization efforts.

By Executive Order, Edgar in 1995 designated Kustra his senior adviser on economic development. He gave him the responsibility to oversee the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs and to chair the Economic Development Coordinating Council formed to foster a strong business climate and promote job growth. As such, Kustra was a leading advocate for Illinois business growth.

Kustra proved to be a strong advocate for conserving natural resources and protecting Illinois rivers and streams. In 1994, he created the Illinois River Strategy Team to develop the state’s first comprehensive plan for improving the 55-county area of the Illinois River watershed. Kustra was instrumental in helping Illinois forge a 15-year agreement with the federal government in March 1998 on a $459 million initiative to restore and preserve the Illinois River basin. He also worked on forming the Illinois River Watch Network, a partnership of “citizen scientists” that encourages volunteers to protect, monitor and restore the state’s water resources.

“I’ve been around here 30 years, and I don’t know of any time that a lieutenant governor has had more active participation and has had a direct impact on what the administration has done,” Edgar said in July 1998, when Kustra stepped down to become president of Eastern Kentucky University. “I appreciate very much his loyalty, his willingness to serve in one of the most difficult jobs in politics.”

Looking within state government, Edgar turned to a number of close advisers who had worked with him when he was Secretary of State and to others whose long-time service, knowledge and dedication to the public made them natural choices for leadership positions.

To direct the Department of Transportation, Edgar selected Kirk Brown, a professional engineer who had 22 years of experience with the agency. Another director promoted in his agency was Peters, who had begun work in the corrections system in 1971 and was a warden at three institutions before being named by Edgar to head the agency. When Peters left Corrections in 1994 to become the Governor’s deputy chief of staff and later the first secretary of the new Department of Human Services, Edgar again turned to a career professional from the department, selecting Odie Washington, an African American with more than 20 years of experience in the agency. Jess McDonald, who had a wealth of experience in human services work in state social service agencies and associations, became director of the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities in 1992 and director of the Department of Children and Family Services in 1994.

Seeking the expertise of those outside government, Edgar reached out to people such as Douglas Whitley, the longtime president of the highly respected Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois, to head the Department of Revenue. Edgar named G. Brent Manning, an environmental biologist and director of Ducks Unlimited, to be director of the Department of Conservation and later the Department of Natural Resources when several other agencies were merged with the conservation department. Others who came from the private sector included James E. Long, executive director of the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association, who was named director of the Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, and Doyle, who grew up on a farm and managed a pork production operation before serving eight years as the administration’s agriculture director.

Edgar’s cabinet proved to be a model of stability. Eleven directors remained in their top agency positions throughout Edgar’s two terms. Several others were with the administration for all eight years in two or more Cabinet positions or in a combination of agency and senior staff positions with the Governor.

All of Edgar’s press secretaries brought unique talents and notable professional careers to the Governor’s office. Mike Lawrence, a respected Statehouse reporter for Lee Enterprises and the Chicago Sun-Times, left journalism in 1987 to become press secretary to then Secretary of State Jim Edgar. As Edgar began to mount his campaign for governor, Lawrence’s knowledge of politics and government proved invaluable, just as they did during the six and a half years he served as the Governor’s press secretary and senior adviser. Joining Lawrence in the press office were Dan Egler, Gary Mack and Eric Robinson. Egler had been a reporter for the Chicago Tribune for 21 years, including 13 years as Statehouse bureau chief, when in 1991 he was named associate press secretary and chief speechwriter. Mack, who had worked in radio and television for the Illinois Information Service and had been a press secretary in the Secretary of State’s office, was named deputy press secretary to the Governor in 1991. Robinson was the state Capitol bureau chief for WAND-TV in Decatur when he joined the administration as assistant press secretary in 1994. Robinson served as press secretary during the administration’s closing months. John Webber, a reporter and columnist for the Quincy Herald-Whig, was hired as a speechwriter in 1996. When Lawrence left in 1997, he was succeeded as the Governor’s chief spokesman by Tom Hardy, who had been a reporter for the Chicago Tribune for 20 years, including a 10-year stint as the newspaper’s chief political writer.

To coordinate the development of the Governor’s program initiatives and to act as liaisons to the various code agencies, Edgar assembled a core group of talented and dedicated executive assistants, each responsible for certain policy areas. They served as liaisons to both state agencies and interest groups. Over the years, in addition to some staff already identified, these executive assistants included George Fleischli, natural resources, infrastructure and transportation; Erhard Chorle, financial institutions and banking; Felicia Norwood, human services; Janis Cellini, personnel and labor issues; Ken Zehnder, gubernatorial appointments; Tom Livingston, higher education and transportation; Bernice Bloom, Mary Ann Louderback and Mindy Sick, education; and Valerie Brooks, social services. Mark Peterson, in addition to handling banking and financial institution issues, was director of the Governor’s Chicago office during the first term. Other key advisers for various programmatic issues included Jennifer Gordon, Terry Harvill, Susan Leonis, Karen Loeb, Terry Scrogum and Edna Walden. Tom Faulkner served as executive assistant to First Lady Brenda Edgar for most of the Governor’s two terms. Throughout the eight years, Patricia Michalski was a liaison to many ethnic groups and associations.

A governor’s chief legal counsel deals with a myriad of issues, both in the Governor’s office and in state agencies under his control. Four persons served in that role during the Edgar administration. Arnie Kanter was a successful attorney in private practice when Edgar named him chief counsel in 1991. He was followed by James Montana Jr., who had been an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago before entering private practice and becoming chief counsel. Bill Roberts, who had been both Sangamon County state’s attorney and U.S. attorney for the central district, was in private practice when Edgar selected him as chief counsel in 1995. Elena Kezelis, the first woman to serve as chief legal counsel to an Illinois governor, joined the legal office in 1991 and was named chief counsel in 1997. Working with all four chief counsels during the Governor’s two terms was Deputy Chief Counsel Bill Ghesquiere, who had a wealth of government legal experience as a former chief counsel at the Illinois Department of Transportation and as chief counsel to Governor Thompson. Other attorneys with long tenure in the legal office were Diane Ford and Mark Warnsing.

The job of guiding the Governor’s initiatives through the General Assembly falls to his legislative affairs office. It serves as a clearinghouse for legislation and also assists the Governor in deciding whether to sign or to veto individual bills. Stephen Selcke, who had a similar role in the Thompson administration, was Edgar’s first director of legislative affairs. When Selcke was appointed director of the Department of Insurance after the 1991 legislative session, Mark Boozell was named director of legislative affairs, a position he held until 1995. Deno Perdiou, who started in government as an intern, was in charge of governmental affairs at the Department of Revenue and served as Edgar’s liaison to the Illinois House before becoming the Governor’s final legislative affairs director. Terri Moreland directed the state’s office in Washington, D.C., serving as the administration’s chief liaison with the federal government and Congress throughout Edgar’s eight years in office.

Keeping Edgar’s schedule and answering his personal correspondence and telephone calls were the most obvious of the many daily responsibilities that fell to his personal staff. At the state Capitol, Sherry Struck was Edgar’s personal assistant from the first day he walked into the office in 1991. In 1995, she was joined by Mike McCormick, a former state’s attorney in southern Illinois who was named senior personal assistant to the Governor and charged with, among many other responsibilities, keeping Edgar’s schedule and serving as a liaison to mayors and other local government officials. In his Chicago office, Carla Stone was personal assistant to the Governor. Donna Fitts was executive director of the Governor’s office, overseeing its $7 million budget, and served as Edgar’s liaison to foreign consulates in Chicago.

Joe Khayyat, director of scheduling during Edgar’s second term, oversaw the Governor’s travel details. The Governor’s advance team, led by Jim Broussard in Chicago and Curt Conrad in Springfield, also included Dave Bender, Jeff Dillman, Andy Ezard, Andy Graham, Marty Green, Steve Kennedy, Khayyat, Todd Lizak and Chris McAuliffe. Perhaps the staff members with the closest day-to-day relationship with the Governor were his travel assistants who attended to the daily details of Edgar’s schedule and his job. Edgar’s travel aides included Tom Livingston, Mark Schauerte, Matt Goldberg, Kevin St. Angel, Scott Rice, Nick Palazzolo and Evan Williams.