Representative Smith’s Appointment, Does it Pass the Smell Test?

y Mark Cavers Today, the Associated Press reports that Governor Quinn has made another controversial appointment with his move to put former Representative Michael Smith on the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board, complete with a salary of almost $100,000. Prior to voters’ decision to remove him from office last fall, Smith was a vocal advocate for Governor...

y Mark Cavers

Today, the Associated Press reports that Governor Quinn has made another controversial appointment with his move to put former Representative Michael Smith on the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board, complete with a salary of almost $100,000. Prior to voters’ decision to remove him from office last fall, Smith was a vocal advocate for Governor Quinn’s 67% tax hike on middle class families and his final act as a representative was to vote for Quinn’s tax increase. The Governor’s appointment of Smith comes on the heels of his controversial attempt to appoint former Representative Careen Gordon, another tax hike supporter, to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. After that move failed, he appointed Gordon to a $86,000 position in the State Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

If the Senate approves Smith’s appointment, what exactly will we be paying him for? Last month, Kevin McDermott ran a story on the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In it he highlighted the $94,000 salaries that each member of the board receives for a single one to two hour meeting each month. Other members of the board have included: the spouse of a state Senator, an ex-lobbyist, an ex-gubernatorial aide, and an ex-legislative staffer.

The Governor’s appointments have faced a great deal of scrutiny and a number of his suggestions have come under fire for the appearance of repaying political allies with high paying government jobs. What do you think? Is the Governor playing politics with appointments?