Please bear with me as I make a long wind-up for a simple pitch. The pitch is: I’ve always thought Pat Quinn was a pretty decent guy. Honest, sincere, well-meaning and not self-aggrandizing. Lately, though, Quinn has given me reason to wonder.

 

And now the wind-up.

 

In Illinois, the lieutenant governor, for all practical purposes, has no duties. None. A governor can assign duties to his/her second-in-command, but they rarely do. So it was that Pat Quinn, serving as “lite gov” to Rod Blagojevich (a man who, we would learn from FBI recordings in 2010, hated being governor after 2006) decided he would devote much of his time to honoring military service members from Illinois.

He attended funerals of service members killed in action. When members of Westboro Baptist Church decided to noisily and disrespectfully exercise their First Amendment rights within sight and earshot of mourning families at such funerals, Quinn spearheaded an effort to establish a “safe zone” that would keep protesters at a distance. (He signed the bill into law when he was governor in 2011.)

He traveled regularly to visit service members in military hospitals overseas — often paying for those trips on his own. Here’s an excerpt from an Associated Press story from March 3, 2009. At the time, the ousted Blagojevich accused Quinn of running up excessive travel costs. Not so, reported the AP’s John O’Connor:

Quinn’s main thrust in office has been advocating for military servicemen and women, veterans and their families. That has taken him on overseas trips seven times, four of which he paid for himself and one for which the state reimbursed him.

The federal government picked up the cost of a New Year’s 2004 trip to Iraq, and he paid out of pocket for expeditions to South Korea, Poland and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany to visit troops, memorialize Illinoisans killed in action or call on wounded combat veterans.

“Our state has had a tough economic time,” Quinn said. “Traveling abroad, I think each of these are legitimate public trips, but I just chose not to bill the taxpayers.”

Quinn didn’t take an entourage on those overseas trips. He didn’t make them photo ops. Want proof? Here’s a letter to the editor I received when I was editorial page editor at The State Journal-Register in Springfield. It appeared in the May 23, 2008, edition.

For a few days this week, I escorted Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn during his visit to the Republic of Korea to promote the interests of the people of Illinois. Quinn met with several high-ranking elected officials of Seoul, Korea’s capital city, to sign a sister-river agreement between the Illinois River and the Han River, which bisects Seoul and is one of South Korea’s most prominent waterways.

While here, Quinn visited with Illinois service members at Osan Air Base and Yongsan Army Base. He visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which separates North and South Korea. At each stop, he extended to the service members here his and Illinois’ full support and gratitude for sacrifices they make each day around the world.

At Yongsan, Lt. Gov. Quinn laid a wreath to commemorate service members who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

He traveled alone without an entourage and without fanfare in a humble manner (impressive to several Koreans who shared their impressions with me), selflessly pursuing cultural, economic, ecological exchanges tol benefit Illinois. I sat with him while he visited with the Seoul vice mayor for administration and with Mayor Oh Se-Hoon to discuss future cooperation between the state of Illinois and the city of Seoul that will improve the lives of many in both Korea and in Illinois.

In a period of political divisiveness at the state and federal level, I think it’s important for Illinois citizens to know that Lt. Gov. Quinn is an aggressive advocate for all of Illinois’ hard-working people. He promotes support of current and former Illinois military veterans and he is genuinely concerned for the preservation of Illinois’ great resources.

Thank you, Lt. Gov. Quinn, for your tireless efforts on behalf of the people of Illinois and for the privilege I had spending time with you.

Maj. Edward J. Wiessing

Springfield

After Quinn became governor, he visited our editorial board several times, and seemed to enjoy sparring with anyone who attended on whatever topic came up. Quinn once visited us in 2012 for the single purpose of talking about Medicaid and pension reform. When questioning went “off message” and into the area of gambling expansion, Quinn didn’t flinch. Over the objections of his two spokeswomen (who were there to make sure things didn’t go off message), Quinn explained his objections to a gambling bill being considered by the General Assembly.

He thanked us for the “hand-to-hand combat” after leaving another editorial board meeting.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. Quinn may have proved to be a less-than-effective governor (because he had no skill at working with the General Assembly to advance his agenda, but that’s another story), but he seemed to have his heart in the right place.

Lately, though, Quinn’s actions haven’t squared with those of the guy in in the letter to the editor above.

First came Quinn’s refusal to concede defeat to Bruce Rauner on election night. Then, when he did concede the next day, he wasn’t exactly gracious. He didn’t even acknowledge his opponent by name.

Then came word that Quinn intended to appoint his campaign manager, Lou Bertuca, as head of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. Bertuca, 30, has no experience in finance or sports facilities management. Neither, incidentally, did former Quinn spokeswoman Kelly Kraft, who was appointed to the same job two years ago. Both these appointments came over the strong objections of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel noted, correctly, that bad decisions by the ISFA can end up costing Chicago taxpayers. (Chicago Sun-Times reporter Dan Mihalopoulos explains here how that already has happened.)

Then, late last week, came word that Quinn had appointed 51 people to various state boards and commissions. The action came a month to the day before Rauner is scheduled to be sworn into office. Some of the appointments extend beyond Rauner’s first term. He may have lost to Rauner, but Quinn appears intent on doing everything he can to show the governor-elect that he’s still in power. Even if it means tying Rauner’s hands on appointments throughout his first term.

I really hope all this is not a prelude to what could be one of the biggest, most audacious and most outrageous lame-duck acts by a governor in Illinois history. Right now, there’s a big question over whether Quinn can appoint a replacement for Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka not only to fill the last month of her current term, but for the entire 2015-2019 term that Topinka won on Nov. 4.

House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton both have said they believe the appointment is Rauner’s to make after he is sworn in Jan. 12. Madigan last week indicated he had no intention of getting into the middle of it and urged Quinn and Rauner to find a mutually agreeable solution. Madigan’s message clearly was aimed more at Quinn than Rauner (who until Jan. 12 has no legal authority in all this).

We’re still waiting for a decision from Attorney General Lisa Madigan on this, but should we even need one? Does Pat Quinn need to be told he shouldn’t make an appointment that takes effect after he is out of office? That this is an appointment to which the winner of the gubernatorial election on Nov. 4 is entitled?

The Pat Quinn of the letter to the editor above wouldn’t need a legal order from the attorney general. He would have issued a statement Friday that he would leave the issue of succession to his successor. That’s called letting the will of the people be the law of the land.

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