AN OPEN LETTER TO GOV. RAUNER

Illinois is bankrupt. This fact is well known to anyone having to do business with the state, and this woeful financial environment was a driving factor in the rejection of the failed economic policies of former Gov. Pat Quinn, and the election of Gov. Bruce Rauner, who ran on a platform of reining in excessive government spending. Illinois' insolvency is more than an esoteric exercise in political science, as it affects most every citizen within the state. College professors are being laid off because of the loss of state support, and their students are frantically searching for alternative sources of funding to replace lost scholarship grants. Unfunded pension liabilities threaten the retirement plans of elderly citizens, and even lottery winners have encountered difficulties in getting paid. However, when it comes to experiencing Illinois' financial plight up close and personal, the state's prisoners are akin to the proverbial canary in the coal mine, as we are the first to feel the contraction in the diminution in the delivery of the most basic of necessities.

As a citizen activist - and a prisoner who has been incarcerated since 1967 - I believe that the best method for eradicating waste and incompetence in government is by identifying specific examples of it, and then attempting to hold the appropriate people accountable. While my primary goal is uncovering corruption, waste, fraud and abuse within the Department of Corrections, the F.O.I.A. has allowed me to examine the inner workings of several state agencies. I recently reviewed the Meeting Minutes of the Procurement Policy Board for July 10, 2014, which covered their review of the Central Management Services issuance of leases for state agencies. I discovered that when the Department of Human Services leased a building at 11203 South Ellis Avenue in Chicago, CMS had hired a full time "building and grounds person" for the building, while the property owner was obligated to provide the maintenance for the building. When challenged about this by the Board, the Statewide Facility Manager indicated that this job title was a "misnomer", as "this person makes sure that the toilet paper is stocked and helps keep the bathroom clean during the day". He further stated that this individual received a salary of $58,000 yearly, and this person's total compensation package, including benefits and pension, came to "probably $80,000" a year. Upon further investigation, the Board's Chairman noted that he had uncovered at least "17 of these positions at leased facilities". To put these janitors' salaries into perspective, if they were paid the minimum wage, they would earn $17,160 a year; even assuming that they were compensated at $15.00 an hour, this would only amount to $31,200 yearly.

Gov. Rauner, if you wish to begin to rein in excessive government spending, here's a starting point. While the amount of money in question is rather insignificant by itself, the principle is not. I stumbled across this information whilst attempting to learn why the Department of Corrections no longer provides its prisoners with state boots, t-shirts or socks, and has eliminated scrambled eggs from our breakfast meals. For your information, I have previously attempted to inform the House Public Safety and Appropriations Committee of the waste, fraud and abuse which I have discovered in the past, and their response was underwhelming, to put it lightly. I am merely one person with an inquisitive mind and a typewriter - I don't even have access to a computer - and I have found hundreds of thousands of dollars of "waste", if not fraud. And if you ever decide to establish a permanent position whose responsibility is to curtail the waste, fraud and abuse within the Department of Corrections, I would like to submit my resume. I am well-educated - have a Bachelor of Science Degree from S.I.U. - Carbondale - have 49 years of "experience" within the Department, and I will work for minimum wage.