Quinn, former state rep. say job not traded for tax-hike vote

by mark konkol Staff Reporter


During her final days in office, former state Rep. Careen Gordon scored a lucrative state job after casting an important vote that helped pass Gov. Quinn’s controversial 67 percent income tax increase.

Gordon (D-Morris) and a spokeswoman for the governor said there wasn’t any deal to trade Gordon’s vote for the $85,886-a-year seat on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.

“There was no quid pro quo,” Quinn spokeswoman Annie Thompson said Saturday. “Bottom line, she was appointed because of her extensive background in criminal justice. . . . She was just the ideal candidate.”

Gordon, who recently moved to Chicago, was an assistant state’s attorney in Will and Kankakee counties. In 2000, she also worked as an assistant attorney general under former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan.

Gordon refused to answer questions about how she became a candidate for the board seat. But she denied using her vote on the tax crease bill as leverage for the job.

“There was no deal. That’s untrue,” she said. “My background is a perfect match for someone on the Prisoner Review Board. I’m done talking about it. I’m done being called a liar.”

The tax increase, which Quinn signed into law last week, passed the House with 60 votes, the minimum needed for approval.

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said in a statement that he’s not buying Quinn’s claim that Gordon’s appointment came after the vote. “That’s like saying it was simply a coincidence that the governor vetoed McCormick Place reforms last year after getting a $75,000 donation from the Teamsters Union,” Brady said in the statement.

http://www.suntimes.com/3329780-417/gordon-quinn-tax-vote-state.html