FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Contact: Phil Huckelberry, Chair, 309-268-9974
McLean County Green Party leaders sharply criticized Governor Rod Blagojevich's decision to reappoint Jay D. Bergman to the Illinois State University Board of Trustees, citing it as yet another example of favors done in exchange for campaign contributions.
Bergman is owner and CEO of Petco Petroleum of Hinsdale, a firm that has been responsible for many contaminating leaks at petroleum drilling locations in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, and which has been repeatedly cited for environmental violations. Although Bergman's firm was recently fined $135,000 by the Illinois Pollution Control Board among other significant violations, and although Attorney General Lisa Madigan has pointedly stated that Petco has not done appropriate work to minimize environmental problems, Blagojevich recently reappointed Bergman to a full term on the ISU Board.
"Rod Blagojevich apparently doesn't have a problem with a serial polluter making important decisions that will directly affect thousands of ISU students and indirectly affect tens of thousands more in the greater ISU community," said Matt Hindman, a graduate student in the Politics and Government program at ISU. "We have to wonder if $31,000 in campaign contributions over the last four years helped affect the governor's decision."
Although Bergman has given campaign dollars to both Republicans and Democrats in the past few years, the largest single recipient, by far, has been Blagojevich, noted Hindman.
"This is exactly the 'politics as usual' that Blagojevich claimed was going to change," said Phil Huckelberry, Chair of the McLean County Green Party and Green Party candidate for 88th State Representative. "For the Blagojevich administration, though, it appears to be old hat," a reference to several other complaints that Blagojevich has given preferential treatment to campaign contributors.
The Illinois Senate has to approve Bergman's appointment. ISU is served in the Illinois Senate by Bill Brady (R-44), a Republican candidate for governor and a frequent critic of Blagojevich's administration over similar matters.
"Here's an opportunity for Bill Brady to prove that he's serious when he talks about cleaning up Springfield," said Hindman. "We'd like to see Senator Brady stand up for his constituents on campus and in the community and ask the Illinois Senate to block this appointment."
