Friday, April 29, 2005 | 9:33 a.m.
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Sheila Simon, a reluctant pick to serve on the Illinois Gaming Board, says she would not object if Gov. Rod Blagojevich withdrew her nomination so she can focus on her work as a law professor, city councilwoman and mother.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Simon said she would be happy to serve if the Senate confirms her appointment but that's "looking pretty doubtful at this point."
State law bars Gaming Board members from holding other public offices. Blagojevich is asking the Legislature to change that law for Simon, who wants to keep her seat on the Carbondale City Council.
Lawmakers have been cool to the idea.
The House this month rejected a measure to let Simon serve on both boards. Senate President Emil Jones called Simon a "fine lady" but said he has no plans to change the law.
"If we do that for her, then we've got to do things for other folks," the Chicago Democrat said.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said Thursday the governor plans to try to persuade lawmakers to let Simon do both jobs.
But Simon, daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, isn't trying to sway them.
"Whatever they want to do is OK by me," she said. "It's not been on my list of things I need to do before I die that I really need to be on the gaming board."
Simon calls gambling "a tax on people who can least afford it" and has never visited a casino. But she put aside initial apprehensions about the board because she wanted to help ensure the state's nine riverboat casinos are run ethically and efficiently.
Some critics, however, have wondered whether her appointment had more to do with her father than her career as a legal aid attorney, prosecutor and now law professor at Southern Illinois University.
Simon has had similar concerns about her nomination.
"Obviously that has something to do with Dad's reputation as well as mine," she said.
That bothers her, especially when she has been careful throughout her life to shun special treatment because she is Paul Simon's daughter. She has refused suggestions from people, including Illinois Democratic Party leader Michael Madigan, that she should seek higher office.
"I suppose it causes me to want to go out of my way to be able to say I'm qualified to do something," she said of her father's legacy. "I don't like the idea of being handed something, because people make assumptions about me."
While she largely avoids the political spotlight, Simon is an avid Democrat. Her orange Volkswagen Beetle has bumper stickers promoting U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama and a John Kerry endorsement from last year's presidential election.
She balances her public service, though, with her dedication to her children, Reilly, 15, and Brennan, 10, and her desire to stay in Southern Illinois.
"When the girls are older I might look at things differently, but for right now the Carbondale City Council suits me very well," she said.
Simon, whose appointment to the Gaming Board would take effect in July, is confident the governor will resolve her appointment soon. Blagojevich nominated her along with four other new board members in March, seven months after resignations had left the board one member short of a quorum and unable to take any action.
"I'm sure he won't let me stand in his way," Simon said.
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