Blagojevich drops choice of Simon for Gaming Board

Maura Kelly Lannan

Thursday, June 9, 2005 | 9:17 a.m.

CHICAGO -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich has dropped his choice of Sheila Simon to sit on the Illinois Gaming Board because lawmakers did not approve legislation that would have allowed her to serve, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Gaming Board members are prohibited from holding another paid public office to avoid any potential conflict of interest. But Simon, a salaried member of the Carbondale City Council, said she did not want to leave her council post. Blagojevich pushed lawmakers to change the rules to allow Simon to join the board.

"The legislation didn't pass, so it won't be her. It can't be her," Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said. "We're looking for someone and we'll name them soon."

Blagojevich allowed the board to languish for seven months without a quorum before naming new members in March. Simon was named then, but her term was not scheduled to begin until July 1.

Simon, daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon and a law professor at Southern Illinois University, was a reluctant pick to serve on the board. She called gambling "a tax on people who can least afford it" and had never visited a casino.

But she has said she put aside initial apprehensions about the board because she wanted to help ensure the state's nine riverboat casinos were run ethically and efficiently.

Simon did not immediately return phone calls to her work and home.

Gaming Board chairman Aaron Jaffe said board member Gary Peterlin would remain on the board until a replacement is named. Peterlin's term expires July 1.

Jaffe also said he plans to ask lawmakers and Blagojevich for an increase in the board's budget for the next fiscal year because it wants to hire additional investigators and other staff. Jaffe wants about _$5 million more than the _$15.6 million budget the board received, which is about the same amount as the board's budget for this year.

"This particular board has not received any increases for the positions that it needs drastically," Jaffe said. "I think to overlook the needs of this board indicates that people are just not paying attention to what's happening with this board. I think this board is probably the most proactive board in state government."

Lawmakers approved a _$54.4 billion budget last month that relied on pension funding to pay other bills. Republicans claim the budget was loaded down with millions of dollars in pork projects to win the support of wavering Democrats.

Jaffe also said he was hopeful that legislation he proposed to separate the board from the state Department of Revenue, which was not acted on by lawmakers before the end of the spring legislative session, will be approved later this year or next year.