KEN EXUM/The Register-MailSen. Dan Rutherford, R-Pontiac, Republican candidate for secretary of state, talks about his allegations of illegal and unethical activities in Secretary of State Jesse White's office Monday morning in Jet Air Inc.'s lounge at Galesburg Municipal Airport.
Rutherford says White broke hiring laws
Points out relatives on payroll
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Tuesday, October 17, 2006
GALESBURG - Dan Rutherford, Republican candidate for secretary of state, has asked the Illinois attorney general to look into Jesse White's hiring practices.Rutherford, a state senator, said White broke the conflict-of-interest laws that prohibit relatives of state employees making at least 60 percent of the governor's salary from holding state contracts.
Steve Roth, White's personnel director, makes about $103,500, and Thomas Benigno, chief of staff, makes $139,296 - more than 60 percent of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's $150,691 salary.
"One would think that after White's predecessor (George Ryan) was convicted and sentenced to federal prison, Jesse would run an office beyond reproach," Rutherford said in a news release.
Melissa Roth earns $30.12 per hour scheduling speakers from the agency to address civic and social groups.
According to the secretary of state's office, the women are doing ministerial, or secretarial, work that is exempt in the conflict-of-interest law.
"Now that they got caught, they're saying that she's just the scheduler," Rutherford said.
Benna Benigno, whose business card lists her as an intelligence analyst, makes $2,000 per month scheduling appointments with investigators in the secretary of state's police department.
"Where I come from in Pontiac, Illinois, secretaries don't make $25 an hour and walk around with business cards that say 'intelligence analyst,' " Rutherford said Monday during a stop in Galesburg.
Dave Druker, a spokesman for White's campaign, said the job title is generic and Rutherford's accusation is merely a last resort before he faces off against White in the November election.
"He's doing everything he can to get some attention to a failed campaign," Druker said.
Druker said the secretary of state's inspector general is looking into the claim Rutherford filed on the agency's Web site.
A letter also was hand- delivered to the attorney general's office in Springfield.
"We've just received the letter from Sen. Rutherford's campaign and we're reviewing it," said Cara Smith, a spokeswoman for Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan.
