By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – A few dozen people in a meeting room Wednesday afternoon made up what the governor said was his cabinet.
Gov. Bruce Rauner's team allowed reporters and the tools of their trade – recorders, cameras, notebooks – in long enough for Rauner to address the department heads before he left.
“I don't want you guys shy – 'Oh, I don't want to upset the governor,' or, 'Oh, that's too sensitive,'” he said. “There ain't anything too sensitive, and there ain't any sacred cows. We work for the people of Illinois, and we've got to deliver results. We've got to break some china to get it done right, and I need you to speak up.”
And there's a timetable we can expect: “I'll tell you,” he said, “within 24 months, we're going to be (on) a very different trajectory as a state, and we are going to restore our prosperity and become growth again. I want your people well rewarded and respected, and I want state government to be a wonderful place to work.”
Some of the people who heard those words may find themselves out of work sooner rather than later. One heads a state agency the governor wants to fold into another; others, also holdovers from the previous administration, haven't heard yet whether Rauner still wants them around.
