By Greg Bishop/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – As the state’s chief executive, Gov. Bruce Rauner says he prefers face-to-face interactions, not email.
While the governor said he has a government cell phone, he acknowledged he does not have government email. Rauner said it’s done him some good.
“You know, it’s actually improved the quality of my life dramatically,” Rauner said. “It’s actually increased my productivity. Now my work is done in person.”
“Now I have more meetings,” Rauner said, “which is good. I have more phone calls, which is good. And now I actually use pen and paper, which was invented a couple of years ago, and that’s actually productive too, and things are fine.”
When asked why he doesn’t use email, the governor said it can cause problems.
Various instances, from a University of Illinois official and even Rauner’s education secretary, have found officials using private email for official business. That prompted a directive within the administration last year to not use private email for any official business.
“Email causes all kinds of trouble as you’ve seen,” Rauner said. “People send emails, copy emails, forward emails. Nothing good comes from that. I’ll talk to somebody. I wanna look someone in the eye. I just find that to be much more productive.”
Meanwhile the governor said he has a personal cell phone for his children to reach him.
