April 16, 2010

For a few hours during the week, Illinois had an $85,000-per-year canoe and kayaking “czar.”

Governor Quinn appointed a long-time campaign and policy advisor, Claude Walker, to the unadvertised and newly-created position to promote canoeing and kayaking in the state. The position, in the state Department of Natural Resources, was created in the midst of one of the most severe budget crisis in Illinois History. Quinn has threatened to cut millions from state schools and plans to balance the state budget by borrowing nearly $5 billion dollars.

Once the media got wind of the story, the Quinn administration abruptly reversed itself, cancelling the position. Walker describes himself on a website devoted to promoting books he’s written, as “a spin-doctor, grassroots organizer, lobbyist, street-heat maestro, campaign spy and candidate.”