Illinois' legislative watchdog sees job as educational opportunity twill
SPRINGFIELD -- After 15 months as Illinois' legislative inspector general, Judge Michael McCuskey is moving to Springfield.
Shortly after being appointed last year, McCuskey sat for an interview with Capitol News Illinois in an empty office. He has since hired a full-time administrative assistant who is in the office five days a week from 8:30 to 4:30. His office employs two investigators, one in Springfield and one in Chicago.
"I don't know what the should do, because I don't know what I should do other than what I'm doing now," McCuskey said."But anything I can do to make this office better, I will." "We haven't received a complaint of corruption in my first year," McCuskey said."If I did, I would investigate it and more than likely send it to the Northern District of Illinois."
That process calls for the legislative inspector general candidates to be vetted by a search committee that reports to the Legislative Ethics Commission. Per Illinois statute, the office must be filled within 45 days of a vacancy, but the full commission deadlocked for 91 days when considering the committee's recommendations after Pope announced her intention to resign.
"In this case, there was a logjam," McCuskey said."I became the nominee, who initially was opposed by Republicans and now everybody's accepted me. So I always say, give me a second chance and see what happens." "That's proactive," McCuskey said."We have these meetings all the time telling representatives what you can and can't do with state time, political time, and state money. We're trying to prevent people from making mistakes and I think we're doing a great job of it."
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