Blagojevich administration hit on air travel costs

After running a "no more business as usual" campaign for Illinois' governor, Rod Blagojevich, the maestro of phony reform, did break precedent by deciding not to move into the governor's mansion in Springfield. He chose instead to continue living on Chicago's northwest side.

The state capital is still in Springfield, so Rod does have to travel down there occasionally.

In an article by Mary Tallon of the AP, courtesy of the Daily Southtown:

An Associated Press analysis found the Blagojevich administration used state aircraft 27 percent more than former Gov. George Ryan's did, with the vast majority of those flights being between Springfield and Chicago.

Overall, according to the AP, the state has decreased frequency of air travel.

But Blagojevich's decision to live in Chicago has some troubling ramifications.

From that same AP article:

Members of the House State Government Administration Committee complained Tuesday that Blagojevich's decision to base department heads and even midlevel managers in Chicago could needlessly cost taxpayer money.

"We have real concerns, I believe, that the capital — I guess the seat of government of the state of Illinois — has been moved to Chicago instead of being here in Springfield," said Rep. Jack Franks, a Woodstock Democrat who chairs the committee.

Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, argued that government operations are less efficient when top officials and their agencies are in two different cities.

"It presents a logistic problem to the running of state government," Mitchell said.