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The interim executive director of the Illinois
Association of Minorities in Government, Jerrie Blakely, says that the
embattled organization is “whole again.” Now it just needs to
find a permanent director, an administrative assistant, and a receptionist.
The IAMG has advertised the positions in publications
across the state. The top job has drawn interest from approximately 10
candidates, mostly from central and southwestern Illinois, none of whom
currently serves on the board of directors, says Blakely. The positions have been vacant and the
organization’s building, at 110 W. Edwards St., has remained locked
since May, when former executive director Roy Williams Jr. and his office
staff were dismissed amid an internal investigation into Williams’
management of the organization’s finances [see R.L. Nave,
“Advocacy on hold,” May 17]. Once the 15-member board of directors selects a new
executive director, that person will take over the hiring of a support
team, Blakely says.
The person who takes over won’t have free rein,
however. Blakely says that volunteers have been busy outlining new goals,
reformulating the organization’s financial procedures, and making
other changes, and the incoming director will have to agree with this
vision. In the future, advocacy work on behalf of members will be handled
by a committee made up of retired state workers, whom Blakely says, have
nothing to lose. During the 2008 presidential-election year, the group
will also participate in get-out-the-vote and voter-registration campaigns.
Because the IAMG is a labor organization, its members also have the option
of endorsing political candidates. The only politician to whom the IAMG has
given public support in the past is Barack Obama — a member of the
IAMG when he served in the Legislature — when he campaigned in 2004
for a U.S. Senate seat. “Obama was a member and he always supported the
IAMG. We support candidates who support the organization,” Blakely
says. The new executive director will also take a larger
role in lobbying activities, including asking for increased funding for the
Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Illinois Human Rights
Commission, including provisions to hire more investigators and
adjudicators to probe instances of alleged discrimination at state
agencies. “Sometimes the state doesn’t give the
same emphasis to civil rights when they’re cutting back
elsewhere,” Blakely says.
Contact R.L. Nave at rnave@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Dec 20-26, 2007.
