Rezko witness says clout trumped experience

In her experience, it was who you knew, not what you knew, that reigned supreme in getting appointed to state boards and commissions, a former Blagojevich administration official testified Monday at the trial of Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

Former Director of Illinois Boards and Commissions Jill Hayden spent several hours on the stand Monday detailing the inner workings of who got appointed to state boards in Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration and why.

One of the top criteria, she said, was who recommended the candidates and whether they had clout -- not what their qualifications were.

More Coverage Full reports Emails recommending Levine reappointment to state board

"If I was lucky, I had a resume (on the candidate)," said Hayden. "Generally, we're not looking for the merit of the candidates."

Hayden, who left the governor's office in December 2006, said among the chief people recommending candidates in the office were Tony Rezko and Chris Kelly, two of the governor's top political fundraisers.

Hayden said it was important for her to know who had recommended whom because, in general, the ones recommended by Rezko "had a better chance of being appointed."

Hayden testified that at one point, Rezko called her personally to inquire about the status of the reappointment of Stuart Levine to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.

Rezko "said that we needed to move on Stuart Levine," said Hayden, who said she told Rezko she would have to check with her boss, Lon Monk, the governor's chief of staff.

Rezko said he already had talked with Monk and Monk had approved it, Hayden said. She replied that she still needed to check with Monk.

Rezko "kind of laughed at me and said go ahead," Hayden recalled.

Later, she confirmed with Monk that Levine was approved for reappointment.

Prosecutors charge that Rezko and Levine conspired to extract kickbacks from people seeking regulatory approval from the health facilities board and others.

Rezko maintains Levine is the corrupt one and just dragged Rezko's name in to try to protect himself.

On cross-examination, Rezko attorney William Ziegelmueller got Hayden to admit that she did not understand Levine to be a Rezko recommendation, merely that he had called to hurry along the process.

Ziegelmueller displayed a June 23, 2003, e-mail from Matthew Pickering, a colleague of David Wilhelm, a prominent Democrat on both at the state and national levels. The e-mail was to Susan Lichtenstein, the governor's lawyer, recommending that Blagojevich reappoint Levine and Tom Beck, among others, to the health facilities planning board.

Pickering noted that he and Wilhelm had worked with several officials, such as Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr., state Rep. Tom Cross, state Sen. Barack Obama, state Sen. Susan Garrett and others to pass legislation revamping the health facilities board.

"Our attached recommendations reflect that involvement," said Pickering.

It did not elaborate further on whether any of those officials had specifically requested the reappointment of Levine or whether Wilhelm and Pickering were recommending him based on what they thought those officials would desire.

Monday was the first full day of testimony in the Rezko corruption trial, which got under way following opening statements last Thursday. The trial is expected to last up to three months.