Quinn fires back at Daley over CTA appointment

Gov. Pat Quinn says people criticizing his appointment of an influential Democrat to the Chicago Transit Authority board should “look in their own family.”

The Illinois Democrat was responding to criticism from former White House chief of staff Bill Daley, who’s challenging Quinn in the 2014 Democratic primary.

Earlier Thursday, Daley called Quinn’s appointment of Thornton Township Supervisor Frank Zuccarelli to the $25,000-a-year post “a disgrace.”

Daley says it violates at least the spirit of a law that says CTA board members shouldn’t hold other government offices or jobs for which they are paid. He suggested it amounted to political patronage.

At a separate event in Chicago, Quinn defended the appointment.

He noted Daley’s brother, former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, appointed his former campaign manager to the CTA board.