Illinois - The director of a state agency created to advocate for the state’s more than 384,000 deaf residents has been placed on paid “administrative leave,” The State Journal-Register has learned.
article by Dean Olsen, for The State Journal Register | Sept. 13, 2017
Leslie Strain, spokeswoman for the Springfield-based Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission, wouldn’t say why John D. Miller of Sherman was put on leave.
“It is a personnel matter,” she said Wednesday.
She also wouldn’t say whether Miller’s new status is related to complaints about Miller’s conduct filed this summer with the commission and the executive branch’s Office of Executive Inspector General.
The complaints, filed by the Illinois Association of the Deaf, an all-volunteer group that has been critical of Miller and the agency in the past, say Miller has “harassed and attempted to intimidate several IAD members.”
The complaints say the alleged harassment by Miller, which included him contacting one IAD member’s employer, apparently is related to the members’ dissatisfaction with the agency and its board, and for the IAD’s support of a bill to reform the 20-year-old agency.
“The IAD and its members are guaranteed freedom of speech under the U.S. and Illinois Constitution,” IAD attorney Andres Gallegos writes in a “cease and desist” letter dated July 20 to Miller and commission attorney Tonia Bogener.
“We recognize the limits of free speech, but the exercise of that constitutional right cannot be interfered with, suppressed or punished because of its content, particularly by a state agency executive,” Gallegos writes.
Strain wouldn’t respond to the association’s allegations.
She also wouldn’t say when Miller, 47, went on leave, though she said the move was “recent” and took place “in the last several months.” She wouldn’t say how long Miller might be gone.
Miller has been director of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission since 2004 and is paid $81,528 per year.
Strain wouldn’t say who made the personnel decision, though the state law that created the commission 20 years ago says the agency’s 11-member commission hires, fires and supervises the director. The governor appoints all commission members, and the agency is part of the administration of Gov. Bruce Rauner.
The Office of Executive Inspector General told Gallegos in an Aug. 17 letter that it is “more appropriate” for the association’s allegations to be addressed by the governor’s office. A Rauner aide didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Dennis O’Brien, a Wheaton resident who is chairman of the commission’s board, didn’t respond to an email and phone message.
Miller couldn’t be reached. No one answered the door when a State Journal-Register reporter stopped by his home this week and left a written request for comment.
While Miller is on leave, day-to-day operations of the agency, staffed by a handful of state employees, are being handled by assistant director Janet Lambert, according to Strain.
Members of the Illinois Association of the Deaf have questioned Miller’s competence and criticized the commission’s board, as well as Miller and Lambert, for a lack of advocacy in the General Assembly to pass legislation benefiting the state’s deaf and hard of hearing population.
The association also has faulted the agency for a lack of “information and referral” services to deaf people who are attempting to secure educational services in public schools, those who are fighting discrimination on the job, and those having disputes with interpreters.
The association supports Senate Bill 752, which passed the Senate 54-0 on April 25 and would make several changes in the agency. The bill is pending in the House.
The Senate unanimously voted May 31 to adopt a nonbinding resolution that calls on the Rauner administration to work with the IDHHC to “develop a report of recommendations to help ensure the commission is better able to serve the deaf, hard of hearing and DeafBlind community.”
Miller said this spring that he and the commission’s board oppose SB 752; he said changes that are part of the legislation were “misdirected” and would result in unnecessary duplication of services.
Under the bill, people appointed to the board by the governor would have to be confirmed by the Illinois Senate. The agency would be explicitly required to “advocate” for the deaf and provide a range of services.
The bill also would require more board members to be deaf or hard of hearing. Parents or guardians of deaf children would need to be represented on the board, and at least one board member would have to be both deaf and blind.
Corey Axelrod, president of the Illinois Association of the Deaf, said the association’s board of directors voted this past weekend to continue to support the legislation.
The IAD emailed a letter to commission chairman O’Brien on Wednesday asking about Miller’s status.
“We’re trying to figure out what the heck is going on,” Axelrod told the SJ-R. “There has been no transparency whatsoever from the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission or the governor’s office.”
The IAD letter also says the commission’s website is outdated and adds that the agency’s “lack of outreach is a concerning issue. ... Without clear and public information regarding the status and activities of the IDHHC, the impacted constituencies are searching for answers.”
article by Dean Olsen, for The State Journal Register | Sept. 13, 2017
Leslie Strain, spokeswoman for the Springfield-based Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission, wouldn’t say why John D. Miller of Sherman was put on leave.
“It is a personnel matter,” she said Wednesday.
She also wouldn’t say whether Miller’s new status is related to complaints about Miller’s conduct filed this summer with the commission and the executive branch’s Office of Executive Inspector General.
The complaints, filed by the Illinois Association of the Deaf, an all-volunteer group that has been critical of Miller and the agency in the past, say Miller has “harassed and attempted to intimidate several IAD members.”
The complaints say the alleged harassment by Miller, which included him contacting one IAD member’s employer, apparently is related to the members’ dissatisfaction with the agency and its board, and for the IAD’s support of a bill to reform the 20-year-old agency.
“The IAD and its members are guaranteed freedom of speech under the U.S. and Illinois Constitution,” IAD attorney Andres Gallegos writes in a “cease and desist” letter dated July 20 to Miller and commission attorney Tonia Bogener.
“We recognize the limits of free speech, but the exercise of that constitutional right cannot be interfered with, suppressed or punished because of its content, particularly by a state agency executive,” Gallegos writes.
Strain wouldn’t respond to the association’s allegations.
She also wouldn’t say when Miller, 47, went on leave, though she said the move was “recent” and took place “in the last several months.” She wouldn’t say how long Miller might be gone.
Miller has been director of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission since 2004 and is paid $81,528 per year.
Strain wouldn’t say who made the personnel decision, though the state law that created the commission 20 years ago says the agency’s 11-member commission hires, fires and supervises the director. The governor appoints all commission members, and the agency is part of the administration of Gov. Bruce Rauner.
The Office of Executive Inspector General told Gallegos in an Aug. 17 letter that it is “more appropriate” for the association’s allegations to be addressed by the governor’s office. A Rauner aide didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Dennis O’Brien, a Wheaton resident who is chairman of the commission’s board, didn’t respond to an email and phone message.
Miller couldn’t be reached. No one answered the door when a State Journal-Register reporter stopped by his home this week and left a written request for comment.
While Miller is on leave, day-to-day operations of the agency, staffed by a handful of state employees, are being handled by assistant director Janet Lambert, according to Strain.
Members of the Illinois Association of the Deaf have questioned Miller’s competence and criticized the commission’s board, as well as Miller and Lambert, for a lack of advocacy in the General Assembly to pass legislation benefiting the state’s deaf and hard of hearing population.
The association also has faulted the agency for a lack of “information and referral” services to deaf people who are attempting to secure educational services in public schools, those who are fighting discrimination on the job, and those having disputes with interpreters.
The association supports Senate Bill 752, which passed the Senate 54-0 on April 25 and would make several changes in the agency. The bill is pending in the House.
The Senate unanimously voted May 31 to adopt a nonbinding resolution that calls on the Rauner administration to work with the IDHHC to “develop a report of recommendations to help ensure the commission is better able to serve the deaf, hard of hearing and DeafBlind community.”
Miller said this spring that he and the commission’s board oppose SB 752; he said changes that are part of the legislation were “misdirected” and would result in unnecessary duplication of services.
Under the bill, people appointed to the board by the governor would have to be confirmed by the Illinois Senate. The agency would be explicitly required to “advocate” for the deaf and provide a range of services.
The bill also would require more board members to be deaf or hard of hearing. Parents or guardians of deaf children would need to be represented on the board, and at least one board member would have to be both deaf and blind.
Corey Axelrod, president of the Illinois Association of the Deaf, said the association’s board of directors voted this past weekend to continue to support the legislation.
The IAD emailed a letter to commission chairman O’Brien on Wednesday asking about Miller’s status.
“We’re trying to figure out what the heck is going on,” Axelrod told the SJ-R. “There has been no transparency whatsoever from the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission or the governor’s office.”
The IAD letter also says the commission’s website is outdated and adds that the agency’s “lack of outreach is a concerning issue. ... Without clear and public information regarding the status and activities of the IDHHC, the impacted constituencies are searching for answers.”
http://www.sj-r.com/news/20170913/illinois-deaf-commission-director-put-on-paid-leave
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