Gov. Pat Quinn’s former chief of staff is being questioned by legislators about the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative.
Jack Lavin is the opening witness in the second day of the Legislative Audit Commission’s hearings on NRI. He says the audit ripping the program for mismanagement painted too negative of a picture.
“A program developed for the right public policy reasons and with good intentions broke down due to insufficient monitoring and program administration,” Lavin said. “Having said that, there were some good outcomes: over 14,000 served, thousands of lives and their families touched by this program.”
Lavin’s name has been brought up several times in attacks on Quinn in the governor’s race. Republican candidate Bruce Rauner has called on Quinn to disassociate himself from Lavin, who no longer works in state government.
Meanwhile, GOP State Rep. Ron Sandack pointed to an email from Jack Lavin to campaign staff about the NRI.
Lavin said the email was sent from his personal address on a weekend and it’s not unusual for administration officials to brief campaigns on what’s happening. He says he didn’t go further than that in crafting campaign messaging on the issue. The e-mail reportedly outlines how the Quinn administration should use the NRI as a method to attract African-American voters.
Democratic state Sen. Kwame Raoul called the line of questioning a “witch hunt.”