From the Sun-Times:
Ex-aide: Got job via lobbyist
December 15, 2005
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Legal Affairs Reporter

The man hired to run the computers in Secretary of State George Ryan's office, Frank Cavallaro, was selected not by Ryan or his top aides, but rather by IBM lobbyist Robert Kjellander, Cavallaro testified Wednesday.

Kjellander has become an issue in the Republican governor's primary election, with some candidates saying he should be ousted as state national committeeman for the Illinois Republican Party following controversies about $809,000 in fees he received from a 2003 pension borrowing plan orchestrated by the Blagojevich administration.

Cavallaro said that in late 1991 or early 1992, Kjellander invited him to lunch and asked if he'd be interested in filling the position of director of the Information Services Department. He also asked at that lunch if Cavallaro would be amenable to switching the office's mainframe from Honeywell to IBM.

Shortly after that, Kjellander invited Cavallaro to another lunch with him and Ryan pals Don Udstuen and Larry Warner. Again the issue of switching the office mainframe to an IBM system came up, and again Cavallaro said he thought it was a good idea. So they recommended him for the job, which he got, Cavallaro testified.

Prosecutors say after trying and failing to shake down Honeywell for a $250,000 contract to help them keep the secretary of state's office, Warner switched to IBM and made far more than that helping them land a $26 million deal with Ryan's office.

In a telephone interview from his Springfield office Wednesday, Kjellander said he represented IBM then and now. But he said that when his clients at IBM told him they were interested in "making a major initiative" at the secretary of state's office, he told them, "I am not the person to represent you."

The reason is that Kjellander did not get along with Ryan's right-hand man, Scott Fawell, Kjellander said.

"We were like oil and water," he said. IBM asked him to hook them up with another lobbyist.

Kjellander said he called Udstuen, a former executive at the state medical society and a member of Ryan's "kitchen Cabinet."

"Quite frankly, I expected he would suggest a couple of lobbyists close to the governor," Kjellander said. "Instead, he gave me Larry Warner, who I didn't know. I put Larry in touch with IBM's people."

So why was Kjellander choosing staff for Ryan's office?

"I'm in the personnel business, so I'm frequently asked for recommendations," Kjellander said. "Did I recommend him? Yeah. Frank was a very sharp young guy."

At that time, Cavallaro was a manager at the state's Central Management Services under Michael Tristano.

After he was hired, they set about trying to get the new computer system. Illinois was one of only two states with Honeywell systems, and outside experts -- not just the advocates in Ryan's kitchen Cabinet working for IBM -- agreed IBM had a better system. At a meeting at Udstuen's office at the state medical society, Fawell said he agreed it was a good idea to switch to IBM, Cavallaro said.

Ryan balked at the $25.8 million price tag, Cavallaro said.

"Scott Fawell told him how much it was going to cost," Cavallaro said. "Mr. Ryan became upset, walked across the room, lit a cigar, and the meeting was over."

Cavallaro recalled one time standing outside Fawell's office when Ryan approached him and said, "Why don't we do more business with Unisys?" Ryan friend and lobbyist Al Ronan and his wife worked for Unisys at the time.

Also Wednesday, Craig Pierce, chairman of the Republican Party in Downstate McDonough County, told how he approached Ryan at a fund-raiser and handed him a personal check for $500. Ryan pocketed it and said, "Thank you." Prosecutors say Ryan did not report the check on his income taxes. Pierce said he was just thanking Ryan for coming out to his small town for their gathering. He said he did not care if Ryan spent the money on himself or his wife.

Prosecutors said they hope to finish their case by Jan. 15. Defense lawyers said they would present "a few weeks" of testimony after that.

HIGHLIGHTS

Prosecutors: The man hired to run the computers in then-Secretary of State George Ryan's office testifies he was hired after IBM lobbyist Robert Kjellander and Ryan pals Larry Warner and Don Udstuen sounded him out about switching the office's computers from Honeywell to IBM. Warner would later get a contract lobbying for IBM.

Defense: Systems director Frank Cavallaro agrees that everyone -- including third-party experts not on IBM's payroll -- recommended IBM as a better system.

Up next: McPier's former lobbyist, attorney Roger Kiley, will testify about Ryan pal Ron Swanson's $5,000-a-month lobbying subcontract for which prosecutors say Swanson performed no work.