From the SJ-R:

Lawmakers decry pay of former state worker
Bureaucrat's chauffeur had $70,000 salary

By DOUG FINKE
STATE CAPITOL BUREAU

Published Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Legislators from both parties said Tuesday they want to get to the bottom of allegations that a state employee was paid $70,000 a year mainly to chauffeur the Chicago-based chief of staff at the Department of Human Services.

The employee, Carlos Estes, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in federal court in Chicago alleging he was fired in 2003 for refusing the sexual advances of the chief of staff, Teyonda Wertz. DHS officials said Estes was fired for misusing state property.

While lawmakers said they are withholding judgment about the allegations in the lawsuit, they are concerned that the state was paying someone that much money to drive around a bureaucrat.

"Why do these people need chauffeurs, and why do we need to pay $70,000 for chauffeurs when we have so many other priorities?" said Rep. Gary Hannig of Litchfield, the top budget negotiator for House Democrats. "I'm sure when we have (budget) hearings, there will be members on both sides who will want to know what happened and why this was allowed to happen in the first place."

"It's absolutely absurd. It's an abuse," said Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth.

According to information in court documents, Estes was hired in March 2003 as a "special assistant" to Wertz, who serves as the $93,500-a-year chief of staff to DHS Secretary Carol Adams.

State records show Estes held the title of senior public service administrator.

"As the special assistant for Ms. Wertz, plaintiff's duties consisted of driving Ms. Wertz to various DHS functions and meetings, as well as completing other miscellaneous assignments assigned by Ms. Wertz," court papers show.

Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, wanted to know "how many more do we have in a position making a lot of money for doing a job that may not need to be done in the first place."

Mautino sits on the appropriations committee of the House that reviews state agencies involved in public safety. He said he will question each of the agencies to see if they have people in similar positions.

DHS spokesman Tom Green said Estes was more than a driver.

"His job wasn't to be a chauffeur," Green said. "There were occasions when he would be a driver but only when he and Wertz were going in the same car to the same event."

Estes also visited a number of DHS sites and prepared reports on them as the agency prepared to consolidate offices, and he evaluated cell phone use to see if money could be saved, Green said.

"He had a property-management background," Green said.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday that Estes, 36, had no high school diploma when he was hired. Green said Estes held a General Equivalency Diploma and was attending a Chicago-area community college while he worked at DHS.

In his federal lawsuit, Estes said he and Wertz, 58, traveled to Springfield in early May 2003 on state business and stayed in the same hotel room because there were not enough rooms to accommodate all of the DHS employees in attendance. According to Estes, Wertz came on to him, and when he refused, said, "You'll make love to me or you'll lose your job."

Less than a month later, Estes was fired. However, DHS said it had nothing to do with what Estes alleges went on in the hotel room.

"The bottom line is the employee was fired for cause for misusing state resources on a number of occasions," Green said. "When it was discovered, he was terminated."

The agency said Estes used a state car for personal reasons even after being warned not to.