Rutherford: 'This is not about closing facilities, it's about managing assets'

Did somebody just open the window and let a good idea in?

It was Illinois treasurer and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Rutherford, who was in Southern Illinois all weekend to talk not about closing more state facilities, but about how to better manage the state's "assets"--correctional centers, health centers, veterans homes and office buildings.

He says Illinois needs to borrow a page from the Department of Transportation on strategic planning instead of slashing and burning communities with large politically motivated closure announcements.

Rutherford spoke to the media and friends at the Grecian Steakhouse in Pinckneyville at 2:45 p.m. It was one of a dozen stops across Southern Illinois Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Rutherford said he would implement the plan when he becomes governor and added that he's the only candidate capable of defeating incumbent Pat Quinn in November 2014. He said he would be ale to deal with a majority or "super majority" of Democrats during his final comments.

He chronicled the timeline of Blagojevich and Quinn announcements.

He called Blagojevich's announcement to close the prison at Pontiac "vile, foul and dirty" and was get-even politics.

He gave Quinn some credit on his announced closure of the murray Center in Centralia and said he did not believe it was politically motivated.

He said as governor he would appoint department directors that would answer to him and that they should make responsible suggestions and decisions.

He said that if a facility no longer fills a need, alternative uses should be found. It is better for a community to see a facility re-branded than to see it close.

He said the state paid for maintenance at the Sheridan Center for three years, but it was later turned into a substance abuse rehabilitation facility.

"Bombshell announcements" of facility closings cripple communities, Rutherford said.

Rutherford said facility transitions should be planned with everybody being part of the process.

He said the closure of the Tamms prison has "exacerbated conditions at other prisons."

"Tamms is a very, very tough place for an inmate to go, which means it fulfilled its mission," Rutherford said. "Tamms was built to be a place where an inmate didn't want to go."

Rutherford said Quinn will be the Democrat nominee for governor and said that he will be the only chance voters have to change governors. There are four republican candidates for governor. They are Rutherford, Bruce Rauner, Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard who will be on the ballot in the March primary.