this article ruined my saturday
Ok so I don't really know the legal implications of writing out this article, I am probably violating copyright, but that's what the News-Gazette gets for not posting this in their online edition. Anyway, I very obviously have no life so here is the article, retyped for all!
"Insecure agents tax letter writer's patience" by Jim Dey 8/1/09 News Gazette
_________________________________________________________________________________________
This letter originally appeared in the July 17 edition of the News Gazette:
Not long ago, I had the opportunity to observe how our tax dollars are being spent while on a trip to the Illinois Department of Revenue in Springfield. I would like to share with you that experience as we approach another huge tax increase that our leaders claim is necessary.
Before we cut vital services, I suggest people pay a visit to the Illinois Department of Revenue or some other state agency there. I arrived in mid-afternoon at that multimillion-dollar facility to see a security guard sitting in a chair with his feet on the counter. For two hours, I saw little or no work from anyone. What I did see were dozens of state employees roaming the halls and engaging in small talk, like they were touring a museum.
I got up and did a little snooping. I looked in various offices and could hardly find a single person at their desk doing any actual work. As I waited and waited for some action on my own business there, I was told by a state employee to wait longer.
Small herds of state workers roamed the halls like grazing bison without a thought of the actual work. In the private sector, they would all be fired.
If you want to trim the budget and maintain vital services, start with eliminating the unnecessary jobs for these overpaid, underworked state employees. Before our elected officials raise taxes, they should first clean up their own house.
CHARLES ATKINS
Savoy
____________________________________________________________________________________
Unimpressed by what he saw after a July visit to an Illinois Department of Revenue office in Springfield, Charles Atkins of Savoy wrote an angry letter to The News-Gazette that he figured a lot of people would read. What Atkins didn't anticipate was what some of those people would do after they read his letter.
He found out when a badge-wielding representative of the Illinois Department of Revenue knocked on his apartment door one recent morning and requested that Atkins come to the revenue department's Champaign office on South First Street to talk about what he wrote.
"I'm kind of torn about it," said Atkins, 58, the night manager at the Courier Cafe in downtown Urbana. "I know my family felt wholly intimidated by it."
Atkins said revenue department officers told him they were investigating a possible security breach revealed in the letter. But he's skeptical about the explanation, expressing concern that the action was retaliation for his critical comments. He said department investigations made him feel "like a person of interest."
"Their questions were geared toward assessing who I am," he said.
The incident has drawn the attention of U.S. Rep Tim Johnson, who filed written inquiries about the matter with both the revenue department and the attorney general's office. Johnson inquired about the department's policy on responding to critical letters and, more pointedly, asked "what actions you are taking to discipline these officers and ensure that this does not happen again?"
Johnson said he was stunned by the response and suspects that revenue department officials were more motivated by pique than security issues.
"I think they thought, 'Well, we're going to get even with this guy,'" Johnson said.
Sue Hofer, a spokeswoman for the revenue department, however, said the department's inquiry was solely in response to security concerns and stressed the department's responsibility to safeguard citizen's tax information. She also expressed consternation that Atkins e-mailed internal investigations chief John Chambers after the interview to than him for his concern and then followed that with a second e-mail protesting what had occurred.
"The proactive manner in which you and your department investigated my observations made me believe that there is hope for efficient government," Atkins said in his first e-mail.
But in a subsequent e-mail, Atkins restated his opinion, calling the department's response "most impressive, but in a Draconian way."
"There is more to my experience and reaction that I did not address due to our fears of possible further harassment...," he said in the second e-mail.
Atkins' letter to the editor, published in the July 17 News-Gazette, was a stinging attack on what he described as slovenly work habits he witnessed at the department's Springfield headquarters.
Accompanied by his wife, Atkins visited the facility to pay a fine levied against the Courier Cafe for an underage drinking violation. Noting that state officials are pressing for an income tax increase to address budget deficits, Atkins questioned the need for a tax hike and suggested "people pay a visit" to the revenue department to see how their tax dollars are being wasted.
"I arrived in the mid-afternoon a that multimillion-dollar facility to see a security guard sitting in a chair with his feet on the counter. For two hours, I saw little or no work from anyone," Atkins wrote.
Instead, he saw "dozens" of state employees "roaming the hallways... like they were touring a museum."
" I got up and did a little snooping. I looked in various offices and could hardly find a single person at their desk doing any actual work," wrote Atkins. "... In the private sector, they would all be fired."
Four days after the letter ran, Atkins said revenue department agent Gary May knocked on his door, showed him in his badge and said his boss, Chambers, wanted to speak with Atkins. When Atkins said he expressed surprise that May had found his address, he said May told him the department located Atkins through motor vehicle records at the Illinois Secretary of State's office.
Atkins said May told him he was "under no obligation" to come in for an interview and was "not in any trouble."
Once there, Atkins said he was "treated respectfully," describing the 30-40 minute meeting with Chambers as "cordial but invasive."
"I went down there with the idea of discussing all that I had seen," Atkins said.
Chambers, a former Douglas County sheriff, is one of a number of area Democrats to move into state government patronage positions after the election of Rod Blagojevich as governor in 2002.
In addition to seeking personal and professional information, Atkins said Chambers was "trying to ascertain what my movements were" in the revenue department building.
There really was no mystery to that, Atkins said. While he waited for roughly two hours, Atkins said he remained in a commons area of the building and occasionally got up from his seat to walk around to see if he could detect any action.
"I didn't go any place anybody else wouldn't be able to go," Atkins said.
The revenue department's Hofer, however, said, that investigators determined that Atkins entered an area off limits to visitors and wasted to determine how the security breakdown occured.
"The point...was first to find out how he got into a restricted area. And then to determine what we needed to do to keep that from happening again," she said.
Atkins, however, is clearly skeptical of that explanation, noting that investigators could have contacted him by telephone or mail rather than in person.
"I thought it was overkill," he said.
"Insecure agents tax letter writer's patience" by Jim Dey 8/1/09 News Gazette
__________________________
This letter originally appeared in the July 17 edition of the News Gazette:
Not long ago, I had the opportunity to observe how our tax dollars are being spent while on a trip to the Illinois Department of Revenue in Springfield. I would like to share with you that experience as we approach another huge tax increase that our leaders claim is necessary.
Before we cut vital services, I suggest people pay a visit to the Illinois Department of Revenue or some other state agency there. I arrived in mid-afternoon at that multimillion-dollar facility to see a security guard sitting in a chair with his feet on the counter. For two hours, I saw little or no work from anyone. What I did see were dozens of state employees roaming the halls and engaging in small talk, like they were touring a museum.
I got up and did a little snooping. I looked in various offices and could hardly find a single person at their desk doing any actual work. As I waited and waited for some action on my own business there, I was told by a state employee to wait longer.
Small herds of state workers roamed the halls like grazing bison without a thought of the actual work. In the private sector, they would all be fired.
If you want to trim the budget and maintain vital services, start with eliminating the unnecessary jobs for these overpaid, underworked state employees. Before our elected officials raise taxes, they should first clean up their own house.
CHARLES ATKINS
Savoy
__________________________
Unimpressed by what he saw after a July visit to an Illinois Department of Revenue office in Springfield, Charles Atkins of Savoy wrote an angry letter to The News-Gazette that he figured a lot of people would read. What Atkins didn't anticipate was what some of those people would do after they read his letter.
He found out when a badge-wielding representative of the Illinois Department of Revenue knocked on his apartment door one recent morning and requested that Atkins come to the revenue department's Champaign office on South First Street to talk about what he wrote.
"I'm kind of torn about it," said Atkins, 58, the night manager at the Courier Cafe in downtown Urbana. "I know my family felt wholly intimidated by it."
Atkins said revenue department officers told him they were investigating a possible security breach revealed in the letter. But he's skeptical about the explanation, expressing concern that the action was retaliation for his critical comments. He said department investigations made him feel "like a person of interest."
"Their questions were geared toward assessing who I am," he said.
The incident has drawn the attention of U.S. Rep Tim Johnson, who filed written inquiries about the matter with both the revenue department and the attorney general's office. Johnson inquired about the department's policy on responding to critical letters and, more pointedly, asked "what actions you are taking to discipline these officers and ensure that this does not happen again?"
Johnson said he was stunned by the response and suspects that revenue department officials were more motivated by pique than security issues.
"I think they thought, 'Well, we're going to get even with this guy,'" Johnson said.
Sue Hofer, a spokeswoman for the revenue department, however, said the department's inquiry was solely in response to security concerns and stressed the department's responsibility to safeguard citizen's tax information. She also expressed consternation that Atkins e-mailed internal investigations chief John Chambers after the interview to than him for his concern and then followed that with a second e-mail protesting what had occurred.
"The proactive manner in which you and your department investigated my observations made me believe that there is hope for efficient government," Atkins said in his first e-mail.
But in a subsequent e-mail, Atkins restated his opinion, calling the department's response "most impressive, but in a Draconian way."
"There is more to my experience and reaction that I did not address due to our fears of possible further harassment...," he said in the second e-mail.
Atkins' letter to the editor, published in the July 17 News-Gazette, was a stinging attack on what he described as slovenly work habits he witnessed at the department's Springfield headquarters.
Accompanied by his wife, Atkins visited the facility to pay a fine levied against the Courier Cafe for an underage drinking violation. Noting that state officials are pressing for an income tax increase to address budget deficits, Atkins questioned the need for a tax hike and suggested "people pay a visit" to the revenue department to see how their tax dollars are being wasted.
"I arrived in the mid-afternoon a that multimillion-dollar facility to see a security guard sitting in a chair with his feet on the counter. For two hours, I saw little or no work from anyone," Atkins wrote.
Instead, he saw "dozens" of state employees "roaming the hallways... like they were touring a museum."
" I got up and did a little snooping. I looked in various offices and could hardly find a single person at their desk doing any actual work," wrote Atkins. "... In the private sector, they would all be fired."
Four days after the letter ran, Atkins said revenue department agent Gary May knocked on his door, showed him in his badge and said his boss, Chambers, wanted to speak with Atkins. When Atkins said he expressed surprise that May had found his address, he said May told him the department located Atkins through motor vehicle records at the Illinois Secretary of State's office.
Atkins said May told him he was "under no obligation" to come in for an interview and was "not in any trouble."
Once there, Atkins said he was "treated respectfully," describing the 30-40 minute meeting with Chambers as "cordial but invasive."
"I went down there with the idea of discussing all that I had seen," Atkins said.
Chambers, a former Douglas County sheriff, is one of a number of area Democrats to move into state government patronage positions after the election of Rod Blagojevich as governor in 2002.
In addition to seeking personal and professional information, Atkins said Chambers was "trying to ascertain what my movements were" in the revenue department building.
There really was no mystery to that, Atkins said. While he waited for roughly two hours, Atkins said he remained in a commons area of the building and occasionally got up from his seat to walk around to see if he could detect any action.
"I didn't go any place anybody else wouldn't be able to go," Atkins said.
The revenue department's Hofer, however, said, that investigators determined that Atkins entered an area off limits to visitors and wasted to determine how the security breakdown occured.
"The point...was first to find out how he got into a restricted area. And then to determine what we needed to do to keep that from happening again," she said.
Atkins, however, is clearly skeptical of that explanation, noting that investigators could have contacted him by telephone or mail rather than in person.
"I thought it was overkill," he said.
You like this.View all 4 comments 
Renee Kazmar
where he probably doesn't know the ins-and-outs of how business is accomplished, and he came to his conclusion, most likely, based on his own past working experiences. It sounds like he runs a restaurant, which is going to be an entirely different working environment than a white collar place like a government building. He's used to a fast paced working environment, where there is always something else to do (greet customers, wash dishes, bus tables, etc.).
5 hours ago · Delete
Hannah Landis
But that is not what the article is about AT ALL. What he wrote about in his letter to the editor is inconsequential. The article is about the fact that an AGENT showed up at his door after the letter to the editor was published. Wanting him to come in for questioning What of that?! I mean, you would expect that in the Islamic Republic of Iran upon writing a critical letter to a news publication, but in Savoy? Really? Is this what we have come to?
46 minutes ago · Delete