Rumman leaves CMS

Is this significant? How so?

Did Rumman promote efficiency?

State Journal-Register (May Massingale):

The director of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services is leaving that post after two years to return to the private sector.

During his tenure, Michael Rumman turned CMS into one of the state's most powerful agencies by consolidating several functions at a savings he tallies at $600 million. However, Rumman also oversaw an abandoned attempt to move toward a self-insured group health insurance system for state workers that brought legislative and apparent federal scrutiny to the bidding process.

The Tribune article (John Chase) lists some specific criticisms:

Since taking over at Central Management Services in the days after Blagojevich was sworn in, Rumman has made changes and had several proposals become the focus of controversy. Perhaps best known was his plan to mortgage the state's showcase James R. Thompson Center in the Loop, a deal shot down as illegal by Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan hours before the papers were to be signed.

Rumman also was criticized for pushing an insurance plan for state workers without a legislative panel's approval, allowing contractors to begin work before contracts with the state were signed and, most recently, making an unprecedented request for upfront cash from vendors bidding on a multimillion-dollar office-supply contract.

Auditor General William Holland last year lashed out at Rumman's Central Management Services for allowing Mesirow Stein Development Services Inc., a politically connected company, to begin work on a $25 million contract reviewing state assets before the agreement was signed, raising questions about how the money was being spent.

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