A federal judge has granted a request by a Chicago attorney to appoint a monitor to oversee hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation, dealing a blow to Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn less than two weeks before Election Day.



The transportation agency came under fire in April after Chicago attorney Michael Shakman, who has long crusaded against patronage, argued the Quinn administration was filling positions based on political considerations rather than job qualifications.



A subsequent report by the state Executive Inspector General Ricardo Meza outlined how Quinn had failed to rein in patronage abuses at IDOT after replacing ousted ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.



Meza maintained hundreds of people were hired into so-called "staff assistant" positions without having to go through strict personnel procedures under rules designed to keep politics out of most state hiring.

Quinn fired 58 people hired into staff assistant jobs, but decided to keep another 103. Attorneys for his office have argued a court monitor was not needed because reforms were put into place following the inspector general's report, contending the ethics watchdog acts as an independent watchdog.



Shakman argued the changes amounted to little more than public relations, and questioned the thoroughness of the inspector general report.



U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier said his order did not reflect criticism upon the inspector general, but that it was the court's duty to investigate what "broke down" in the hiring process. Schenkier said the monitor would provide a "transparent process" to review "the scope and reason of what occurred" at IDOT, prevent future inappropriate hires and ensure any changes put in place are effective.



Schenkier asked Shakman and attorneys representing the Quinn administration to work together to establish guidelines for the nature of the monitor's work. The judge said that he had someone "in mind" for the position, but did not share the candidate's name publicly. The judge set another hearing for Oct. 29.