Can Madigan change 20+ years of behavior?

If you ask anyone at the Statehouse about House Speaker Michael Madigan’s former chief of staff Tim Mapes, they’ll all say he “made the trains run on time.”

Mapes made sure everything got done exactly the way he (and his boss) wanted. He mastered the complexities and dominated the workings of Illinois House operations as well as Speaker Madigan’s massive political network. He worked practically nonstop and he appeared completely loyal to Madigan.

Mapes wasn’t always this powerful. After the 1998 election, several of Madigan’s top people left for the private sector. Mapes had been considered an equal to those folks, but when they left he made it clear that he was above their replacements. He eventually consolidated his power until it was absolutely unquestionable. The only person he reported to was Madigan, and it was tough to get to Madigan unless you went through Mapes.

The problem has always been with how Mapes made those trains run on time. He did not generally tackle his endless daily tasks by being a friendly, kind and understanding fellow. By all accounts, Mapes is a good family man and can be an excellent friend. But business was entirely another matter. He was Madigan’s trusted enforcer and he took the job seriously.

Read more: http://illinoistimes.com/article-20102-can-madigan-change-20%252B-years-of-behavior.html