Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • Page 8

X-Mid-minoi Newwwt-TuMday. January, IS, 1991 -V fardy retiring governor, ieshuffihg of photographs IV SPRINGFIELD (AP) This ci runt ni Iff George Ryan shows inaugural program to Burris, wife of Roland Burris. ty of 100,000 doesnt always look lljie the capital of Illinois. On nSpfet days, downtown professionals and state workers clear iut by 5 p.m., leaving the State-house and governor's mansion to themselves. But not Monday.

A new slate of state officers 'ere sworn in, including a new overnor for the first time in 14 years, and Springfield became the backdrop for the state's njpgt-watched event. Here are some of the odds and ends of the transitional Inauguration Day: 2 If there's an obvious difference between Gov. Jim Edgar and rifing Gov. James R. it's punctuality.

Edgar is a stickler for being on time, while Thompson operates on what his call "Thompson time," a form of time-keeping that runs anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour behind the rest of the world. case in point came Monday moaning at a pre-inaugural church service at Springfield's Central Baptist Church. Edgar and his family took their places in a front pew promptly at 9:30 a.m., the appointed hour for the start of the service. Thompson, his wife, Jayne, and daughter Samantha slipped into the front.pew halfway through the opening hymn. The state's political pecking orfler is reflected in the display of glissy color photographs of state officials that greets visitors to the stjtte Capitol.

And with the changing of the guard Monday 0 Photos by Doug Lawhead fices on Monday morning were nearly ready for new state officers, give or take a box of office junk. black-and-white photo of Dawn Clark Netsch hung in the Comptroller's office, where she would begin working shortly. Across the street, in the attorney general building, balloons and a welcome banner awaited Roland Burris. State employees moving out or changing offices had most of their boxes moved last week or will finish Tuesday. On Friday, somebody scraped Treasurer Jerry Cosentino's name off his executive office doors.

The name of new Treasurer Patrick Quinn quickly replaced it. Quinn had nothing to do with it, said brother Tom, who worked on the new treasurer's campaign. Officials sealed the state Vault on Friday afternoon to coincide with the end of a two-month audit of Cosentino's office. Quinn broke that seal quickly after taking office, effectively taking control of the state's finances. Meanwhile, Quinn's two young sons passed out souvenir "Patrick Quinn' State Treasurer" coins during Quinn's open house for the public.

Tom Quinn quickly pointed out the commemorative coins were "not from the state vault." Rob I. Sherman, midwest bureau chief for American Atheist Press, was in town covering the inauguration and said, "Edgar's a favorite of mine." Sherman said he is grateful to the new governor for approving his unorthodox vanity license plate request: ATHEIST. When staff members in Edgar's office refused the request, the journalist said, Edgar himself agreed over the phone, acknowledging it was Sherman's own decision. Old habits are hard to break especially when they're 14 years old. Perhaps that's why at 1 p.m.

Monday, nearly an hour after Edgar was sworn in as governor, a telephone caller to the governor's office still was greeted, "Governor Thompson's office." Miss America, Marjorie Judith Vincent of pak Park, performs piano solo. the likenesses of Edgar and fellow Republican George Ryan, the new secretary of state. Inside the convention center, more respectable souvenirs were sold by inauguration organizers: pewter paperweights, lapel pins, mock Edgar license plates, all with an inaugural motif. Baseball caps with the emblazoned names of Edgar and Bob Kustra, his lieutenant governor, were being sold for $10. Proceeds from the official souvenirs will be used to help defray the nearly $200,000 cost of the inauguration and related events.

Brad Edgar talks to new state budget director Joan Walters. came the changing ol the photos. len the doors opened in the mpming, the smiling laces ot Thompson and outgoing treasurer Jerry Cosentino still Before the inauguration, a children's choir sang traditional American standards like "Yankee Doodle Dandy," but then broke into the '60s acid-rock song "Born to Be Wild." One of the choir members remarked on stage that this was in honor of Edgar's college days. That might startle anyone who knows Edgar. The new governor, noted for his conservative demeanor, says the only time he ever took a drink of alcohol was when some college friends spiked his drink.

The second-floor executive of wire on display. But even before thfjnaugural ceremonies began, thf were gone. l-lost state officials, elected to hipter positions, got their photos rearranged, not new pictures. Edgar's photo, formerly occupying the secretary of state slot, moved to the top of the heap. 'the convention center, where state' officers were sworn in, vendors hawked "limited edition" inauguration buttons for $1.

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