Mayor-Elect Rahm's Transition Team Sets Record for Fastest Resignation Due to Ethics Violation

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Judy Erwin, a recent appointee to the transition team for the newly elected mayor of Chicago has resigned due to news surfacing about an admitted ethics violation. Erwin was also co-chair of Rahm Emanuel's campaign.  The Tribune detailed the ethics violations:

Erwin, the former executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, admitted using her office e-mail and phone while working on a campaign committee for presidential candidate Barack Obama, using staff resources to plan her trip to the 2008 Democratic National Convention and engaging in campaign fundraising activity while on the job, the state's Executive Ethics Commission ruled in a decision filed Feb. 16.

After paying a $4000 fine, and reimbursing the state for their lost time, Ms. Erwin resigned her position last summer and also had to promise to NEVER work in state government again.  Ever.

Emanuel's staff claimed that they were not aware of the violations, a position echoed by the guilty party.  When the newspaper contacted Judy Erwin about the ethics problems, she resigned almost immediately from the seven-person transition team, stating:

"The bottom line is the mayor-elect has very important work to do and I certainly don't want to have any distractions, I will be stepping aside from the transition. I don't want any distractions at all."

Mission Accomplished.