Want to know how much the government employees in your neighborhood are earning?
There's an app for that.
For The Good of Illinois, an open-government group founded by former gubernatorial hopeful Adam Andrzejewski, has a free iPhone and iPad app that, with the touch of a button, will show you the salaries of government employees in your area.
Using your device's GPS coordinates, the app will list, from highest to lowest, the pay of state and local government employees within a radius of five, 10, 25 or 50 miles. Or you can input a ZIP code, rather than using your current location. Employees also can be searched by name.
The most recent salary level available is displayed next to the person's name. You can click on an employee to see the person's 10-year salary history -- in graph form, if you want.
As an example, using the five-mile radius for 62026, an Edwardsville ZIP code, I found that the top salary, $333,965.75 for 2010, goes to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift. His salary was $205,000 in 2004, the year he was appointed chancellor.
Coming in at 40th in that ZIP code is Venessa Brown, a professor of social work and Assistant Provost for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion at SIUE. Her salary for 2010 is $145,114.07. It was $68,727.82 in 2000.
Moving to 62222, a Belleville ZIP code, the top salary for 2010 goes to Belleville School District 118 Superintendent Matt Klosterman at $160,056.
Coming in at 20th in 62222 is Belleville West teacher Kathleen Baldus at $108,607, and 40th is St. Clair County Clerk Bob Delaney at $96,894.
Andrzejewski said the app, along with the organization's salary database on its website, have received nearly 1 million queries from users.
"The average user on the app surfs it for 44 minutes," he said. "Literally, you get on it and you have a hard time getting off of it. It's that stunning."
What are users' responses?
"The typical response is, 'I'm in the wrong business,'" he said. "People react very emotionally to what they find on the portal."
The app took about eight months and about $100,000 in donations to develop, Andrzejewski said. It went live in late December.
The app soon will be available for Android phones, as well. And the database will be updated soon with 2011 salary information.
The database does not include federal employees. It includes local governments, such as park districts and townships, and municipalities, counties, colleges, universities and state employees.
For now, state employees -- even ones who work in local offices -- are listed as being employed in Springfield. An update planned within the next year will list them according to their work locations.
Andrzejewski said the goal of the app was to shine light on government pay and the resulting pensions.
"The salient question in Illinois politics, going forward, is quite simply, public employee pay and pensions," he said. "This issue needed transparency and a highlight on the facts, sot he citizens can start to engage in meaningful conversations about the issue."
The app is available at the iTunes store. The organization's website is at: forthegoodofillinois.org.
Goetten endorsed: U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, has endorsed Greene County State's Attorney Matt Goetten in the Democratic primary for the 13th Congressional District.
Durbin made a campaign stop with Goetten on Saturday in Collinsville to announce the endorsement. Durbin said Goetten is "someone whose first priority will always be middle-class families."
Goetten is a captain in the Illinois Air National Guard who served in Afghanistan in 2009.
The reshaped district takes in Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville and part of Collinsville.
The other Democrat in the March 20 primary is Bloomington physician David Gill.
The incumbent is Republican Rep. Tim Johnson. Republican challengers in the primary are Michael Firsching, a veterinarian from Moro, and Frank Metzger, a retired ironworker and Navy veteran from Glen Carbon.
State rep race: State Rep. Paul Evans, R-O'Fallon, has picked up two more endorsements from mayors: Gary Sellers, of Trenton, and Scott Abner, of Lebanon. Abner is holding a fundraiser for Evans at 5 p.m. Thursday at Gia's Pizza in O'Fallon, along with the following mayors: Gary Graham, of O'Fallon; Jerry Daugherty, of Mascoutah; and Jim Vernier, of Shiloh.
Other Republicans running against Evans in the primary for the 102nd House District are Don Weber, of Troy, and Charlie Meier, of Okawville. There are no Democratic candidates.
There's a new, 28-minute video interview of Weber on his website, citizensforweber.com. In it, he touches on a wide variety of issues, including asbestos litigation in Madison County, pork spending and pension debt.
Candidate forum: The three Republicans vying to be the GOP candidate for the 12th Congressional District seat have been invited to take part in a forum 2 to 4 p.m. March 11 at Fischer's Restaurant in Belleville, 2100 W. Main St. The candidates are Jason Plummer, of Fairview Heights; Theresa Kormos, of O'Fallon; and Rodger Cook, of St. Libory.
The forum is sponsored by Metroeast Pachyderms. The candidates will field questions posed by three panelists. Information is available at metroeastpachy.org.
Democrats in the primary for the House seat are Brad Harriman, of O'Fallon; Christopher Miller, of Carbondale; and Ken Wiezer, of Granite City.
Valentines: U.S. Rep. John Shinkus, R-Collinsville, once again this year asked his constituents to submit valentines for people serving in the military and got an overwhelming response.
"I am again humbled by the reaction to the Valentines for Heroes project," Shimkus said, noting his offices collected more than 6,000 valentines from people throughout the 19th District.
