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Lawrence brings expertise in state government to director position

Over the course of his nearly 50-year career, Mike Lawrence watched his role evolve from government watchdog to government spokesman to state government expert at a bipartisan think tank.

Now interim director of the Public Policy Institute, Lawrence is one of four finalists seeking to become permanent director of the organization, whose 10-member search committee interviewed him last month.

When the Public Policy Institute's former director, U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, died in December, Lawrence took the helm as interim director, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Institute.

Lawrence shares Simon's vision for the Institute, especially his concern for regional issues, but said that Simon would always be missed.

"Paul Simon was one of a kind," Lawrence said. "The Institute will never be the same without him. He had a global reach combined with a sensitivity to the needs of the University and the region."

Lawrence's plans for the Public Policy Institute include hosting a forum in November on combating AIDS in Africa and helping Gallatin County expand a school-based health clinic to cover the surrounding counties.

"We have a continuing interest in rural health care," Lawrence said. "Helping school-based health clinics is an important element in improving health care for young people."

Lawrence, who also teaches journalism courses at SIUC, has had an active role in current affairs since the age of 11, when he founded, wrote and delivered his own weekly newspaper. Three years later, he saw his first professional byline in the Galesburg Register-Mail.

"I used to deliver the box scores of local baseball games to the assistant sports editor, and one day I asked him if I could write up the games," Lawrence said.

A Galesburg native, Lawrence attended Knox College, which was founded by social reformers seeking the abolition of slavery. He served as editor of the Knox Student during the Civil Rights movement, attacking campus discrimination in the editorial pages.

His first job out of college was as a general assignment reporter for the Galesburg Register-Mail. Later assigned to the courthouse beat, his interest in covering politics and government took hold and never let go.

"It was the best assignment for a reporter," Lawrence said.

Early in his career, Lawrence set a goal for himself, which was to become a managing editor by the time he turned 30 years old. In 1971, at the age of 29, Lawrence became managing editor of the Quad City Times.

He hated it.

"I was in the office all day, dealing with personnel issues. I wanted to be where the action was," Lawrence said. "I missed writing, reporting, being in the front row as history was being made."

Feeling the tug of government reporting, Lawrence went to Springfield in June 1974 to launch a statehouse bureau for the Quad City Times.

Covering state government under Gov. Dan Walker was a challenge. Intra-party discord pitted Daley Democrats in Chicago against Walker in Springfield.

"Walker was very confrontational," Lawrence said. "If Mayor Daley was in favor of something, there was a good chance Walker was against it."

Walker campaigned as a reformer, but continued some of the practices for which he skewered his opponent, such as patronage.

"He would put people into government positions and have them do primarily political work," Lawrence said.

Walker was later convicted of crimes related to his financial dealings after leaving office.

Lawrence developed a reputation during this time as a competitive and well-connected investigative reporter who exposed abuses throughout state government.

In 1979, Lee Enterprises purchased several Illinois newspapers, including the Southern Illinoisan, and started a statehouse bureau in Springfield. Lawrence was tapped to head the bureau.

Along with his many duties as bureau chief, Lawrence also screened and managed interns coming out of the Public Affairs Reporting program at Sangamon State University, which is now the University of Illinois at Springfield.

The first intern was Kathy Best, who currently works as metropolitan editor for the St. Louis-Post Dispatch.

"Mike has basically been my mentor," Best said. "He taught me how to be a reporter. He taught me everything, basically - how to think critically, to not take 'no' for an answer. He taught me interview techniques. He has a gift. People confess crimes to him."

Like Lawrence, Best got an early start in journalism. Her parents owned a weekly newspaper in Sullivan. Her real journalism education began under Lawrence's direction, Best said.

"I learned how to get information out of people, about writing leads," Best said. "He was very competitive - he wanted to get the story first. He taught me how to be aggressive, to demand information."

Lawrence impressed her with his knowledge of the workings of government.

"He was always a student of government," Best said. "He knows that politics is the grease that makes government function. He knows about power. He knows that budgets are political documents... money is power. He's interested in good government."

Secretary of State Jim Edgar approached Lawrence in 1985 about a position as his press secretary. Lawrence declined.

"I was enjoying being a journalist," Lawrence said.

In 1987, after moving down the hall for a brief stint with the Chicago Sun-Times as their statehouse bureau chief, Lawrence re-considered.

"I was burned out on journalism," he said. "I liked and respected the Chicago Sun-Times, but my editor and I disagreed over what I should be doing."

Lawrence wanted to continue doing in-depth investigative reporting and work on stories that no one else was writing, but his editor had him producing what Lawrence called "wire-service stories."

"It wasn't the kind of journalism I wanted to practice," Lawrence said.

In his mid-40s with a daughter in high school, Lawrence knew he wanted to stay in Springfield. Edgar was still interested.

"It was a tough decision for Mike to leave journalism, and it was a loss to journalism when he did," Best said. "Even when he was the governor's spokesperson, he knew where the lines were. He left journalism, but he never left the standards."

Charlie Wheeler is the director of the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois Springfield and worked with Lawrence at the Chicago Sun-Times. Lawrence distinguished himself as a government watchdog and mentor to young reporters, Wheeler said.

"We were competitors, comrades, and colleagues," Wheeler said. "He has a lot of integrity and cares about public policy - he wants to see government carry out its mission. He has a lot of respect for government institutions and the ability of government to help people. My one regret was that Jim Edgar lured him away from the Sun-Times, so I didn't get to work with him longer. But it was the right move for him and a smart move for Edgar."

In 1997, Lawrence stepped into the policymaking arena. Simon, who had just retired from the U.S. Senate, persuaded Lawrence to bring his expertise on state government to the think tank he was founding at SIUC. Lawrence accepted and became associate director of the Public Policy Institute.

A major victory for the institute came in 1998 when it forged a bipartisan consensus in the Illinois General Assembly on campaign finance reform and Gov. Jim Edgar signed the measure into law.