Patti Blagojevich Accepts New Job

By Kevin Robinson in News on Aug 15, 2008 3:30PM

Rod Blagojevich's wife (and Dick Mell's daughter), Patti, accepted a job with the Chicago Christian Industrial League. The non-profit homeless organization announced on Wednesday that she would become their new development director next month, after Labor Day. "Patti's commitment to Chicago and her knowledge of the development community will help highlight our services," the group’s executive director, and former Daley staffer Judy McIntyre, said in a statement. The group, which was forced to cut staff last year due to a dwindling budget, has received about $350,000 a year from the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Illinois' First Lady, a licensed real estate agent, has been under federal scrutiny recently for real estate deals involving people with state contracts. Mrs. Blagojevich denied she's leaving real estate due to the scrutiny. She told the Tribune she'll keep her license because, "something comes your way, you have a friend or family member that wants to list a house." She added, "It’s not a matter of getting out of the real estate. It's just, this opportunity came to me. It just seemed like such a great organization and an organization that was looking for an infusion of some new ideas." When asked if anything was happening with the federal probe, she said, "nothing that I know of. I've got no indication that there is any kind of investigation."