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Rauner Appoints 'Rooftop Pastor' To Illinois Tollway Board

(CBS) – Corey Brooks, the "Rooftop Pastor" from Chicago's South Side who endorsed Republican Bruce Rauner for governor, now has a paid appointed position with the Rauner administration.

Gov. Rauner's office on Friday announced Brooks, senior pastor at New Beginnings Church, will be a director on the Illinois Tollway Board, the Downers Grove-based authority that controls toll roads.

Brooks was among a group of African-American religious leaders in Chicago who backed Rauner, a wealthy businessman, over incumbent Democrat Pat Quinn, saying Democrats had taken black political support for granted.

The tollway appointment would seem an odd fit for Brooks, a social crusader who famously camped out on a rooftop in his violence-plagued Woodlawn neighborhood to raise redevelopment funds.

Rauner's office highlighted Brooks' law degree and other graduate degrees and his church's $1 million budget.

"This appointment will give me an opportunity to make sure that African Americans have a seat at the table and are afforded the opportunities to get jobs and state contracts and the goal of diversification is met," Brooks said in a posting on Facebook.

He will donate his $31,426 salary to ProjectHOOD, an anti-violence organization, Brooks said. The pastor serves as CEO of the not-for-profit, according to the group's website.

Other state appointments announced Friday were Rick C. Tanksley to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and Suzanne Morris to the Illinois Community College Board.

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