* The Senate Transportation Committee will hold a hearing about some Illinois Tollway contract policies next week at the urging of Sen. Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines)...
Tollway spokesman Dan Rozek said the agency “would welcome the opportunity to set the record straight on our competitive bidding process, the safeguards we have in place to prevent potential conflicts of interest and the independent review our contracts are subject to in order to ensure maximum compliance, integrity and transparency.”
One case that drew concerns from legislators involved a $6.6 million subcontract with Morreale Communications that piggybacked onto a larger engineering contract and thus did not require a separate vote by the tollway board. The PR firm’s CEO, Kim Morreale, is married to Republican state Rep. Michael McAuliffe of Chicago. The tollway said the firm was chosen on its merits.
Another situation that raised questions was a $157 million contract with Omega and Associates for Tri-State Tollway management services in November.
Omega employs the grown children of tollway officials and has contributed to two board members’ charities.
* Marni Pyke has been all over this topic. From last November…
Illinois tollway directors on Wednesday approved a controversial $157 million, 10-year contract with engineers Omega & Associates that has sparked concerns about potential conflict of interest.
Three members of the board and a top executive have links to the Lisle firm that will supervise Central Tri-State Tollway reconstruction, but officials said the agency has followed all proper procedures.
Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, whose daughter is a marketing coordinator for Omega, left the boardroom during the vote.
Chief Engineer Paul Kovacs’ son is a civil engineer at the firm, and Directors Neli Vasquez Rowland and Corey Brooks run separate charities that have received donations from Omega.
All four said there is no conflict of interest.
* February…
A politically connected Illinois tollway employee hired last year for an important $80,016 engineering department job last worked in 2001 as an account executive selling office furniture.
Laura Durkin is the agency’s general manager of engineering and sister-in-law to Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs. Tollway officials recently released Laura Durkin’s resume to the Daily Herald after withholding it for weeks.
* Pyke’s piece in April…
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Speaking in general terms, Republican state Rep. David Harris of Arlington Heights said “the tollway has always been a hotbed of patronage. Both parties have taken advantage of the fact it is a relatively independent body and not subject to great legislative or General Assembly scrutiny.”
The Morreale Communications contract was reviewed for conflict of interest by the state Procurement Policy Board and Chief Procurement Office and approved, tollway officials said.
The agency is committed to diversity, including women-owned businesses, and “we have an obligation to judge these businesses based on the quality of their work, not their personal decisions,” a statement said.
* Pyke’s story in May…
The Illinois tollway contends its no-bid process that uses a selection committee to makes recommendations to the board on expensive engineering contracts is independent and transparent.
But when asked to provide meeting minutes, the agency blacked out the names of committee members in a majority of cases, making it impossible to see who is voting — a response criticized by attorney and public access expert Don Craven as improper under Illinois open records law.
When the names did surface they included tollway board Director Corey Brooks, who like all directors is appointed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, countering claims the selection process for contracts is independent.
Knowing who sits on the selection committee is important because unlike construction contracts that are competitively bid and go to the lowest bidder, professional firms are screened by tollway staff, then ranked by committee members who send a final recommendation to the board.
The Daily Herald has reported on potential conflicts of interests involving contracts where firms have political ties to Republicans or connections with tollway executives. The agency denies any patronage and said it follows state regulations on contracts.
- Roman - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:04 am:
== not subject to great legislative or General Assembly scrutiny. ==
That’s true and it’s real problem. What’s more, the Tollway Authority is virtually ignored by Chicago’s downtown media outlets and Springfield-based state government reporters. Thank god the Daily Herald is paying attention because nobody else is.
- Langhorne - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:07 am:
Its our cherry pie, none for you.
We dont want nobody, nobody sent.
- Grand Avenue - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:08 am:
Honestly, the Democrats don’t want to go too hard about Republican Patronage at the Tollway because there are a lot of friends, family, and donors on the left side of the aisle either working for the tollway, getting contracts, or working for contractors.
I think some very powerful members of the House & Senate Dem Caucus will make sure that there aren’t nearly as many fireworks as this article promises because they don’t want the light shined on them.
- Annonin' - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:20 am:
Gotta love tollway antics… remember ths suff when you hear GovJunk blather and whine about all those nasty procurement reforms and his demands for loopholes.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:24 am:
===a $6.6 million subcontract with Morreale Communications===
That one is hard not to notice.
Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered.
- Canon - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:26 am:
The prob is Pyke has sought a narrative that doesn’t exist. All of these contracts are competitively bid and the tollway has little control over who are sub consultants. But never mind that, Pyke will write the narrative that scores her the headline.
- Cocoa Dave - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:30 am:
I guess the current Tollway Inspector General is just as useless as the last guy. Nothing to see here move along. Big cases big problems, little cases little problems.
- anon2 - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:32 am:
How about applying the same standard to Democratic and Republican patronage, pinstripe and otherwise? Both parties have a long history of patronage, but have a blind spot for calling it out on their own side.
- Dog Whistle - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:34 am:
Where is the “independent ” (read: hand picked choice of Rauner) chief purchasing officer Ellen Daley on stopping this?Oh, wait a minute…never mind.
- Dan-P - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:58 am:
No worries, Rauner recently engineered Liz Gorman’s appointment as director of the tollway. She’s an anti-patronage, good government type with all sorts of transportation and administrative experience. S/
- Birdseed - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:59 am:
=== - Canon - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 11:26 am:
All of these contracts are competitively bid and the tollway has little control over who are sub consultants. ===
Wrong. The engineering contracts aren’t “bid”.
- Just Me - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 12:06 pm:
I am reminded of Senator Susan Garrett demanding that Metra and RTA Board members all be transportation experts. Well, this is what happens when you have board members who are experts in the field in which they are also governing; you run into conflicts of interest with ties to past companies, friends, and family members.
- Canon - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 12:17 pm:
They are competitively bid. Consistent with state and federal law. Next please…
- SSL - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 12:37 pm:
Politics as usual. Take care of friends and family, and it happens on both sides of the aisle at every opportunity. Is it worse anywhere else in the country than good old Illinois? Once again we are the best of the worst.
- denisquared - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 1:04 pm:
SSL - it’s everywhere. There is so much more pay to play in every state. we just put our guys in jail.
- Birdseed - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 1:19 pm:
=== - Canon - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 12:17 pm:
They are competitively bid. Consistent with state and federal law. Next please… ==
Federal law requires QBS (Qualification Based Selection) in which the engineering fees are not to be considered (or disclosed for that matter). ISTHA follows QBS. Next please….
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 1:32 pm:
Who knew the tollway needed a $6.6 million public relations vendor?
Rauner’s appointees, that’s who.
Perhaps the well-paid flacks that the tollway already employs can explain why they can’t handle their jobs and need millions of dollars worth of assistance.
For tollway public relations.
- Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 1:48 pm:
Why doesn’t the Tollway require approval of subs? Seems like a no-brainer.
Word, and I’m not defending the practice or this selection, but I think the Tollway has hired this kind of firm before when they have a big reconstruction project going on to work with media, communities, etc. This one seems awful pricey.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 2:13 pm:
who is McAuliffe’s opponent?
- Juvenal - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 2:45 pm:
No control?
Nothing to see here?
Why was communications part of the RFP?
$6.6 million isn’t chickenfeed.
If the Tollway really needed the communications services, it ahould have issued a separate RFP.
A lot of firms would have bid, I assure you.
- Flower Power - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 3:33 pm:
Liz Gorman is a huge part of the problem. She’s never at the Tollway. Ghost payroller. She’s not going to clean things up. She has already demonstrated that she will continue patronage. Look at who has gotten what since she’s been there. Probably even accelerate it as the election gets closer.
- Canon - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 3:59 pm:
So. We have agreed they are competitively bid through QBS who says politics is without resolution?
- Birdseed - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 4:13 pm:
“A competitive bid process is mostly used in the procurement of goods and services. The process entails submitting a sealed envelope detailing the price and terms of an offer. The recipient of the offer then selects the competitive bidder that has delivered the lowest price or best terms.”
That is not QBS, and that is not what the Tollway does.
- Long time R - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 5:04 pm:
- Flower Power- Liz Gorman came on after all these issues. And if you FOIA her hours you might find that she has worked many more hours then her predecessors. As for status quo that s not the case either, just ask the Director who’s nephew she fired.
- DuPage R - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 5:26 pm:
I can attest to Gorman firing a Directors nephew along with two department heads from DuPage who thought they were untouchable. She replaced both with better people and they also happen to be minorities. Like her or not she has everyone’s attention, either work and conform or your gone.
- Board Watcher - Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 10:13 pm:
-Dan-P- So whats your thoughts on Christie Lafluer or Greg Bedelov whos appointments were engineered by Jack Lavin ( Lafluer ) or Bedelov ( Sandack )? Neither has a Masters degree from any University none the less Notre Dame ( Gorman ) does. Or neither headed a division for the largest Accounting firm in the world ( PWC Gorman ) did.
No S/ just facts
- Let's Do What's Right - Thursday, Jul 19, 18 @ 8:24 am:
Liz Gorman was hired with the promise that she would deliver Cook County Republican votes for Rauner. She’s spending her time, not in the office, but attending events to campaign for him. And being paid by the Tollway. So perhaps her work records and schedule should be FOIA’ed as someone suggested. Let’s see the truth.
She fired one of those department heads to make more room for Kim Morreale. FOIA Morreale’s bills and see how much time is billed to work not involving press for roadway expansion. It’s patronage politics as usual with Liz Gorman. She should be on the hot seat answering legislators’ questions for the mess going on at the Tollway.
- BlueDogDem - Thursday, Jul 19, 18 @ 8:59 am:
Fiscal conservatives do not believe in patronage hiring or contracts.