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Hey, tollway execs, your power doesn’t belong to you

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Illinois

* Background is here if you need it. Hannah Meisel…

Top staff at the Illinois Tollway were left without clear direction on Tuesday after the agency’s board of directors made no decisions on an internal power struggle that has split the Tollway and left two high-ranking agency officials out of a job.

Members of the Tollway’s Board requested a special meeting after agency Executive Director José Alvarez asked them to referee a split between him and Board Chair and CEO Will Evans, who recently moved to consolidate more power in an agency reorganization.

The Tollway’s in-house drama threatens to slow or derail massive ongoing and future plans for road projects in its massive $14 billion multi-year Move Illinois infrastructure plan and drag Gov. JB Pritzker into the mire in an agency whose reputation he’d hoped to give a fresh start when he cleaned house at the beginning of his term. […]

But tensions between Evans and Alvarez have grown since they began working together, finally spilling over into the boardroom recent weeks, first with a vote on reorganizing the agency and then Tuesday’s special meeting called by board members frustrated by having been asked to mediate the power struggle between the two men.

Evans stepped aside from the chair’s traditional role running the board meeting while the body was in its marathon five-hour executive session the board held behind closed doors at the Tollway’s headquarters on Tuesday — the first in-person meeting the board has staged since the pandemic began. Instead, another board member acted as chair during the meeting. But Alvarez, who is normally present during executive session, was not in the board room.

Neither [board member Karen McConnaughay] nor Evans could say whether that internal investigatory mission would include bringing in third parties like outside counsel to help, but McConnaughay did say the board wants to settle the matter “sooner rather than later,” so long as the board members feel they’ve done “a thorough job of looking at everything that’s been raised.”

Adults need to act like adults and not like children fighting over toys. If you cannot adequately do your job without drama, then leave. And rather than taking one side or the other, construction trade unions and management groups need to help calm things down.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 8:59 am

Comments

There have been a lot of managerial problems at the Tollway over the past three years because of this. It appears both are engaged in an empire building contest that has clearly been detrimental to the agency and morale at the agency.

Comment by Teve Demotte Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 9:16 am
I guess we can all cross our fingers and hope the unions and other groups can bring resolution–even though they are excluded from the 5 hour exec session meeting. OR maybe the Governor’s office could weigh in on the agency that is entirely under their control????

Comment by Central Tri Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 9:21 am
see Avis LaVelle, this shows you the map. you could have taken some power at the Chicago Park District and stopped sexual abusers over a year ago.

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 9:27 am
Can we abolish the Tollway system yet?

Comment by SKI Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 9:28 am
Why the Tollway’s board chairman trying to take away Mr. Alvarez’s powers and duties, he is the day-to-day executive director of the agency–nominated by the governor and approved by the state senate. Period.

The chairman should stay in his lane and not try to usurp power from the exec. director.

Get your I-pass and get going, Mr. Evans. There shouldn’t be any mediation required. The board oversees the director. It’s all in the personnel manual, my friend.

Comment by Pizza Man Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 10:01 am
Sounds like the Governor should just clean house again. Sometimes things don’t work out with people. Also, we could just get rid of it as long as the rest of the state will either accept VMT on their roads or a larger share of the gas tax money. Don’t think that will ever happen.

Comment by Publius Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 10:02 am
Been following the tollway for years and I have zero skin in the game. From talking to people at the tollway from day one Chairman Evans has been on a power move. He wanted to name the E.D. Himself and actually interviewed candidates on his own without any input from the Governors office. He also wanted to gut the executive wing and make the Chairman’s office bigger then the ED’s. If people go and take time to investigate they will find that Evans is a power hungry egomaniac and is in the wrong over this power struggle.

Comment by Hard D Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 10:36 am
Would love to hear what the past Executive Directors have to say on how it was run over the past 25-30 years.

Comment by Hard D Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 10:38 am
The Tollway breeds disfunction because it has a massive budget with minimal oversight that every consulting group and political hack wants to tie themselves to. Once someone is appointed to the board, their ego instantly is inflated by glad-handling lobbyists and an oversized communications office (and who even knows how many consultants).

The Governor is an ex-officio member of the Board…maybe his office needs to start sending a representative to meetings to fill that spot.

Comment by NIU Grad Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 10:38 am
Governor’s chief of staff needs to conk their heads together and tell them to knock it off or they are all being sent to their rooms without supper. And don’t make me call dad.

Comment by natty lite Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 10:43 am
*Pizza Man—it’s not that simple. The Board has fiduciary duties and from Alvarez CHA days he was good at making sure the Board members didn’t get all the information they needed. Evans is a respected man & not gonna take the fall for an incompetent ED.. Chairman has to vote on these matters and probably can’t remove him cause Guv made the poor choice to handing him an unqualified ED who may even be violating the law.

Comment by ChiSox Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 11:30 am
- Pizza Man - Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 10:01 am:

In both versions of the chain of command from the Tollway that Hannah Meisel shared (and which Rich posted here) have the Chairmanship also listed as the CEO.

Comment by Shield Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 12:25 pm
Alvarez asked the Board to referee? Are you kidding me? Where is the Gov’s Office? Once again this GO is clearly not leading its agencies. JB would improve things if he got rid of both Alvarez and Evans… and all the other former CHA people Alvarez brought in at huge salaries. This is a joke… and neither man deserves his job, that’s clear.

Comment by Lincoln Lad Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 12:57 pm
Replace then all.

Comment by DuPage Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 3:07 pm
Time to bring back Paula Wolff and Kristi Lafleur

Comment by Obvi Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 3:57 pm
Ever since Blago made Carol Adams Secretary of DHS who then brought a bunch of CHA flunkies with her (unbeknownst to the GO) to the agency, this has been a path to disaster.

Comment by Original Rambler Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 4:09 pm