In the News

Lake County News Sun, August 3, 2010

With the lease on the Lake Forest Oasis to be auctioned off later this month, it is little wonder state Sen. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest, introduced legislation creating an inspector general for the Illinois Tollway. In truth, it's hard to imagine an agency more in need of an inspector general than the tollway. For years, its name has served as shorthand for the worst abuses of government -- cronyism and corruption. Among the agencies allegedly targeted by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, we weren't surprised to learn during his recent trial, was the tollway, known formally as the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Blagojevich is accused of withholding billions of state dollars for road reconstruction in late 2008 until road builders anted up campaign cash.

Much has changed at the Downers Grove-based agency that oversees the toll roads in northern Illinois, including the Tri-State Tollway which cuts through Lake County on its way to the Wisconsin line. With a new board chair, several new board members, including Bill Morris a former state senator and Waukegan mayor, and a new executive director installed in the last year, we've seen a promising level of transparency and accountability take hold.

That transparency should improve with the law Garrett sponsored that was signed last week by Gov. Pat Quinn. For the first time, an independent Illinois Tollway inspector general post was created.

With billions of dollars flowing through the agency -- in oasis contracts, coins, credit cards and road bidding -- the opportunity for skimming, stealing and trading political favors is just too great.

But that officials at Metra, an agency coming off a string of unseemly revelations about improper pay practices and excessive overtime costs, saw the same risks at the commuter rail agency. The new tollway inspector general's office looks to be a good model for Metra. In fact, Garrett sponsored legislation creating IGs for both agencies.

The tollway inspector general's office will for the first time have subpoena power, a five-year term to insulate the office from the whims of political leaders and a budget that cannot be reduced by more than 10 percent in any given year. It's up to Gov. Pat Quinn to name the new inspector general to investigate claims of mismanagement or wrongdoing in the day-to-day operations of the tollway and ensure our tax dollars are spent wisely.

With an inspector general, perhaps the agency wouldn't be auctioning off the leases for the tollway oases on Aug. 25, seeing that the previous vendor borrowed $100 million to finance the rebuilding of the seven oases after getting the contract in 2002.

Oversight for tollway was overdue. Next up, Metra.