SPRINGFIELD - The chairman of the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee is calling for a national search before the tollway names a new executive director.

State Sen. Martin Sandoval, a Cicero Democrat, sent a letter Thursday to Gov. Pat Quinn requesting the search.

"Given the troubled history of the past administration and in light of the recent resignation of the third chief executive director in the past five months, I am asking your office to take a close look at the practices of this agency," Sandoval said in the letter.

The proposal comes as tollway officials meet today to accept the resignation of acting director Dawn Catuara and name a new temporary chief. Catuara, previously the tollway chief of staff, stepped in when newly installed executive director Jeff Dailey quit Dec. 17 after just a few weeks in the post.

Dailey got the job after tollway CEO Brian McPartlin left Oct. 24 to work for an engineering firm that has done millions of dollars in business with the agency. McPartlin later decided not to take the position with McDonough Associates after controversy surfaced over a potential conflict of interest.

Catuara, former chief executive officer with the Cook County Circuit Court, had also temporarily filled in after McPartlin's departure.

Tollway officials said this week that the added, unexpected responsibilities were why she decided to leave.

In an interview Thursday, Sandoval said he wants a nationally respected transportation and infrastructure figure to run the oft-criticized tollway system.

"We need someone who is known for his expertise as opposed to someone who has been a political contributor or is related to someone in the administration," Sandoval said.

He also suggested the credentials of tollway board members be reviewed.

A spokesman for Quinn said all of state government is being reviewed by the new administration, and the tollway will be included.

A tollway spokeswoman said the agency intends to coordinate with Quinn's staff as it moves forward.

The tollway was drawn into the scandal that led to the arrest and removal of Rod Blagojevich as governor. Federal authorities claim they caught Blagojevich on wiretaps discussing shaking down a concrete contractor for half a million dollars in campaign cash in exchange for a piece of $1.8 billion the then-governor had announced for a tollway congestion relief project.

Quinn, who became governor just last week after Blagojevich's removal by the Illinois Senate, has said he wants to re-evaluate the entire project.