Toll board member takes own agency to task
If you feel left in the dark about the inner workings of Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, Steven Harris knows what you're going through - and he sits on the agency's board of directors.
Director Harris took some time during Thursday's board meeting to vent about how a recent customer support call sparked a chain of events that left him frustrated at not knowing who's overseeing the day-to-day operations of the tollway.
It all started Saturday when Harris, who is the former mayor of Deerfield, received a notice that the credit card information on his I-PASS account needed to be updated.
After calling the number on the card and spending "many minutes" dictating his personal information, the customer service representative told Harris that her computer had lost power and that he would have to call back later.
Harris then asked the woman to write down what she needed so he wouldn't have to make another call. The representative responded that she couldn't because she's not allowed to have pencils and paper at her desk.
Curious about the restriction on writing utensils, Harris decided to call Acting Executive Director Michael King.
What Harris didn't know until he called Monday is that King is on a two-week vacation. So he tried the next person in charge.
But when he reached Tollway Chief of Administration Tracey E. Smith's office, Harris found out - for the first time - that Smith had resigned from her position to take a job in the private sector.
So Harris says he went from trying to get a question answered to discovering that two top staffers weren't around.
"If I can't get a hold of somebody - and don't even know who to call, frankly - you would wonder about our customers and other people that don't have the kind of access I do to the executive suite."
Harris urged senior staff and other board members "to let us know what's going on - even if the news isn't so good."
"I am not singling anybody out," Harris said. "I am asking for help, cooperation and, for lack of a better term ... transparency."
Chairman John Mitola responded to Harris' remarks by saying he knew about King's vacation long in advance. He said he believes it was "an oversight" that Harris wasn't notified of King's holiday and Smith's departure.
Mitola said the standard policy at the tollway is that the chairman be around when the executive director is on vacation.
Meanwhile, officials said customer service reps can't have pens, pencils and paper at their desks to help protect the privacy and security of callers.
Harris says he's very satisfied with that explanation.
"Frankly," he said, "I would have stopped my inquiry had that message been relayed."