Tollway downplays review of revolving door issue

State officials say they will review whether an ethics waiver was required in the case of a former Illinois Tollway CEO and chief engineer who now is employed by a firm that's received millions of dollars in contracts from the agency.

Jeff Dailey, who served briefly as the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority's executive director from mid-November to mid-December, this month was named as Chicago department manager for HDR, an architectural, engineering and consulting firm.

The state's revolving door law prohibits government employees from taking jobs with contractors for one year after leaving but waivers can be obtained from the Illinois ethics commission.

Dailey said he had checked the requirements for a waiver and believed he was exempt because he had been absent from the tollway for a year working in Texas, then returned to serve as its executive director for only a month.

"I did not effectively manage or implement any contracts," he said.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office said Wednesday it would check into whether Dailey was required to file for an ethics waiver. Madigan intervened in a waiver case involving former tollway Executive Director Brian McPartlin in 2008.

The law says a state worker cannot take a job with a company for one year after leaving the government if that employee "during the year immediately preceding termination of state employment participated personally and substantially in the decision to award state contracts" valued over $25,000 to the company in question.

The law does not specify a minimum time an employee had to work for the state, Madigan spokeswoman Natalie Bauer said, adding the question is if Dailey made decisions involving HDR. "If he did personally and substantially participate, he had to apply for a waiver," Bauer said.

Since 2003, the tollway has authorized $17 million in contracts to HDR in connection with its widening and rebuilding program.

Tollway spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis said Dailey "specifically resigned prior to signing any contracts because he did not want to be in a position where he would not meet the revolving door requirements.

Dailey left the tollway in 2007 to work as a senior executive for the North Texas Tollway Authority. He returned to lead the Illinois agency Nov. 19 and participated in a November 20 board meeting but left before the board's Dec. 18 meeting.

The vacancy was created when McPartlin resigned from the agency to work for McDonough Associates, a tollway contractor. He sought an ethics waiver but Madigan recommended it be denied and McPartlin later said he would not take the job.

Attorney Terry Pastika who heads up the Citizen Advocacy Center, a watchdog group, said she believes a waiver was necessary in Dailey's case.

"I think this example is more indicative that the statute needs to be tweaked to be stronger so there is no ambiguity," she said.

An HDR newsletter states Dailey will lead the firm's Chicago office, which includes responsibility for transportation programs and tollway services efforts.

In 2007, HDR's Chicago office received more than $10 million in contracts from the tollway and in 2008 the firm was awarded nearly $2.5 million, according to the Illinois comptroller's office.

Tollway officials said Dailey's unexpected exit from the agency was influenced by McPartlin's experience.

But his departure also coincided with uncertainly about the future direction of the tollway after Gov. Rod Blagojevich's Dec. 9 corruption arrest and the likelihood a new governor would step in.