Lawmakers want say on tollway watchdog

SPRINGFIELD - In the wake of the tollway's top watchdog quitting amid questions about her performance and ties to the former chairman's wife, state lawmakers say future tollway inspectors should be required to undergo further scrutiny before getting the job.

Specifically, lawmakers told the Daily Herald the Illinois Senate should have to sign off on the tollway's inspector general the same as it confirms or rejects all other state agency inspectors.

"Absolutely," said state Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, an Evanston Democrat who is among the lawmakers in charge of a series of tollway hearings set to begin Sept. 9. "This change has been long overdue and these recent developments underscore our need to move aggressively on this front."

Those developments include Tracy Smith's resignation Thursday from the tollway inspector general post, a move first reported by the Daily Herald. Some tollway board members were surprised to learn from the paper that Smith, hired in 2005, had been a law school friend of former tollway Chairman John Mitola's wife. Mitola resigned earlier this month.

Mitola was among those who interviewed Smith for the job and her main duties included rooting out fraud and corruption at the tollway.

Smith cleared Mitola in at least two internal investigations, including one into whether tollway officials had any knowledge of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's alleged attempt to push through a toll road project to get campaign cash from a contractor. Those accusations are part of the federal corruption case against Blagojevich.

"Isn't that interesting?" said Lake Forest Democratic state Sen. Susan Garrett, who's also organizing the tollway hearings. "I was flabbergasted. How bad can it get? Given the fact we've had scandal after scandal... how the heck can anybody justify the inspector general having any ties to the chairman? What's the point of having an inspector general then?"

State Rep. Jack Franks, a Marengo Democrat, criticized Smith's work as "shoddy." The frequent tollway critic, said he wants to make the upcoming hearings a joint venture between the House and Senate.

"I think everything about the tollway should be changed," Franks said. "There are a lot of unanswered questions here."

Officials at the Illinois Attorney General's office recently told the Daily Herald they were concerned about Smith's "conduct as inspector general" but have so far declined to elaborate.

Smith has confirmed that she and Marcy Mitola were classmates in law school and "like a lot of old college friends have remained friendly over the years." But she defended her performance as inspector general.

"No relationship exists that would prevent me from doing my job effectively," Smith wrote in an e-mail.

Neither she nor the tollway have offered further explanation regarding Smith's abrupt exit. Her one-sentence resignation letter simply informs the head of the tollway board that her resignation is effective immediately.

Before coming to the tollway, Smith was head of the League of Women Voters in Chicago, and she garnered praise from tollway board members interviewed by the Daily Herald recently.

John Mitola, in a scathing e-mail sent to the paper earlier this week, defended Smith's hiring saying "the notion that she was recommended due to an association she had with my wife from 15 years earlier in law school is ridiculous and is an insult to her background."

On Friday, Joe Fivelson was named the acting inspector general. Fivelson had been senior manager of security for administration at the tollway, said spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis. She said the tollway had been in contact with the state's executive inspector general regarding the steps to fill the position and would follow whatever requirements are in place.

The suburban pay highway system has often found itself the subject of lawmakers' scrutiny and scorn. In a few days, it'll be the focus of special Senate hearings initially called to probe the tollway's oasis management deals.

The latest developments merely add to the committees agenda, senators said.

Garrett promised "an in-depth look at what's going on behind the scenes at the Taj Mahal."

"I've been tracking it (tollway) since the late '90s, and it's not just about Democrats. It's this whole power-broker approach of both Republicans and Democrats and the tollway's like a cash machine," said Garrett. "It's a culture that's been there for years ... forever."

Additionally, the Daily Herald has reported on Mitola's role in a Wheeling land deal that was not disclosed on his annual economic interest statements. Mitola said he didn't report the development because he was only helping friends and had no ownership interest or compensation from the deal.

At the same time, the Daily Herald learned he referred a former Wheeling official who was the point person on the development for a tollway post. When a whistle-blower brought forward accusations about the move, Smith cleared Mitola of any wrongdoing in backing the official - who ultimately didn't get the job.

The official's connection to Mitola's development deal is not mentioned in her final report issued in April.