Mixed bag of candidates for tollway chief job

A top aide to Gov. Pat Quinn, a South suburban village trustee and a Regional Transportation Authority planner are in the running for the Illinois tollway's top spot.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority has lacked a permanent executive director since December 2008, when Jeff Dailey left after a month on the job.

Acting Executive Director Michael King would not say if he had applied for the $189,000 position following a Feb. 24 application deadline, but his name was not on the shortlist.

"Nothing would preclude them from interviewing other candidates or considering Mike," tollway spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis said.

Tollway officials confirmed that Quinn's Deputy Chief of Staff for Economic Development and Recovery Kristi LaFleur, RTA Senior Deputy Executive Director for Planning and Regional Programs Leanne Redden and Oak Lawn Trustee Jerry Hurckes were among the candidates.

The two other applicants were Matthew J. Amorello and Richard K. Kwasneski.

McGinnis confirmed that Amorello was from out of state but she couldn't say if he was the former chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority of the same name who oversaw the notorious "Big Dig" project. The turnpike chief faced considerable criticism for the tunnel project involving millions in cost overruns and the death of a women in a ceiling collapse.

Tollway officials had no information on Kwasneski as of late Friday afternoon but promised more details on Monday.

In addition to serving with Quinn, LaFleur is the chair of the Midwest High-Speed Rail Steering Group. Before joining the administration, she ran her own consulting firm, the LaFleur Group. Prior to that, she was chief of staff for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Before the RTA, Redden was chief of planning at the tollway from 2003 to 2005 and worked on the agency's congestion relief plan. Before that she served as Schaumburg's director of transportation. She has a master's degree in urban and regional planning.

Hurckes was elected to the Oak Lawn village board in 1999 and previously worked for U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski. He currently is with Metra.

A special tollway board committee will interview the five applicants next week. Members include board Chairman Paula Wolff and board directors Naperville Mayor George Pradel, Carl Towns and Maria Saldaña.