Bad time to dump tollway critic

“Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.”

The quote is attributed to Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi, and the philosophy makes sense: Defending a proposal against opposition can only strengthen it, and contemplating that you might not prevail forces contingency planning.

Unfortunately, that does not seem to be a view held by Gov. Pat Quinn and leaders of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.

Quinn drummed out the tollway board’s only toll-hike opponent during a recent round of new appointments, a move which also cut into the board’s financial expertise and its overall experience level at a crucial time of borrowing and building for the tollway authority.

Gone is Bill Morris of Grayslake, the former Waukegan mayor and a retired investment banker who also happened to be the lone vote against raising tolls by 35 to 45 cents at most toll plazas effective Jan. 1.

“The administrators of the tollway had grown uncomfortable with my questions and likely did not support my reappointment,” Morris wrote in a note to backers.

Also among those sent packing is Naperville Mayor George Pradel, who wanted to stay another term to help oversee the toll authority’s $12 billion road repair and expansion program.

Instead, that job will fall to five new faces, whose first duty this week was to vote in a 2012 preliminary budget that’s up a whopping 43 percent from last year. The tollway board is made up of nine appointees, plus Quinn and the state transportation secretary as ex-officio members.

Morris provided a valuable counterpoint even when his plans failed to gain traction. Along with questioning the toll hike, he pushed to trim the operating budget and end toll-free passage for tollway employees going to and from work.

In contrast, one of Quinn’s new appointees has a vested interest in getting more roads built.

“We’ll transform our main roadway system into a state-of-the-art system,” says James Sweeney of Chicago, president of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, which represents heavy equipment operators.

Morris’ departure raises at least one set of eyebrows — that of state Sen. Kirk Dillard, a 2010 candidate for governor. The Hinsdale Republican questioned Quinn for “blowing off the squeaky wheel — Bill Morris — who also happens to have expertise in public finance.”

Dillard notwithstanding, Senate confirmation of Quinn’s appointees is likely. We challenge the new board members, who are paid $31,400 a year, to keep open minds and insist on considering alternatives, despite the obvious disincentive to do so. With so much money at stake and a roadbuilding program that will change the face of the suburbs, now’s no time to be a rubber stamp.