Tollway board member was seeking work on other tollways

An Illinois tollway board member had been pitching his company to do land consulting work on other tollway systems and for construction companies, which a top ethics group says is an apparent conflict of interest.

David Andalcio, who was appointed to the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2003, has a company called Wynndalco Enterprises that was offering services on its Web site as a consultant for tollway and other transportation projects.

Wynndalco's primary business is as a green technology firm selling wind energy systems.

It also is a registered minority-owned business with Metra for database and information technology work, according to state records. The registration allows contractors to hire Andalcio to meet certain subcontracting requirements for minority business set asides, but he has not received such work.

Wynndalco's Web site specifically referenced consulting on "Open Road Tolling," the name given to the expansion of electronic tolling under the I-PASS system that occurred since Andalcio's appointment as one of 11 board members.

Andalcio removed references to road construction and tollway consulting from his company's Web site after the Daily Herald inquired about it, said tollway spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis.

The company still advertises for work on construction management and energy efficient construction in addition to wind energy technology.

McGinnis said agency officials believed that pictures of the tollway on Wynndalco's Web site, including ones of the I-PASS system and extension of I-355, could raise questions about whether his company did work for the Illinois tollway. Andalcio was asked to remove the pictures by tollway staff and he agreed, McGinnis said.

"It was an oversight on his part," she said.

Wynndalco has never sought work nor done work for the Illinois tollway, she added.

But McGinnis said Andalcio's pursuit of such consulting work, as long as it is outside of any Illinois tollway contracts, wasn't discussed as an issue among tollway staff because he hasn't obtained any such work.

"His intention is as a wind energy business," McGinnis said.

McGinnis said the addition of tollway consulting work to Andalcio's business was an effort to broaden the company's base and the Web site.

"He was building his Web site and had lots of exuberance and kept going," she said.

But she said the tollway board member has not landed any such business. Andalcio referred most questions to McGinnis, but did answer questions about his Metra contractor status via e-mail.

Cindi Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said she sees Andalcio's solicitation for tollway and road construction consulting work outside of the Illinois tollway as an apparent conflict of interest.

"That is akin to having one of my employees setting up a Web site that they are going to give advice on statehouse ethics," said Canary, whose group pushes for tougher ethics laws across the state.

Also of concern, Canary says, is that working for an out-of-state tollway agency or major construction contractors could set up a potential for another conflict down the road.

For example, the Indiana tollway system does interact with the Illinois system and the number of major road contractors is limited.

Andalcio has run a string of technology companies in recent years. Two of them have settled civil lawsuits alleging contract fraud since the mid-1990s but before his tollway appointment, including one that stemmed from a contract to provide computers to the Chicago Public Schools.

Andalcio has denied wrongdoing in both cases. And the settlements didn't admit any wrongdoing.

At the same time, Andalcio, who lives in Chicago, has been championed as a leader in the Hispanic business community. His Wynndalco company offers minority business consulting.