Tollway boss tried to help man connected to development get job

When Illinois tollway Chairman John Mitola was pushing a side development project in Wheeling, he went to the village's economic development director at the time, James Lang, for his support. And he got it.

After the project was approved last summer, Mitola tried to get Lang an executive position at the tollway, the Daily Herald has learned.

That doesn't bother Lang or tollway officials, but it does trouble a top watchdog group.

"This appears to be another inside deal that doesn't pass the good-government smell test," said Andy Shaw, director of the Better Government Association.

Lang was Mitola's initial point person in Wheeling government on the Wheeling Station LLC development of condos and business space in the town's center. Lang's support got the project before village officials for approval.

The Daily Herald reported recently that Mitola never disclosed the Wheeling Station deal on the economic interest statements he was required to submit as tollway chairman. Mitola said that was because he was helping friends by managing the deal for no compensation or ownership interest.

Lang's potential hiring at the tollway became the subject of a tollway investigation in January after the attorney general brought forward "whistleblower" allegations that Mitola was trying to hire unqualified friends.

Tollway Inspector General Tracy M. Smith cleared Mitola of any wrongdoing in April and found that all hiring policies were followed. Yet, Lang's connection to Wheeling Station LLC was not a subject of the inspector general's report.

Lang was about to be hired in January, but Smith's report says tollway executives reversed course citing "administrative reasons." The about-face came around the same time the investigation was launched.

Mitola couldn't be reached for comment.

Lang said he didn't see anything wrong with getting Mitola's help. He said he has been approached several times by village developers with job offers.

"I'm a hardworking guy," he said. "It really wasn't that uncommon."

Lang said Mitola approached him about the job in November, six months after he left Wheeling to start work as a private consultant to developers.

Wheeling Village Manager Mark Rooney said he is not concerned his former development director landed a top recommendation from a town developer.

"From the Wheeling perspective, I think there is no story here," he said.

Meanwhile, tollway spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis said the agency's hiring practices are sound.

"Recommendations and references are not a substitution for an individual's qualifications," she said.

The Wheeling Station deal is on hold due to the economy. Mitola resigned as tollway chairman this month after six years at the helm, citing family reasons.

Lang said he "never really got a clear-cut answer" about why he wasn't hired. He said he thought he was being considered for a public relations spot regarding the tollway oases.

The report says the tollway's acting executive director at the time interviewed Lang in January and thought he "possessed the appropriate credentials and was qualified for the position."

At some point later. the acting executive director changed her mind.

"Based upon subsequent interaction with Lang and a reassessment of agency needs, (the acting executive director) ultimately decided that it was not appropriate to make an offer to Lang at that time," the inspector general's report says without giving a date of that action.

In the report, Smith writes that Mitola said he "very rarely identified potential candidates."

"(Mitola) further stated that he identified two individuals ... as potential candidates but that he expected that Tollway management was evaluating and screening the candidates appropriately," the report said.

The report makes no mention of Lang's connection to Wheeling and Mitola's Wheeling Station LLC, a development partnership involving a major road builder and former state management CEO Michael Rumman - a former business partner of convicted influence peddler Tony Rezko - among others.

The internal investigation also looked at an allegation of large-scale document shredding in the wake of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest on corruption charges and it probed the hiring of two other tollway executives.

Smith ultimately found no wrongdoing.

Lang resigned as Wheeling's economic development director about one week before Mitola's Wheeling Station LLC gained final approval from the board in early June. The deal had been in the works since 2006.

Lang had been development director since the fall of 2006, working the previous three years as Wheeling's spokesman.

Rooney said Lang brought Mitola's development plan to the attention of village executives.

"He did the introduction to us," Rooney said. "And then we did the deal."

Rooney said he was later aware Lang applied for a tollway position.

"He didn't leave us to go work for the tollway," Rooney said. "He was going to be private development all day, every day."