What does it take to be a tollway CEO? We take a road trip

If you look at last week's headlines, it was all chimpanzee attacks, A-Rod, the Oscars and Sen. "You know the real Roland" Burris.

Does no one care about who's leading the agency thousands drive on and give money to every weekday?

I do.

If you haven't been following the Illinois Toll Highway Authority soap opera, here's a recap.

• Former executive director Brian McPartlin resigns Oct. 24 to work for an engineering firm that's received multiple contracts with the agency but later decides not to take the job. Chief of Staff Dawn Catuara becomes interim chief.

• Former chief engineer Jeff Dailey becomes the new boss Nov. 19.

• Dailey resigns Dec. 17 and Catuara fills in again.

• Tollway announces Feb. 3 that Catuara is stepping down. On Feb. 5, state Sen. Martin Sandoval writes to Gov. Pat Quinn recommending the tollway conduct a national search to find a transportation and infrastructure expert to run the system.

• Tollway board appoints Marketing and Communications Chief Mike King as interim executive director Feb. 6. Tollway Chairman John Mitola says King is the leading candidate for the job.

• Feb. 8, Quinn says he's outraged he wasn't consulted on the issue and promises a shake-up at the agency, adding "I'm on my way."

• Feb. 22. A whole lot of nothing happening.

I checked with Quinn's staff Friday and they said a visit to the tollway board meeting later this week wasn't on his schedule.

Meanwhile, the ad hoc committee responsible for finding a new CEO hasn't convened yet.

So what's the deal? Some tollway insiders suggest that the agency is waiting until Quinn weighs in. Although the board - not the governor - has the authority to chose a new executive director - Quinn is responsible for appointing the eight tollway board directors and the chairman. Four directors' terms expire in May.

Which begs the question, why, if King is your leading candidate, wouldn't you start things off on the right foot by consulting with the new governor first instead of letting him learn it from the media?

Like McPartlin, the man who brought him on board, King served in the Clinton White House during the 1990s. He held jobs with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Justice, then went into the private sector working as a communications consultant and executive before moving to the tollway in 2006.

I asked two members of the search committee whether they thought the tollway should look nationally or internally for a new chief.

Director Betty-Ann Moore, Libertyville Township supervisor, had praise for King, adding the CEO position "is best-served by someone who rises up in the ranks and has the know-how.

"It takes a while to get a feel for the procedures, it's not something you can just walk into," Moore said.

But she added, "I would never say the door is shut to a talented person from outside."

Tollway Director and Naperville Mayor George Pradel recently participated in a national search for a new city manager that ended with the hiring of Finance Director Doug Krieger.

Pradel gave King high marks but when asked if the tollway should look outside or inside, he said, "I think we should do both."

And he added, "the whole board needs to weigh in on whether we go outside or stay within."

The key is to get someone who's a transportation expert, Pradel said.

What does it take to become a tollway czar? I searched the Internet for turnpike, thruway and tollway authorities, checking out the bosses and their qualifications. Here are some results from my unscientific study:

• Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Executive Director Alan LeBovidge. Qualifications: former Kansas Department of Revenue commissioner, attorney, master's degree in law, former partner in the accounting firm Coopers and Lybrand.

• New York State Thruway Authority Executive Director Michael Fleischer. Qualifications: former first deputy commissioner for New York's Transportation Department, attorney.

• Kansas Turnpike Authority CEO Michael Johnston. Qualifications: former Kansas Department of Transportation secretary, former state senator.

• And my favorite - Florida Turnpike Executive Director Jim Ely. Qualifications: Army veteran, MBA, doctorate in public administration, past president of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, former Florida Department of Transportation inspector general and management review director.

(I must admit Ely is my favorite because of the cheesy Web site photo of him in a safety vest, smiling and gripping a Florida Turnpike sign. The write-up says his favorite childhood memory is driving on the Sunshine State Parkway in 1957. Now that's a tollway wonk.)