Three directors, including chairman, remain on tollway board

Three seats on the Illinois tollway board, including the influential chairman spot, are set, but a fourth is still a wild card.

Gov. Bruce Rauner reappointed Chairman Robert Schillerstrom of Naperville and directors James Banks of Chicago and Earl Dotson of Roscoe to four-year terms last week.

Absent from the announcement was Director James Sweeney, president of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. All four terms had ended May 1.

The omission is a likely sign Sweeney, of Chicago, won't be returning. He objected to moves by Rauner to open certain tollway contracts to nonunion businesses and may have burned his bridges by parking a large inflatable rat on the lawn last summer.

Schillerstrom was picked by Rauner in 2015 to fill the office vacated by Chairmen Paula Wolff after the governor's election.

Banks, who joined the tollway in 1993, is the longest-serving board member. Both Dotson and Sweeney were appointed by former Gov. Pat Quinn.

The tollway chairman receives $36,000 a year while directors are paid $31,400.

Currently, board members live in Bartlett, Chicago, Chicago Heights, Elk Grove Village, Naperville, Northfield and Roscoe.