- Published: Thursday, September 03, 2020 10:32 AM
Originally published in the Daily Herald, August 31, 2020.
A state regulator's ruling the Illinois tollway acted illegally and mishandled two unsuccessful bids for construction projects was "unfair" and unreasonable, an attorney for the agency argued at a state Senate Transportation Committee hearing Thursday.
The pushback puts the tollway at odds with Illinois Chief Procurement Officer for General Services Ellen Daley, who in July found the agency didn't properly notify Walsh Construction Co. and Lorig Construction Co. their bids fell short on two separate construction projects worth more than $70 million.
Daley's conclusions that the agency had undermined "the integrity of the procurement process" prompted state Sen. Laura Murphy of Des Plaines to request a Senate hearing after the Daily Herald reported on the issue.
Tollway attorney Kathleen Pasulka-Brown said at the hearing the two contractors lost the bids because they failed to meet diversity goals and were given plenty of notice.
"(Daley's) determination was unfair, and it's also inconsistent with her finding the tollway did not act in bad faith," Pasulka-Brown said. "Finding the tollway did not act in bad faith should have let her conclude the tollway did not engage in an illegal act."