(The following story by Marni Pyke appeared on the Chicago Daily Herald website on May 18,2010.)
CHICAGO — Metra needs to redouble reform efforts to reassure taxpayers that public money isn’t being wasted, some legislators and good-government advocates recommended Monday.
The agency is trying to figure out what went wrong after former Executive Director Phil Pagano took at least $475,000 in unauthorized vacation pay and forged the Metra chairman’s signature. Pagano, 60, died after stepping in front of a train May 7 in the midst of a probe into financial improprieties.
Metra board directors on Friday appointed an acting inspector general and created two committees to review salaries, personnel practices and the executive director’s office.
That’s not enough, believes state Sen. Susan Garrett.
“They need an independent audit done immediately,” the Lake Forest Democrat said.
Metra board Director and Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder said the agency’s just beginning. “We’re not done yet,” she said. “This is an initial step.”
The abuse of public money comes at a time when transit agencies are crying poverty and Metra this year raised certain fares to make ends meet.
But the misconduct investigation showed generous benefits authorized for Pagano, including $21,500 in sick day payouts, contributions to a 401(k) and a retirement plan, and nearly $1 million from an executive incentive program and life insurance program.
Documents obtained by the Daily Herald through the Freedom of Information Act also point to a trend of openhandedness at Metra. Receipts from Pagano’s company credit cards show pricey dinners at restaurants, such as $462 at Oceanaire restaurant in Washington D.C. and $2,773 at the Sangamo Club in Springfield, both in 2007. A Metra spokeswoman said the Sangamo event was tied to a legislative reception.
Metra Director James LaBelle of Zion promised the board will hone in on spending practices. “We have to look at the way we’ve operated and we need to make sure the spending that is being done is cost-effective,” he said. The best way to do that is from the outside, advocates Garrett, who has spent the last year pushing for Illinois tollway reforms. “They need an independent analysis to see where the shortcomings are,” she said.
Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet noted that “the board is committed to doing whatever it takes to make sure proper controls are in place. If that means hiring an outside auditor that could or would be considered.”
Garrett also called it “problematic” that Metra was promoting its Chief Internal Auditor Eric Fernandez to be acting inspector general. Garrett said she didn’t want to detract from his abilities but “given the problems in the past, you want to make sure the new inspector general is independent.”
Terry Pastika, executive director of the Citizen Advocacy Center – a government watchdog – agreed.
“From an outsider perspective, I think there’s less skepticism from bringing in someone outside the agency rather than someone from within,” she said.
While the board’s actions are encouraging, Pastika said, “the question is – does internal self-reflection result in policy changes to address some of the accountability issues?”
Give the agency some time, LaBelle said. “The actions we took on Friday are the start of a new way of thinking about how the agency should be organized and how it should be operated.”
State Rep. Suzie Bassi, a Palatine Republican who sits on the House mass transit committee, said she’s willing to give the Metra board the benefit of the doubt but has to ask, “Where was the oversight?”
This year, Bassi fought an uphill battle to limit the seniors ride free policy to low-income individuals and to convince other lawmakers that public transit needs revenues. The scandal, she said, “further complicates the problem.”