Legislator: Who Watches Metra's Watchers?

By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 11, 2011 4:40PM

The head of the House State Government Administration Committee, Marengo Rep. Jack Franks, has called for the entire board of directors at Metra to resign, saying that they've failed to properly rein in spending at the transportation agency, mainly on themselves.

Franks has been banging the drum slowly about the fiscal irresponsibility of the Metra board for months. His latest attack centers on out-of-state travel expenses for Metra Chairman Carole Doris and the pension and health insurance coverage double dipping of Metra board Treasurer and former state Sen. Jack Shaffer, a political nemesis of Franks.

Doris called Franks's attack baseless, saying that she often pays many business expenses out of her own pocket. But a search of articles at the Better Government Association's website do show that, while Franks may be motivated politically in his attacks, there is cause for concern. The slow trickle of revelations regarding the finances of former Metra chief Phil Pagano were only the tip of the iceberg.