Different rules for two committees selecting professional contracts

The Illinois tollway blacked out names of members of a professional consultant selection committee in 10 sets of minutes provided following a Freedom of Information Act request.

But on Friday, the tollway reversed itself on two of those and supplied copies with the names not redacted.

The reason for the change is that those records came from a second "foundational" selection committee, officials said.

The existence of a "foundational" committee came as a surprise, but tollway spokesman Dan Rozek said it was founded in early 2017 "to create a more open and transparent process" when selecting consultants the tollway is required to retain, such as consulting engineers.

The tollway argued that the original selection committee's members should be kept secret to avoid undue pressure on them from potential contractors.

The Daily Herald is asking the Illinois attorney general's office to order release of the names that were withheld.