Out of Commision

Note to Lake County commuters: If your tolls go up, that's because no one represents you anymore on the Illinois Toll Authority. This week Lake County Commissioner Nick Sauer vacated his seat on the Tollway Board. Toll Board Members meet once a month and are given $31,426 for what can be charitably described as a part-time job. Sauer has not stated a reason -- he perhaps resigned from the Board because $30,000 simply doesn't go as far as it used to?

It is believed that Nick Sauer was appointed to the Tollway Board last year to be a strong advocate for the Route 53 Extension.  At the time, Lake County Board Chair Aaron Lawlor headed the Route 53 Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee, which reports to the Illinois Tollway Board. This week both Lawlor and Sauer, abruptly and in succession, cut their ties with the Toll Board.

Even before Sauer could clean out his locker at the Tollway Authority gym+spa, Governor Bruce Rauner appointed a Bartlett resident to fill the vacancy:

Lake County's representative on the Illinois tollway board, Nick Sauer, is stepping down after a brief tenure and will be replaced by Neli Vazquez-Rowland, co-founder of an alcohol and drug addiction recovery program, a state official said. Sauer was appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner a year ago as he revamped the tollway administration.
Sauer exiting tollway board in midst of Route 53 angst

Neli Vazquez-Rowland is a Rauner political ally and President of A Safe Haven Foundation. In 2014 ...

Governor-elect Bruce Rauner announced the members of ten new transition teams Wednesday. Neli Vazquez-Rowland, President of "A Safe Haven Foundation," was named to Rauner's Health and Human Services Committee. Her husband, Brian Rowland, CEO of "A Safe Haven LLC," was named to the Veterans Committee.
RAUNER TAPS OBAMACARE NAVIGATORS FOR HIS TRANSITION TEAM

Note to Ops: If you are an elected official and must cope with a sudden loss of income, it may pay to investigate the Job Training and Placement Services at the Safe Haven Foundation. Just sayin!