Gov. George Ryan appointed a politically influential union leader to the Illinois Gaming Board Tuesday to replace a member who is leaving to take a seat on the Illinois Appellate Court.
William E. Dugan, 69, president of Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, will replace Tobias Barry on the five-member board whose membership has been overhauled since it rejected a casino for Rosemont last year.
“The governor always has been interested in bringing fresh perspectives to that board and new approaches from a diverse group of civic and community leaders,” said Ryan’s spokesman, Dennis Culloton.
Dugan, who could not be reached for comment, is on the board of directors of Amalgamated Bank, which has ties to organized labor, Culloton said. The bank’s longtime chairman, Eugene Heytow, was one of the original owners of the Emerald Casino group that had hoped to move to Rosemont.
The group’s proposal was rejected when two of its members were found to have mob ties and others lied to the Gaming Board. It’s now trying to sell its casino license through bankruptcy proceedings.
Dugan has served on boards of the Illinois Development Finance Authority, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority and the Chicago Transit Authority. He lives in Mt. Prospect.
Based in southwest suburban Countryside, the heavy-equipment trade union’s Local 150 is the third largest local in the country. The union and its affiliated Statesman of the Year PAC have contributed nearly $2 million to state candidates in both parties in recent years, including $58,000 to Ryan since 1997 and $12,500 in 1996 to Rep. Angelo “Skip” Saviano (R-Elmwood Park), a backer of the Rosemont casino project.
A government watchdog group viewed the appointment with skepticism.
“It still seems there is no commitment to appoint people who are really beyond question,” said Cindi Canary, of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
The Gaming Board also accepted a settlement with former Grand Victoria Casino security chief Edward Cisowski, who admitted heading a team that improperly shredded casino visitor logs.
Cisowski, a former Illinois State Police commander, had his casino occupational license revoked and was barred from accepting employment in the Illinois gambling industry.