University officials said Monday it would have been nearly impossible for SIU Board of Trustees Chairman Roger Tedrick to interfere with the way construction contracts were awarded by the university.

A Chicago Tribune report published Saturday revealed Tedrick, who owns Tedrick Insurance based in Mount Vernon, sold insurance to construction companies that won business with the university more often than not, implying Tedrick could be in violation of the board’s conflict of interest policy.

But Kevin Bame, the vice chancellor for administration and finance, said it would be virtually impossible for Tedrick or any other board member to steer university contracts toward specific businesses.

Advertisement

‘It would be very difficult, nearly impossible, for a board member to influence a purchasing decision,’ he said. ‘I’m at a loss as to how anyone could intervene in a purchasing decision and steer business toward a particular contractor or vendor.’

Bame said contractors must submit bids in a sealed envelope, which officials open at a public meeting.

The low bid is reviewed, and if the company is a responsible bidder – a company that has an adequate work force, has the money to foot the short-term bill and has a good reputation, Bame said – its bid is approved and sent to the board for vote.

Bame said board members don’t know which companies have posted the lowest bid until they receive meeting packets.

In the case a low bidder is not selected, the purchasing department must write a letter of justification to inform it of why it was not approved, said Catherine Hagler, executive director of administration.

But Bame said he could only remember a handful of times the low bidder has not been approved.

‘ ‘The board is blind on who the bidder is until this board matter is presented to them,’ he said. ‘It’s a clean process.’

Advertisement*

But while Tedrick may be clear of steering university business his way, he could still be in violation of the board’s charter, which states no member of the board can ‘be directly or indirectly interested in any contract made by the Board.’

Tedrick’s company acted as broker of liability of insurance for 16 construction firms approved by the board since 2004, according to documents obtained by the DAILY EGYPTIAN through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Tedrick said his company acts as a middleman between a larger insurance company and the contractors. Tedrick’s company then receives a commission of between 3.5 and 5 percent for its services, he said.

Tedrick said Jerry Blakemore, legal counsel for the university, performed an internal investigation and found Tedrick nor any other board member had influenced any contract awarded by the board.

Blakemore also hired a firm from Springfield that specialized in ethics law to further investigate the matter, Tedrick said.

‘They have given (Blakemore) a preliminary report that says there was no conflict of interest,’ Tedrick said Friday. ‘It said this is an indirect interest that I have.

‘There is no law that says I can’t have this type of indirect situation.’

Peggy Kerns, the direct of the Center of Ethics for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said conflicts of interest are a frequent occurrence.

‘Usually, the standard is if somebody can benefit financially from an action, that presents a conflict of interest,’ she said.

Tedrick said the board is expected to approve a revised conflict-of-interest policy – one that forces board members to remove themselves from the voting process if they would benefit from a specific contract – at its next meeting May 7.

The policy would require the board to list every instance of direct or indirect conflict of interest and annually report them to the governor, Illinois Senate president and minority leader, SIU spokesman Dave Gross said.

The Tribune report came just one day after the Illinois Reform Commission visited campus to hold its final meeting before revealing its recommendations aimed at fixing a corrupt state government.

Among the commission’s primary concerns were pay-to-play standards, which Tedrick is also accused of, and conflict of interest policies.

Sheila Simon, a professor in the School of Law and member of the commission, said Tedrick’s case proves that ethical problems are widespread throughout the state.

‘(The commission) haven’t talked about SIU specifically, but we have talked about how pervasive the whole pay-to-play problem really is,’ she said. ‘It’s easy to see Blagojevich and the really horrible violations of public trust, but you take it one step further and realize it’s not just Blagojevich.

‘This is happening all throughout the state.’