Interesting political move here, because it has the potential to have the following impacts (among others I’m sure):
1. Allows Romney to weaken the Pike, which he has wanted to do for a long time.
2. Puts the “buck” more squarely in the Executive Branch. This could cut both ways. On the one hand, if things aren’t fixed soon, we all know where to point blame. If things go well, Romney can claim to be the savior. Or if things continue to be as muddled (blame-wise), it won’t make a lick of difference in the public will still be mad as hell at everybody.
But on the other hand, if Dems win in November, this baby is in their lap, and they can be held accountable.
But if Romney gets this bill through, the blame for a slow fix will surely be focused on Healey by her opponent(s) this fall.
3. If the Legislature doesn’t pass it, allows Romney and Healey to blame them and lump them in w/ the Pike in terms of being who we should blame for the problem. This would jibe well with Healey’s political strategy.
I think if this bill gets introduced, it passes. This could, and probably should, be the beginning of the end for the separate Turnpike Authority.
That being said, I must say that in terms of road quality, the Pike is simply one of the best roads to drive on in the Northeast. It’s always well paved with what appears to be better pavement than other roads. I actually love driving out west on the Pike – it’s scenic and fast. Yes, the Pike “extension” from Weston to Boston has its periodic challenges, and the traffic is bad. But compared to, say, Route 1 Southbound coming into the Tobin bridge, it’s a great ride. (I think that curvy stretch coming into Chelsea has been improved recently, though, right? But isn’t the Bridge still a bumpy nightmare?)
I remember as a kid driving back to southern NE from skiing in Vermont with my parents and when we’d cross into Mass. from VT, the roads (usually I-91) would always get drastically better. My parents would always say “Yup, you can thank Tip O’Neill for these roads! Too bad Tip’s legacy is going through rough times now – after all, he’s the one who got the Feds committed to the point of no return on the Big Dig.
Here is Romney’s press release on filing this bill.
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Of course, Romney’s proposal to transfer the investigation to an agency directly under his control is exactly wrong. Does anyone have any doubt what the result of an investigation controlled by Mitt Romney is going to say? Please.
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Deval Patrick is right on this one: the Big Dig needs an independent inspector who does not serve at the pleasure of either the Governor or the head of the Turnpike Authority. Probably much of what is in Romney’s bill (like requiring the Turnpike to open all of its books and records) is a good idea. But it needs to be controlled by someone outside the usual chain of command, if we don’t want the result to be business as usual.
How about this independent inspector?
if they have the authority they need. Maybe Congress could give it to them quickly.
Their authority is pretty broad:
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http://www.ntsb.gov/alj/NTSB_statute.htm#1131
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I think you could probably shoehorn the Big Dig accident into one of these categories. And they clearly have significant expertise in investigating all kinds of transportation accidents.
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Certainly beats a Romney/Cogliano-led investigation.
I know it’s not, but we BMGers love to play in hypotheticals, so here goes:
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If Amorello is still in office come Jan. and a Dem Gov. is there and he re-files the bill to bring the big dig under his authority, what will we all be saying then? Hooray?
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I suppose if this all happens and Deval wins, he’d seek an independent reviewer anyway.
…Wonder what the Inspector General is doing with his time?
Maybe this would be an opportune moment to seek the abolition of the Turnpike authority. Why does it exist again, anyway?
With all the public hoopla, I don’t think anyone has succinctly stated a) what specifically Amorello has done during the course of his tenure that warrants removal; and b) why specifically would it be good policy to put the turnpike authority under the control of the governor?
A. Can’t really say.
B. Gives the public one point of focus and pressure. If the gov doesn’t get it right, you elect someone else. Mmm, sweet democracy.
There are all sorts of good reasons to have independent authorities, look at what supposed political accountability did for FEMA. The point is that you have the best people to do the job. Often, by the time an executive appointee has his “accountability moment,” it is too late.
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Just because Romney has decided to shirk any responsibility he has in this debacle by blaming Amorello, doesn’t mean we have to buy into it.
Since when does Romney, the Chief Executive of the State, need more authority to investigate than he’s ever had? He may need authority to act, but whatever he DOES won’t be without more investigation.
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For that matter, where’s Reilly been to have discovered a 1999 document and now, after the fact, discovered that document revealed a flaw in the tunnel that nobody – not his office most surely – bothered to cure?
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And when will the press ask Reilly if he has adequate authority to indict a governor who is never in town to do the job of protecting the public from his own crony construction companies? Or, perhaps, it was one of his Republican predecessors?
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For that matter, how is it so totally forgotten that Amorello was appointed by one of those predecessors? Doesn’t Party mean Party?
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In the pointing of fingers the only ones that seem sensible are Capuano’s and Deval’s. So, why is there no media on the need for an independent audit? For that matter, where’s our Auditor? or does he only do numbers?