Not exactly a shocker: Turnpike Authority head Alan LeBovidge has resigned, says the Globe. No news yet on a likely replacement.
Who is your nominee? (UPDATE: JohnD has this amusing observation on a successor: “The nationwide search should begin shortly to find a former MA Legislator to run the Pike.”)
And in other news, Tim Cahill wishes everyone would stop talking about pensions.
Please share widely!
Say what you will about LeBovidge, he was what we needed to clean up the Pike Authority. He didn’t care about ruffling the feathers of the public employee unions or the patronage hacks… or, apparently, the driving public. The central failing of Massachusetts state government is the inability of any person in a position of power to say “tough shit” to anyone. LeBovidge actually would do that. He will be missed.
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p>Re a replacement… I’m sure they will find some state government lifer who will fellate the toll collectors. I have a modest proposal: the salary of the Pike chair is $160k; any replacement should be coming from a position where he/she earned more than that — i.e., it would be a financial sacrifice to take the position.
LeBoveridge WAS that wealthy guy – he donated his $160,000 to charity.
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p>He knew money (many years head of DOR), but was not a politician. Never claimed to be. Saw $5k monthly light bill as a frill, equivalent to staffer’s annual salary.
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p>Get rid of HIM!
Just a guess, but I’ll wager that the cost savings to the taxpayer in the Governor’s proposed pension reforms total less than the savings from turning off the bridge.
I am happy to be the only LeBovidge defender on the internets. In the real world, when the ledger is out of balance, you have to make hard choices that will inevitably upset someone. Everyone complains about the waste and “hacks” at the Turnpike Authority… and how inefficient toll collecting is vs. electronic collection. LeBovidge was willing to do something about it because he wasn’t looking to win a popularity contest. And he was repaid by being undercut. He didn’t cowtow to the Grandpa Simpsons of the world who refuse to get an EZ Pass. He wasn’t looking to win the allegience (and votes) of the toll collectors whose jobs will be obsolete within five years. He didn’t care about pissing off some state senator’s cousin in middle management. And he wasn’t willing to offer the public champagne service on a beer budget.
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p>This situation is playing out with the budget right now as this state once again proves itself an example of public choice theory. Small organized interest groups will defeat reforms or budget provisions that most reasonable people agree should be enacted.
How many people running corporations would tell customers to “grin and bare it” and expect to remain in business? I admire him for something but he fucked up and should have responded appropriately. THis may be the one negative aspect of hiring a guy that doesn’t “need” the job. He can tell the customer to go shop elsewhere and not really care. But in this case, we own the company.
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p>Glad he’s gone, we can do better then him.
http://www.masspike.com/user-c…
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p>”As I reported last October 2008 to our Board, we’ve saved over $30 million dollars in operating costs including:
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p>* Reducing overtime expenses;
* Reducing spending on outside consultants;
* Reducing the cost of purchasing of electricity;
* Reducing overall headcount, for example, comparing our headcount of February 2009 to February 2008, we are down 120 positions (1432/1312)
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p>120/1432 = 8.4% reduction. That’s nothing to sneeze at. And as I posted above, he wanted to lay off another 50 toll collectors but was overruled by the Gov.
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p>And the cost savings were hindered by countervailing financial pressures: 1) higher pension and healthcare costs and 2) the ridiculous debt that the Authority was forced to take on to cover the Big Dig.
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p>Finally, he wasn’t telling the customer to “shop elsewhere.” But, to continue this analogy, he was saying that he couldn’t continue to sell you a product below-cost.
but I simply do not want someone with this shitty attitude running the Pike…
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p>From the Herlad…
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p>This shows exactly how “rigged” the event was. All his defenders were initially trying to blame to toll takers but clearly he was making a point with Pike drivers. If he were running MA Health and Human Services and people getting their welfare checks had to wait in lines for hours… how would they react to a “wait till next welfare check day… just grin and bear it”.
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p>I have strong doubts that he reduced the workforce by any appreciable amount. Attrition alone takes care of 5% of reductions plus retirements…
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Supporter of Turnike Authoririty Toll Collector Hacks
I loathe the $53K overpaid underworking toll collectors and look forward to the day when they will all be unemployed. No support from me.
I knew him in his previous capacity as Commissioner of Revenue. He brought decades of private practice tax experience to the job and he had an excellent grasp of the subject matter. And he made great strides towards increasing the efficiency of tax administration using technology. He never should have been replaced. He really wanted to stay, but Gov. Patrick replaced him with Henry Dormitzer, who had come from UBS (cue Bob with his Nazi references) and who stayed for just a few quick months before going back to the private sector. (Did the Gov. inquire as to whether his appointee to this public position actually had any interest in public service?) But in the meantime Deputy Commissioner Leblanc, a longtime DOR employee who knew the agency inside and out, had seen the “changing of the guard” writing on the wall and left. So newly appointed Deputy Commissioner Bal, who had no private practice tax experience and only a few months of experience within the agency, was all of a sudden the Commissioner of Revenue.
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p>So Gov. Patrick managed to replace Lebovidge and Leblanc, a team with a thorough understanding of MA tax law from both a private and public stand, with Bal, who had no tax experience and very little institutional knowledge of the agency she is currently heading. (Not to attack Commissioner Bal, she seems nice enough but I don’t really have a professional opinion on her as of yet). And then Gov. Patrick decides that he does, in fact, think that Lebovidge deserves a public appointment so he names him head of the MTA despite his lack of a background in transportation, and tasks him with cleaning up the Agency. Then when Lebovidge takes a businesslike approach to cleaning up the agency, he takes heat for not being political enough and for pissing too many people off and he has to fall on the sword to assuage the public. Substandard leadership all around from Gov. Patrick in this case.
I think Adrian Walker pretty much gets it right:
Wanted: a “chief executive” with no authority to make decisions. Will report to a 32-year-old former campaign worker who will evaluate all proposals by their impact on the 2010 re-election effort. Any efforts to reduce costs will be overturned by some arbitrator beholden to the agency unions. Position will entail no job security, shifting and contradictory mandates, high visibility, and frequent death threats in the boston.com comments. May involve disgracing your family name. Being on a first-name basis with the state Senate transportation committee a plus. Must take pay cut. Salary not creditable to any Massachusetts state pension, if applicable.
This position may be eliminated in three months in a reorganization.
People always say government should be run like a business. That’s what LeBovidge was: a professional private-sector bean-counter.
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p>Don’t have money to operate decorative lights? You turn them off. That’s what he did with the Zakim Bridge. Don’t have money to pay employees OT? Guess what, you open for business short-staffed. That’s what they did on Easter and he got crucified for it (Pun not really intended).
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p>The point is, government isn’t supposed to be run like a business. It can certainly be run in a professional, effiecient manner, and God knows this is something lacking in this state. But the demands and expectations of government is MUCH different than they are for businesses.
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p>After all, how many businesses see demand for their services INCREASE during economic downturns?
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for a product who’s demand increases as income decreases is inferior good. Does that mean government service is an inferior good? Well, if government is serving as a safety net, yes.
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On April 16, I made two nominations for clueless Deval appointees who should seek other employment for the good of the Commonwealth.
We all ran out and got transponders. SSo why was traffic backed up eastbound at the Framingham exit at 8:15 AM last Friday? We were all in the transponder lane. Good riddance!