"Turnpike Authority may face demise; Plan would have transportation agencies merge" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | October 2, 2008
Governor Deval Patrick today will propose dismantling the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and merging its operations into other state agencies, the first step in a long-promised overhaul of a fractured, debt-burdened transportation network, officials briefed on the plan said.
Patrick is expected to have an easier time pulling off the feat than his predecessor Mitt Romney, a Republican who encountered resistance in the Legislature dominated by the opposite party and in a turnpike board he did not control.
Patrick, who cleared his public schedule and spent much of yesterday in his corner office with the state's top officials, also will announce that his administration will identify "hundreds of millions of dollars" in budget cuts before Oct. 15, according to two officials briefed on the plans. And Patrick has requested that the state's other constitutional officers -- including Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, Secretary of State William F. Galvin, and Auditor Joe DeNucci --cut their budgets by as much as 7 percent.
The proposal to abolish the Turnpike Authority is now only a broad concept. The governor will announce today that he is asking the secretary of transportation, Bernard Cohen, to draft legislation with details as soon as January when the Legislature reconvenes, said two officials briefed on the plan.
Oh, so nothing immediate, huh? And no guarantee of passage, either!
There are numerous questions left unanswered, including how much money would be saved by shutting down the agency. There are no indications in the plans that turnpike tolls will be eliminated.
Of course not; they are going to increase them!
While financial benefits might be realized in the future if the Legislature passes the overhaul next year, it does not appear it would ease what officials have said is an urgent need for large toll increases on the turnpike and Big Dig tunnels now.
What, even as the state is sitting on $2 billion dollars?
Tolls are the source for paying off bonds that were used to help build the Big Dig.
Please see: The Big Pit
The Ultimate Cost of the Big Pit
State officials throughout the country are reacting similarly to the recent downturn in the economy, which has forced most to readjust their books to account for losses in tax revenue. In New Jersey, Governor Jon Corzine is reviewing 5 percent cuts across state government, about $500 million. Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell this week announced $35 million in budget cuts as a first step in closing a $300 million deficit. In Virginia, Governor Tim Kaine is looking at cuts ranging from 2 percent to 20 percent. --more--"
"It's all about money," said Alan LeBovidge, the authority's executive director. "We don't have any." --more--"
No money, huh?
Of course, "flushing . . . millions of dollars away supporting a highly profitable industry" when it comes to $300 million in taxpayer dollars for Hollywood is o.k., even as the price of a school lunch rises; paying $13 million for a computer software system that could have cost less than $3 million is all right because the winner was a close friend of the House speaker, even as my poorer-than-dirt district "has been struggling to close a $2 million budget gap."; the lottery shellling out "millions of dollars" for sports tickets for "lottery officials, their family members, and friends" is fine, even as schools are closing; making interest payments to banks to the tune of "a staggering $22 billion" for the Big Pit, as we call it around here, is required, even as bridges are neglected across the state; and again, paying off banks like UBS, who can "demand repayment of an additional $2 million a month beginning in January" while also receiving a "$179 million payment," while the state pension fund loses $1 billion dollars -- which still didn't stop the executive director from carving himself a nice "$64,000 bonus on top of his $322,000 annual salary."
Oh, and did I not mention the $1 BILLION dollar giveaway to the pharmaceutical corporations, even though "it's never been easy to turn a profit in biotech?" Flush that money away, too, taxpayer. Of course, the war looters were next in line for a handout. And should the state be appropriating money for a "multimillion-dollar reconstruction" of golf courses?
And this NEXT ITEM does NOT HELP....
A construction inspector and an engineer who each worked for the MBTA for more than 20 years faced felony charges yesterday, accused of collecting pay for what the attorney general's office described as no-show jobs. A third man, also an inspector, is expected to appear today in Suffolk Superior Court.
Christopher Peatridge, 64, worked for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for more than 23 years until he retired on Oct. 1, 2005, is accused of collecting tens of thousands of dollars from the MBTA on days when he was actually working for his own business, which often took him out of state.
YOUR TAX MONEY, Mass. residents!!! Of course, we CAN'T ELIMINATE the income tax because SERVICES will SUFFER!!!!
Surveillance also showed that engineer Michael O'Toole, 49, was being paid a full wage for much less than a day's work, the attorney general said. O'Toole retired on Nov. 1, 2005, after more than 23 years at the MBTA. The Milton resident is accused of rarely working more than a few hours at his job site on various dates from April 2004 to June 2005. Surveillance found that on some days he never showed up, according to the attorney general.
Pending the outcome of the case, O'Toole has been placed on unpaid leave from his job as a court officer in the Suffolk Probate and Family Court.
So he is STILL on the STATE PAYROLL even after "retiring" from the T, huh?
Also see: Mass. Teachers On the Take
Inspector Francis Flaherty, 52, is scheduled to be arraigned today on similar charges. The South Boston resident has worked for the MBTA for almost 25 years but has been suspended without pay since his indictment last month. He is accused of working much less than he indicated on time sheets submitted between June and September 2006. --more--"
It is called LOOTING out here in these parts of the state!!!!!
