"Aloisi legal billings audited; Train station project delayed" by Noah Bierman, Globe Staff | May 1, 2009
Before James A. Aloisi Jr. became transportation secretary in January, his legal practice was involved with transportation agencies across the state. Now, some of his private sector legal bills are part of a federal audit that is holding up one of Western Massachusetts' most significant transportation projects, raising conflict-of-interest questions as the state works to move the project forward.
The chairman of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, Mayor Michael J. Sullivan of Holyoke, said the authority will not be able to tap into about $40 million in federal grants to renovate Union Station in Springfield until questions raised in the audit, including Aloisi's legal bills, are resolved. The size of those bills has not been revealed publicly, and Aloisi will not provide details, citing client confidentiality requirements.
Sullivan said he was told that the Federal Transit Authority's four-year-old audit - which questioned whether the legal bills and other unrelated fees were eligible federal expenses - is close to a resolution. Aloisi's involvement with this long-stalled project highlights his many ties to the transportation system he now monitors.
In his current role, Aloisi works closely with the Federal Transit Administration on funding issues, as well as with the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, which is overseeing the project and was the subject of the audit....
Unbelievable! We have BANKS and WAR LOOTERS RIPPING OFF TRILLIONS and yet the FEDS are going after the LOCAL BUS COMPANY!!!!
Aloisi's firms did not contract directly with the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, but instead were hired by the engineering firm formerly known as DMJM Harris, whose bills were paid with a government grant. Though not included in the version of the federal audit obtained by the Globe, another audit paid for by the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority said federal officials were at one time concerned that Goulston & Storrs was awarded the work without competition and that "there was no justification provided for a time and a material contract, nor was a ceiling cost established."
All I can think of is Halliburton and KBR. No bid contracts, you say?
Union Station has a long and tortured history for the people of Springfield and the Pioneer Valley region. For decades, local leaders have dreamed of revitalizing the former train depot as a modern transportation and economic development hub. At one time, the redevelopment was budgeted at more than $110 million and included a major retail center, a luxury hotel, and a movie theater.
But in 2005, federal officials initiated an audit of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, focusing on the agency's oversight of the project. The authority's offices were raided by the FBI in 2006, but no charges have been filed.
WTF?!
Yeah, us rubes can't have a profligate development via taxpayer kickback. That's only for war looters, usurious banks, and feather-nesting politicians.
The audit questioned a total of $5.2 million in expenses incurred as part of the project, 80 percent of which were federal dollars, according to transit authority and federal documents. Since the audit and the federal raid, the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority has replaced top officials.
"We've totally reorganized the place. We've brought in people that have actual experience, eliminated the legal department, did major, major surgery here to bring it back into shape," said Mary MacInnes, current administrator for the authority.
Don't you wish the FEDS were SO VIGILANT when it comes to, well, you know, readers.
Sullivan, who joined the Pioneer Valley board in 2005, said Union Station was "snake bit" from the beginning, with cost overruns and ambitious designs that proved impossible. Aloisi encouraged those dreams. He wrote in a 2005 Globe guest column that revitalizing the train station "should be treated by federal and state funding agencies as a top priority."
Gee, this guy loves wasting taxpayer dough, huh?
"Springfield may be off the radar screen of most of us in the Boston area, but it deserves to be front and center as we consider ways to keep Massachusetts competitive and attractive as a place in which to live, work, and invest," he continued.
Well, I AGREE with him THERE!!!
Maybe I will have to reevaluate this guy -- and the Globe's bashing of him.
Aloisi's column did not mention that he was providing legal services to the project.
Evaluation over: he's just like all the rest, ka-ching.
In retrospect, many involved in Union Station now say they were dreaming too big.
Hey, we just simply country folk. 'course we dream big!
Two years ago, US Representative Richard E. Neal, who was responsible for federal commitments to spend nearly $40 million on the project, began working with local officials on a more modest plan projected to cost $60 million.
The "more modest" plan costs 420 million more? Only in Massachusetts!!
Related: Big Pit Getting Deeper
The First Brother and Sister of Massachusetts
Blogger Jim
For the record, America, you can keep your tax dough. My state gives enough away to Hollywood and biotech (to name just two), so we really don't need to gouge you for our bus station.
