I Was Wrong To Question The DRPA

I Was Wrong To Question The DRPA

Later this year, it is possible --- even probable --- that the following individuals will all be in jail: former powerhouse Senator Vince Fumo, former House Speakers John Perzel and Bill DeWeese, Senators Jane Orie and Bob Mellow (both of Leadership), and former Representatives Mike Veon and Brett Feese (also from Leadership). 

On the one hand, seeing corrupt politicians brought to justice is a good thing, as is all the money they are giving back to taxpayers via forfeited pensions.

But there is a downside. While such offenders should obviously be prosecuted, people’s cynicism toward their government seems to be at an all-time high. Why? Because the rampant corruption still occurring --- the kind that directly affects people --- just isn’t being tackled seriously. 

Despite elements of corruption --- both institutional and criminal --- so apparent that even a law student could successfully prosecute the violators, nothing seems to get done. 

Worst of all are the pols who campaign as straight-shooting, law-and-order reformers, hell-bent on rooting out corruption, yet do nothing of the kind when elected.  Sadly, they often end up as corrupt as those they challenged.  The status quo remains intact, and, save for a bit of window dressing “reforms” here and there, it’s Business As Usual.

Nowhere is that more apparent that the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), one of the most powerful --- and corrupt --- organizations in the entire nation.

But wait! Could there be hope after all of reforming the Authority?  Sources say that a report from the New Jersey Comptroller’s Office will be released soon (possibly this week), and that a gag order has been placed on its contents by the DRPA’s Chairman, Pennsylvania Governor Tim Corbett.  Sounds so cloak-and-dagger that it’s just possible to think maybe, just maybe, this might finally be the time when the bums are kicked out, replaced by honest folks with only one objective: responsible stewardship of the toll payers’ money.

After all, on the other side of the river we have firebrand Governor Chris Christie, who, like Corbett, is a former prosecutor.

So will this be the day we’ve been waiting for?

Fat chance. Very fat.

*****

Freindly Fire (FF) has been the longest-serving media voice taking on the DRPA and the heavyweights involved with the Authority (Ed Rendell, Jon Corzine, the Ballard Spahr law firm, CEO John Matheussen, and past and present Boards, to name just a few). For much of the past four years, FF has been alone in its quest to upend the corrupt regime, eliminate mammoth conflicts of interest, fire double-dipping executives, and bring accountability to the agency.  Joined by FOX 29 in 2010--- and pretty much only FOX 29 --- a number of the above objectives were met.  DRPA execs were scrambling (some were canned), a few reforms were instituted (though mostly toothless), criminal investigations were launched, and both new governors promised swift and decisive action.

But then it all fell off a cliff.

While we have moved in the right direction, it is not nearly good enough.  Quite frankly, this report will probably accomplish nothing.  Sure, there will be press conferences with harsh warnings from Corbett and Christie for the DRPA to shape up, Board members will say all the right things, and taxpayer and reform groups will fall for the same empty promises. And you know what will happen?

Absolutely nothing.

Therefore, it seems appropriate to take a new position regarding all things DRPA --- I am apologizing.  In retrospect, I have been wrong across the board these past few years, and it is only fitting to publicly eat crow for those errors. I am man-enough to admit my mistakes.  Here are some of the most substantial:

1) I was wrong to think Tom Corbett would make good on his promise to clean house upon becoming Governor (and making himself DRPA Chair).  Instead, he chose to appoint hacks, lawyers (redundant?), former union officials, large-dollar political contributors and lobbyists to the Board, without so much as one reformer.

2) I was wrong to think Christie would use his office as a bully pulpit to demand the Jersey Board members (whom he can’t replace until their terms expire) to fire CEO Matheussen, under whose “leadership” the DRPA has become synonymous with “corrupt.”  This is a CEO, by the way, who has been working without a contract for years, makes more than either governor, and stands to pocket a six-figure sum of toll payer money in accumulated sick/vacation days when he finally leaves. Yet he remains because there has been no political will to remove him.

3) I was wrong to think the other media outlets (except FOX 29) would jump on board, exposing the DRPA for what it really is.  And I was wrong to assume they were capable of doing so in the first place, despite time and again giving them an exact roadmap for investigative articles.

4) I was wrong to think the Philadelphia Inquirer --- both under former publisher Brian Tierney’s failed leadership and the current sell-out ownership --- would cover the DRPA as a media watchdog should.  Could such inaction have been caused by Tierney begging Rendell for a taxpayer-bailout of the paper? And let’s not forget that, while R.endell was in power, the acting Board Chairman was John Estey of Ballard Spahr --- Rendell’s former Chief of Staff, a major Rendell fundraiser, and a fellow member of Rendell’s law firm.  So obviously, I was wrong to even consider the possibility that the paper could objectively cover the matter.

5) I was wrong to expect that over $35 million in “economic development” money ---codespeak for political slush funds used for everything under the sun ---except the bridges --- would be spent on 1) the long-overdue re-decking of the Walt Whitman Bridge; 2) helping offset yet another toll increase; or 3) paying down some of the DRPA’s enormous debt. 

And I would be wrong to end my list here, since there is so much more.  So check back next week for even more wrongs.  And who know?  Maybe all these wrongs might somehow make it right…

An accredited member of the media, Chris Freind is an independent columnist, television/radio commentator, and investigative reporter who operates his own news bureau, www.FreindlyFireZone.com  His self-syndicated model has earned him the largest cumulative media voice in Pennsylvania. He can be reached at CF@FreindlyFireZone.com

Tom Corbett's DRPA: Same Old Story?

Corbett’s DRPA: Same Old Story?

A changing of the guard occurred this week at the scandal-plagued Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), as Governor Corbett appointed himself the new Chairman, and replaced five Board Commissioners.

The law-and-order Corbett has pledged to clean up the Authority through openness and transparency, vowing to oversee an entity free of the conflicts that plagued the prior Board.  But his appointments --- all political insiders --- have left many wondering if anything has really changed.

As Chairman, the Governor sets the DRPA agenda, and he deserves the benefit of the doubt that he will live up to his promises.  That said, a look at the new Commissioners reveals that none are known as reformers or good-government advocates, and, in fact, raises new questions, such as whether the companies of Board members will be eligible to receive DRPA contracts.

Cumulatively, the backgrounds of the six new Board Commissioners feature four lawyers (including one who works for the same firm as Montgomery County GOP Chairman Bob Kerns and State Senate Transportation Chairman John Rafferty), a real estate executive, a former union vice president, an official from the scandal-plagued Street Administration, large dollar campaign donors to Corbett, a prominent GOP fundraiser, and former officials of a number of Philadelphia’s not-so-respected entities: the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority and the Seaport Museum (which played a major role in the corruption trial of convicted ex-senator Vince Fumo). 
 
The new appointees to the board:

-William Sasso, board chairman at Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young law firm in Philadelphia. Sasso is a prominent Republican fund-raiser and was a co-chair of Corbett's transition team. The Stradley firm contributed $173,000 to Corbett.  As an individual, Sasso donated $23,000 to Corbett’s attorney general and gubernatorial campaigns.

-Joanna Cruz, an attorney with Kerns, Pearlstine, Onorato & Hladik, the firm of Montgomery County GOP boss Bob Kerns and State Senate Transportation Committee Chairman John Rafferty. Kerns contributed $7,500 to Corbett.

-Joann Bell, an executive at Pugliese Associates, a lobbying and government relations firm. A former special-projects manager for the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and former vice president of AFSCME District Council No. 47, she was also an economic-development coordinator in former Mayor John F. Street’s Administration. The Pugliese political action committee contributed $1,500 to Corbett.

-Walter D'Alessio, vice chairman of a real estate investment banking firm, and senior managing director of a real estate consulting group. A former chairman of the board of the Independence Seaport Museum, and former executive director of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, he also served on Corbett's transition team and donated $2,500 to the Governor.

-David Simon, senior vice president and general counsel for Jefferson Health System in Philadelphia. Former general counsel to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, he contributed $29,500 to Corbett's campaigns and served on the Governor’s transition team.

On a similar note, Corbett appointed attorney Charles Kopp to serve as Chairman of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.  Lawyers at Kopp’s firm, Cozen O’Connor, donated nearly $150,000 to the Governor’s campaigns.

Corbett’s consistency is being called into question.  Despite advocating fiscal discipline and adhering to the free market system, he supports the subsidized Philadelphia Shipyard bailout. Similarly, criticizing Rendell for his DRPA conflicts seems a bit hollow when the new Corbett Board has more than its share of cozy relationships with the political powerbrokers.

This is not to call into question the integrity of any new Board member, nor the Governor himself. All may turn out to be true reformers, smashing the DRPA’s Business As Usual reputation as a haven of political patronage and a piggy bank for the insiders.

But until bold action and aggressive leadership takes place, that’s an impossible sell to an extremely cynical public. Based on Corbett’s promises to right the ship, there was not just the hope but the expectation that he would appoint good-government reformers to the Port Authority. 

That didn’t happen. At all.

So what needs to be done to earn back the public’s trust? Here are four quick ways:

1)      Stop the 25 percent toll increase slated for July, and put commuters ahead of Wall Street bondholders and the DRPA itself. At Corbett’s first Board meeting this week, he said commuters should be able to use the bridges as “cheaply” as possible.  Well, stopping the back-breaking toll hike is the only way to accomplish that.  But if he waits any longer, that goal becomes almost unattainable, as there simply won’t be enough time to realize cost-savings which would offset the revenue generated by the toll increase. The clock is ticking.

2)      Fire CEO John Matheussen as well as most top executives. It’s bad enough Matheussen makes $50,000 more than either governor (and, up until investigative media reports aired, was enjoying a $17,000/year car allowance), but his reign has been one of catastrophic failure.  The DRPA debt substantially increased, economic development projects having nothing to do with the bridges continued unabated, conflicts ran rampant, and he kept the Board itself in the dark on numerous issues. He would have been fired years ago had he been in the private sector.

And while it’s technically true that he can’t be “fired” by either Corbett or Gov. Christie (a majority of Board members is necessary to do that, and the Jersey Boys have been reluctant to can their patronage king), there is no way on God’s green earth that Matheussen or the Jersey Board can withstand the pressure of two powerful governors, who each have an ace-in-the-hole.  It’s called the Bully Pulpit.  Time to use it.

3)      Slash costs across the board.  It is simply not necessary to have 900 employees with lavish salaries and benefits operating four bridges and a short rail line.

4)      Authorize a top to bottom forensic audit from a non-political firm. If no stone is left unturned, millions upon millions in savings will be realized.

Despite the Board meeting being a prime occasion to initiate such ideas, something else happened: absolutely nothing.

Corbett promised “a deep review before making any major changes” and stated his intention to get out of the economic development business. 

That’s not exactly going out on a limb, since economic development had already been stopped. And there’s no economic development money left anyway!

For Corbett to say it was too early to replace Matheussen or to make any other big changes because he needed more time to figure things out boggles the mind.  The Governor should have been up to speed already since he was Attorney General when criminal misconduct was being reported (which is why the New Jersey AG is conducting a criminal investigation).  As a gubernatorial candidate for over two years, he was well aware that the Pennsylvania governor picks the DRPA Chairman, and could not possibly have overlooked the comprehensive media coverage of the DRPA debacles.

Oh, wait.  The Governor doesn't acknowledge the validity of those reports. "I don't judge anything, no offense, by what you people put in newspapers and on TV," he said after the meeting.

Does that mean Mike Joyce of the EZ Pass scandal was framed? Were all the investigative reports devoid of documented facts?  Did the DRPA agree to reforms for any other reason than the hard-hitting media coverage?

All of which gets back to the fact that the toll-paying public will have to wait at least another month to see action.  And their patience is growing thin.

A golden opportunity to win political capital is in danger of being lost by Corbett--- mandatory if he is to successfully tackle the tough issues ahead (budget, pension reform, school choice, privatization of liquor).  The Governor doesn’t seem to understand how important reforming the DRPA has become to the Southeast, home to half the state’s population. His board appointees and the lack of bold leadership have sent the message that, as of now, nothing has changed.

And here’s the biggest irony.  In four months, when commuters and shore-bound drivers realize the toll is $5 (up from $4 now, and $3 two years ago), compounded by $5/gallon gas, whom will they blame? Here’s a hint: it won’t be Rendell, but the man in charge.

Despite changes to the DRPA over the last year, conflicts and corruption still exist.  Time will tell whether the Port Authority can earn back the public’s trust, but if a serious effort isn’t made by Governors Corbett and Christie to clean house, fire CEO Matheussen, and stop the impending 25 percent toll increase, that may just be… a bridge too far.

Chris Freind is an independent columnist, television commentator, and investigative

reporter who operates his own news bureau, www.FreindlyFireZone.com

Readers of his column, “Freindly Fire,” hail from six continents, thirty countries

and all fifty states. His work has been referenced in numerous publications including

The Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, foreign newspapers, and in Dick

Morris' recent bestseller "Catastrophe."

Freind, whose column appears regularly in Philadelphia Magazine and nationally in

Newsmax, also serves as a frequent guest commentator on talk radio and state/national

television, most notably on FOX Philadelphia.  He can be reached at CF@FreindlyFireZone.com