Simultaneous, Political Appointments and the Ethical Culture of an Authority
The <a href="http://www.drpa.org" target="”_blank”">Delaware River Port Authority</a>
(DRPA) has been getting a lot of heat lately. The bi-state organization
operates four toll bridges and a commuter system between
Philadelphia and southern New Jersey.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20100814_Pa__treasurer_urges_…; target="”_blank”">an
article
in yesterday's Philadelphia <i>Inquirer</i></a>, the Pennsylvania
treasurer, who is an ex-officio member of <a href="http://www.drpa.org/drpa/board_comms.html" target="”_blank”">DRPA's board</a>,
"recommended major changes to the rules of DRPA to end conflicts of interest and to temporarily halt spending
on law firms and other professional services."<br>
<br>
The state treasurer is concerned with the "real or perceived conflicts of interest of
board members; the authority's employment practices, specifically the
exorbitant executive-level pay, car allowances and perks; the awarding
of grants and contracts; and a general sense that the authority is a
political patronage operation unconcerned with the rising toll charges
levied on the public to pay for all this political largesse."<br>
<br>
The political largesse involves a number of economic development
grants, for such things as sports stadiums, museums, and a memorial
near Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The origin of this largesse is
clear from <a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20100811_Despite_its_largesse__DRP…; target="”_blank”">another
<i>Inquirer</i>
article this week</a>.<br>
<br>
The mayor of Pennsuaken, NJ is a member
of the DRPA board (although he's listed on <a href="http://www.drpa.org/drpa/board_comms.html" target="”_blank”">the board's webpage</a>
only as a school administrator, which he also is). Although he opposes spending
DRPA money on anything but transportation, DRPA just gave his township
$700,000 to build a football complex. "I'm not going to say no if it's
going to be for the betterment of my town. I certainly wouldn't turn my
back on that," he told the newspaper. In fact, the money came from a
loan fund, but the board agreed (with the mayor abstaining) to take all
the money left in the fund and give it out in the form of grants. Why? Because under pressure, the
board had agreed not to spend any more on economic development. Of course, it could have left the money in the fund for future
transportation needs, but that football complex needed to be built, and there's an election in Pennsauken this year.<br>
<br>
The DRPA board does not consist solely of politicians, but its members
are all appointed by the two states' governors, and there's undoubtedly a lot of
pressure from Philadelphia and southern New Jersey politicians to
appoint individuals sympathetic to their needs.<br>
<br>
But there's another problem. It stares out at you from the DRPA board's
webpage. Of 13 full members, 8 of them were appointed in 2009, with one
more each in 2010 and 2008. In other words, the board turns over
practically all at once. This gives a lot of power to the authority's
management, because few of its overseers have sufficient experience
with the authority to provide adequate oversight, even if they were not
sympathetic to the needs of local politicians.<br>
<br>
Every oversight board should have staggered appointments, in order to
prevent turnovers such as this. Not only does it help the board do its
job better, but it also prevents the current governors -- the ones who have most to gain from political decisions -- from selecting most of the board.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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