Thanks, however no thanks, Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro stated of a state lawmaker’s proposal to maneuver security oversight of the MBTA into his workplace.
Testifying Monday at a Joint Committee on Transportation listening to, Shapiro stated that he as an alternative favors transferring this watchdog position from the Department of Public Utilities to a brand new impartial company “focused solely on safety of the MBTA.”
He envisions two branches inside this potential entity, one for the area’s subway system, which aligns with the Federal Transit Administration’s oversight authority; and a smaller one targeted on every part else: buses, regional transit authorities and ferries.
“I do believe that a new safety agency, as defined by the FTA, is needed,” Shapiro stated, referring to the feds’ critique in final 12 months’s security administration inspection that state security oversight be impartial from the governor’s workplace.
“That agency should not be the OIG,” he added. “Rather, the OIG would have oversight of the new safety agency.”
This answer would liberate the DPU to give attention to its “many other statutory responsibilities,” significantly these concerning local weather and power. It would additionally permit the Office of the Inspector General to develop its impartial statewide oversight position to this new security company, which is to forestall and detect fraud, waste and abuse, and monitor private and non-private transportation spending, he stated.
Notably, the inspector basic’s proposal dismissed the notion that security oversight needs to be moved to his workplace, as advised in laws filed by state Rep. William Straus that was thought of at a Monday listening to that Straus co-chaired.
Shapiro, as an alternative, provided an answer that extra intently aligned with the one proposed in a invoice filed by state Sen. Michael Barrett, who can also be looking for the institution of a brand new impartial fee that may tackle this watchdog position.
However, they differ considerably of their method.
While Barrett envisions a brand new fee that may tackle all transportation duties from the DPU, Shapiro stated a brand new company ought to solely give attention to security. The extra administrative duties like setting tariffs and service charges and managing buses needs to be dealt with by a separate entity, Shapiro stated.
Barrett, nonetheless, stated protecting sure transit duties inside the DPU would exacerbate the state of affairs the state is dealing with at present, “where transportation safety and climate change are at war with each other.”
Whenever one state of affairs explodes, like the protection failures dealing with the embattled MBTA, the DPU is pressured to disregard local weather, or vice versa when the opposite takes priority at a specific second in time, Barrett stated.
Another level of disagreement revolved across the appointing authority for the brand new fee, as outlined in Barrett’s invoice, which calls for 3 members apiece to be appointed by the Senate president and House speaker.
Straus stated he didn’t assume a construction the place two leaders of the legislative department appoint fee members who go on to carry out government department features would work.
Another transportation committee member, Sen. John Keenan, expressed comparable issues, saying that this format could also be too “political” and threaten the independence that the Legislature could be looking for to ascertain with a brand new oversight authority.
Barrett stated he was open to an appointing authority that was decided by the transportation committee, saying that others had been thought of previous to the invoice being finalized, together with constitutional officers just like the secretary of state and the mayor of Boston.
While there might have been factors of rivalry, the final consensus amongst those that testified was {that a} new fee devoted to security oversight was the higher possibility.
MBTA Advisory Board Executive Director Brian Kane stated the brand new company may very well be modeled over these already in place in New York City and Washington, D.C. Shapiro agreed, however stated this method shouldn’t merely be “copied and dropped into Massachusetts.
The most sobering testimony of the day, nonetheless, got here from the dad and mom of David Jones, the 40-year-old Boston University professor who died after falling by way of a decrepit staircase that had been closed to the general public on the JFK/UMass MBTA station, in September 2021.
Calling his demise “preventable,” had sure security protocols and oversight been extra stringent, Jones’ mom and and stepfather, Debra Bingham and Kent Hamilton, stated they hoped it might at the least result in a “massive structural change.” Both testified in assist of a brand new oversight fee.
Jones’ spouse filed a wrongful demise lawsuit towards the MBTA and MassDOT final November.
“David’s mother and I are asking our state legislators to stop the deaths, stop the injuries, stop the pain and suffering caused by the lack of effective leadership and oversight,” Hamilton stated. “We strongly hope David will not have died in vain and that his loss will help create the conditions to ensure a safe transportation system for Massachusetts.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”
