State Auditor candidate Chris Dempsey launched a four-point plan for oversight of the MBTA, which would come with conducting an audit based mostly on the feds’ closing security investigation report.
Dempsey, a former assistant secretary of transportation, introduced his plan Tuesday, together with an endorsement he acquired from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
“I have experience holding the T accountable and pushing it to be better,” Dempsey mentioned, citing his previous stint as director of Transportation for Massachusetts.
Dempsey mentioned the plan consists of launching a day-one audit of the T to make sure the company implements the suggestions of the Federal Transit Administration and conducting an audit of the T’s state oversight company, the Department of Public Utilities.
He mentioned he would set up and request $2 million in annual funding for an Auditor’s workplace of MBTA accountability, and decide to being “the first statewide elected official to commute to Beacon Hill by transit in over 30 years.”
Dempsey mentioned the Auditor’s workplace “does not have the expertise to perform a safety audit of the MBTA,” which is what his Democratic main opponent, state Sen. Diana DiZoglio, proposed in June.
DiZoglio mentioned Dempsey “forcefully rejected” her plan to conduct a security audit, saying Tuesday, “I’m glad he has lastly seen the sunshine that the Auditor’s workplace ought to play a vital oversight function over the dysfunctional MBTA.
“But given his position as assistant secretary of transportation, contributing to the failed transportation culture we’re now seeing, I’m not surprised it took this long,” she added.
Republican Anthony Amore mentioned he’s the one candidate in search of the “resources the auditor’s office truly needs,” which might be “to double its total budget to $42 million.”
“The office has a history of not performing its required number of audits, and if elected I will be the independent watchdog who makes sure every agency in state government, including the MBTA, is thoroughly investigated,” he mentioned.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”