In increasingly agitated letters to DRPA brass this month, Dougherty demanded transparency, austerity and efficiency from the bistate patronage den that owns and operates four bridges and the PATCO high-speed line. He sounds more like New Jersey's Republican Gov. Christie than a Democratic power broker who operates most effectively behind closed doors.
In short order, Dougherty filled a full-size bandwagon.
Longtime DRPA enablers mustered outrage over the grotesque pay, perks and pension padding they engineered. On Monday, legislators on both sides of the river called for a federal investigation. On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner admitted concern "over the revelations of management and fiscal improprieties" and embarrassment that "old problems continue to fester."
In football, piling on results in a 15-yard penalty. In politics, it's an art form to behold.
Out with the old
DRPA officials will soon unveil a slew of good-government fixes to put out what Vice Chairman Jeff Nash calls "the firestorm."
Gone will be $9,000-to-$16,000 car allowances that 11 execs collect on top of six-figure salaries. Gone, too, free bridge passage for all 536 DRPA employees and 321 retirees. (The perk dates to 1969, long before E-Z Pass made it so easy to abuse.)
From now on, every contract, regardless of how piddling, will be discussed and voted on by the full 16-member board - political animals from both parties and states who may have felt slighted by being cut out of the splitting of spoils.
Still being debated: Barring commissioners and directors from meddling in hiring.
Dougherty tried, and failed, to install a close friend as the DRPA's top cop. The $180,000 job went to Michael Joyce, a connected Jersey lawyer forced to resign Tuesday after getting caught letting his daughter use E-Z Pass for free.
