Massachusetts Turnpike Director Alan LeBovidge resigned yesterday, citing a change in direction from the top:
“It became clear to me that the basic operating premise had changed.”
LeBovidge was criticized heavily, and rightly so, for the mess that happened on Easter. But that criticism, which continues unabated, has within it some massive hypocrisy. It was my own view that whatever the reason for the lack of adequate personnel that day drivers should have been waved through without requiring payment to move traffic. The governing principle being that if government cannot get its act together then drivers cannot be made to pay that type of price. And that principle requires any entity, including the Pike, to forego revenue in order to insure that customers lives are not disrupted to that degree. But many of LeBovidges critics have been hammering him for months for not laying off toll takers. So first he should lay them off, and second he should have more of them. Very consistent. LeBovidge’s response obviously caused more pain, and he should have been reprimanded for saying that drivers should “grin and bear it”. He had a political tin ear, and it showed.
He was also criticized for shutting off the lights on the Zakim Bridge to save $5,000 a month. And it appeared to me that just about everyone across the board feels that shutting off the lights was stupid. But that is part of the ongoing problem with government in America. To me $60,000 a year is a lot of money. We like the lights, and even though the agency responsible for the lights is going bankrupt by God we are to keep them on. How silly. Get your fiscal house in order before continuing to spend $60,000 a year on a feel good item. And if everyone feels that we should spend $60,000 a year on lighting the bridge get it off the toll payers and onto the General Fund. What part of “the turnpike is insolvent” can’t we understand. I know I am in the minority, but on that one LeBovidge was right.
Senator Steve Baddour lamented the resignation. From the Herald:
Sen. Steven A. Baddour (D-Methuen) called LeBovidge’s resignation “a blow to real change and reform.”
The Senate Transportation Committee chairman said tollpayers lost an advocate who, despite the Easter debacle, “refused to sway to the political winds in order to re-establish public confidence in the Turnpike Authority.”
So LeBovidge is gone. Does anyone think things are now going to get better at the Mass Pike????
Bill Manzi.com 
Your Honor,
I was always under the impression that ‘massive hypocrisy’ was a the norm in this state. (excluding the Mayor of Methuen)
To address the call for eliminating toll takers, it was to ‘eliminate’ the job and take down the booths. The whole toll taker thing is a hacker heaven. $55 per hour? Justify that wage for me your honor. Engineers don’t always get that amount.
The Zakim bridge lighting was saved by a concerned citizen who kicked in for expense for the remainder of the year. (I think it was the architect)
I absolutely love Steve Baddours mindless quips.
The Alan LeBovidge ‘affair’ is typical of Massachusetts political management acumen.
When is the Governor going to show us his ‘together we can’ stuff? Your Honor, this guy hasn’t shown up for work yet. Do you think he’s ‘out in front’ as you point out in your entries? He’s the only entity who job description is to manage things. Until he turns himself around or we vote in a new Governor, nothing will change.
Jules.
LikeLike
Mr. Mayor, in one post, you happened to hit two of my major pet peeves:
1) Tolls are about the least efficient way of generating revenue that the Commonwealth has, as well as having to endure the continuing hassle of sitting in traffic, delaying your day, all to pay a buck use tax. I am all for anyone who proposes to get rid of them entirely, and make up the lost revenue by increasing other taxes. At least we won’t be paying someone to sit there and collect that dollar, along with their pension and health care. Minor irritation that could grow into major irritation: the governor’s gas tax increase contained a .01 fee for the investigation of new, unique toll methods. Get rid of one bureaucracy, start another. This is one area that Republicans have at least half right.
2) We worry about our energy consumption, and yet if you fly over this country, every city still has lights a-blazing. I grew up in a fairly rural area, and night was, well, dark. You could look up and see … stars. Lots of them. I’m sure there are people who grow up and never understand just how many there are out there …
I can’t to this day understand why we need to light the night to the degree we do.
-FM
LikeLike
Fred,
I think you got the night light thing half right…er correct.
Years ago, my family went to Arcadia National Park to camp.
It was cool and crisp that evening, but I was in awe at the massive number of stars I saw fill the sky, horizon to horizon. It is a vision I will never forget as long as I live.
Actually, Fred, you got it all correct.
Jules
LikeLike