Congressman asks Peters to suspend review of PA/I-80 tolls while Pennsylvania Turnpike crime links probed

Congressman John E Peterson (Repub PA) has asked US Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters to suspend consideration of granting a permit to The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) to toll I-80 pending investigation of possible links with the public corruption case being pursued by the FBI and the USDOJ against top Turnpike officials and their supporters in the state legislature. The Congressman says in a letter to the department that "individuals currently under indictment or investigation figure prominently in the design and support of legislation of the (state) legislation that enabled the request to toll Interstate 80."

Peterson is referring to the grand jury indictment of the Turnpike's chief supporter in the state legislature and author of Act 44 Senator Vincent Fumo, the chairman of the Turnpike Commission Mitchell Rubin, Ruth Arnao, Fumo's chief of staff and the wife of Rubin, and former senior Turnpike official Michael Palermo. A 272 page federal indictment released Feb 7 this year (2007-02-07) charges Fumo with 139 counts of fraud against the state and other crimes, and Ruth Arnao with 45 charges. Fumo, Arnao and two of Fumo's senate aides are due to go on trial in US Court in February. (REVISION: We hear the trial has been postponed to September) 

Fumo visited Washington DC last summer and did the rounds of Capitol Hill and bragged that he had fixed things there so that moves against tolling I-80 would fail.

The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted Fumo: "That is dead. I went to Washington last week . . . and it will be straightened out." (Inquirer 2007-08-15)

The federal indictment in February does not charge Turnpike chairman Michell Rubin with an offense but it says he defrauded the state of $150k by receiving $30k/year for five years 1999 to 2004 without there being any evidence he did any work to justify the payments. He had a contract for "professional services" with a senate committee controlled by Fumo. The federal indictment states: "Neither the Senate nor (Rubin's) firm possesses any documentary evidence, such as notes and reports, showing that he or his firm ever provided any 'research, analysis (or) recommendations on legislative matters' or anything related to constituent services...(Rubin) did little or no actual senate work at all." (p45 #91)

Congressman Peterson's letter to Calvin Scovel, Inspector General of the USDOT charges that the Turnpike Commission is pressing the USDOT for a decision on tolling I-80 "against the backdrop of serious irregularities."

He then refers to the federal grand jury indictment of Fumo and his associates and no-work contracts with Fumo and the Turnpike. Then he says Fumo and staff "played a key role in developing legislation permitting the Turnpike to maintain its current organization and prevent any accountability review..."

The financial model embodied in Act 44 devised by the Turnpike relied on "contingent approval" of tolling I-80 which Turnpike officials thought they had.

The letter to Scovel asks his office to investigate the Turnpike's application to the (Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Tolling) Pilot Program for:

- any irregularities that may have occurred by Turnpike officials in developing the funding model dependent on tolling I-80

- the development of the application and the Turnpike's attempts to qualify

- to determine if the application to the US Government to toll I-80 is connected to misconduct by Turnpike officials and supporters in protecting their employment and obstructing the investigations

It notes that the US justice department and FBI have significant evidence supporting their case and that Turnpike officials "under indictment or investigation" figured prominently in moves to enable tolling of I-80.

He calls on the OIG to contact USDOJ and the FBI to support his investigation of the affair.

Peterson and Mary Peters met this morning in the Congressman's office in the Cannon building to discuss tolling I-80 and the Turnpike's application to the US Government. His office provided the photograph nearby.

The congressman's office released this statement:

“Today’s meeting with Secretary Peters, by all accounts, was mutually beneficial. We shared thoughts and insights on the status of approval for Pennsylvania’s I-80 toll application. Though many in the state wrongly assumed that the application to toll I-80 would be a slam dunk, today’s meeting reaffirmed that is not the case. In fact, the secretary indicated that further action from her agency will take place shortly.

“As our commonwealth is climbing further into debt, through this complex borrowing scheme of floating bonds – which has already begun – and paying back hundreds of millions of dollars in interest, it is my sincere hope that Governor Rendell and our leaders in the General Assembly come to the realization that tolling I-80 is far from a panacea in solving our state’s transportation funding shortfall.”

A Turnpike spokesman is quoted as saying he hopes the USDOT will consider the application to toll I-80 "on its merits."

Copy of the 2-page letter from Peterson to USDOT Inspector General Scovel can be downloaded here.

Also see for the 272 page US grand jury indictment of Fumo and others:

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae/News/Pr/2007/feb/Fumoind.pdf

see our earlier reports on the subject

http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/1788

http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/3126

http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/3244

TOLLROADSnews 2007-12-12