Michael LaPolla exec director NJ Turnpike leaving PERSONNEL

Michael LaPolla, 51, executive director is leaving the New Jersey Turnpike for an undisclosed job in the private sector. LaPolla says he's most proud of the job he did in "fixing E-ZPass." He also presided over the Turnpike Authority's takeover of the Garden State Parkway and managed to administer the Turnpike without scandal or fuss for almost exactly six years.

A Union County executive and Democratic Party pro LaPolla was appointed by the incoming Democrat governor James McGreevey when the Republicans lost the state elections in the spring of 2002. Under Republican Governor Christine Whitman and Turnpike CEO Ed Gross the Turnpike had attempted to finance the conversion to electronic tolling (E-ZPass) by borrowing against prospective profits on violations penalties.

In one of the great disasters of electronic tolling the main contractor, a WorldCom spinoff named MFS Technologies, then Able Telecom, then Adesta were in constant turmoil. They missed deadline after deadline in installing the new toll system and were never able to deliver a working violations processing system. The back office violations collection operated by a Chase Manhattan unit under contract to MFS produced no violations penalty revenue let alone enough revenue to make a profit and service the debt.

An almost total fiasco!

McGreevey swept in promising to clean up government. He very publicly ordered the firing of Gross and also Lew Thurston at the Garden State Parkway.

Under the Democrats the losers in the original 1997 E-ZPass bid Lockheed Martin IMS/now ACS were brought in through a negotiated contract to clean up the mess left by WorldCom, MFS etc.

By most accounts ACS under LaPolla did a great job of transitioning to a functioning electronic toll system.

Further accomplishments under LaPolla were the conversion of several toll plazas to open road tolling and widening of the Parkway with construction of the amazing 15 lane Driscoll Bridge over the Raritan River in Amboy.

LaPolla outlasted his patron Gov James McGreevey by several years because McGreevey was soon embroiled in a corruption and sex scandal and resigned the governorship.

Physically a small man, LaPolla also was a small public figure - a lowkey manager who rarely gave press interviews or made public statements.

He was almost certainly asked recently by Governor Jon Corzine to find another job, so Corzine could put in his own person to run the Turnpike.

TOLLROADSnews 2006-05-16