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A SUN HERALD article dated 8/11/00, titled, “PEER committee will look into MDOT’s operations, fiscal health,” reveals the following:
A legislative watchdog committee, responding to concerns about how the Mississippi Department of Transportation does its job, is conducting an in-depth review of the agency….the legislative PEER Committee, also will look into a money crunch at MDOT that threatens to halt new highway construction for the rest of the year.
Representative Herb Frierson said many legislators simply want a close, comprehensive look at MDOT. He said a lot of people are frustrated. A lot of legislators felt like their funding is adequate. That is what we are trying to make a determination about.
A CLARION LEDGER article dated 9/2/00 revealed that Senator Bob Dearing, Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee said that he had named a Senate transportation subcommittee to look at the DOT and its finances with the panel to hold hearings on September 14-15. Dearing said “We will see how in the world we got in the situation we got in to.”
A CLARION LEDGER article dated 9/11/00, titled, “MDOT shortfall criticized,” revealed that MDOT had excuses for the shortfall in the 1987 FLP and the GRP. MDOT provided excuses for the shortfall from being under-funded to “because good weather caused them to get ahead.” However, the article stated, “Lawmakers, however, think there’s more to the situation.” House Speaker Tim Ford said, “I don’t believe it’s just because they’ve had good weather.
The article stated Speaker Ford appointed a joint committee with members from the House Ways and Means, Transportation, and Appropriations committees, to look into the finance programs and procedures of MDOT, in anticipation of legislation being considered, when lawmakers convene for the 2001 session. Ford said MDOT needs to have some accountability.
According to a CLARION LEDGER article dated 9/14/00, Marshall Bennett, State Treasurer, said MDOT was not suffering a “shortfall,” because MDOT was getting more money than ever before, that MDOT was just spending it faster.
A CLARION LEDGER article dated 9/15/00, titled, “Highway work lagging,” revealed:
State transportation officials surprised some members of the Legislative Budget Committee Thursday with news the first phases of the 1987 Highway Program are expected to be completed three years late and cost $1.2 billion more.
Senator Travis Little said, “Every briefing I’ve been in, I’ve been told the ’87 program was right on track. Why is it delayed three years? It’s just startling. This is the first time I’ve heard 2005.”
As seen from the above, it is not only citizens and the media who think they been misled by MDOT.
PEER Report Findings
A SUN HERALD, front page article dated December 28, 2000, head-lined, “MDOT a mess, watchdog says.” The byline was, “Review agency casts doubt on projects critical to Coast.” According to the article, the PEER report said, in part:
Mismanagement and inaccurate accounting by the Mississippi Department of Transportation has caused billions of dollars of cost overruns and delays in building roads, a report released to the state Legislature on Wednesday says…
It (the report) casts doubt on whether MDOT will have the money or management capabilities to complete two badly needed north-south connectors and other work on the Coast…
The Mississippi Department of Transportation has not seen fit to put in place an overall planning and management system, said Max Arinder, PEER director. “It’s almost a trust me system.” They operate with a lot of guesswork and a lot of estimation. Given that these are multimillion dollar and multibillion projects they deal with, there needs to be some sort of management and accountability…”
The statewide 1987 program, which MDOT estimated would cost $1.6 billion, will end up costing about $5.6 billion if completed. The Gambling Roads Program, estimated at $317 million, would eventually cost an estimated $1.6 billion…
PEER said MDOT has frequently violated a state law that requires roadways, whenever possible to be built in stretches greater than 10 miles. The report said MDOT has designed projects in shorter stretches 82% of the time… (What this does is create many small contracts and makes it much harder to have adequate accountability and oversight due to confusion)
PEER estimates that because MDOT has stretched its state and Federal money too thin, it will have only $5 million per year over the next few years for Gaming Roads Program projects. The cost of two north-south connectors on the Coast alone could be $500 million (This further enforces the Hignight/Blessey article that revealed there was no money for these connectors) In written responses, MDOT denies many of PEER’s findings. It says its accounting and cost estimate methods are sound and that PEER doesn’t understand the complexities of managing such huge programs…
I n my experience as an FBI Agent for 26 years, I found that when someone tries to tell you that you just don’t understand, it usually means they don’t want you to understand. 9 |
