Gov.
Chris Christie and his political allies have done the near-impossible.
Their notorious traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge, engineered
by Mr. Christie’s colleagues, has succeeded in getting people to pay
attention to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the
sprawling and secretive agency that runs not only that bridge but three
other major bridges, two tunnels, five airports and port operations in
the region. And, like many of those huge structures, the authority
itself desperately needs fixing.
The
authority is overseen jointly by Governor Christie and Gov. Andrew
Cuomo of New York. It has an annual budget of $8.2 billion, and there
are plans to spend another $27.6 billion in capital improvements over
the next decade, making the authority the one of the most important
government agencies in both states.
Over
the years, the Port Authority has often served as a political candy
jar, providing patronage jobs for political allies. Mr. Christie has
been particularly skillful at doling out well-paid jobs at the authority
to his supporters. By most counts, there are at least 50 agency
employees who owe their jobs to the New Jersey governor.
The
traffic scandal that has resulted in numerous investigations and two
resignations of Christie appointees is just the latest example of how
governance of the Port Authority is tainted by personal politics. And
because two states share executive control, and thus responsibility,
there is no meaningful oversight.
Major
structural reforms would require legislative approval in Albany and
Trenton, which would be hard but definitely worth a try. New Jersey, for
instance, could help matters by enacting the equivalent of a reform law
approved in New York that, among other things, required board members
to pledge to uphold their fiduciary duties to their agency’s mission,
not to their patron in the governor’s mansion. Short of that, the two
governors should make changes that could make the authority less
political and more professional.
The
Port Authority’s 12-member board of commissioners is appointed by the
governors, six by each. They should be appointed on the basis of their
professional qualifications, not political connections, as so often
happens, and held to six-year term limits. Some holdovers have been
there for more than 10 years.
Each
commissioner should also publicly disclose potential conflicts of
interest well before the authority makes its decisions. These potential
conflicts should be regularly displayed on the Port Authority’s website.
Commissioners have routinely been allowed to lobby for contracts that
could affect personal businesses and, only later after the decision is
made, would they formally recuse themselves in the official minutes.
Their recusal in each case should be announced at the public board
meeting.
Under
the traditional power-sharing arrangement, New Jersey appoints the
chairman of the board, New York the executive director. That worked well
until 1995, when Gov. George Pataki of New York chose an incompetent
executive. The move so angered New Jersey’s governor at the time,
Christine Todd Whitman, that she demanded the right to appoint a deputy
executive director as well. That change gives New Jersey more power over
day-to-day decisions. It’s time to allow the executive to pick his or
her own deputy after consulting with the board.
The
authority is notoriously secretive, despite some recent efforts to
provide more information on its website. It is time to require more
transparency, including clear public announcements of all items approved
by the board while in public session. The authority should also have to
answer to rigorous freedom of information laws in both states. There
must be stronger protections for whistle-blowers, and the two state
legislatures should not approve commissioners until they have been
carefully vetted for conflicts of interest as well as professional
qualifications.
Mr.
Christie should want to make these changes, if only to show he’s aware
of the damage his people have done. Mr. Cuomo should embrace them as an
expression of his interest in sound government.
One
interesting aspect of the current mess is that the authority was
created more than 90 years ago not only to address the shared needs of
both states but also to wring out as much local patronage and politics
as possible. Mr. Christie has shown how easy it is to turn back the
clock.
