pennsylvania turnpike

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says its new Office of Inspector General (OIG) had 32 employees fired, and saved it more than $1 million following 138 investigations of wrongdoing during the office's first year.

Fired Pennsylvania Turnpike chairman Mitchell Rubin has agreed to repay the state senate $150k he received in no-work contracts and to serve six months house arrest and 4.5 years probation. He pled guilty to an obstruction of justice charge.

In US court documents filed today prosecutors say during months of talks he made differing and contradictory claims about his role for five years getting $30k/year on the payroll by his patron then-senator Vincent Fumo.

The US Attorney's office in Philadelphia this morning formally charged Mitchell Rubin with a single obstruction of justice count in line with reports that he has been cooperating with the Feds to help them dig deeper into corruption at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

A Philadelphia Inquirer report this morning quotes recently resigned Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission vice-chairman Timothy Carson as saying that after his second drunken driving (DUI) conviction in 2006 he spent five days in an alcohol treatment program in place of jail time.

A Pennsylvania Turnpike official tells us that recently resigned vice-chairman Timothy Carson got a Turnpike Commission employee as a chauffeur after his second alcohol driving (DUI) conviction in 2006. The official who asked not to be named told us it was common knowledge that Miriam 'Mimi' Lindelow, officially a Turnpike marketing/community relations officer, spent much of her time driving Carson places in his Turnpike vehicle.

Tim Carson, former Pennsylvania Turnpike vice-chairman has told the Philadelphia Business Journal that his leaving law firm Saul Ewing LLP (SE) was nothing to do with his standing down from the Turnpike which he said was on account of 'driving under the influence'  (DUI) of alcohol incidents in 2003 and 2006.

Lunchtime today was the deadline for engineering firms wanting work at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission on the I-80 Toll Conversion Project. The RFP (Reference # 6-006)is for four open end contracts for engineering design services to enable the tolling of I-80. A 4-page document it is signed by Allen Biehler, chairman.

Timothy Carson who resigned his position of vice-chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission yesterday citing failure to report driving under the influence (DUI) incidents in 2003 and 2006 quietly had his relationship ended with his main employer Saul Ewing LLP January 1, the Philadelphia law firm says.

Spokesman for Saul Ewing, Leslie Gross told us she cannot speak to the reasons for the termination, or which side initiated it - was he fired or did he flee?

Timothy Carson, vice-chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike has released a long resignation letter he's written to Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell in which he cites drunk driving incidents in 2003 and 2006 and his failure to report them as reasons for his leaving. No one was injured in either accident and Carson says he paid for the damage to his Turnpike-issued vehicle out of his own pocket.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is getting a bum rap on one of the counts against it in the sensational lawsuit (see http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4553) by Ralph Bailets, the Turnpike's former financial manager - the progressive volume discounts for truckers for E-ZPass.  Bailets' view of the trucker discounts looks to be a narrow accountant's perspective on what is a more complex, mutually

US congressman Glenn `GT’ Thompson, (Republican, Howard, 5th District PA) is asking Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett to investigate claims in former financial manager Ralph Bailets’ lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC).

A former finance manager Ralph M Bailets has lodged a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg Pennsylvania accusing Turnpike Commission chiefs of serious wrongdoing. He says he was fired for his efforts to resist corrupt procurement practices and waste at the Turnpike Commission.

Pennsylvania Turnpike toll rates are set to rise 3% after midnight on Sunday Jan 3. The increase announced a year ago is in line with the Turnpike Commission's obligations to support non-toll transportation around the state under July 2007's state Act 44.

The most common cash tolls for cars go from 95c to $1 and for class 5 trucks go from $7.85 to $8.10.

William Capone, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has sent us a two page letter in response to our report (link) of comments by Marc Lemon chief counsel of the Federal Highway Administration in 2008 on the I-80 tolling application. The letter contests Lemon's theme that the Turnpike Commission ignored advice FHWA gave on what was legally required in the application to allow FHWA to give a favorable ruling.

Five Republican state representatives appeared at a press conference today in Harrisburg to announce the filing of a bill to abolish the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and transfer its assets and functions to the state department of transportation. The bill H2134 was filed by Rep Mike Vereb, 150th District covering Montgomery County on the northwest side of the Philadelphia metro area.

Seven Pennsylvania Turnpike non-union workers today won a court case against the Teamsters Union and the Turnpike Commission in Pittsburgh. US District Court judge Nora Fischer reaffirmed an earlier injunction against the Turnpike Commission ordering them not to seize money from the workers' paychecks on behalf of Teamsters Local 250, saying the union was not entitled to the money.

Marcus J Lemon chief counsel at FHWA through 2008 says he and other federal officials repeatedly told their counterparts at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission they needed more substantial and impartial consulting studies to justify a federal permit to toll I-80.

Pennsylvania Turnpike employees have received an email ordering them to retain a wide range of documents because of multiple corruption investigations. The email called a Revised Mandatory Preservation Order gives an indication of the scope of the FBI and state's attorney's probes - a legal "roadmap."

The specific projects listed for document preservation:

An obscure company whose main expertise is jails is key financial advisor to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in their application to the Feds for permission to toll I-80.

We were accused of "irresponsible journalism" Thursday morning for the report (see http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4418) we'd run of the FBI raid at the Pennsylvania Turnpike HQ Thursday and Friday Oct 23 - 24 in pursuit of a corruption investigation.

Of course our report inconvenienced both parties. Both went into flat denial mode. It never happened. The FBI weren't there. There was no corruption investigation. We should retract the story immediately.

Pretty much the same line from the Pike and the FBI.