Senate Leadership
October 3, 2006
Williams Says I-84 Construction Debacle Further Demonstrates Need for Contracting Reform
Memo shows DOT knew of problems last spring
State Senate President Donald E. Williams, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) today said the problems that plague the $52 million I-84 construction project once again demonstrate the need for comprehensive contracting reform. Sen. Williams also questioned why the Rell administration waited until this week to seek an independent audit of the work when the state Department of Transportation knew there were major problems last spring.
"Three times over the past two years the General Assembly passed comprehensive contracting reform and three times Governor Rell chose to veto the bill," Sen. Williams said. "Her vetoes of the clean contracting bills were an effort to protect a special interest-private contractors-at the expense of much-needed protections for taxpayers. Now we are facing the real possibility that some of a reconstructed highway will need to be torn up to fix drainage problems because the private contractors failed to do the work properly."
In the case of the I-84 project the state:
- Contracted out the work for the widening and reconstruction of I-84 between Cheshire and Waterbury to L.G. DeFelice of North Haven
- Contracted out the work to inspect and oversee the project to The Maguire Group of New Britain
Sen. Williams said that although it was the contractors who failed to do the job, the state could have had a better protocol and process for awarding contracts had the governor not vetoed the bills. She did so because she objected to the inclusion of protections for taxpayers in the privatization of state contracts; protections that the independent State Auditors of Public Accounts specifically called for.
In 2003, the auditors wrote in the annual report, "Given the inherent risks that attaches to privatization initiatives originating in the government sector, and the potential they have for dramatically impacting the way government services are delivered to the public, there exists a need for the General Assembly to establish formal standards and procedures in order to help ensure that sufficient planning and analysis have been conducted to support a decision by State Management to enter into the contract for the privatization of government services."
Sen. Williams also noted, "The standards board the governor put in place by executive order does not have the power of law as the attorney general has pointed out. Any of the three clean contracting bills we passed would have provided additional oversight and protections for taxpayers," he said.
In an opinion about the governor's contracting standards board, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal wrote, "Legislative action is...necessary to make the Board and other reforms truly effective...Only legislation can establish a board with real independence, and real power to write rules, or approve or terminate contracts and scrutinize and stop questionable practices, restoring public trust."
Sen. Williams also questioned why the governor waited until this week to seek an independent audit of the I-84 project. "A memorandum to D.O.T. Commissioner Ralph Carpenter dated September 14th contains a section titled, 'Suspicions and Indications of Problems.' It clearly shows state officials knew of major drainage failures back in April. Why then did it take a front page Hartford Courant article on the situation to get the governor to seek an audit?" Sen. Williams asked.
"The governor had three chances to provide protection for taxpayers in state contracting. She chose not to. Now almost six months after her state Department of Transportation was aware of major problems with the reconstruction of I-84, she seeks an audit. The taxpayers deserve better," Sen. Williams said.
Click here to read the memo. (PDF 212KB)
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Senator Williams’ Larry Cook |
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Senator Looney’s Larry Cook |
