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LaHood, local leaders to DC airport authority: Shape up
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and elected officials from Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., said Tuesday that the authority that oversees the capital region's airports is in dire need of reform.
The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority oversees Washington's Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport, both of which were formerly managed by the Federal Aviation Administration. The airport authority is also in charge of construction of a $6 billion extension of the Washington area's Metrorail subway system to Dulles airport, one of the largest transportation projects under construction in the country.
But LaHood, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and D.C. Mayor Vince Gray (D) said Tuesday that they had "serious doubts about the ability of the [MWAA] to competently promote, protect and manage the airports and other transportation activities.
"We are gravely concerned with the lack of accountability, transparency and sound judgment that has come to light regarding the board's recent activities," the leaders wrote in a letter to MWAA Chairman Michael Curto.
"It has become clear that the MWAA's policies and procedures are deficient and lack the safeguards necessary to ensure the principled oversight of nationally and regionally significant assets," they continued. "The board needs to restore the confidence of its appointing officials and the public."
"The report revealed excessive board spending on air travel, meals and wine," they wrote. "Overall, the report depicts an organization that conducts much of its business behind closed doors, awards many of its contracts on a sole-source basis and is in desperate need of reform."
The first phase of the Metrorail extension to Dulles is under construction and is currently scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013. The project has received about $900 million from the federal government.
The DOT has appointed an "accountability officer" to oversee the airport authority, and the leaders said Tuesday that the panel should cooperate with its oversight for the reminder of the project and beyond.
"We expect that you will grant her access to personnel and documents, and inform her in advance of, and provide access to, all board of directors meetings, including executive sessions," they wrote. "With her guidance, you must upgrade your procurement and travel policies, ethics code and bylaws, bringing them in line with best federal practices."
When the construction of the Metrorail extension to Dulles airport is complete, it will be transferred to the Metropolitan Washington Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which will oversee operation of the new railway.
