Ah, spring cleaning has finally grabbed the attention of Governor Rell, and Saturday she issued a statement, from the Courant:

Concerned by the expanding list of safety and construction problems associated with a project to improve a busy stretch of I-84 near Waterbury, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Saturday she is setting in motion a “top-to-bottom” reorganization of the troubled state Department of Transportation.

“The I-84 failure was unfortunately the latest in a series of irregularities and problems at DOT that point to the need for cultural and organizational change,” Rell said in a statement.

This is good news. Great news. But, I think that the it comes somewhat late considering that there have been so many questionable incidents to spur action. I’m not alone in this view, again from the Courant:

State legislators, who late last week had scheduled a news conference for Monday to express their own concerns about the I-84 project, criticized Rell’s announcement as coming too late and not going far enough toward resolving an array of state transportation problems that transcend poorly built highways.

“What I am disturbed about is an injurious approach by the governor’s office,” said Senate Majority Leader Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn. “Only when there is a crisis, only when we find out that highway drainage systems may collapse, when we find out that the FBI is nosing around, do we finally get the wake-up call. And that’s troubling.”

Sen. Donald DeFronzo, D-New Britain and chairman of the legislature’s transportation committee, called the appointment of a working group an example of the Rell administration’s “fragmented” approach to transportation policy. What’s more, he said, I-84 should have been addressed a year ago when it became apparent that the state transportation department’s inspection regime failed to detect massive construction lapses.

“There is nothing new here in terms of why this is being done now except that more information has bubbled up through the media,” DeFronzo said. “There is no new compelling reason that would make this have to happen now as opposed to some time ago. So if this is so important to do, I don’t know why they didn’t do it sooner.”

I’ll never understand why politician’s will resort to the “it took too long to do the right thing” statement when they should be jumping all over whether the proposed reorganization will accomplish the goal of improving the DOT. So here’s what Rell’s suggesting:

Rell said her measures will address I-84 construction lapses and the more general transportation concerns raised by legislators, such as gridlock across parts of the state interstate system and the need to spend more on mass transit.

“I want a more responsive, more responsible DOT and a DOT that will continue to broaden its focus beyond highways,” Rell said. “Successful organizations - both public and private - recognize the need for change and act upon it.”

The governor said her working group will consist of business, transportation and organizational experts who will work with the global consulting firm J.R. Knowles USA/Hill International. They will be charged with “examining and redesigning the DOT, its mission, direction, business practices and organizational structure.”

Michael Critelli, chairman and CEO of Stamford-based Pitney Bowes, will be the group’s chairman. Kevin Kelleher, president and CEO of Danbury-based Cendant Mobility Services Corp. and chairman of the state’s Transportation Strategy Board, will serve in the group, as will Linda Yelmini, a former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services with expertise in state labor laws and government organization.

Rell said she will appoint other members within the next few weeks and wants them to begin work as soon as possible. She said the group’s recommendations will be implemented “on an ongoing basis.”

Um, I have problems with huge consulting firms “examining and redesigning the DOT, its mission, direction, business practices and organizational structure.” Huge consulting firms are not engaged in the business of designing, maintaining and repairing huge transportation projects. J.R. Knowles is a bunch of lawyers that specialize in settling construction disputes. Ok, there’s a mess of litigation going on, but that all stems from the incompetence of the DOT management team, who have for years managed to bungle ever construction project going on in the state. You don’t need a consulting agency to tell you that. There’s only one action that needs to be done, and that is for the bad managers to be shown the door, and new managers with no ties to the construction companies used by the DOT to come in and manage.

source: Hartford Courant, Rell To Shake Up DOT: I-84 Mess Prompts Call For `Total Reorganization’, By EDMUND H. MAHONY, April 29, 2007