Port Authority looking at reforms

NEWARK -- The Port Authority's governance and ethics committee concluded a year ago this week that "there is a reasonable basis for the Board to have a high level of confidence in the professional and ethical conduct of Port Authority personnel, and that the Port Authority is conducting its business in a manner that ensures public confidence."

Today, those remarks seem almost jarringly at odds with reality.

Over the past year, the Port Authority has been buffeted by the involvement of some of its members in a New Jersey lane-closing scandal at the George Washington Bridge, allegations of conflicts of interest in the awarding of contracts, the abrupt resignation of its chairman, and criminal investigations on both sides of the Hudson River.

Many officials have voiced opinions on how to reform the sprawling 93-year-old agency, which operates the bridges, tunnels, ports and airports in the New York City region and was called a "challenged and dysfunctional organization" in a 2012 audit report.

Some have advocated taking away the power of appointing board members from the two states' governors. Others see legislative solutions that would provide more oversight. At a news conference last month, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he was intrigued by the idea of splitting the bistate agency into New York and New Jersey divisions.

Those ideas likely will be discussed today in New York at a special panel composed of academics and public-policy experts. Specific reform measures could be proposed in the next few months.

"Everything should be on the table," Port Authority vice chairman Scott Rechler said late last week. "Right now there's the political will for reform and the recognition that reforms are needed. We should take as many actions as we can."

According to Rechler, one idea is to have the executive director and deputy executive director be nonpolitical appointments. Currently, New York's governor appoints the executive director, and New Jersey's governor appoints the deputy.

But legislative solutions can be challenging. Richard Brodsky served in the New York Assembly and spearheaded legislation in 2010 that imposed reforms on all public authorities in New York -- except the Port Authority, which, as a bistate agency, requires New Jersey and New York to enact similar, if not identical, legislation.

"If this had been enacted in New Jersey, there wouldn't have been Bridgegate," Brodsky said, referring to the lane closures. "That discussion has to start now."

Some New Jersey lawmakers are looking at the New York legislation to see if it can apply directly to New Jersey. "I'm not sure we could do exactly the same thing in New Jersey," said Sen. Loretta Weinberg, whose district includes Fort Lee, site of the lane closures.

Former chairman David Samson was the focus of questions about a $1-a-year lease extension for a park-and-ride lot operated by New Jersey Transit, a client of Samson's law firm. The Port Authority said Samson recused himself, but his vote was recorded incorrectly. Last month, the agency said it is reviewing the contract.

The lane closures are being investigated by a New Jersey legislative committee and the U.S. attorney's office. The Manhattan district attorney's office has subpoenaed Port Authority records from the World Trade Center rebuilding and other projects, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasn't authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The DA's office is declining to comment, a spokesman said Saturday.