The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Hampton Roads Transit did not have the right people in the right positions to tackle building Norfolk's light-rail project and the result was $106 million in cost overruns and more than a year and half delay, the agency's leader said Monday.
"There's no question that a bus company took on the construction of a major infrastructure project that was not equipped to do that," said Philip Shucet, who was hired as president and CEO a year ago to control costs and finish construction.
Shucet made the comments as he announced HRT has acted on all 31 recommendations made by the state inspector general, who was tasked with examining light rail and other issues within the agency. After a 10-month review, the inspector general issued a stinging report in December that found HRT hid light-rail cost overruns, had poor controls over money that resulted in a suspected embezzlement, and violated state contracting laws.
The report called for a number of corrective actions, including evaluating personnel, hiring an internal auditor, and complying with the Freedom of Information Act.
Shucet said the findings "spring from one single cause and that is not understanding or just failing to appreciate that we are spending someone else's money.... We're running a public business."
He said there was a corporate culture that "nobody needs to know what you're doing," which led to decisions not to share information about cost overruns.
"That's just crazy and look where that got us," Shucet said.
As a result of the state audit, HRT made changes that include staffing moves, daily cash reconciliations (none had been done for two years), new cash-handling procedures, revised procurement policies and plans to hire an internal auditor in the coming fiscal year.
While action was initiated on all the recommendations within the 90-day window HRT promised, not all have been completed because some require training, hiring and making investments.
Shucet said he's focused on completing light rail, though he still cannot provide a startup date. That depends on the successful installation and testing of safety and communications equipment designed to help prevent accidents. In January, HRT announced light rail would not open in May as planned because those systems were delayed.
Shucet said he's confident HRT will not repeat the same light-rail mistakes, especially with Virginia Beach considering whether to extend the line to the Oceanfront.
"If another (light-rail) project were approved and funded, I'm confident that we have the people and practices in place that could build it or would know to get them and put them in place before construction was under way," Shucet said.
Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com
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HRT: Financial Black Hole
One thing will never change at HRT, the endless subsidies needed to pay for a money pit called the train to nowhere.
800 lb elephant
Why has no one asked why there is no start date for light rail? I understand that there are some issues that have to be worked out. We have had timelines since the days this project was on the drawing board. Why not now? 2 monts delay?? ...3 months delay?? 1 year?? In a project like this you always set a reachable start day. That there is not one spells ISSUE. Something is going on here. Is the money all spent? Are they waiting for some federal grant to move forward from here? Is there a much larger problem than the safety equipment? Some other large issue that was covered up that the start of operation would shed light on? Reporters of the Pilot maybe can pin down an answer or they know and have agreed not to print it?
COME ON NOW...
A caveman with no education could have figured this out with no help from a rocket scientist.
whateverrrr...
i just love how the ending goes, ""If another (light-rail) project were approved and funded, I'm confident that we have the people and practices in place that could build it or would know to get them and put them in place before construction was under way," Shucet said." i've heard this same stuff since i first started working and it just gets worse and worse. i mean it's so stupid the reasons being listed. shucet should go. works for the navy on ships - you dork up you pay because ultimately the responsibility rests with the leader and shucet wasn't leading according to this article anyway... would need to find out more information, but certainly someone's head should roll at the highest levels in HRT - period!
HRT was ill-prepared to take on light rail, new chief says
Ya think? This was a scam from the start. Our so-called leaders and their appointed boards have failed to provide oversight for taxpayer money as well as (in my view) commited fraud. Two sets of books, hiding cost over-runs from the state and feds. Now Dr. Phil says it will be all better? Now he says "he's confident HRT will not repeat the same light-rail mistakes, especially with Virginia Beach considering whether to extend the line to the Oceanfront." Rubbish.. why should anyone believe it? The only reason the "practices" have been put into place is because HRT and those city leaders got caught. If VB council lets these people put their citizens collective necks in this noose for light rail,then we are fools for letting them do it.
Don't forget, a huge part of the tab is due ... yesterday!
Maybe this is all designed to prepare us for the news as to how the city is going to come up with that $28 million payment that was due LAST YEAR.
I'm sure Marcus Jones will have a clever euphemism or a few silver-tongued buzzwords to utter when he tells us where the money is coming from.
BOHICA!
They have a plan
The norfolk council and HRT is not worried about spending norfolk taxpayer funds to pay the $29 MILLION mayor fraim said he would cover. They instead are going to ask the State and the Feds to cover their loss.
But wait? Isn't that taxpayer money too?
One view of LRT in VB
I operate a business pretty much within eyeshot of the Norfolk Newtown LRT station. When CoVB decided to set up the Newtown SGA we obtained a map of it and our business and others here were not included in it. We felt it was a good idea to have businesses located near the tracks like ours so we could recruit new employees from lower income areas in Norfolk. Sort of a " win-win " scenario.
Imagine our surprise when we learned that the SGA was expanded to include our businesses. So now rather than looking forward to recruiting new employees that would ride the LRT we might have to relocate because CoVB wants to turn our businesses into 265 more townhomes.
After all who needs viable businesses and jobs when you can build more townhomes?
I would not worry
Cities love to pay planners to come up with really neat ideas like Strategic Growth Areas, which they lay out on color coded maps, with big books and pretty pictures...but they cannot make you move in order to have townhouses built there. They can re-zone the property for townhouses, but if your use is grandfathered, they cannot make you change it.
Hopefully the citizens of VB will kill the light rail idea...I agree with Dr Tabor.
time for real reform
It is time to tax the lobbyist and reform the tax code. Any person, union, or other organization should be taxed 100% on all lobbying activity. For every dollar they EXPEND they should have to pay taxes equivalent to expenditures including salaries,marketing materials, consultant studies, travel, and accommodations, etc., etc. Organizations engaged in lobbying should NOT be granted tax exempt status. All lobbying activities, expenditures, and persons involved should have to be posted online withing 12 hours of contact with ANY government official or worker. Any meeting between lobbyist and government personnel should have to meet in the presence of the taxpayers and should be subject to all public meeting notice laws and regulations.