One of the lawmakers who grilled the Rhode Island Transportation Director on Thursday about the failings of the Washington Bridge says she came away thinking the agency exerts little oversight over its projects.
State Rep. June Speakman, who represents Warren and Bristol, said after hearing testimony from RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, she’s concerned that “there’s no accountability and really not a lot of oversight going on in that agency.”
Members of the Oversight committees in the Rhode Island House and Senate questioned Alviti about the bridge at a Statehouse hearing with the help of former U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha. Avliti repeatedly blamed the contractors his office hired for the bridge’s sudden closure.
Alviti rejected Cunha’s suggestions that RIDOT is helpless to ensure that contractors deliver quality work, and suggested the state suing the contractors involved is one way it can ensure accountability.
“We have a contract that requires them to be absolutely accurate, and in the case of literally $7 billion worth of other projects, they have been,” Alviti said. “In this one case, they were not and that’s what this lawsuit is about.”
Speakman spoke with morning host Luis Hernandez about what she took away from the hearing and what questions remain.
Interview Highlights
On what she learned at the hearing
Rep. June Speakman: My big takeaway is how little control Director Alviti appears to have over what happens in his department.
And related to that are the claims that he didn’t know whether there are (plans), or where the plans are, for the original construction of the bridge. He doesn’t know the name of the statewide program manager (for the state’s bridges.) So many things that indicated that there’s no accountability, and really not a lot of oversight, going on in that agency.
On whether RIDOT Director Aliviti should keep his job
Speakman: Well, that’s not my decision to make, obviously.
But if I were his boss, I would look very carefully at what he said last night and, again, the extent to which he appears not to take responsibility for what happens in his department — not just about the bridge, but all of the projects that the department oversees.
He said over, and over, and over again how much they rely on consultants. To design and build the bridges — I understand that. But to inspect the bridges and ensure that the taxpayers of Rhode Island have safe infrastructure and they’re getting the most bang for their taxpayer dollar, he appeared not to take any responsibility for those key functions of government.
So if I were his boss, I would look carefully at that.
On whether RIDOT should have more in-house expertise to oversee infrastructure projects
Speakman: Of course, they should.
All of the other departments of state government have in-house experts. The Department of Education has educators inside who can evaluate how well their programs are working. The Department of Environmental Management has scientists, environmental specialists inside the department to evaluate how well their programs are working.
They all use consultants, but they also have in-house expertise to make sure that their funding is working appropriately and their programs are working appropriately. You have to have some kind of in-house evaluators. And when you’re spending taxpayer dollars on public infrastructure, you have to have inside evaluators with expertise.
