PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Six weeks after the state attorney general announced charges stemming from an alleged system of bid-rigging and bribery at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, CEO Mark Compton says it’s clear the agency needs to change — and that it has begun steps to do so.
In March, years of investigation by two grand juries became public with charges filed against two former top officials at the turnpike, a now-imprisoned former Senate Democratic leader and five others. All are accused of committing crimes in a procurement process that law enforcement officials said inflated costs while steering contributions to Pennsylvania politicians.
Since then, Mr. Compton said this week, the turnpike has begun a review of contracts and reiterated its procurement policies to vendors. The review — announced in the days after the charges — initially targeted contracts from about 2003 to 2010, the years targeted in the investigation, but Mr. Compton said that in recent weeks the scope was expanded to January 2013. Officials are following a “triage approach,” he said, examining first the largest active contracts, of which there are hundreds… (more)
