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Wagner questions legality of proceedings

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



For the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA), last week marked a bit of a roller coaster ride.

Although earlier in the week the mayors of both Springfield and Holyoke disagreed with assertions made by State Representative Joseph Wagner (D-Chicopee) over the legality of offering a contract for dial-a-ride service without a bidding process, by Friday PVTA officials released a press release indicating it would undertake a bid process for the service.

The release stated that PVTA Administrator Mary MacInnes had met with Ryan and decided the contract should go out to bid.

"It was prudent to go forward with the procurement process for the provision of PVTA's paratransit service," MacInnes said.

The procurement process will take approximately six months plus two months for a transition period.

"In the best interests of our passengers I tried to reach an agreement with First Transit as quickly as possible, but was unable to do so, therefore we will go to a full procurement," MacInnes said.

For Wagner, a vocal critic of the PVTA for years, the announcment meant a return to better management policies.

"If the agency is having problems with the vendors, they should make every effort to manage the problem, " Wagner told Reminder Publications on Monday. "If the problems are umanagable, they require going into a competitive bidding process."

The decision to go to a competitive bid puts an end to the latest chapter on the problems at the second largest transit authority in the state.

Wagner attended, but did not speak on the subject, at the April 9 meeting of the PVTA Advisory Board where MacInnes told the board she was beginning the process of negotiating with First Transit to replace MV Transportation for the dial-a-ride service.

MacInnes's proposal was that contract, once it is written, would ultimately replace the one with MV Transportation, the company currently operating the dial-a-ride service. MV Transportation had been under fire since one of its drivers dropped off an East Longmeadow man to the wrong address. A fall at the unfamiliar house led to the man's death.

Wagner conducted a press conference on April 17 to announce he had asked the state inspector general to review the proceedings that surround the decision to move forward with discussions with First Transit.

The press conference was the latest in a series addressing what Wagner has termed "the mess" at the PVTA. Wagner said that he has asked the state inspector general to review the situation over a no-bid contract award.

Wagner also spoke on legislation he will sponsor that would take the control away from all the regional transit advisory boards across the state to select their administrator. Under Wagner's proposal, the Secretary of Transportation would appoint the administrators and would also approve the budgets set by the boards.

"I see people making it up as they go along," Wagner charged. "It [the board action] doesn't hold up. It doesn't pass any reasonable smell test."

Richard Theroux, the chair of the PVTA Advisory Board, told Reminder Publications, "Nothing has been awarded. No obligation has been finalized."

Theroux said that he welcomes Wagner's comments about improving service at the PVTA and in the process of developing a new contract. Wagner has been invited to speak at the board meetings in the past and Theroux said, "The doors are open. Come on in.

Mayor Charles Ryan of Springfield said he made a motion for Wagner to be allowed to speak at the April 9 board meeting, but the state representative declined to address the Advisory Board.

The discussion about a new contract "raised no questions in anybody's mind," Ryan said on April 18.

"This was the right thing to do," he added.

First Transit already operates the fixed bus routes for the PVTA and Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan called the company "a known commodity."

Both Sullivan and Ryan said they and the other members of the Advisory Board were told by MacInnes the Inspector General had been consulted about a no-bid contract and that normal bidding processes didn't apply to the PVTA.

Sullivan said that his biggest concern is to make sure that agencies who advocate for the people who use the dial-a-ride service such as Valley Opportunity Council and Stavros, have the opportunity make their opinions known.

Sullivan said that if Wagner believes that "micro-managing [the regional transit authorities] is necessary, then fine." Sullivan added that representing Holyoke on the board has been historically a job for the mayor or his or her representative.