Softball Questions for E-470

January 25, 2012 2 Comments

Marsha Williams of E-470 happy at today's briefing

I have spoken to numerous people who have felt devastated and at a loss of control after receiving massive collection notices from the E-470 tolling system.

I’ve seen some collection notices as high as $13,000.

One single mother cried on the phone a couple of months ago asking me what I could do as she worried about filing for bankruptcy with a $10,000 bill.  She claimed E-470 sent notices to the wrong address for months.

So with the power of the Colorado Open Records Act, I decided to look into E-470’s budget and spending habits considering it’s constantly raising toll rates and sending extraordinary large collection notices to people.

Last November I highlighted how toll money covered massages for E-470 employees, and stays at luxury hotels for board members. 

So today I half-way expected some hard, direct questions from the Senate Transportation Committee as E-470 executives appeared before lawmakers.

The exchange was more like a chummy, friendly chat at an Applebee’s dining booth.

At one moment, I wondered if this was a planning committee for a company picnic.

Before the meeting, I even overheard two senators on the committee say they had no clue the E-470 administrators were showing up to testify today.

Perhaps I expected too much out of this hearing.

While Chairwoman Senator Evie Hudak (who should be credited for calling for the briefing) asked some direct questions, other lawmakers lobbed some pretty easy softballs that my two year old niece could have smacked out of a park.

One lawmaker asked  when E-470  was going to get a smartphone app.

Eventually, the issues of  large collection notices and massages expenses were discussed during the meeting, but quite passively.

When Senator Hudak asked E-470 Executive Director John McCuskey about the massage expenses, he scoffed at my report report while I received a middle-school smirk from Marsha Williams, another E-470 official.

I haven’t received a smirk like that since I was put in time-out by my 6th grade P.E. teacher for nailing a female classmate in the face during dodge ball (below the waist only….I should have known).

Senator Linda Newell chimed in and agreed that the massages were a legit government expense.

I left the committee meeting after watching the glad-handing between the E-470 executives and lawmakers.

It’s quite clear E-470 can afford such expenses because its revenue model is not based on taxes, but rather on tolls and fees we pay when we register our cars.

This is the argument E-470 uses when it defends its spending on things that most government agencies can’t afford.

So perhaps the quasi-public agency should be free from scrutiny from professional gadflies like myself.

Nah, just kidding.

In the end, if you drive E-470 it is still your money and if you pay registration fees, it is your money.

In the mean time, expect toll rates to rise every year.

As for E-470, no dodge balls to the face today.

I’m going to Applebee’s if they’re still open………

Filed under Behind the Scenes, Government Accountability, Quick Thoughts

E-470′s Perception

November 21, 2011 4 Comments

E-470 is a "political subdivison of the State of Colorado."

If E-470 was such a private entity, I likely would not have been granted access to its financial records showing toll money went to massages, bonuses and trips.

What private enterprise would give such documents to an investigative reporter?

There is definitely a perception in Denver that E-470 is a 100% private company.   I thought so too when I first moved to Colorado in August.

Even E-470 describes itself as a political subdivision of the State of Colorado.  E-470 employees also drive vehicles with government license plates.

Behind the business-looking logo is a very public board that is called the E-470 Public Highway Authority:  Here they are….all of them are public officials.

The authority is subject to the Colorado Open Records Act and the Colorado Sunshine Law.   A CORA records request I filed last month yielded the financial documents from E-470.

I spent a lot of time reading through the public meetings the board has about once or twice a month.

I found, looking at board meeting notes, there has only been ONE person to comment during the public comment portion of the meetings over the past year.

I was the second one, as you’ll see in my Sunday night broadcast.

These meetings are held on Thursdays at 9 in the morning.   Any member of the public has the right to go to these meetings, make public comment, and observe.

The perception that E-470 is an absolute private enterprise may be keeping people from asking questions.

In the end, perhaps E-470 can be characterized as a quasi-government entity.

Whatever the case, the tolling agency is open to public scrutiny and beholden to the people of Denver who pay its tolls.

Filed under Behind the Scenes, Government Accountability

Toll Money Covered Massages, Bonuses and Stays at Luxury Hotels

November 18, 2011 4 Comments

The tolling agency expects to collect more than 100 million dollars this year.

When was the last time you got a massage and a bonus at your company?

How about a stay at a Ritz Carlton?

E-470 employees enjoy some perks that most people haven’t enjoyed in quite a while.

Considering I’ve read countless angry emails from viewers complaining to 9News about E-470’s billing issues, I decided to look at where your toll money is going.

I didn’t think I would get far, because I assumed (I just moved here to Denver) E-470 was a private company that wouldn’t have to give me anything if I asked.

Behind E-470’s business operations is a government agency called the E-470 Public Highway Authority which describes itself as a political subdivision of the State of Colorado.

The board that manages E-470 is subject to open meetings laws and the Colorado Open Records Act.

So I filed a records request last month.

I found expenses that went to massages, a luxury hotel, and trips to all over the country and Europe for conferences.

E-470 employees, who are considered government workers, also received bonuses.

Keep in mind this is a government agency with a far different revenue system that is not based on taxes.

The system is based on your toll money and fees you pay when you register your car.

And the board just raised tolls again this month.

I sat down with the executive director of the agency about the expenses.  He defends the spending.

My story airs Sunday at 9pm and 10pm.

Filed under Behind the Scenes, Government Accountability

E-470 Toll Increases Planned Through 2021

November 11, 2011 1 Comment

Here’s a screen capture of an E-470 PDF document showing what’s scheduled in tolls for drivers through 2021.  Just today the board voted on the scheduled increase.

Screen Capture from E-470's Website Showing Scheduled Toll Increases

Filed under Behind the Scenes, Government Accountability

Got a massive E-470 Bill? Frustrated? Send us a YouTube Video

November 8, 2011 4 Comments

It’s quite clear when people get a massive bill in the mail from the E470 tolling system, they’re angry and frustrated.

I’ve only been here in Denver for a few months and I can’t tell you how many angry emails I’ve received about this topic.

I’ve heard from people who have bills greater than $10,000!

Some people say they were never sent an invoice until they got a surprise letter from a collection agency.

Other folks are upset claiming they paid their tolls but still got a collection notice.

I’d like hear your story.

Send me a simple YouTube video.  Hold up your bill to your web camera and say what you want to say for as long or short as you want to say it.

Perhaps your video and story will make air for a report I’m working on.

You can send the YouTube link to Jeremy.jojola@9news.com or blowthewhistle@9news.com.

Filed under Behind the Scenes, Government Accountability

The Fraud – How Much Has Been Missed?

September 28, 2011 Leave a Comment

CDOT Supervisor Kelly Iiams resigned under allegations of gas card fraud.

After exposing two cases of fraud within CDOT involving gas cards, I can only imagine the fraud that existed in the past that will never be found.

This month I revealed CDOT paid more than $30,000 on lost gas card and in another case, a department supervisor resigned (see photo) amid accusations of racking up $7,000 on a card.

While CDOT deserves credit for finding these fraud cases thanks to recent self-audits, it certainly does not deserve any praise for how it failed to watch your tax dollars in the past.

The state admits it did a horrible job of watching its gas cards and promises it’s been putting tighter controls in place.  Those tighter controls only started coming into place a year-and-a-half ago.

Oversight should have started the day when the state first started using fuel cards (years ago I assume).

Without a doubt, dubious employees who will never be caught have taken advantage of the of oversight.

And with CDOT spending seven million dollars in gas on its fleet per year, who knows how much fraud over the years the state missed?

How much of our tax dollars ended up in the wrong gas tank?

We’ll never know.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned as an investigative journalist, the drive within government to find waste and abuse is not as imperative as it is within the private sector.

Our taxes continuously fund agency budgets.  The government makes money regardless of the quality of service it provides.   Rooting out fraud and abuse is often not a priority with a guaranteed flow of income.

Filed under Government Accountability

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