Documents detail car assignments, allowances for DRPA managers, executives

Twenty-four managers at the Delaware River Port Authority are provided vehicles for their full-time use, agency records show.

Eleven other DRPA executives who received annual car allowances of at least $9,000 had them discontinued last month amid widespread criticism of perquisites for top agency officials.

The 24 permanent vehicle assignments were identified this week in documents sent to Pennsylvania Treasurer Robert McCord, who is investigating DRPA practices.

In addition to the car allowances and assigned vehicles, the DRPA maintains four pool vehicles for employees' business use.

On several occasions, DRPA officials who received annual car allowances used pool vehicles instead of their cars. That usually happened when the number of people making the trip required a larger vehicle, chief executive John Matheussen said Thursday.

"Common sense would dictate that if you have a car allowance, you should not be using a pool car unless there are special circumstances," Matheussen said.

He said he had used pool vehicles twice, when trips required more seats than he had in his Nissan Altima.

On another occasion, the DRPA fleet manager - corporate secretary John Lawless - questioned a request for a pool car in 2008, and government relations director William Shanahan defended the request he had made in an internal e-mail.

"There is no policy that prohibits anyone with a car allowance to use a fleet pool car for company business," wrote Shanahan, who received a car allowance of $9,000.

Shanahan requested the car to attend a meeting in Piscataway, N.J., with Matheussen, deputy chief executive Robert Gross (who also received a $9,000 car allowance), and former chief engineer William Brooks, who received no car allowance. Shanahan reported that his personal vehicle had been unavailable.

Matheussen, whose car allowance was $16,980, said he attended the Piscataway meeting, but went in his own vehicle.

The other eight recipients of the recently suspended $9,000 car allowances were Lawless, who collects a $123,806 salary despite having been removed from his post in April; chief administrative officer Toni Brown (salary, $180,081); assistant to the chairman Mary-Rita D'Alessandro ($140,000); chief financial officer John Hanson ($180,081); former chief public safety officer Michael Joyce ($180,081); government relations manager Mark Lopez ($81,115); chief operating officer Timothy Pulte ($180,081), and labor contract director John Rogale ($117,994).

Another executive, general counsel Richard Brown, who used to have a $9,000 car allowance, was given a $9,000 raise to $189,081 a couple of years ago and his car allowance was discontinued, Matheussen said. Brown "was doing extra work, but had no need for a car allowance," he said.

The 24 people who receive DRPA vehicles for their permanent use are Police Chief David McClintock and 12 police officers; eight bridge directors and construction and maintenance managers; and PATCO general manager Robert Box, assistant general manager Cheryl Spicer, and director of way and power Ron Binder.

Those people need the vehicles because their jobs require them to be on 24-hour call and because the vehicles are equipped with radios that allow them to be in touch during emergencies, DRPA spokesman Ed Kasuba said Thursday.

In other documents sent to treasurer McCord this week, the DRPA identified three board members with personal or family ties to firms that provide professional services to the DRPA. They are:

Chairman John Estey, former chief of staff to Gov. Rendell. Estey is a partner in the Ballard Spahr law firm, which has been paid about $3 million by the DRPA since 2002.

Vice Chairman Jeff Nash, a Camden County freeholder whose former wife, Jodi, is director of sales and sponsorship at Live Nation Inc. The DRPA has paid the entertainment firm, which provides promotion services for the Susquehanna Bank Center on the Camden waterfront, $150,000 since 2008 for advertising.

Pennsylvania board member Robin Wiessmann, a former Pennsylvania state treasurer whose husband, Kenneth Jarin, is a partner at Ballard Spahr and serves as the Pennsylvania counsel for the DRPA board.

The DRPA has been under growing scrutiny in recent weeks. In addition to McCord's probe, Pennsylvania State Sen. John Rafferty (R., Chester), Senate Transportation Committee chairman, plans a hearing next month to seek "systemic changes" in DRPA spending and hiring practices.

That hearing is tentatively set for Sept. 22.

Also, Pennsylvania State Rep. Mike Vereb (R., Montgomery) and New Jersey Assemblyman Domenick DiCicco Jr. (R., Gloucester) have asked for a federal investigation of the DRPA, and are preparing legislation in each state to change the agency's federal charter and repeal its ability to spend money on "economic development" in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

With the agency also under fire from Gov. Christie and several Pennsylvania members of the DRPA board, Estey last week proposed sweeping changes to make the agency more open and responsive.

Estey said the 16 proposed changes will be reviewed by Christie and Gov. Rendell and voted on by the DRPA board at its meeting Wednesday.