Pa. Turnpike Commissioner quits over DUIs

Timothy J. Carson, vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, has resigned because of his involvement in two drunken-driving accidents while operating official vehicles.

In a resignation letter to Gov. Rendell, Carson said he had not reported the incidents in 2003 and 2006 as required by the turnpike's rules. He said he paid all repair costs and received two DUI convictions.

"I take full responsibility for these mistakes, which, in retrospect, resulted from my failure to acknowledge that I had (and still have) an alcohol dependency problem," Carson said in his letter, dated Monday.

Carson, a Center City public finance lawyer with Saul Ewing L.L.P., said in his letter that he had abstained from alcohol since the 2006 accident.

Carson had been on the Turnpike Commission since 2000. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.

"While these are certainly not the conditions under which I hoped to conclude my term of public service, it is clear to me that my lack of judgment and the disclosure of the incidents that resulted would compromise my effectiveness as a Pennsylvania Turnpike commissioner, especially given the important (and sometimes controversial) decisions the Turnpike Commission must make in fulfilling the duties entrusted to it," Carson said in his letter.

In accepting the resignation, Rendell praised Carson's service.

"His nine-year tenure was marked by significant progress for which he deserves a great share of the credit," Rendell said. "The commission professionalized itself in many ways, and Tim was responsible for much of that improvement."

Carson's resignation follows by less than a year the dismissal of Turnpike Commission Chairman Mitchell Rubin. In recent months, the commission has been embroiled in several allegations of wrongdoing.

Rendell fired Rubin last March after Rubin received a "target letter" from the FBI indicating he was under investigation for taking a $30,000-a-year "ghost job" for five years from former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo. Fumo was convicted last March by a Philadelphia jury on 137 counts of corruption.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson (R., Pa.) asked state Attorney General Tom Corbett to investigate allegations by a former turnpike employee that he was fired for resisting corrupt financial practices in the turnpike administration.

A state grand jury was reported in October to be investigating patronage and possible "pay-to-play" contracts at the Turnpike Commission.

Also in October, the commission's inspector general said he was reviewing allegations by a former construction inspector that turnpike officials had ignored assertions of shoddy work on the $170 million Valley Forge interchange project.

The Turnpike Commission is leading a controversial effort to place tolls on I-80 to help pay for highway and transit projects across Pennsylvania.

A decision from the Federal Highway Administration on the tolls is expected soon.