Making tracks

The Delaware River Port Authority's wayward economic-development money has finally come home. After 16 years, it's a shadow of what it once was - less than a hundredth of the nearly half a billion dollars the bistate agency squandered on stadiums, museums, and other projects unrelated to its bridges and rail line. Nevertheless, the authority voted last week to rededicate a modest but significant $3.7 million to the sort of thing it was supposed to be doing all along, in this case replacing the PATCO tracks on the Ben Franklin Bridge.

The DRPA has declared several false stops to the so-called economic-development program, which helped saddle it with costly debt, force a 25 percent toll increase, and trigger a continuing federal investigation. But last week's transfer was the most convincing sign yet that the DRPA has really abandoned its efforts to echo the unchecked growth and mutation of its behemoth northern cousin, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Showing a newfound but reassuring level of clarity about the DRPA's purpose, chief executive John Hanson said the transfer of funds would mean "using this money for our core function, which is the bridges and rails." With about $22.7 million in economic-development funds still remaining, Hanson should look for more opportunities to redirect money to what should be the agency's core function - or, more precisely, its only function.

But is the DRPA really back to building infrastructure instead of building bonfires with commuters' money? Its crash-and-burn experiment with independent oversight provides fuel for skepticism.

After less than three years as the authority's inaugural inspector general, Thomas Raftery III has announced his resignation from the sorely needed post effective next week. The former FBI agent's brief tenure was successful in at least one respect: It revealed the depth and endurance of the DRPA's hostility to accountability.

Raftery made mistakes that weakened his position, such as seeking a hefty salary increase as well as permission to take on outside work. But it's clear that former chief executive John Matheussen, along with members of New Jersey's half of the agency's board, took steps to hobble the office and suppress its findings - including the revelation that Matheussen had given raises to nearly 30 employees without the required approval of board members.

The current chief executive, Hanson, has offered welcome assurances that the DRPA is already looking for Raftery's successor. He and the board must see to it that the next inspector general is a qualified outsider with free rein to investigate and expose the next misappropriation - before the feds do.