A special oversight committee for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will convene publicly for the first time next week to glean suggestions for reform.
The committee was formed earlier this year to evaluate the agency, which has been hit by political scandal in recent days, as previously reported. The effort to include the public is seen as a step towards making the two-state operation more transparent amid quarrels over spending on large-scale developments like the World Trade Center complex redevelopment.
“It’s important not to be insular and get outside perspective from those people who have been students of the Port and who are unbiased,” Scott Rechler, the authority’s vice chairman, told Crain’s. “Everything should be on the table for discussion. There is a window now for us to create meaningful reform and we should take advantage of it.”
Monday’s panelists will include Carol Kellermann of the Citizens Budget Commission; Mitchell Moss, a New York University professor; Martin Robins of Port Authority and director of Rutgers University’s transit center; and a Princeton professor, Jim Doig, Crain’s reported. [Crain’s] — Angela Hunt