More evidence that the ethically compromised Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board needs outside supervision surfaced this week when The Examiner’s Liz Essley reported that at least four young relatives of board members have gotten coveted summer internships. So now we can add nepotism to the growing list of MWAA’s transgressions.
It turns out that MWAA, which offers summer employment to up to 200 high school and college students, paid board Chairman Michael Curto’s son $8.75 an hour to be an “airport ambassador,” helping travelers navigate their way through Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International airports, which MWAA manages. Instead of flipping burgers or tending rowdy youngsters at camp, other young relations of board members also got first dibs on cushy summer jobs.
Unlike private firms, where nepotism is sometimes encouraged, public bodies must avoid even the perception of insider dealing and conflicts of interest. So it was inappropriate for MWAA to hire the children and close relatives of members sitting on its Board of Directors. This has nothing to do with whether the young men and women were qualified or did a good job. As far as public perception is concerned, MWAA failed the test.
The summer jobs scandal surfaced just as even more disclosures that MWAA board members have been padding their expense accounts were exposed. Federal appointee Bob Brown — whose term has already expired — charged the authority nearly $2,500 to attend the March funeral of former MWAA Chairman Charles Snelling. In addition to food and lodging, Brown’s bloated bill included an expensive unrestricted plane ticket and $700-plus for a chauffeured car.
Public outcry recently forced MWAA to cancel lucrative insider contracts with former board members and employees, but the damage to the authority’s reputation has already been done. Given its unilateral power to raise tolls on the Dulles Toll Road by $17 billion over the next 50 years to finance the $6 billion Dulles Rail project, such freewheeling spending by MWAA board members on themselves and their progeny is even more reprehensible.
MWAA is currently accepting “public comments” regarding the escalating tolls it has already decided to impose on Northern Virginia commuters starting next year. Public hearings scheduled for next month in Ashburn, Reston and McLean are designed to convey the false impression that MWAA actually cares what the public thinks. The behavior of MWAA’s board members suggests otherwise.
