Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Chairman Charles Snelling finally admitted that he deliberately misled the public when he stated it was “beyond dispute” that Dulles Rail was “on time and on budget.” Turns out it is neither — a fact Snelling and his fellow MWAA Board members knew all along, stripping the last pretenses of transparency and accountability from one of the largest infrastructure projects in the nation. Snelling later acknowledged that construction managers warned MWAA that the opening of Phase I would be delayed six months and that unexpected expenses were depleting the project’s contingency fund. Snelling claims he denied there was a problem because he believed the contractor would be able to make up the lost time — and the public would presumably be none the wiser. Since when do public officials get to lie if they think the news might be better later on?
Snelling’s dissembling is particularly troublesome because Fairfax County taxpayers are responsible for all Phase I cost overruns, which are now approximately $240 million to cover the six-month delay. Taxpayers can mainly thank former Fairfax County Board Chairman Gerry Connolly, who is now a Democratic member of Congress, and current board Chairwoman Sharon Bulova. Snelling’s less-than-candid assurances were an attempt to deprive taxpayers of a true accounting of this runaway project before November’s county and state elections.
