The airports authority overseeing the $6 billion Dulles Rail project is likely to have a permanent watchdog imposed on it by the end of the year. On Thursday, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., inserted, into must-pass federal transportation legislation, a provision that would create a permanent inspector general’s office inside the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
The inspector general would keep year-round watch over the authority, which has been under intense criticism after a federal investigator revealed spending excesses, contracting problems and lax ethics policies. The airports authority would pay for the inspector.
“This is to provide transparency and accountability and make sure the governance issues are going to be addressed,” Wolf spokesman Dan Scandling said.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s inspector general revealed last month that airports authority members spent $4,800 on three Hawaiian dinners, $238 on two bottles of wine and $9,200 for a plane ticket to Prague, among other questionable expenses. Federal investigators also questioned the authority’s lax ethics rules and contracting practices.
The Washington Examiner reported that the authority awarded a contract to a former board member to help add Ethiopian flowers to Washington Dulles International Airport’s cargo business. The Examiner also first reported the authority’s $800,000 no-bid contract to have its own organization studied.
Airports authority officials promised last month to tighten policies and rein in board members’ spending.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood promised to send a federal official in to oversee the authority’s cleanup efforts, though he has not yet done so.
“We are actively engaged in a search process for the accountability officer and are working to fill the position as quickly as possible,” DOT spokeswoman Sasha Johnson said.
This isn’t the first time Wolf has sought to address perceived problems with the airports authority through federal legislation. He earlier ushered through Congress a law adding new board members and expelling board members whose terms had expired.
But the airports authority has yet to comply with that law, saying that Virginia and D.C. must pass similar legislation before it can allow any new members to vote or force out members whose terms have expired.
Airports authority officials said they are aware of Wolf’s legislation, but offered no other comment on it.
