Usually, the dinners are not so lavish as the feast on June 20, according to the authority. In 2005, 10 management dinner meetings took place, and “HNTB paid for all of the meals and was reimbursed by the authority,” the agency says in a statement. The total cost was $2,867 or $287 per meeting, at which six to nine people attended, the statement adds. This year, seven management dinner meetings have been held so far, with six to nine people attending each, and HNTB has been reimbursed for six meetings to the tune of $1719 or $246 each, the authority says. The cost for those events averages out to $30 to $40 per person. The seventh, with the $149-a-head bill, was the one at Eve’s paid by Leonetti.
Ethics regulations absolutely prohibit state officials from indulging in dinners like these, according to state controller Karass. As it declares in his office’s manual for state employees, Maine’s government normally pays for meals only when they are required by work-related travel, are at the “most economical price,” and if they are “critical and necessary for state business.” Contractors asking for expense reimbursement also must comply with these restrictions. As a rule, the limit on a dinner is $18 per person. Karass says that if a workday is extended, “department-wide meetings may in fact include a meal,” but they cannot be “regular and frequent.”
When asked if the turnpike’s management dinner meetings would be permitted under state regulations, Karass answers flatly, “No.”
But he emphasizes that the turnpike authority does not come under his jurisdiction: “They’re pretty much independent. We don’t really have a periscope into what they are doing.”
Indeed, although the Maine Turnpike Authority was, in 1941, a creation of the Legislature, and its board is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate, and legislators must approve its budget, it is in “a unique situation” within state government, according to its spokesman Paradee, in that it receives no state or federal tax dollars. In state-government nomenclature, it is known as an "independent agency."
It has considerable independence. The Legislature’s Transportation Committee theoretically reviews its budget, but the committee chair, state Senator Dennis Damon, a Democrat, calls the budget “a fait accompli.” He adds: “We don’t have a lot of input on it.”
Still, the authority is a state agency, and turnpike tolls are a kind of tax, similar to other state user fees, such as those at state parks. So why should the authority be independent of state standards when it comes to financial ethics?
When asked, Governor John Baldacci responds that it shouldn’t. He says he supports putting independent agencies under the same ethics restrictions governing regular state employees.
When asked specifically if he approves of the management dinners held by turnpike executives, the Democratic chief executive replies in a statement issued by his press office:
“I expect the highest standard of ethical behavior from our government officials whether state officials or independent authorities. ... Employees of state government are governed by state laws which require a code of ethics to ensure honesty, integrity, and independence in government decision making and in the stewardship of public funds. My administration has made an effort to educate state officials of their responsibilities and has adopted a new Code of Ethics for Governmental Financial Stewards. I certainly support applying these same laws and standards to independent authorities as well.”
