Late last week, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano announced the makeup of the county’s Transit Advisory Committee (TAC), the body tasked with overseeing the newly-privatized Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) bus system. Many of the appointed committee members have the skill sets necessary (e.g. financial consulting and labor) to oversee one of the nation’s largest suburban bus systems, but it’s unclear whether any of the committee members takes the bus regularly. And one Mangano appointee, in fact, is affiliated with an industry that stands to benefit directly from the TAC’s decisions: taxis.
Lawrence Blessinger, Jr. serves as the Vice President of All Island Transportation, Nassau County’s largest taxi service. Because the TAC has the authority to “approve, disapprove, propose modifications to or negotiate changes to…budgets, fare structures, fees and service adjustments,” Blessinger’s business activities could represent a conflict of interest. If the TAC decides to cut routes or raise fares, his company would presumably fill the gap and stand to benefit from increased business.
The broader taxi industry seems to have taken note of this as well.
According to campaign finance reports, since County Executive Mangano began considering privatizing Nassau County’s buses in July, 2010, the taxi industry has donated $9,250 to the County Executive’s campaign coffers. Mr. Blessinger himself has donated $2,000.
It is imperative that TAC members are committed to serving the interests of Nassau’s 32 million annual bus riders, particularly because a public process for TAC meetings has yet to be determined. Given Mr. Blessinger’s business interests, that commitment remains suspect.
Im glad to be from a small city. But even in Eugene we have issues with the city. Bus routes are being cut, the city is spending millions on new bus lanes and taking away car lanes on busy road to make them bus only. Polls here show the people do not want the city to do what they are doing but it doesnt matter. Recently people with anti-bus signs were being fined 100’s of dollars a day for having no permits to have these signs.
[…] Long Island taxi industry—Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano handed a windfall to the taxi industry by naming Lawrence Blessinger Jr., vice president of Nassau County’s largest taxi service, to the council that oversees the county’s bus system. Route cuts mean more business for cabs, and the taxi industry will now have a vote when service changes are on the table. […]
What does Eugene have to do with Nassau County? Why are you using this post to lambaste BRT which will provide significantly improved transit service? At least the LTD Board members ride the bus and are responsive to the community. The cuts in service in Eugene are the result of the drop in payroll taxes not some misguided privatization scheme as in Nassau County.