Wednesday, September 19, 2012
MWAA board member will no longer battle spending ouster and will resign instead.
- GOVERNMENT
- Karen Goff
-
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Wednesday that the Commonwealth and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority have reached a settlement with Dennis Martire, the former MWAA Board Member who was was fighting his removal from the group for questionable spending. “Today, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and former board member Dennis Martire reached agreement on the terms of a settlement that put to an end the months of unnecessary and costly litigation between the parties regarding my decision to remove Martire for cause as a board member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority," McDonnell said in a statement. "The full MWAA board considered and approved the terms of the …
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Board member says governor is wrong for trying to cut him from 13-member board.
It has cost the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority $75,000 to cover legal fees of a former board member who is fighting his ouster, The Washington Post reports. Dennis Martire, a Democratic appointee to the 13-member board, says his removal from the group that is charged with constructing Metrorail's Silver Line is politically motivated. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has argued that Martire damaged his credibility with questionable expenses, including spending nearly $9,200 to travel business class to Europe. Martire, an official with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, was appointed to the board by the previous governor, Tim Kaine (D). Martire has clashed with McDonnell over several issues, including a labor-…
Former supervisor Stevens Miller weighs in on litigation over Martire’s seat.
The Metropolitan Washington Airport’s Authority Board has been the subject of wide-ranging criticism for its overly generous travel policy granted to its directors. The generous travel policy led Gov. Bob McDonnell to remove Loudoun resident Dennis Martire from the MWAA Board, citing Martire’s travel on behalf of MWAA as his cause for doing so. But just this week a Fairfax judge ruled that McDonnell had not demonstrated cause to remove Martire. It’s not surprising that the judge ruled against McDonnell. No taxpayer money was involved — numerous MWAA directors traveled using funds derived from the service fees paid by airlines and other airport users. However, most people would probably be in favor of a more austere travel policy if it …
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
As Virginia GOP pushes for control of panel, resistance continues with court ruling against governor
As legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) works its way through Congress to rework the membership of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Virginia leaders and the existing board remain tied up in court over the current membership. A Fairfax County Circuit Court judge ruled against Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) on Monday, leaving one seat on the MWAA board vacant as the parties resolve the dispute. McDonnell attempted to remove Dennis Martire — a Democratic appointee who has come under fire for a $9,000 plane ticket to Prague for a transportation conference that MWAA authorized — and replace him with Caren Merrick, a Republican who lost her run for delegate in the 31st District last fall. At issue is whether McDonnell had …
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
As Virginia presses to seat new members, DC threatens litigation.
The headaches never seem to end at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. MWAA has come under scrutiny for congress spending by its board of directors, its oversight of Metro's Silver Line, its reliance on Dulles Toll Road fees to pay for the rail project and its use of project labor agreements to complete its construction. And now, as the board of directors meets July 18 for a meeting, its membership remains in dispute. Earlier this year, Congress approved changes to the board's membership that give Virginia more representation. Gov. Bob McDonnell has pressed to have two new members seated, and has also attempted to immediately replace D.C.'s Dennis L. Martire with one of his picks: McLean businesswoman Caren Merrick. To …
Friday, June 15, 2012
Virginia seeks more control over panel, while Martire tries to hang on to his seat representing the state.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Dennis Martire says he did not violate code.
When Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) board member Dennis Martire has on his work hat, he is aggressively advocating for project labor agreements that often result in contractors hiring employees who are represented by unions. As vice president of Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), Martire has posted numerous articles on his employer’s website praising anyone who uses project labor agreements, such as the Community College of Allegheny County for its K.Leroy Irvis Science Center project. But some believe Martire may have crossed an ethical line on April 6 when MWAA passed a resolution that supports the pro-union labor agreement for the second phase of extending Metrorail to Dulles International …
Bob Bruhns
9:57 am on Monday, October 1, 2012
These and other very questionable MWAA practices appear to have added up to several million dollars of inappropriate fund allocations. Not good!!! But don't let that blind you to the multi-Billion dollar inappropriate fund allocations that appear to be present in Dulles Rail Phase I and Phase II. Our leaders and media talk about a million or two; why do they not SCREAM about several Billion … more ›