Nov 12, 2008 7:53 am US/Eastern
I-Team Follow Up: Lavish MBTA Lunches Under Review
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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The I-Team has learned that before every monthly MBTA meeting, the board treats itself to a catered lunch.
WBZ
Are free lunches coming to the end of the line for the MBTA board of directors? After an
I-Team investigation revealed elaborate catered meals before their monthly meetings, the long standing tradition of free food is now officially under review.
That's not enough for some lawmakers, who say the financially strapped agency needs to be more responsible with the taxpayer's money.
The I-Team witnessed hot chafing dishes being set up with multiple entrees. There were salads too. These free monthly buffets take place in a private board room which is marked "Do Not Enter".
The MBTA is in
dire financial health, essentially broke. It recently had to borrow $53 million just to pay basic operating expenses, and it has $8 billion in debt.
State Senator Jim Timilty, who sits on the transportation committee, learned about the tradition of catered meals by watching the I-Team. He couldn't stomach what he saw. "If you're an agency riddled with debt, that you can't make payroll, than the practice should be stopped."
Timilty also believes that the agency needs more oversight in general. "I think they have to look for more efficiency before we can do a fare increase, or a parking increase, and every efficiency hasn't been looked at because there are still catered lunches going on there."
These catering costs are relatively small compared to the rest of the MBTA's budget, but it's what they represent that angers David Tuerck of the Beacon Hill Institute. "The fact that they hang onto these perks, even when they are suffering huge embarrassments about financial losses such as the T is experiencing, is an indication of how far a road we need to travel in order to start cutting costs in this state."
Tuerck would like to seem them start cutting those costs, instead of chicken.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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