Comments on: DiNapoli: MTA spending frivolously on service contracts

By: DiNapoli: MTA needs $10bn for capital plans :: Second Ave. Sagas | A New York City Subway Blog

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:30:20 +0000

[...] Comptroller Week on Second Ave. Sagas. Hot on the heels of his report that the MTA is spending frivolously on contracts, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has issued another report on the state on [...]

By: Scott E

Scott E — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:46:11 +0000

Fair enough. And now that I think about it, I did once see an ad from the MTA in the “Public Notices” section of the New York Post… seeking bids for a contractor to furnish ten pairs of work boots. For the price of the ad, they probably could’ve gone to the nearest K-Mart (no Walmart in the city) and picked them up themselves.

By: dutch86

dutch86 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:34:50 +0000

Again DiNapoli, who failed to answer a single accounting/audit question correctly in getting his posiiton is grandstanding. Yes, the operating agencies’(not mother MTA, by the way)projects cost too much. Yes, too many chiefs make any decision an incredibly lengthy process. But, the accuser has neither the experience nor the credentials to make the accusations. This is noise, not substance. I speak from decades of personnal experince…

By: Benjamin Kabak

Benjamin Kabak — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:31:45 +0000

The report can be found right here. I linked to it in the last line of this post too.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:23:38 +0000

I agree with you if that’s the case, but I’d imagine that sort of expense would be grouped under those projects and not “misc contracts.” In either case, they need to get their stuff together and organize their books or be held accountable for where the money is going. Blowing nearly a billion dollars in outside contracts in a year should be a clear indicator that they need to expand their workforce instead of artificially scaling through outsourcing. They already don’t have enough people on staff to maintain smooth operation of the current system.

I’d like to get a copy of this report to review it myself. If anyone has a link, drop it in the comments.

By: Scott E

Scott E — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:17:05 +0000

After I wrote that comment, I re-read the article and noticed that clause. And I agree, if the decision is trivial, like “what color should we re-paint the iron columns”, then the decision should be made in-house (don’t know if it actually is or not).

But even for moderate-sized project, companies often outsource; this way, when the project is done, so are the people. When using in-house staffing, you then need to find work for these folks once the task is complete. Also, I would venture to say that some of the liabilities are shifted to the consultants if something goes wrong.

Another question (to which I have no answer) is whether the 7-Line design work really falls in this category. I’m sure the MTA pays for it out of its capital budget, then applies for reimbursement from the city. So is that included in the above numbers?

By: petey

petey — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:30:26 +0000

“Do you really want the guys who have operated, but never actually BUILT, transit infrastructure designing your new tunnels…”

this is a red herring. the article above in fact says:

“Hand in hand with this recommendation was the comptroller’s finding that “the MTA contracted for some services that would appear to be within their in-house capabilities.” DiNapoli wants the MTA to document “the need to contract out for such services.” That’s being diplomatic. If the in-house capabilities exist, the MTA shouldn’t be paying anyone else to carry out its tasks.”

By: Scott E

Scott E — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:29:50 +0000

Taking a broad swipe at the outsourced Engineering work is really unfair. The MTA has several gigantic capital projects going on (Second Ave Subway, 7-extension, East Side Access) which I’m sure are a large chunk of this $881M — all which involved tunnel boring and other critically important aspects. Do you really want the guys who have operated, but never actually BUILT, transit infrastructure designing your new tunnels, or would you trust the experts who have designed rail tunnels around the world — who can figure out the mechanical properties of rock (or soil) in which the tunnel will be placed, and how to build it to keep it from collapsing?

Just like work being done around your own home: there are some small DIY projects that can be done in-house, but for the big-ticket items, you hire a professional.

By: DiNapoli: MTA spending frivolously on service contracts :: Second … IT Consultant

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:48:56 +0000

[...] posted here: DiNapoli: MTA spending frivolously on service contracts :: Second … By admin | category: management consulting | tags: amr, Consulting?, epresented-the-most, [...]