Bonnie Lutze

These are the questions I sent MassDOT one week ago. I requested an interview with the Secretary of Transportation in hopes of asking these in person but the request was denied.  1. What "checks and balances" exist to ensure that timecards, signed under the penalty of perjury, match the physical presence of employees at their job sites?   2. Why did it require external surveillance by a news organization to identify consistent 3-to-5-hour gaps between payroll filings and actual staff departures?   3. Has anyone at MassDOT ever questioned the physical well-being and/or safety of employees who operate heavy equipment “working” a full overnight shift, a full overtime day shift, and 2 more additional OT hours before their next full overnight shift begins? That would be 18 hours of work in a 24-hour period.   4.What is the protocol for supervisors who certify these timecards?   5. How will MassDOT address this issue?   MassDOT’s response: “MassDOT takes any allegation of improperly reporting time worked extremely seriously. Not only do we expect all employees to accurately report time worked and supervisors to properly review and certify time records — it’s the law. We have launched an investigation into this matter and placed these employees on administrative leave. If anyone is found to have been intentionally misreporting their time or misusing taxpayer dollars, they will be held accountable.”

We destroyed Iraq. We destroyed Afghanistan. And the people behind all that destruction, all that killing, the people who sent me to war are still in power. Still sending young Americans to die thousands of miles from home.