Reilly describes himself as cost-recovery expert

Friday, April 29, 2005

LYNN - State Attorney General Thomas Reilly vowed Thursday to defend taxpayer dollars by pursuing an investigation into cost overruns within Boston's $14.6-billion Big Dig construction project.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce, Reilly assured his audience at the Knights of Columbus Hall that Bechtel Corp., the project's primary contractor, would be held liable for engineering and architectural problems, as well as for the cost of long-term maintenance.

The Big Dig tunnels are leaking, while concrete chunks and other debris have fallen on passing automobiles in recent months, making national headlines scarcely a year after the system of underground roadways and bridges was opened.

"Bechtel owns those leaks and the long-term maintenance.Either we get resolution, or we go to litigation," said Reilly, noting that the attorney general's office wasn't previously known for cost-recovery efforts, but that has changed.

Reilly, a Springfield native whose political agenda seemingly includes a run for governor on the Democratic ticket, said he supports state-sanctioned gambling, workforce development initiatives, substance abuse awareness programs, low-cost college tuition, and reform of the state's automobile insurance industry. According to Reilly, Massachusetts has the highest auto insurance rates in the county because the industry isn't subject to the pressures of a free market economy.

As for guiding the state's economy, Reilly said something must be done to stymie the exodus of highly-educated residents between 25-35-years-old who simply can't afford to live in Massachusetts, given the exorbitant cost of housing, education, and the lack of jobs."Massachusetts is the only state in the country that has actually lost population," he said. "There is tremendous economic uncertainty in Massachusetts. People are voting with their feet. They're leaving and if it was not for the immigrants, the numbers would be staggering."

Reilly said taxpayer dollars should be spread across the state. "We need a state government that looks beyond Boston," he said, referring to communities like Lynn that might benefit from rail transportation funds that are currently being spent on the Big Dig.

Now in his second term as attorney general, an office he attained after serving eight years as Middlesex County district attorney, Reilly asserted his support for school desegregation plans. After all, Wayne Budd, his closest friend while growing up, was an African American, he said.

Reilly, married and the father of three daughters, described himself as a misguided youth at 16, the year his father died. By age 22, he was focused with driving ambition, much to the credit of Budd's father, an ex-Marine who took him under wing. "There's a life lesson in that," he said. "Never give up on a child."

Mayor Edward Clancy Jr. said Reilly "has done a bang-up job as attorney general," while Gov. Mitt Romney "has been in Des Moines more often than Lynn during his term."

Clancy said Reilly will "chase down the Big Dig whale like Ahab did."