Editorial: Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission fails transparency test

There are certain things we can depend upon in Pennsylvania. As certain as the sun will rise, there will be potholes, there will be football rivalries and the state Legislature will lock horns over something that should be an easy compromise.

But hey, sometimes the potholes get paved (except at the Pittsburgh Mills). Sometimes your rivals have a year when they don’t play each other. Sometimes — albeit rarely —the General Assembly will find common ground on something the lawmakers all care about.

However, one thing we know to be as reliable as gravity is the increase in tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It happens like clockwork and is always announced with press releases that try to make it sound like it’s not as big of a bite out of the travelers’ wallets as it might seem.

It might not be fanfare, but it is at least full disclosure.

What was not announced so gracefully was the slate of pay raises to Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission executives that were passed in March.

March? It’s August. Why are we just talking about it now?

Because the raises were approved during a closed-door meeting. They were only revealed when PennLive investigated.

The raises totaled $367,107. The largest went to the commission’s CEO, Mark Compton. It was $86,000 and represented a 33% increase in his salary, which now comes to approximately $348,000.

That one raise can make you bristle. The raise alone is more than many people make in a year. It’s enough to buy a really nice car to drive on the turnpike, with enough left over to pay the tolls.

The whole package of raises is a lot, but it’s not the kind of stunning amount that would bring traffic screeching to a halt. It was recommended by a study. There were issues of retention. There were concerns about what is standard in similar agencies.

Pennsylvanians who make less or who regularly have money drafted out of their checking accounts for their E-ZPass tolls might grumble about the increases. That is more than understandable. But the issue of talent retention and the possibility of losing qualified and valuable individuals to the private sector or another agency is a legitimate concern.

The real problem here is not the raises. It’s the secrecy.

The commission is an agency that serves the public. It includes the state Secretary of Transportation and other commissioners appointed by the governor with the responsibility of administering and maintaining some of the state’s most important roads. It is responsible for vast amounts of money.

Any agency with that pedigree must be trustworthy. There is no trust without transparency.

Did the commission eventually give up the information when pushed? Yes. But the raises should have been disclosed without demand five months ago.

Transparency when there is no other option is not transparency that can be trusted. Unfortunately, it’s a pattern Pennsylvanians know too well.