Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll should be leading the charge to investigate the sham awarding of a $750 million highway service plaza contract to an Irish company – instead they’re ducking and defending the questionable bidding process.
By initially giving the contract to private equity-backed giant Applegreen, state highway officials sent a message to every contractor in the world that in Massachusetts, the fix is in.
The question is not whether the bidding on the massive, 35-year contract to take over and rebuild 18 service plazas was legitimate – we already know it was tainted. The question is what role did Healey and Driscoll and Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt play in the service plaza shenanigans.
This is a serious question that goes beyond the amateur sle