A promotion for the Big Dig guy?

March 15, 2006

Richard Capka may not be a household name, but chances are you’ve heard about his most notable professional challenge: Boston’s Big Dig, which at $14.6 billion, was the most expensive highway project in the history of the world.

Capka was the CEO of the project from January 2001 to June 2002 until his position was “terminated” (i.e., fired). Though the Big Dig came under fire for escalating costs, delays, and engineering breakdowns, Capka also came under fire for political controversies such as lucrative severance packages for several Big Dig lawyers.

What’s Capka up to now? He’s been nominated by Bush to become the head of the Federal Highway Administration. John Kerry isn’t going for the idea.

Former presidential candidate John Kerry said Tuesday he will prevent the former head of Boston’s $14.6 billion Big Dig, Richard Capka, from becoming head of the Federal Highway Administration.

“I’m afraid Richard Capka could be the Brownie of highways,” Kerry said, referring to former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown, who became the scapegoat for the inept federal response to Hurricane Katrina. […]

Sen. Kerry, D-Mass., said he will place a hold on Capka’s nomination, which would prevent the Senate from considering his nomination.

“Why on earth would he get a promotion?” Kerry said. “It looks like the administration is going to repeat a stunning pattern of rewarding people who screw up.”

Yeah, that seems to be something of a pattern with these guys.

Can you just imagine Bill Frist demanding an up or down vote on this guy?

  • I think Kerry misspoke when he said that Capka could be the “Brownie” of highways. I think he meant to say “Bush”, referring to the President who has mishandled everything he has ever touched…Oil exploration companies, The Texas Rangers, Iraq, Our Country, etc., etc.

  • Capka is also certainly qualified under Bush thinking for ANY other position in government.
    Why not the put him in as assistant secretary for public health emergency preparedness?
    Remembering the administration quote about Allen’s fittness as a Federal judicial candidate, dispite his lack of judicial experience.
    “He thinks outside the box.”

    Allen doesn’t have a choice. He’s never been able to think inside the box, because he doesn’t have the background.
    The same can be said of all the other outside the box hacks.

  • Good for Kerry stepping up, I mean its obvious how inept this guy is, Its about time somebody pointed this out before a federal emergency.

  • The pattern seems to be to try to pick someone who they’ve got an excuse to say knows something about the area the person is being nominated to work in, but who they also know has a track record of playing the game & being real open to corruption.

  • I’m very glad Kerry is going to put a hold on Dick “Big Dig” Capka’s nomination, but speaking of “people who screw up” … I think of Gore (2000), Kerry (2004), the current elected/appointed Democrats (other than Feingold, Dean, Edwards, a few others).

  • Well this seems to be totally in keeping with the administration. Appointing people that may have a little knowledge about a particular but can’t operate well in practice.

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