Dear Editor: Of the many managerial difficulties with the Whitman Administration’s implementation of the new auto emission testing system, the most troubling realization is that the entire debacle could have, and should have, been avoided. The State of New Jersey has had years to prepare for the new, more stringent emission testing, which is required to meet federal clean air standards and prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from withholding more than $1 billion in transportation aid to the State. Sensible and prudent policy ought to have dictated proper planning and thorough testing and troubleshooting prior to the start of the testing. Most importantly, it should have been essential to hire a company with the professional experience and expertise needed to implement a testing program which will impact air quality for New Jersey families and over $1 billion in aid. Unfortunately, none of this occurred in New Jersey. That is one of the reasons I voted against the legislation establishing the specifications for this program in committee and on the Senate floor when I served in the New Jersey State Legislature. Ultimately, a Governor’s responsibility is to design a vision and implement the managerial plan necessary to bring that vision to reality. Again and again, the Whitman Administration simply ignores the difficult process of governing and simply addresses serious challenges in a capricious and almost foolish manner. While New Jersey motorists will recover from five hour waits, New Jerseyans deserve a more efficient and responsive Governor. For the emission tests, the Whitman Administration designed a radically exclusive set of requirements for a potential bidder. As a result, the $400 million contract for the program was awarded to the only bidder–Parsons Infrastructure and Technology of Pasadena, California. The company had never run an operation of this magnitude and was being sued by a Los Angeles transit agency for $65 million in fraudulent over billing. Adding to the questions surrounding Parsons’ selection was the fact that the company had close ties to governor Whitman and Republican fundraising activities in New Jersey. *Parsons contributed $60,000 to various GOP campaign committees in 1997. *Former Republican State Committee Chairman Frank B. Holman represented Parsons at the Department of Treasury’s bidding conference for the project. *The company awarded $63 million engineering contract to a close associate of GOP Senate President Donald T. DiFrancesco. *Carl Golden, who served as Governor Whitman’s press secretary during her first term as Governor, is acting as official spokesman for Parsons which has given his present company a lucrative public relations and advertising contract estimated at $15 million. The results of the Whitman Administration=s failure to implement the new testing system in a proper and competent manner became painfully apparent when the program started. Backups at inspection stations caused long lines and waiting times of up to five hours, and this occurred in a week when volume at the stations was about half of the normal level. In addition, tires of several cars were damaged beyond repair by the new machinery. The Governor’s response to impose minimal fines on Parsons and “threaten” the company with revocation of its contract, and to open inspection stations an hour earlier than normal and consider other options to move cars through the lines more expeditiously, is much too little too late. What occurred when the new poorly-designed system was implemented was precisely what should have been anticipated and addressed before the program started. Instead, the incompetence of the Whitman Administration has resulted in another fiasco for New Jersey motorists and an embarrassment to our State while Parsons’ inspectors conduct on-the-job training with New Jersey motorists as their test subjects. The problems with the emissions testing system continues a disturbing pattern of mismanagement for New Jersey drivers which has developed and worsened during the Whitman Administration. EZ-Pass was to be installed on the entire New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway by 1998; yet the Parkway only recently opened its first EZ-Pass toll plaza and none are currently available on the Turnpike. Here, once again, a private company with close ties to the Governor was contracted for a nearly $500 million job it could not competently handle. Meanwhile, drivers from surrounding states such as New York and Delaware have been using EZ-Pass for many months. In addition, the Transportation Trust Fund has been bonded to such an extent that it is scheduled just to pay off debt it has incurred starting the next fiscal year. In fact, the Administration dawdles and refuses to identify a new independent revenue source to ensure that New Jersey’s infrastructure is rebuilt. We have the fourth oldest infrastructure in the nation, yet we cannot find the resolve to ensure that our infrastructure is properly renovated and postured in this new millennium. New Jersey deserves better from its leaders. Motorists are tired of paying the price when exorbitant contracts are doled out to companies whose qualifications for the job are based upon politics instead of competence. It is time to put New Jersey drivers first. James McGreevey Mayor of Woodbridge