Rail details emerge in AG inquiry

Kevin Landrigan wades through the 200+ pages of the Attorney General's investigative files to report on how so many state lawmakers became involved in the renewal of a railroad lease for one of their colleagues.

Leishman admitted to prosecutors that, fearing he would lose the lease, he enlisted the help of Democratic state Rep. David Campbell – no relation – who had locked horns with Commissioner Campbell over whether to increase the state gasoline tax.

“On June 10, he (Leishman) told Rep. David Campbell to report a pressure with Commissioner Campbell during the budget committee of conference,” according to an interview Leishman completed with the AG’s office.

During that same session with prosecutors, Leishman confirmed that former House Speaker Douglas Scamman, R-Stratham, got into the act on Leishman’s behalf and lobbied Gov. Lynch.

As Landrigan notes, and we will emphasize, the Attorney General's Office cleared Leishman and all other state officials are any criminal wrong doing. Associate Attorney General Ann Rice referred the inquiry to the House Ethics Committee.

House Ethics Rules prevent any Representative from using his official position to gain anything of value that would not have been gained without that office. We know that he asked his fellow lawmakers to help secure his lease renewal. The question for the House Ethics Committee is whether Rep. Leishman would have had so many colleagues leap to his aide had he not been a State Representative at the time he was negotiating with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.

A Victory for Right To Know

While we're in the mood to praise state government, we would like to thank the Attorney General's Office for their swift cooperation in releasing the full investigative file in the complaint by Pan Am Systems against the Milford/Bennington Railroad, simply known as the Leishman Railroad Lease.

Associate Attorney General Ann Rice followed through on her promise to provide the entire file in an electronic format within a week. Today, I picked up a CD with the over 200 pages of correspondence and notes, with only two cell phone numbers redacted. The AG's Office charged us $1.00. This is how public information requests should be handled by state government, and we thank Attorney Rice for her diligence in exceeding the standards of New Hampshire's Right to Know Law.

We will upload the entire file shortly, and make it available for review online. Analyzing the investigation will take longer, as there is a lot of source material to examine.

On a side note, Attorney Rice added a cover letter to the file. It was on Kelly Ayotte's letterhead, with her name blacked out and Micahel Delaney's typed neatly in its place. We salute the Attorney General's Office for its frugality.

Leishman awarded railroad contract despite ethics investigation

Despite a pending Ethics Committee investigation, the Executive Council has approved a lease agreement between the state and Representative Peter Leishman, as reported by Kevin Landrigan in the Nashua Telegraph.

Associate Attorney General Ann Rice concluded last week that Leishman and other lawmakers were not guilty of criminal wrongdoing, despite claims that they tried to influence Transportation Commissioner George Campbell to recommend renewal of the lease with Leishman.

The Executive Council unanimously approved the lease without debate, and Gov. John Lynch said he supported it.

"I think the attorney general looked at it in a very comprehensive way,'' Lynch told reporters after the council meeting at Manchester Community College. "That's why the council approved the lease renewal without any discussion.'' (more)

I spoke with Rice yesterday and requested her report on the Leishman investigation. She said there was no report written, but that the entire file would be available for public review within a week. We will share that information with you when it's available. It's regrettable that the Governor and Council would rush this decision before either Leishman's actions are made public or the Ethics Committee convenes.

The investigation and the Ethics Committee may indeed show that neither Leishman, Finance Committee Chair Marjorie Smith, the Governor, nor the handful of other lawmakers who weighed in with Campbell in the case did anything wrong. Why not find out before awarding a contract that can't be reversed for ten years?

The clubby comfort of State House insiders awarding each other contracts is wrong, whether or not it broke the law.

Smith brings Burling into Leishman Lease Deal

Kevin Landrigran reports in the Nashua Telegraph that Finance Chair Marjorie Smith claims that veteran State House insider Peter Burling got her involved in efforts to renew a lease deal for State Representative Peter Leishman:

Smith said it was former state Sen. Peter Burling, of Cornish, who first raised to her concerns that Leishman's pursuit of the lease was jeopardizing the future of bringing back passenger rail service to the state.

Pan Am owns the track from the New Hampshire border to Concord that would provide the rail link for commuters traveling to Boston.

Burling is chairman of the New Hampshire Rail Authority that last month applied to the Obama administration to get competitive stimulus money for the rail effort.

Last month, Fink informed Campbell that due to the state's failure to properly bid the work, he was suspending negotiations with DOT officials about the passenger rail project.

"When Peter Burling mentioned Peter Leishman's name and said that the contract with Peter Leishman was interfering with progress on the passenger rail proposals, I replied I thought that the two could be kept separate,'' Smith wrote. (more)

Smith denies putting any pressure on Campbell to renew the lease, and her letter to Campbell indicates that Campbell didn't know that Leishman had a lease renewal pending before being speaking with Smith. No one involved in the case has yet to explain why so many public officials were taking such an active interest in a lease agreement that nets the State less than $10,000 annually.

Railroad: DOT not getting fair value

John DiStaso reports in the Union Leader that Pan Am chief David Fink now claims his railroad would generate higher revenues for the state than the rail line operated by State Representative Peter Leishman:

Pan Am Railways, a subsidiary of Nashua-based Pan Am Systems, asks in letters to DOT Commissioner George Campbell "whether the state of New Hampshire is maximizing the value of its assets" and charges that "the state is losing thousands of dollars in potential revenue at a time when significant budget cuts and layoffs are occurring." (more)

Leishman claims that while his company is allowed to charge higher rates for use of the track, doing do would force his only customers to use trucks instead of trains.

Leishman Lease Deal and Extension

The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy has obtained a copy of the 1999 lease agreement between the State of New Hampshire and Milford-Bennington Railroad Inc., owned by State Representative Peter Leishman, along with the six-month extension agreed to by the Executive Council on July 15, 2009.

Railroad Lease

State GOP Seeks Records on Railroad Lease

The Union Leader's John DiStaso reports that the NH Republican State Committee is seeking public records to find out whether Governor John Lynch interfered with a railroad lease agreement for State Representative Peter Leishman:

Pan Am chief executive David Fink has charged that members of the powerful House Finance Committee pressured Campbell to renew the contract, despite Pan Am's stated interest in submitting a competitive proposal, because, Fink charged, the Milford-Bennington firm is owned by one of their fellow committee members, state Rep. Peter Leishman, D-Peterborough.

When questions arose at the State House about the contract several weeks go, Lynch assured state Rep. Douglas Scamman, R-Stratham, that any issues holding up the renewal would be resolved within 24 hours, according to The Telegraph newspaper. The day after that newspaper report, Fink released his allegations of political favoritism and pressure to the New Hampshire Union Leader, sparking the attorney general's probe. (more)

State clears tracks for rail investigation

In the Nashua Telegraph, Kevin Landrigan secures the first interviews with the parties involved in the disputed railroad lease deal now under investigation by the Executive Council:

The council set aside the 10-year lease recommendation of Transportation Commissioner George Campbell until the investigation is complete.

In his first interview, Rep. Peter Leishman, D-Peterborough, and a former Milford legislator, called the claims of Pan Am Railways President David Fink "bizarre."

Fink, who wanted to bid on the railroad business, claimed he could double the revenue Leishman has been sending to the state."The Finks have made quite a stink and made very serious allegations against me and the commissioner," Leishman said. "That whole line of claims is just bizarre and I expect these questions will dispel all those wild charges."

During a telephone interview, Fink said he thought Leishman had the lease contract politically wired and praised the council's action.

"I am astounded. I thought the fix was in. I am delighted," Fink said.

"The only thing I am asking for is that they tell the truth. Let's put it out to bid." (more)

Council asks AG to investigate Leishman lease

Union Leader reporter Clynton Namuo writes that the Executive Council has the Attorney General's Office to investigate a lease renewal for State Representative Peter Leishman, possibly under pressure from State House colleagues:

At the behest of the Executive Council, the state Attorney General’s Office is looking into allegations that a freight railroad contract renewal was fast-tracked in violation of an existing agreement in order to benefit a state lawmaker.

That contract, for state Rep. Peter Leishman’s Milford-Bennington Railroad, was scheduled to be extended through July 2019 at this morning’s executive council meeting, but was instead shortened to only six additional months in order to let the AG’s office investigate. (more)

The prospect for state lawmakers tipping the scales on behalf of their colleagues is very disturbing. We will follow the Attorney General's investigation closely.

Sweetheart Rail Lease getting more attention

The Union Leader's John DiStaso reports on the growing controversy surrounding Transportation Commissioner George Campbell's decision to renew a rail lease owned by State Represenative Peter Leishman, even though Leishman failed to renew it in time:

Fink wrote that Campbell told him "he was currently seeking approval of his budget and that Representative Leishman's membership on the House Finance Committee could adversely affect that budget if the commissioner were to cause any disturbances."

Fink wrote that on July 1, Campbell told him that "he was contacted by House Finance Committee Chairperson Marjorie Smith (D-Strafford County) and was told to execute a renewal of MBRR's agreement.''

Such political interference in a state contract, especially on behalf of a fellow Representative would be highly improper if not outright illegal. Smith denies "contacting Campbell or telling him to execute the contract."

This lease goes before the Executive Council for approval tomorrow. Hopefully, the Council will delay its approval until all information comes to light.

DOT Commissioner lets State Rep renew lease without open bidding

Kevin Landrigan reports in the Nashua Telegraph that DOT Commissioner George Campbell prevented open bidding for a 24- mile section of railroad track currently operated by State Representative Peter Leishman:

Transportation Commissioner George Campbell ducked a major bullet this week in sending to the Executive Council on Wednesday the 10-year renewal lease for the operation of the Milford-Bennington Railroad, a freight line owned by Rep. Peter Leishman, D-Peterborough.

For the past 20 years, Leishman has run the 24-mile, former Boston and Maine track stretch that has rights from Pan-Am Railway since 1987.

It operates daily trains from a Bennington quarry to bring construction material to Granite State Concrete in Milford.

Campbell said Leishman did not properly seek an extension of the lease and when he did submit paperwork, it failed "procedural requirements.'' (more)

It's nice to have state officials looking out for us, even when we fail to submit our paperwork on time. I'm sure lots of New Hampshire citizens who aren't State House insiders get this kind of treatment all the time. Landrigan also reports on renewed efforts to bring commuter rail from Boston to Vermont. Campbell has been seeking $300 million in stimulus money from Washington for the project.

There is much to consider before funding commuter rail

Rep. Peter Leishman (D-Peterborough) is a long-time advocate for passenger rail in New Hampshire. He lays out some of the key questions that need to be answered about bringing commuter rail to Nashua in this morning's Union Leader:

However, other sticking points remain. The owner of the rail line from the New Hampshire border north to Manchester and beyond is controlled by a privately owned railroad company. Officers of that company, Pan Am Railways, have testified before a legislative committee that they would only consider passenger rail service if their company is exempt from any responsibility for an accident, even in the case of gross negligence. I think that most of us would find this requirement hard to swallow.

As we continue with the passenger rail debate, I believe a couple of options deserve serious consideration before we consider spending more than $300 million.

First, working with the MBTA, we need to look at extending commuter rail service to the New Hampshire state line (south Nashua). The cost of this option is substantially less expensive, as most, if not all, of the necessary studies have been completed, and the MBTA owns the rail corridor from south Nashua to Boston.

Second, the New Hampshire Legislature needs to hold noticed public hearings to explore the advantages and disadvantages that would come should the state acquire the Nashua to Manchester railroad corridor for future commuter rail service. This should be done before committing public funds to this project.

Finally, I believe we should enlist the support of New Hampshire bus operators. They could provide service not only from Manchester to the station in Nashua, but from other cities, such as Concord. That would enable New Hampshire to commence an energy-efficient transportation service to serve this corridor, and bus service would significantly reduce the cost of providing service beyond Nashua.