Report Finds Corruption at Waterfront Watchdog

The New York Times reports:

The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, which was created in the 1950s to break the mob’s grip on the docks, became its own bastion of lawlessness, employing the same corrupt, self-serving methods of the pier-based gangsters it was supposed to pursue, investigators said in a scathing report released Tuesday.

Top officials at the $11-million-a-year bistate agency divided spoils, helped cronies evade the law and thwarted security provisions meant to safeguard the port against terrorism, according to the report by the New York State inspector general, which came after a nearly two-year investigation that the commission had vainly sought to block in court.

As a result of the findings, virtually the entire executive staff has been ousted — including the New Jersey commissioner, Michael J. Madonna, a former police officer and union representative, it was announced Tuesday. The former New York commissioner, Michael C. Axelrod, also faulted for abuses, was not reappointed after his three-year term ended last year. New leadership has since been put in place, officials said, and is in the process of instituting changes.

Will a single payer health care system have these problems?