Mass Pike head resigns amid criticism

Massachusetts Turnpike Director Alan LeBovidge resigned on Wednesday, a month after he was widely criticized for a pair of cost-cutting moves.

In a tart resignation letter, he recounted being hired to institute "reform before revenue."

He wrote, "However, the last two months have made it clear to me that the basic operating premise has shifted."

LeBovidge took heat for shutting off the blue lights on the Zakim Bridge, one of the Boston's signature spans, to save the $5,000 monthly electricity bill. He was also criticized for massive traffic backups on Easter Sunday after his decision not to use overtime to replace tolltakers who called in sick for the holiday.

In the aftermath of the moves, the famously blunt-speaking LeBovidge was unapologetic.

"Sometimes you have to grin and bear it," he told reporters amid the public outcry over the Easter backups. "You know, if you don't have money, you can't buy food, and you h ave to go hungry sometimes."

Gov. Deval Patrick and Transportation Secretary James Aloisi initially backed LeBovidge. But state Republicans called for LeBovidge's resignation, and eventually both Democratic executives undercut LeBovidge. Patrick and Aloisi announced a series of steps to prevent future holiday backups. They also reilluminated the Zakim lights with donated money, while asking LeBovidge to develop a long-term solution.

"Our job is to keep faith with taxpayers while also keeping faith with drivers who use our roads and bridges," Aloisi said in a statement.

The Turnpike faces $2.2 billion in long-term debts from inheriting the Big Dig construction project. It also has an operating deficit this year.

In a letter to Aloisi, LeBovidge said his resignation was effective immediately.

"As you know, in keeping with my mandate, I approach everything at the MTA from a financial, not political or other, viewpoint. From my perspective, everythi ng must pass a cost-benefit test. Given today's circumstances, I cannot in good conscience say to the members of the board, or more importantly our tollpayers, that my daily contribution to this mandate is cost justified when measured against my compensation," he wrote.

LeBovidge was unpaid.

The resignation echoed one earlier this year by former Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen. He was recruited to run the state's transportation bureaucracy but later criticized for lacking the political skills to move the governor's agenda. Aloisi replaced Cohen in January, but was quickly criticized himself for clashing with Turnpike board members, Senate President Therese Murray and publicly deriding a Boston Globe reporter.

He subsequently apologized and blamed his faults on his "passion for realizing the governor's reform agenda."

LeBovidge became wealthy as an accountant, before turning in his later years to public service. He served as Revenue commissioner for former Gov. Mitt Romney.

Patrick tapped him in Nov. 2007 to serve as executive director of the Mass Turnpike, a notorious patronage haven.