FederalDaily.com > Group Says Money Does Grow on Trees

FederalDaily - December 8, 2006

Group Says Money Does Grow on Trees

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) published an analysis Dec. 5 showing that the National Park System generates at least $4 for state and local economies in return for every one federal tax dollar invested in the parks’ annual budget. The group’s system-wide analysis, which looked at 12 individual parks, showed that the National Park System played a major role in attracting and sustaining nearby businesses and communities. Some parks, including Acadia National Park, Maine, and Point Reyes National Park, Calif., generate economic benefits that exceed the government investment in their annual budgets by as much as 14 times, the report said. “This economic study provides hard evidence that national parks generate tremendous value for our economy, and our communities,” said NPCA President Tom Kiernan. But funding is key. The parks are now short more than $800 million annually, NPCA said, and the group is asking Congress to provide significant new funding to address the parks’ annual needs in Fiscal Year 2008. To see more, go to:
www.npca.org/media_center/press_releases/2006/page.jsp?itemID=29060797

Union Says Contractor Caused Flight Delays

The Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS) union said private maintenance contractors were responsible for a Dec. 4 air-traffic system malfunction at the Miami Air Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) that caused major air traffic delays. PASS said a contractor working for Harris Corp.—which provides telecommunications infrastructure (FTI) circuitry and communications for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)—on Dec. 4 began work on an underwater cable between the Miami ARTCC and the San Juan Center Radar Approach Control. Soon after work was started, PASS said systems specialists began noticing that the primary air-traffic control system began to malfunction and lose flight data. Although systems specialists were able to restore the primary system in minutes, the malfunction took a toll on Florida air traffic, the union said. PASS, which represents about 11,000 FAA employees, said that since Harris was awarded the FTI contract with the FAA in 2002, the transition to the system has been plagued with errors, outages, missed deadlines and escalating costs. “With the holiday season being the busiest travel time during the year, the FAA cannot afford to allow this sort of incompetence and carelessness with its contractors,” said Dave Spero, PASS regional vice president.
To see more, go to: www.newsmgr.com/publish/article_820.shtml

Former Army Contracting Director Pleads Guilty

A former Army contracting director pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for awarding contracts at an Army recreational facility in Germany, and to filing false federal income tax returns, the Department of Justice announced Dec. 6. Former Army civilian employee Steven G. Potoski entered the guilty plea in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York. According to the charges, Potoski accepted the bribes between August 1998 and July 2005, when he served as director of contracting for the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, Armed Forces Recreation Center, in Garmisch. According to DOJ, Potoski took more than $350,000 in bribes from 15 contractors or subcontractors, as well as bribes in the form of home renovations, auto maintenance, airline tickets, hotel rooms and furniture. Potoski could get up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the bribery count, and as much as three years in prison and a $100,000 fine for each count of filing false returns.