Politicians shouldn't build skyscrapers, malls

The government shouldn't be in the business of building skyscrapers or shopping malls, but it's not surprising that it is, given the way politics works, Hill International chief executive David Richter told me during our Executive Q& A published in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer. "The best example is the World Trade Center, the whole thing collapses because of 9/11," said Richter, who runs a global construction and claims management firm based in Philadelphia.

"Now most of that is the Port Authority's property," he said. "The only thing that [was privately held] was Seven World Trade Center, a private building owned by a developer. Do you know how fast that building got rebuilt? A couple years. How long has it been since 9/11?  About 15 years? [They are] just finishing [the rest of] it now. Why is our government building commercial office skyscrapers? It's about the worst thing they could possibly happen with our money. You've seem what has happened with the tolls going into New York. That's money all going to the World Trade Center because they spent billions and billions more than they should. 

"Why would the government be building skyscrapers," he said. "If they only filled the potholes, we'd be happy. Have you seen that mall in North Jersey, Xanadu, by the Giants' stadium. Why is the government building  a shopping mall? Politicians and their friends [get] our money and they want to do things with it. They've got friends in construction and architecture and engineering and they all want projects to happen and they take our money and they speculate on it. Highways, bridges, yes. Shopping malls, skyscrapers, it makes no sense.

Question: Maybe the bureaucrats just want to get excited by building something other than a bridge?

Answer: No. Everyone has their finger in the pot. Why are they are talking about casinos in North Jersey . Somebody wants to build a casino and they are going around to politicians and writing checks and hiring lobbyists and pushing the agenda and someone's going to make a lot of money if a casino opens in North Jersey.

Q: How do the politicians make money?

A: Political contributions to the campaigns, lobbyists who influence them get paid by the hour. Friends, relatives get jobs. All sorts of jobs. Politics is about nothing else than influence peddling. It's not partly about that. It's 100 percent about that. 

Q: Well, if that's the case, how do you get any jobs? If your logic is correct, then you must have gotten all your work somehow.

A: No, because a lot of [the influence peddling] flies below the radar screen. As a corporate policy, we don't make political contributions. We can't stop people from writing checks. I wrote a check to Marco Rubio. Is that going to get us a job? No, obviously not, because he didn't win. As a corporate policy, we don't write checks to politicians.

Q: Well, then, why did you write a check? You are the company, after all you are the CEO.'

A: Because I wanted Marco to win.

Q: You just went against a corporate policy.

A: No, no, we can't stop people who work here to write corporate checks. 

Q: I get that, but it's one thing people writing checks, like the secretary. Isn't it different when the CEO writes a check? You represent this company. 

A: I only write checks to people I care about. 

Q: Well who doesn't? 

A: Do we get a job from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority because somebody wrote a check to Christie? No. But are there firms that do, sure there are. 

Q: if you get a big job in Florida, how would someone be able to tell that you didn't buy the job?

A: Follow the money.

Q: Yes, they'd follow it right to you.

A: They don't, because I don't write those checks, but there are firms that do write those checks. 

Q: You just said you wrote a check personally to Marco Rubio

A: So what project did we get because of that? None. 

Q: There is a whole future out there, right? You could get a project in the future.

A: Certainly relationships help and if you know somebody and they are in the room, that helps. We have decided to [get business] in a crazy way. We try to win work based on competence and excellence and not because we bought some politician. It can only get you in trouble. And, first of all, we're so global and we're in some many places. If we did write checks to politicians, it would be a full-time job.

Source: Philly.com