The co-chair of the state committee tasked with investigating the Registry of Motor Vehicles said on Tuesday that just under 300 pages of records released to legislators Monday by an independent audit firm will be published online for public viewing "as soon as we can."
Rep. William Straus, co-chair of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, told WGBH News that after probable redaction of any references to individual drivers or violations, notes on 41 interviews conducted by Grant Thornton, the firm hired by the Baker administration to investigate the RMV, will be posted on the committee’s website.
“Because the goal is not just for the committee to assess this,” Straus said, “but, as we've tried to do, get as much direct information out to the public as possible so they can form some of their own opinions.”
Grant Thornton's interviews were predominantly with RMV and state Department of Transportation employees. Straus said he had noticed that the firm's final report, issued on Oct. 4, contained “limited direct information. It was really summaries or conclusions about what some of [those interviewed] had said.”
The investigation into the RMV began earlier this year after a New Hampshire motorcycle crash that killed seven people in June resulted in the discovery of thousands of unprocessed out-of-state driving violations at the agency.
Straus also said that he and his committee co-chair, Sen. Joseph Boncore, are still looking for additional records from the Baker administration. He said that since there appear to be no transcripts of the 41 interviews in the recently released records, they also want notes from administration officials who sat in on some of the interviews.
Straus said he and Boncore are nearing scheduling a final day of hearings on the RMV.
“Once myself and my co-chair are satisfied that we've gotten the sufficient direct information,” said Straus, “and we'll still need that final day of hearing with witnesses from the state police, the computer firm that did the data work to set up the Atlas system, which is really at the heart of where the problems occurred, and then a witness from Grant Thornton itself, then we'll be in a position to begin our own report.”
Straus said when hearings are concluded, he expects the Transportion Committee’s report to include not only conclusions on how so many out-of-state violations went unprocessed at the RMV, but recommendations that could encompass fixes at the administrative, regulatory, and legislative levels.
