Merit Rating Board employee sounded alarm over staffing levels in 2016

Aug. 1--Employees at the Registry of Motor Vehicles' Merit Rating Board were raising concerns about inadequate staffing in 2016 -- when they were soon to be handed responsibility for processing out-of-state violations and issuing license suspensions, emails obtained by the Herald show.

Merit Rating Board Supervisor Donna Brennan sent an email on May 31, 2016, sounding the alarm on numerous "critical positions" that had not been filled for at least a year, which was cc'd to the offices of Gov. Charlie Baker, Attorney General Maura Healey, former Registrar Erin Deveney and others. The same message was forwarded on June 5, 2016, to Secretary of State William Galvin's office and members of the House and Senate.

"Clearly, the Commonwealth is failing in its duty here -- by not filling the positions that have been vacated," Brennan wrote. "The Commonwealth is needlessly compromising the ability of the Merit Rating Board to accomplish its work."

Just about a month later, Merit Board Rating Director Thomas Bowes was hired. Bowes has since come under scrutiny and has even been called on to resign for his role in the agency's failure to keep up with out-of-state violation notices. The responsibility was transferred under his oversight from the Driver Control Unit in the fall of 2016, after a backlog of approximately 10,000 out-of-state notifications were found in 72 boxes.

The Merit Rating Board initially began processing out-of-state violations, but stopped in March 2018, around the same time that a new ATLAS computer system was introduced. But a backlog of 53 bins containing thousands of unprocessed out-of-state violations remained.

Brennan, who worked in the RMV's Insurance Company Services and Business Support team, said that the responsibilities of the unfilled positions were assumed by other employees. She specifically pointed to the MRB's "primary IT resource," who she did not name, but described as "overworked" and the "subject matter expert," for the Automated License and Registration System, which Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack has said is the "ancient" system later replaced by the ATLAS system. He attended all meetings related to the ATLAS Modernization project, Brennan wrote.

"The level of involvement required to satisfy these new assumed duties and responsibilities has increased to such an extent that we can no longer provide the high level of service," Brennan said. "The level of service that is now provided to the auto insurance industry is substandard."

Other unfilled positions Brennan named include the business manager who resigned in 2014, the director, assistant director, senior IT business consultants and customer service representatives who retired in 2015, and three more employees who retired in 2016.

Administrations and Finance spokeswoman Julie Mehegan told the Herald on Wednesday that all state agencies had the ability to hire for positions that were critical to their responsibilities during a hiring freeze in 2015, implemented by Baker's early retirement incentive program, which aimed to reduce the state workforce in fiscal year 2016.

At a Joint Transportation Committee oversight hearing Tuesday, Merit Rating Board director Bowes claimed he had requested additional staff after going from 68 to 62 employees, but was told he couldn't fill the positions because of a "headcount freeze" at the MassDOT.

Pollack denied that claim. She said in fiscal year 2015 there were 736 full-time RMV employees, which dropped in 2016 and 2017 due to "tough budget years," then staffing was increased by 34 people in fiscal years 2018 and 2019.

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