Former Massachusetts governor William Weld’s pursuit of the same office in New York ended this week when he withdrew from the Republican gubernatorial race. But his troubles stemming from the Decker College scandal, as reported in the Phoenix in February (“Weld’s College Try,” February 18), are far from over. In fact, new troubles emerged just last week.
Last Wednesday, Louisville TV station WAVE aired an investigative report alleging that thousands of big-rig truck drivers got their commercial licenses through one company’s bogus tests. The report alleges that some 4000 truck drivers now on the road received “inadequate” testing from the Woodcox Brothers Testing Center (WBTC) — apparently breezing through the two-hour, 100-question exam in about 15 minutes.
Federal agents have since seized records and bribe money from WBTC, according to the report. The company is owned by Gerald and Jeffrey Woodcox — the same duo behind Decker College.
Four years ago, Weld’s investment firm, Leeds Weld Equity Partners, bought a major stake in another Woodcox business, Franklin Career Services, a chain of truck-driving schools. The Franklin school was shut down a few months later and is currently being sued for $117 million.
After it closed, Weld parlayed his Franklin stake into shares of the Woodcox brothers’ purchase of Decker College, eventually becoming Decker’s CEO. Decker went bankrupt last year, and is the subject of multiple state and federal criminal investigations.
Criminal charges have not yet been brought in the WBTC case, nor in the Decker College investigation, so Weld’s culpability remains up in the air.
Although the Decker disaster received heavy attention in the New York press, it was not the only reason Weld went belly up in the GOP nomination. New York’s upstate Republicans also had trouble connecting with Weld’s Harvard-educated, Brahmin-patrician attitude, according to some political observers there.
One recent news report, for instance, described Weld speaking at length to a lunch-pail Republican crowd about the elite schools his children have attended. Earlier, Weld publicly challenged presumptive Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer to debates, saying “Que la fête commence.” And last week, after offering Republican gubernatorial rival John Faso a spot as his lieutenant governor, Weld told the press that Faso made it “pellucidly clear” he wasn’t interested.
Faso then beat Weld 61-39 in delegate voting at the New York Republican Convention, making it clear to Weld that his days as a New York gubernatorial candidate were numbered. He withdrew from the race Tuesday.
