FOR THE RECORD

Metropolitan Transportation Authority board Vice Chairman David S. Mack is a successful real-estate developer who also appears to be a good citizen, with extensive involvement in civic and charitable groups.

But last week he briefly auditioned for the role of Most Clueless Public Official in Town, until some pressure from above convinced him to get off the stage before he got the part.

This was actually the second act in a comedy that began late last month when the Daily News reported that 58 past and present members of the MTA board were using free E-Z Pass tags at MTA bridges and tunnels, in addition to their free passes to ride the transit system and commuter rail lines under the agency's jurisdiction.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called the practice illegal, and the MTA's first impulse was to force him to go to court on the matter. Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky responded to that declaration by telling the New York Times that whether it was legal or not to give unpaid past and present board members and their spouses free (and multiple) E-Z Passes was "absolutely irrelevant. It's dopey on any level, and there ought to be a dopiness standard before we get to court."

MTA officials, realizing they were marching toward a public-relations disaster, then announced that they would ask board members to pass a resolution discontinuing the use of the free tags by former board members and all spouses, and use their own tags only on official business.

Mr. Mack, however, wasn't ready to give up the fight over board-member perks. Outside an MTA committee meeting last week, he essentially told a reporter that he would not ride the Long Island Rail Road if he had to pay - "Why should I ride and inconvenience myself when I can ride in a car?" he asked rhetorically.

It apparently hadn't occurred to him that one of the obligations of MTA board members is to actually use its facilities so as to be attuned to problems within the system. His statement that he rode the LIRR 5 or 10 times a year did not inspire much confidence on that score. Losing board members as the transit system's eyes and ears, he suggested, would led to ruination, because the only reason that problems were ever corrected was that conscientious board members like himself brought them to the attention of the MTA "bureaucracy."

He told reporters, "When the normal public calls it in, you know what happens with the bureaucracy; they don't get the response that a typical board member would get."

Take away their E-Z Passes, he continued, and even millionaires like himself might forsake MTA bridges and tunnels to use the city's free crossings to avoid paying the tolls.

Amazingly, this little bit of Leona Helmsley-ism was echoed by two other board members, Michael Pally and Francis Powers, who opposed any restriction on their free travel passes, with Mr. Powers saying the MTA shouldn't have backed down on the matter without reviewing its legal options.

Before Mr. Brodsky could invoke the Dopiness Standard again, Governor Paterson decided to give the board desperadoes a reality check upside the head. He issued a June 19 statement - the same day Mr. Mack's quotes appeared in the newspapers - that a vote against the pass restrictions "would demonstrate an utter contempt for average New Yorkers... If MTA board members truly want to better understand the system they oversee, they should pay the same tolls and fares as everyone else, and be part of the public transportation system that millions of New Yorkers depend on every day."

A few hours later, a more-contrite Mr. Mack seemed to have finally gotten the message, saying he would support the resolution limiting the free E-Z Passes to current board members on official business. "I regret that my comments yesterday did not reflect my commitment to the MTA and the work it does to provide the best transportation system in the United States," he said in a statement.

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Dues crisis be damned! Despite the fact that it is in a financial bind since only about half its members have fully paid their dues since June 2007, Transport Workers Union Local 100 is taking members in good standing and their children to Six Flags this summer for what has become an annual outing.

Buses will be assembling at "various locations" on Aug. 16 at 7 a.m. to take members. No specifics on discount rates were listed on a flyer posted at the union's Web site last week, but members who have fully paid their dues and are interested in going can call 212-873-6000, extension 2204.