The case of Boston Park Plaza demonstrates a major pitfall facing governments looking to engage with the private sector. We have already discussed how important it is to engage with credible private-sector partners when beginning a public-private partnership. But we have not yet discussed how critical it is for governments to maintain their credibility when dealing with the private sector, and how easy it is to sacrifice that credibility.
In the case of Park Plaza, both public- and private-sector partners were at times deemed to be less than credible. In Mahoney's view, BUA's non-existent track record and limited financial backing called the private sector's credibility into question.
On the other hand, Mahoney's credibility was also limited. His failure to understand the changing nature of the authorizing environment (and the political pressures placed on the mayor and governor) led directly to his being cut out of the process. Ultimately, due to this oversight, his credibility as a supervisor of local housing and development projects was compromised, not just for this project, but for those in the future as well.
For government professionals engaging in PPPs, it is essential to maintain a firm understanding of the policy problem at hand, the decisions that must be made to solve that problem, and the authorizing environment in which those decisions will be made. Practitioners that do not maintain a firm grasp of the current authorizing environment run the risk of losing credibility, and even their authority.