Time For Amorello To Go
This picture is from Governor Mitt Romney’s press conference yesterday where he repeated his demands for Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Chairman Matt Amorello’s resignation. Romney has been calling for that resignation for over 2 years but Amorello has refused.
I don’t think I have ever seen a hair out of place in any photo of Romney and from the looks of this picture, I’d say Amorello should start looking for some property in a country without an extradition treaty.
Here is Romney’s statement:
STATEMENT OF GOVERNOR ROMNEY
ON TURNPIKE CEILING COLLAPSE
“This is a sad day. I want to express my sympathies to the family of the woman passenger who was killed while driving through the I-90 Connector tunnel last night.
Her name was Milena Delvalle from Jamaica Plain and she was 38 years old. Today, we pray for her and those who loved her. No words that we could offer here can ease the unimaginable shock and heartache over losing someone under such sudden and tragic circumstances.
What happened last night is unacceptable. Long ago, I lost confidence in the leadership of the Turnpike Authority. There should no longer be any doubt that it is time for a change.
Through his failures, Matt Amorello has undermined public confidence in the safety of the Big Dig tunnels and failed to conform to the standards by which public business should be conducted.
He is secretive, he resists oversight by his own board, and he refuses to share information with parties that are entitled to receive it. This is contrary to the interests of taxpayers, of bondholders, of tollpayers and of motorists who have to be confident in the integrity of the tunnel system.
Today, I have instructed my legal counsel to begin proceedings to remove Matt Amorello as chairman and chief executive officer of the Turnpike Authority. Under the law, he is entitled to a hearing prior to this action becoming effective. We will have information for you later this week on the time and place of that hearing.
While I take this action in the immediate aftermath of last night’s tragedy, I do not take it solely because of it. There has been a continuing and ongoing pattern of mismanagement and I am following the course set out in the law to bring in new leadership that can restore the public’s confidence.
People should not have to drive through the Turnpike tunnels with their fingers crossed. Neither I nor anyone else could be, or should be, satisfied with yet another assurance from the current leadership that everything is going to be OK.
Romney has also been trying to merge the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority with the State Highway Department since he took office but the overwhelmingly Democratic legislature has refused to go along.
Independent agencies like the MTA and Port Authority should immediately be brought under the control of the executive branch so that there is accountability going forward. The citizens and taxpayers of Massachusetts should vote against any politician who continues to support these unaccountable agencies.
Archived in: Big Dig, Massachusetts, Mitt RomneyJuly 12, 2006 at 9:47 am | Trackback
4 comments
Amorello is in the midst of a full PR blitz. You can’t turn on a TV or radio station where he isn’t being interviewed. He repeats the same boilerplate answers: the tunnels are safe, the authority is doing everything it can, it’s a tragic accident, etc., etc.
It’s rather telling that a moment of crisis his priority is media spin and not public safety.
OP, has any of the media ever started a crusade to clean up the political corruption that allows this and the ongoing graft during the process? Are they now digging into the muck of MA cronyism? The Teapot Dome was kid’s play in comparison.
This is but a microcosm of the goings on across the country. Both parties are armpit deep into vote buying via pork and concomitant overruns. Nothing new here.
The Boston Globe will never press the legislature hard because they are Democrats and thus above reproach. My wife’s aunt visited from LA, and even she was shocked by how much liberal bias the Boston Globe had on a daily basis. The Boston Herald tries to hold the hacks on Beacon Hill accountable, but there is only so much they can do. In fact, little of the coverage has focused on the legislature protecting Amorello whom Romney has wanted to fire from the day he took office.
I have no idea when people will get disgusted enough to restore some balance to the legislature.
One expects the Globe to push for the removal of the individual responsible for turning on the surveillance cameras. He/she was, heh heh, asleep at the switch, therefore must have been a republican. I’m wrong, it’s an union job. That’s why there’s no investigation.
I would have thought for all the loot piddled away, the consultant/contractor might have asked the local coffee mart how they worked their security cameras. Tough questions like how do you get the crook to wait while you turn the system on? What’s this digital stuff mean?