Thursday, 4:30 PM
Pike Board Backs Amorello's Power Play
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board this morning voted to change its bylaws, allowing chairman Matthew J. Amorello to maintain his control over the agency.
With Governor Mitt Romney set to seize control of a majority of the board on Saturday, Amorello had called the special meeting in a last-ditch effort to shore up his power by changing a series of bylaws.
“The success today was to secure the administrative day-to-day operations in the chairman’s office,” Amorello said in a brief interview after the contentious four-hour meeting. “They are not with the board of directors.”
Romney and Amorello have been engaged in a bitter 3 ½ year struggle over the authority and the Big Dig. A Romney-installed majority will be in place by Saturday, which could undercut Amorello’s authority.
Thomas Trimarco, who was appointed by Romney yesterday, criticized the bylaw changes as dictatorial, at one point pounding his fists, pointing his finger, and comparing Amorello to Mao.
“You should be embarrassed by this,” said Trimarco, Romney’s secretary of administration and finance.
The primary change the board made was to maintain Amorello’s control over day-to-day management of the authority by giving him “sole charge of and be primarily responsible for” the Turnpike. The board will have control over making general policy changes, but members can only bring the changes to a vote if Amorello places it on the meeting agenda.
“It sets a terrible tone,” said Mary Connaughton, who was appointed by Romney last year. “It sets a tone that there’s a lack of trust that members will uphold their fiduciary responsibilities.”
