Thursday, 4:30 PM
Judge rejects Amorello’s petition to stop hearing
By Andrea Estes, Globe Staff
A state Supreme Judicial Court justice this afternoon rejected a request by Matthew J. Amorello to delay a hearing over his removal as chairman of Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, clearing a legal hurdle for the governor as he tries to oust the head of the embattled agency that oversees the Big Dig.
Justice Francis X. Spina said the closed-door hearing can go forward on Thursday because if Amorello loses his job, but is reinstated, he would likely get his back pay. Therefore, Spina said, Amorello had not demonstrated that the proceeding would cause irreparable harm.
Governor Mitt Romney has charged that Amorello has "substantially mismanaged" the Big Dig project, a system of tunnels that has come under intense scrutiny since July 10 when 12-tons of concrete ceiling tiles fell and killed a motorist. Milena Del Valle, 38, of Jamaica Plain, died when the Interstate 90 connector tunnel partially collapsed.
The connector, which links Massachusetts Turnpike with the Ted Williams Tunnel, has been closed since the accident. Officials have shutdown additional sections of the tunnel system after inspectors found more potentially dangerous bolt fixtures.
In a four-page letter dated July 17, Romney blamed Amorello for the faulty bolt fixtures, which are at the crux of the investigation into the ceiling collapse, writing that he “failed to ensure that the bolt fixtures supporting the concrete ceiling slabs were timely and properly inspected.”
Earlier today, Amorello’s lawyer, Bruce Falby, argued for a postponement.
"Mr. Amorello is not desperately seeking to cling to his job..." Falby said. "He is driven by a sense of duty to fulfill the oath of office."
John Fabiano, a lawyer for Romney, responded: "Mr. Amorello is trying to cloak himself in the interest of the public, the Commonwealth and the bondholders of the MTA. There is a wonderful irony in this contention that the public interest can only be preserved by freezing him in his job for the remainder of his term.
"That is enlightening,” Fabiano continued, “in the face of the Governor, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, the Attorney General and both major Boston newspapers, which have said the public good requires that Mr. Amorello either resign or be removed as Chairman. Mr. Amorello's claim reflects his continuing position that he is the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Of course, he is not."
Spina heard arguments on two lawsuits this morning. The other was brought by the governor's appointees on the board to reverse bylaw changes orchestrated by Amorello at a June 29 meeting. He took that decision under advisement.
In the governor’s letter laying out the charges against Amorello, Romney alleged that the day after Del Valle’s death, Amorello tried to minimize the collapse, calling it "an anomaly" and saying the tunnel would open by noon the next day.
"These statements were made without proper investigation or factual support," Romney wrote in the letter. "Further investigation revealed that the bolt connector problem was systemic, and the tunnel will likely remain closed for a substantial period of time."
Amorello’s lawyers wrote in his lawsuit that many of the Big Dig’s problems were the result of "construction that was designed and completed many years before he was appointed chairperson." They argued that Romney has no authority to remove Amorello, who has a statutory term of office that does not end until July 2007. They also asked the court to prohibit the secretary of state from swearing in a replacement if Romney removes Amorello, who was appointed by Acting Governor Jane Swift in February 2002.
