Thursday, 4:30 PM
Amorello says he won’t resign from the Mass. Turnpike Authority
By Scott Helman and Andrea Estes, Globe Staff, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
Matthew J. Amorello, the embattled chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, said late this afternoon that he would not resign despite increasing pressure from the governor and the Legislature to step aside.
When asked by several reporters if he would quit, Amorello said: “No. No. No.”
“I have taken an oath of office to serve as chairman of the Turnpike Authority until 2007,” he said, adding: “This isn't about personalities, this isn't about positions, it’s about public safety”
Amorello’s decision to try to remain chairman comes after repeated calls for his resignation since a portion of the Interstate 90 tunnel connector collapsed Monday night and killed a 38-year-old Jamaica Plain woman.
Longtime political foe Governor Mitt Romney said he has started legal proceeding to forcibly remove Amorello from his Turnpike Authority post. Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly had been calling for Amorello to step aside because he had become a “distraction.”
Earlier today, the Legislature's top two leaders called Amorello to consider stepping aside as chairman and take a lesser role on the Turnpike Authority board. Senate President Robert Travaglini, Amorello's top backer on Beacon Hill, said he should give "serious consideration'' to "modifying his position.''
At the same time, Travaglini and House Speaker Sal DiMasi said at a joint news conference that Amorello, a former state lawmaker, should not shoulder the entire responsibility for Monday’s fatal accident.
Twelve tons of concrete from falling ceiling tiles cascaded onto the roadway and crushed a car. The debris killed Milena Del Valle, 38. Her husband, Angel Del Valle, 46, crawled out of the vehicle with minor injuries.
Since Monday, Amorello has defended his four-tenure as chairman, saying he stabilized the $14.6 billion cost of the Big Dig.
"I think I've been effective in my time at the Turnpike Authority,” Amorello told New England Cable News earlier today. “I think I've been effective in dealing with the situation that's confronted us now.''
Governor Jane M. Swift appointed Amorello chairman in February 2002. He followed a tumultuous several months at the Turnpike Authority, in which the former governor fired two board members.
Earlier today, Romney announced that he was filing emergency legislation to take control of the investigation of the Big Dig tunnels, a move supported by the Legislature.
Romney said he wants inspectors and engineers examining the connector tunnel to report to Secretary of Transportation John Cogliano, instead of the Turnpike Authority.
Amorello said that the legislation that the governor filed “has a lot of merit in it.”
