Chairman keeps charge of Turnpike

The board of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, in a meeting spiced with fist-pounding and invectives, decided in a series of votes yesterday to change its bylaws and allow chairman Matthew J. Amorello to maintain control of the agency.

With Governor Mitt Romney set to seize control of a majority of the board tomorrow, Amorello had called the special meeting in a last-ditch effort to shore up his power by changing a series of bylaws.

After four hours, in which Amorello found himself compared to Mao Zedong, the chairman succeeded in convincing the board that he ``shall have charge of and be primarily responsible for" the Turnpike's day-to-day management. He also won control of the agenda, which means members can vote on business only that Amorello approves.

But the board refused to adopt his request that future votes be subject to a supermajority, or four members of the five-member board. It left the requirement at a simple majority, meaning that Romney appointees will have control over policy issues after his third appointee, Beth Lindstrom, is installed on the board tomorrow.

There were no clear winners in the battle, the latest in the bitter, three-year feud between Romney and Amorello over control of the authority and the Big Dig. But both sides claimed victory.

After the meeting, Amorello declared triumphantly that ``the success today was to secure the administrative day-to-day operations in the chairman's office."

During the meeting, a combative Thomas Trimarco -- Romney's secretary of administration and finance, whom the governor appointed to the board Wednesday -- accused Amorello of trying to evade accountability with the rule changes. At one point, Trimarco pounded his fists and pointed his finger.

``It gives me the feel that someone is séanced with Chairman Mao here," he said.

The bylaw changes do not significantly change Amorello's powers; they were intended to prevent a board dominated by Romney appointees from undermining the chairman's authority, Amorello said. He said that in the past, the board has meddled in the authority's day-to-day operations.

Amorello, a former Republican legislator who was appointed in 2002 by Acting Governor Jane Swift, has repeatedly rebuffed Romney's demands that he resign.

Romney wants to merge the Turnpike Authority with the state Highway Department, and the Legislature last year approved a bill calling for the two agencies to merge leadership and redundant functions by 2007, when Amorello's term expires.

Romney has tried to wrest control from Amorello by appointing new members on the board who are loyal to the governor.

Trimarco, a State House insider with a reputation for aggressively challenging state bureaucracies, replaced Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Lindstrom, the former consumer affairs chief, is taking the seat of Jordan Levy, an Amorello supporter whose term expires today.

John Moscardelli, another board member and an Amorello ally, was voted to a two-year term as vice chairman yesterday.

The meeting was contentious from its opening. Romney appointee Mary Connaughton immediately asserted that the minutes taken at a previous meeting incorrectly reflected her remarks and refused to approve them. Within minutes, heated exchanges were flying.

Amorello, at one point, mispronounced Trimarco's name, calling him ``Mr. Tringali."

Trimarco responded: ``No, no, I'm Mr. Trimarco. You get these Italian names confused. We all sound the same."

Trimarco asked later why he had not received his packet of information for the meeting until nearly 9 p.m. the day before.

``If this is normal, it's legally unacceptable," Trimarco said.

Later in the afternoon, he held a 15-minute press conference, displaying packets of information from board meetings of eight other state agencies. Behind the three-ring binders and stapled papers were placards showing when committee members are provided with the packet, ranging from three to 14 days.

At the end was the packet from the Turnpike hearing with a sign that said 10.5 hours. Other board members said they also did not get packets until Wednesday night.

Trimarco said that holding the next Turnpike authority meeting in mid-September is too much lag time. ``He has to understand that it's a new day of accountability," he said of Amorello.

Amorello appeared jovial through most of the meeting, leaning back in his chair, though he raised his voice several times.

``There's more politics than there is good public policy being made on some parties," Amorello said. ``They want to be political and play politics. You know I've been in this job for four years, I don't believe in playing games . . . I grew up with eight brothers and sisters so I can take the beatings."

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.