Pike hints it'll fight to control board

Two weeks after the state's highest court rejected Governor Mitt Romney's attempt to fire Matthew J. Amorello as Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman, a new battle is emerging between the two foes.

In a letter obtained by the Globe, the Turnpike Authority has signaled it intends to fight any attempt by Romney to replace an Amorello loyalist on the Turnpike board in September -- an appointment crucial to Romney's goal of establishing a majority on the board and exerting control over the agency.

In the letter, the Turnpike Authority asserts that legislation passed last year extends the terms of certain board members, including the Amorello ally, Richard K. Anderson, for six more years. That would mean that Anderson, who has been on the board since 2002, would not step down until 2011.

''Over the past months there have been media reports that there would be a vacancy in the board," Turnpike lawyer Michael D. Powers wrote in the letter to Jack Cline, Romney's appointments secretary, dated June 29. ''To avoid confusion about this matter, I thought it would be prudent to write to you. None of the current members' terms expires this year."

It is not clear whether the Turnpike Authority would go to court to fight the replacement of Anderson, and a Turnpike spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the letter. At least one legislator, state Senator Steven Baddour, co-chairman of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Transportation, questioned the validity of Powers's assertion.

Baddour was one of the principal authors of the legislation passed last year to respond to Romney's concerns over the continued existence of two large and separate transportation bureaucracies -- the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which oversees the Big Dig, and the Massachusetts Highway Department.

The Legislature did not agree to merge the agencies, as Romney proposed. However, the lawmakers, in part because of disenchantment with Amorello's management of the Big Dig, did agree to a makeover of the five-member Turnpike Authority board that would give Romney majority control by July 2006.

The majority would be the result of Romney getting to replace Anderson this year, and replacing Jordan Levy, whose term expires in July 2006. Romney already has one appointee on the board, Daniel A. Grabauskas, former transportation secretary, who is general manager of the MBTA.

''It was part of what the governor negotiated for: He wanted to make sure he had a majority on the board in July 2006," Baddour said. ''And that's what he got."

The legislation did include language that extended to six years the terms of board members who were appointed between 2002 and 2004. But, Baddour said, that provision does not take effect until July 2007, so Anderson would not be extended.

Although the language appears legalistic, the impact and politics were carefully weighed in the drafting of the bill. The lawmakers specifically examined the terms of the existing board members, Baddour said, and wrote it to give the governor control by 2006.

''The language is clear and unambiguous," he said. ''Even a first-year law student could see that."

But the Turnpike Authority sees the language as open to interpretation. Before the letter surfaced, Amorello visited the Globe last month for a meeting with editors and reporters. He referred to last year's legislation as ''fuzzy," and said it could be interpreted to mean Romney would get no appointment this year.

''If that is correct, [board member Richard K. Anderson] stays on and has six years attached to his appointment," Amorello said.

The stakes are not small in this battle, and some on Beacon Hill view it as a power play by Amorello, who has been able to hold onto his job as Turnpike Authority chairman of the board despite major controversies and criticism.

Amorello's position, under another provision of the legislation, would essentially be eliminated in 2007, when the secretary of transportation would become the chairman of the Turnpike Authority.

Amorello, appointed by former governor Jane Swift, also serves as the agency's chief executive officer, at a salary of $205,000. Under the new structure, the secretary of transportation would chair the Turnpike Authority, without receiving additional pay, and leave the day-to-day running of the Big Dig to agency managers.

But there is some speculation that Turnpike officials are eager to fight any board appointment by Romney this year because they fear it would mean Amorello would be forced out a year early -- in 2006.

Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney administration spokesman, said last week, ''We have received the letter and are reviewing it."

Romney has called for Amorello's resignation from the independent agency, saying Amorello has mismanaged the $14.6 billion Big Dig project. In March, Romney asked the state Supreme Judicial Court to confirm he had the authority to remove Amorello. The SJC, however, said that Romney had failed to provide persuasive evidence that Amorello's removal was an urgent necessity worthy of their legal advice, and Romney then dropped the effort.

Sean P. Murphy can be reached at smurphy@globe.com.