Possible transport pick stirs criticism

Aloisi role as Big Dig counsel worries some

Governor Deval Patrick is considering naming former Big Dig chief counsel James A. Aloisi Jr. as his transportation secretary, a supremely controversial appointment that his critics and even some supporters say would embrace the insider political culture that the governor has publicly denounced.

Aloisi is a tough political fighter who has ingratiated himself with both Democrats and Republicans in state government. His connections, institutional knowledge, and transportation expertise could fill a major void in Patrick's push for a transportation overhaul, including toll increases and a major reorganization.

But those skills and background come with baggage.

As a key lawyer working on the Big Dig, Aloisi was part of the team that kept a cloak of secrecy over the true cost of the $15 billion project. He has been a staunch defender of the combative former Turnpike Authority chairman Matthew J. Amorello, praising Amorello in a book he wrote about the project. Aloisi has moved with agility among the Big Dig's changing regimes, all the while making millions in legal fees.

It is a history that critics, including Patrick's early supporters, will seize upon if the governor brings Aloisi into his administration. Patrick's aides said the governor would have no comment on any reports about the potential appointment of Aloisi. Aloisi also did not respond to requests for comment.

"I really believe that the public demands a clean slate and a fresh start before they support any increase in tolls and taxes," said Senator Mark C. Montigny of New Bedford, one of the most outspoken critics of the Big Dig and a strong Patrick supporter in 2006. "I don't know how anyone who was part of this disaster can sell that and convince the public. They certainly aren't going to convince me."

"I firmly believe the world outside the bubble of Beacon Hill has seen enough of the risky behavior of the Big Dig," added Montigny, a Democrat, who prefaced his remarks by saying he didn't want to comment on Aloisi specifically. "The only way we can restore confidence is to blow up the system we have now and rebuild it. And that means anyone responsible for creating this, and profiting from it, should be excluded."

But others in the Legislature say picking Aloisi could bring a sense of realpolitik to an administration that has been caught flatfooted in the Beacon Hill wars in the past. Aloisi could be well-suited to help shut down the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, where he worked as general counsel and outside counsel during a tumultuous tenure.

"Perhaps this is reform redefined," said Representative Joseph F. Wagner, a Democrat from Chicopee and the House chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation.

"I've known him for years, and he's an individual who is capable of blending policy and politics," Wagner said.

"The job at this point probably calls for that. And frankly, he would bring to the table a great deal of institutional memory that I think is perhaps an important attribute for a candidate to have."

In a further indication he is line for the post, Aloisi went to the State House yesterday to meet with Senate President Therese Murray. He is scheduled to meet in coming days with House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi.

Aloisi would be replacing Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen, who embodied the qualities that Patrick was looking for when he created his Cabinet - experience, intelligence, and a deep knowledge of transportation issues. His political tin ear and lack of a connection to the Beacon Hill political culture were no impediment in his selection, but hurt his ability to navigate the political waters. Cohen submitted his resignation Monday to Patrick.

Picking Aloisi would be a clear turnaround for Patrick, who, during his 2006 campaign, targeted the management of the Big Dig as Exhibit A in what was wrong with Massachusetts government.

"The failure of the Big Dig, in other words, is a failure of politics-as-usual," Patrick wrote in a Globe op-ed one week after the 2006 tunnel collapse that killed a Jamaica Plain woman in an airport-bound car. "It is the failure of leaders to do the jobs they were elected to do. The Big Dig culture of Beacon Hill allowed corners to be cut and oversight to be lax. The culture is a failure to take the role of government seriously."

Patrick, pushing his antipolitical image, aired television ads during the campaign vowing to clean up that "Big Dig culture."

"I bring that outsider perspective," he said at an October 2006 debate in Springfield.

Aloisi's possible appointment has rattled some of Patrick's core constituency, reform-minded Democrats who were energized by his 2006 rhetoric.

Aloisi's "long history with the Big Dig makes me nervous," David Kravitz, co-founder of Blue Mass Group, the state's leading left-wing blog, which has been strongly supportive of Patrick. "I would just like the case to be made that he is a person who will continue to dismantle the Big Dig culture."

"Some of the initial round of appointments seemed to be an attempt by the governor to work completely outside the system; it's fair to say that was not successful," Kravitz added.

Patrick's critics in the Republican Party were harsher.

"It's the most puzzling move I've seen the governor do in his two years in office," said Senator Robert L. Hedlund, a Republican from Weymouth and the longest serving member of the Transportation Committee. "We're at the most critical transportation juncture in the state's history, and to pick a person who has been partially responsible for putting us in the problems we have is just staggering."

"I can't believe there's not someone somewhere out there with the talent to do this without having to resurrect a ghost of Big Dig past," Hedlund said. "Anyone who thinks we've got a reformer in the corner office . . . is going to be sadly disappointed."

As both its general counsel and later its outside counsel, Aloisi played a critical role in creating the finance mechanisms to pay for the $15 billion Big Dig project. Critics say the system has failed to provide the revenues to pay the bills, leaving the state to choose among a higher gas tax, larger tolls, or a combination.

Aloisi was one of the Big Dig figures, including James Kerasiotes, then Turnpike Authority chairman, who were forced to come to terms with huge cost overruns. Their decision not to make an immediate disclosure blew up into a brouhaha in 2000 that resulted in Governor Paul Cellucci firing Kerasiotes.

Cellucci replaced Kerasiotes with Andrew Natsios, who canceled Aloisi's contract. But within a year, Amorello, a close Aloisi ally, replaced Natsios, and Aloisi's contract was reinstated.

After the Big Dig ceiling collapse on July 10, 2006, Governor Mitt Romney moved to fire Amorello as turnpike chairman. But Amorello, who was being advised by Aloisi as outside counsel, refused to go. Aloisi tried to block Amorello's removal, and later worked to squeeze out the best deal for him.

Sean Murphy of the Globe staff contributed to this report.