City transit chief stepping down
D'Amato decision raises concerns on convention
The city of Boston's top transportation official announced yesterday she will resign at the end of June, less than one month before the Democratic National Convention is expected to bring chaos and headaches to commuters.
Transportation Commissioner Andrea d'Amato said she is leaving to spend more time with her two children, but her departure led one city councilor to complain that her departure couldn't come at a worse time for Boston.
"I am tremendously concerned," said Councilor Maureen E. Feeney, who chairs the Boston 2004 Committee, which handles convention issues. "We're presented with tremendous transportation challenges on a day-to-day basis. When you add the convention into the mix, it is going to be a very trying time for the city. Anything short of an almost instant appointment is going to be devastating."
City and state transportation planners have been working for months on the security plan for the convention, which includes closing North Station, Interstate 93 by the FleetCenter from 4 p.m. to midnight, and several city streets near the venue. Parking restrictions will be in place on several other streets. Executing the plan will be more difficult without an experienced transportation leader, Feeney said.
But d'Amato, the city's longest-serving full-time transportation commissioner, said she has assembled a strong staff that will be able to conduct traffic operations without her. After holding the dual title of transportation commissioner and chief of environmental services for seven years, d'Amato said, she has been thinking about leaving her job for weeks. She said her resignation is unrelated to the convention and to a police discovery last month of a scam involving the fixing of parking tickets for some city employees.
"This is not a decision I made this morning when I woke up," d'Amato said, asserting that her departure would have "absolutely no effect" on the convention. "The DNC is in good hands."
Mayor Thomas M. Menino called d'Amato a "unique asset" and praised her work in handling both transportation and environment duties.
She is the fourth woman in a top position to resign from City Hall this year. Special events and tourism chief Cecily Foster, elderly affairs commissioner Joyce Williams, and cultural affairs commissioner Esther Kaplan quit in January.
The resignation came as a top state senator urged the convention planners to delay the beginning of the party gala by an hour each day to alleviate traffic congestion.
Steven A. Baddour, a Methuen Democrat who is Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation, said a one-hour delay in road closures would allow commuters to work nearly full days during the convention at the FleetCenter. The planned closures, which cover about 40 miles of roads, are to begin at 4 p.m. on days of the convention, July 26-29. Menino has asked nearby businesses to allow workers to take those days off.
"I disagree with the assumption that people should take a week off," Baddour said yesterday. "We're a working-class party, and we're asking people to go a week without pay? That's not right. This will allow people to work a full day and be able to get out of the city in time for the convention festivities."
Convention planners said they had received the request from Baddour, but no final schedule had been set. A Secret Service field office coordinator for the Democratic National Convention declined to comment on Baddour's request.
Lieutenant Kevin D. Foley, director of media relations for the Boston Police Department, said the plan is still evolving.
John Kennedy, a principal with the Watertown-based traffic consulting firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, said pushing back the convention start time "could eliminate some of the impact." But he added, "There still may be an almost equal amount of traffic in the corridor, or in the corridors, at that time."
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Convention Committee said yesterday it will host a series of events over the coming month for area youth. Gail P. Jackson, executive director of political affairs for the Democratic National Convention Committee, said 30 to 40 young people from after-school programs will attend the events, which feature political speakers.
Raphael Lewis of the Globe staff contributed to this report. 