Eyes turn to state's non-engineer at the helm

The day after the Big Dig ceiling collapse, Governor Mitt Romney called Matthew J. Amorello, chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, a ``fine person" who lacked the expertise to manage the mega project. Romney moved quickly to diminish the authority of the one-time state senator known for his allies on Beacon Hill.

But the man who took over safety oversight for the project, state Transportation Secretary John Cogliano, also has political ties and no engineering degree.

Cogliano, 42, is a Republican loyalist and a donor to GOP candidates who has moved up the ranks of government by impressing colleagues with his quiet competence. He was appointed deputy highway commissioner in 2000 by Amorello himself, and a year ago Romney named him secretary of transportation. He came to state government after working at the former Blue View Nurseries in Canton, run by his family.

``My best education was the family business," he said in an interview with the Globe last year.

Though praised by many local observers, Cogliano's state Highway Department was hit by a critical report in July 2003 by federal highway officials.

The federal report concluded after a two-year review that the department's reliance on insufficiently trained engineers and inspectors had put Massachusetts drivers at risk. First reported by the Globe in 2003, the report found that at one of the department's district offices, for example, 16 of 27 engineers or inspectors were not qualified for their jobs.

Yesterday, Cogliano said the department has since added scores of specialists. In May, the department had 651 engineers, compared with 477 in October 2003, according to the agency.

``I have the best engineers at hand," Cogliano said.

Colleagues and lawmakers describe Cogliano as a disciplined, meticulous manager. Clean-cut and trim, he works 12-hour days, is a second-degree black belt, and favors dark suits, trading his jacket for an orange vest on a job site. He knows how to make his bosses look good, they said, without demanding credit. He holds an undergraduate degree from Boston College in economics and political science.

``In football parlance, he's a grinder," said James Rappaport, chairman of the state Republican Party in the early 1990s. ``He just goes out and gets it done."

Until last week, Cogliano, had drawn relatively little attention as the state's transportation leader, an unassuming Romney acolyte more comfortable shepherding transit initiatives than overseeing high-profile crises. But his tenure and qualifications as a top transportation official face new scrutiny as the state Highway Department takes over the monumental responsibility of making sure the roads and tunnels of the $14.6 billion Big Dig are safe for drivers.

When state lawmakers took control of the project's safety away from the Turnpike Authority last week and gave it to Romney, Cogliano and MassHighway were given the authority to repair faulty bolt systems that caused concrete panels in the Interstate 90 connector tunnel to collapse last week, killing 38-year-old Milena Del Valle of Jamaica Plain. Cogliano also will decide when the closed tunnels are ready for reopening and will later lead a full review of the entire Big Dig.

Cogliano and former colleagues say he has just the right qualifications. Leading a transportation agency and these inspections, they say, requires someone not with an engineering pedigree but someone with broad perspective who knows how to manage a large organization.

``Anyone that would be familiar with what I've been doing in state government would understand that of course I am qualified to do it," Cogliano said in an interview yesterday. ``I'm doing it now, and I think we've made great gains under Governor Romney's direction [in fixing the problem] . . . and in this crisis that we're going through."

As secretary, Cogliano said, he oversees a $1.2 billion operating budget, a $1.2 capital budget, and more than 8,600 employees. But to some, Cogliano seems an odd fit to oversee the safety of a flawed project that was meant to be one of the country's great marvels of engineering.

``God knows some solution is needed, but if this is the best they can come up with, it's pretty terrifying," said Kevin Preston, director of coordinated bargaining for Service Employees International Union, which represents Highway Department employees and is battling Cogliano's administration over benefits.

Cogliano got his first job with the state in 1991, as a project manager for the agency now called the Division of Capital Asset Management. He joined MassHighway in 1997, working first in a division responsible for taking private land for road projects.

He knew what it felt like to have land seized by eminent domain: The state took his family's property in Canton to build Route 128. (His father, he said, complained about it until the day he died, four years ago.)

In 2000, Cogliano was tapped -- by Amorello, who was then highway commissioner -- to be the department's deputy commissioner and was then named highway commissioner by Acting Governor Jane Swift in 2002, after she appointed Amorello to the Turnpike Authority.

Cogliano's tenure in top state transportation posts has made headlines at times. In 2002, he unexpectedly suspended MassHighway's plans for a $100 million improvement of the Interstate 93-Route 128 interchange north of Boston, amid heavy opposition from residents. In 2003, snowplow drivers for the state rebelled against Cogliano's plan to require that they carry GPS-equipped phones, so their locations could be tracked.

And last year, the state's first female registrar of motor vehicles, Kimberly Hinden, abruptly resigned amid a power struggle with Cogliano over the management of the Registry of Motor Vehicles and his plan to move the agency's headquarters from Copley Square. As secretary of transportation, Cogliano has streamlined agencies under his control and consolidated his power.

``John likes to make sure that the government is getting its dollar's worth and that people are abiding by the rules," said John Ziemba, who worked with Cogliano when he was highway commissioner and who is now the state director of labor.

Rappaport said he first got to know Cogliano in 1990, when Cogliano volunteered for several Republican candidates, including William F. Weld's gubernatorial campaign and Rappaport's bid for US Senate against John F. Kerry.

``He got involved, like many of us did, because we were fed up with [former governor Michael] Dukakis and the Democratic Legislature's overspending and mandates," Rappaport said. ``When Weld won, he said, `This is a guy I believe in, and I'm willing to commit part of my life to public service.' "

Cogliano, who is married and lives in Foxborough, has since supported many Republican candidates, donating money over the last four years to the campaigns of Swift, Romney, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, and state Senator Brian P. Lees.

Former state transportation secretary Kevin Sullivan said it wasn't fair to criticize Cogliano's lack of expertise in engineering.

``The fact is, I really believe you need civilians running transportation," Sullivan said. ``You need to have somebody who has a larger picture of the needs of the state, the economy, certainly the political landscape."

``As long as he's allowed to do the job and he reports directly to the governor and nobody else, John could handle this," added Christy Mihos, a former Turnpike Authority board member and a candidate for governor this year.

Since last week's tragedy, Cogliano has often been at Romney's side as the governor has toured the site and briefed the news media.

``All my time is in this," Cogliano said. ``When the governor gives us the green light to open [the Interstate 90 tunnel], it will be safe to the public."

Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com; Lisa Wangsness, can be reached at lwangsness@globe.com.