Massport issues tougher rules on patronage hires

By Jenny Jiang, Globe Correspondent, 11/23/2002

The head of the Massachusetts Port Authority, responding to an independent commission's critical review of the agency, issued antipatronage guidelines yesterday but exempted agency board members who complained the rules would interfere with legitimate business.

The move is designed to bring more openness to the hiring process at Massport, which operates Logan Airport and was criticized by the commission as a patronage mill riddled with employees hired more for their political connections than skills.

The gubernatorial commission recommended that Massport issue monthly ''sunshine reports'' detailing all requests for jobs, contracts, charitable contributions, and use of Massport facilities and property made to board members or agency employees.

But several board members complained that the proposal would subject them to unfair media scrutiny and thwart the hiring of qualified candidates, and asked that it be revamped.

The guidelines issued by Craig P. Coy, CEO of Massport, exclude board members and call only for the reporting of instances of ''undue outside influence.'' The reports will be made public at every Massport board meeting, said Coy.

Coy said he consulted with Marshall Carter, the chairman of the commission appointed by Acting Governor Jane Swift, to ''clarify the language on how to implement the policy.''

The commission was created shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when two flights departing Logan Airport were hijacked.

The policy, outlined in a memo from Coy distributed to all Massport employees yesterday, leaves it largely up to agency workers to determine when political influence was wielded in hiring.

It requires all workers to report any ''instances of undue outside influence'' involving personnel decisions to the agency's human resources and legal department.

Coy defines ''undue outside influence'' as any contact from outside the agency that is ''likely to interfere with an individual's ability to base a hiring or other personnel decision solely on his or her independent assessment of a candidate's job qualifications.''

Employees who fail to report such acts are subject to disciplinary measures, from suspensions to termination, Coy said.

In addition, the policy would also require that all hiring managers, their department heads, and the director of human resources ''must certify that they have not been unduly or improperly influenced by any outside party'' on job referrals and hiring lists.

''It's up to us to only hire people that are qualified for jobs and to only hire people for jobs that exist,'' Coy said. ''To do anything less creates problems within the organization ... and creates the question of effectiveness of the agency.''

Coy said the policy strikes a balance between ''the positive role of networking and constituent services'' that could attract qualified candidates while clearly defining unacceptable hiring practices.

''We're trying to achieve a goal that all of us agree - to end the idea or the perception of patronage,'' Coy said.

Neither Carter nor a spokesman for Swift returned phone calls seeking comment.

This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 11/23/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
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