Bostonherald.com
Friday, September 14, 2001

Swift says shakeup at Logan is in cards
by David R. Guarino

The national heartbreak launched from Logan International Airport is already
yielding high-level talk of broad changes and management shakeups at the
patronage-laden Massachusetts Port Authority.

Acting Gov. Jane M. Swift, her senior transportation advisers and key
legislative leaders said yesterday that Logan management - as well as
operations - will be greatly altered after the double hijacking that brought
down both World Trade Center towers Tuesday.

State leaders said it will take more than new security to fix what ails
Logan and nothing will be ruled out once an exhaustive probe begins.

``When a tragedy of this enormity happens, it is obvious to all of us - two
terrorists got on a plane at Logan - there was a problem,'' Swift said.
``Once we have the facts at our disposal, there's no doubt in my mind that
changes will be warranted.'' State House sources said talk has already
centered on the possible ouster of senior Massachusetts Port Authority
officials - including Executive Director Virginia Buckingham, the latest in
a string of political appointees at the agency.

Sources said leadership changes are being discussed at the highest levels of
the state government, though officials say nothing will be done before the
federal criminal probes of the terrorism end.

``At some point, there will be a measurement of their effectiveness,'' said
state Rep. Joseph Sullivan (D-Braintree), chairman of the House
Transportation Committee, who said, though, that ``no finger-pointing is
needed.''

Swift has been careful not to lay blame in the lapsed security that allowed
terrorists to board planes at Logan.

The acting governor has suggested the blame may lie with the airlines, which
control security inside the airport and at gates, and has suggested she'll
support government efforts to seize control of those security checkpoints.

But while she has refused to discuss possible problems at Logan
specifically, she gave the first broad hint that heads may roll.

``I think we all, as public officials, whether we are elected or appointed,
are going to do a thorough review of every decision we've made to make sure
we don't repeat any of the mistakes that were made and that resulted in this
awful tragedy,'' she said.

Speculation has already turned to Buckingham, the last of three political
appointees to lead Massport during the Weld, Cellucci and Swift
administration.

When Buckingham, press secretary, campaign manager and chief of staff to
former Gov. Paul Cellucci, took over at a salary of $150,000 a year, she was
criticized for her lack of aviation experience by powerful U.S. Rep. Joseph
Moakley, who died in May. But Buckingham was not the only political
appointee sent to lead Massport with no previous experience in running an
airport, or any comparable facility.

In 1993, former Gov. William F. Weld appointed Stephen P. Tocco to lead the
agency. At the time, Tocco was his economic affairs security adviser and
later became a lobbyist criticized for the mixing of his business with the
state government.

Former U.S. Rep. Peter Blute was given the job by Weld after he lost a
re-election bid in 1996 but was later ousted by Cellucci after running a
taxpayer-funded ``booze cruise'' in August 1999. He went on to become a
radio talk show host.

But Swift may be open to criticism for overhauling the agency. She herself
spent time at Massport, landing softly there as the $78,000-a-year director
of regional airports after her failed bid for Congress in 1996.

Other possible targets if a house cleaning is ordered is Massport security
chief Joe Lawless, a former state police driver for Weld.

Lawless took heat this week for rebuffing offers of security help from the
U.S. Marshal's office. Buckingham later apologized to the marshal's office
on orders from Swift, according to reports.

Also weighing in is Swift's often-rocky relationship with Buckingham,
sources said.

State Secretary of Transportation Kevin Sullivan said a full review is
clearly needed but he backed Buckingham's leadership. ``We have to look back
but we have to look back constructively,'' Sullivan said.

Massport spokesman Jose Juves agreed, saying officials there are too busy to
focus on what-ifs. ``Everyone here has a job to do and they are doing it,''
he said.

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