FORMER GOVERNOR'S LEGACY
Weld lauds ex-aides now at Massport

By Frank Phillips and Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff, 9/21/2001

Former governor William F. Weld, accused in his days on Beacon Hill of using
the Massachusetts Port Authority as a patronage dumping ground, yesterday
defended his decision to appoint Joseph Lawless, his one-time bodyguard and
driver, as the security chief at Logan International Airport.

He also vigorously denied that Massport's executive director, Virginia
Buckingham, who was chief of staff under both Weld and former governor Paul
Cellucci, is unqualified to run the agency.

''I don't see the arrows pointing at these two people,'' Weld said,
insisting that any safety lapses at Logan last week fell under the airlines'
jurisdiction, not Massport's.

Weld, who left office in 1997, shepherded Buckingham in her rise through
state politics, a career that included no work in the fields of aviation or
security. Lawless was chief of the State Police security detail assigned to
the governor's office prior to his move to the airport.

After the attacks last week, Weld's legacy resurfaced, as Lawless and
Buckingham came under close scrutiny from the media, and presumably the FBI,
which is investigating the terror attacks on the World Trade Center. Both
jets that slammed into the twin towers, killing thousands, began their
flights at Logan.

But Weld insisted that Lawless, with 20 years experience in law enforcement,
was qualified for the position at Logan.

''I think of Joe Lawless as a professional,'' Weld said. ''I don't think of
him as a pol at all. He is a serious guy. Running the governor's security
detail was the smallest job he had. He ran major criminal investigations.''

Weld also insisted that Buckingham's role as his chief of staff gave her the
experience to qualify for managing Massport, an agency that Weld greatly
expanded in the realms of development and overseas trade. He said Buckingham
oversaw all of state government and its 60,000 employees while he was
governor.

''Who do you think was managing them? Me?'' quipped Weld, who liked to
promote a self-image of a hands-off governor. ''I would say you can hire
pros to do that, but general managerial ability is the most important for an
executive director of Massport.''

Weld also described Lawless as a ''star'' when he was with the State Police
before he went to Logan.

US Representative Michael Capuano, the Somerville Democrat whose district
includes East Boston, where Logan sits, said the media, the public, and
those in government must resist the temptation to scapegoat Buckingham or
Lawless and wait until the facts of last week's attacks are fully revealed.

''I am not the type of person who likes knee-jerk reactions,'' said Capuano,
who has fought continuously with Buckingham over issues such as runway
expansion and jet noise. ''There are obviously concerns about security, and
we should have professional people looking at that. But I'm not interested
in scapegoats.

''Right now, I'm not qualified and I haven't heard from anybody yet who
is,'' Capuano continued. ''The simple fact of being a political appointee is
not in and of itself determinative. Some [appointees] have been great, some
have been terrible. But just because they are one is no reason to judge
them.''

This story ran on page B8 of the Boston Globe on 9/21/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
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