Two seemingly contradictory statements can be true. Gov. Romney’s attempt to oust Matt Amorello from head spot at the Turnpike Authority following more Big Dig doubts is petty grandstanding. It’s also part of a necessary power play to centralize the power of the governor’s office.
First the grandstanding: when Governor says "The culture of obstruction and coverup starts at the very top," he’s picking a scapegoat for problems that extend back in time. I never thought I’d be quoting Stephen Lynch as the voice of reason, but I rather like his quote in the Herald: "It’s counter-productive to just keep plucking the top guy out of that seat. The easiest thing to do is fire the guy in charge, that looks like progress. But if you’re honestly trying to make the whole project more accountable, that’s not going to do it." By all appearances — and I’ll admit I don’t have all the facts — Amorello has done what he was hired to do: bring the Big Dig finances under control. It’s been a two-decade long project, and to blame him for the corruption of his predecessors and the dual negligence of a Democratic legislature and at least two Republican governors is unfair.
However, Romney’s also right, as was Jane Swift: gubernatorial oversight is impossible given the weak office as it historically exists in the Commonwealth. There are some good reasons to have a weak corner office. A strong legislature keeps political power closer to the local level and keeps local concerns in the eye of state government. And after four Republican governors, Democrats can be thankful their power to implement policy, even through the backdoor of administrative decisions, has been limited.
But I think it’s safe to say that the whole mess of the Big Dig boils down to the Commonwealth’s governance. Previous governors have been at times incompetent and it may be that if the governor had more supervisory power over the Turnpike, he or she may well have failed to reign in costs or correct problems with the Big Dig. But he or she would have been held accountable and unable to pin the blame on the other party and other branch of government. Meanwhile, legislatures are good at many things, but overseeing the administration of a multi-billion dollar construction project is simply not one of them. Nor, apparently, are the Authorities they appoint. At each stage in this fiasco, there was a vacuum of oversight and accountability because no branch — legislature, governor, or quasi-independent bureau — had the power or electoral incentive to exercise command of the project.
In other words, at this point, I think Romney is wrong-headed to single out Amorello, but if we’re going to avoid messes like this in the future, he should be able to appoint or fire a Turnpike Authority head. Without going to the SJC.
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