Political disgrace

Governor Paul Cellucci stumbles from one ethical lapse to another

If we have learned nothing else about Argeo Paul Cellucci since his ascendancy to the top post in Massachusetts politics, we've learned this: he can be relied upon to slither from one ethical quagmire to the next.

Surely the most disturbing is his cozy connection with George Cashman, head of Teamsters Local 25 -- a connection that has been outlined in painful detail by both Boston dailies. The racketeering division of the US Department of Labor is reportedly investigating the Charlestown-based Local 25 for allegedly shaking down Hollywood executives who filmed in Massachusetts, including those who worked on The Perfect Storm and The Cider House Rules. A federal grand jury is looking into the allegations, which include acts of vandalism and violence, threats of physical violence, and harassment of movie executives who would not agree to lucrative contracts for Teamsters drivers. Records have been subpoenaed from the Massachusetts Film Office as well as from Hollywood studios including Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Fox, DreamWorks, and Miramax.

Memos written to the governor in 1997 and 1998 by Massachusetts Film Office director Robin Dawson show that Cellucci was told about these attempts at extortion. In 1998, when Cellucci certainly knew of the allegations, he reappointed Cashman, who is also one of the governor's close advisers, to a seven-year term on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Port Authority. The implications are staggering: Cellucci not only ignored the union's extortive tactics, but also reappointed its head to a position of influence outside the union. What could his motivation have been? The fact that Cashman had engineered support among the Teamsters for Cellucci's 1998 gubernatorial run? Was there a quid pro quo? Or was this just a shocking example of mismanagement and insensitivity?

Although the Teamsters scandal has overshadowed the Big Dig, there are also questions about when Cellucci learned of the project's cost overruns -- before his administration sought bonds from Wall Street (a crime), or after (a stunning display of poor leadership). The Securities and Exchange Commission, the FBI, and the US Attorney General's Office are all investigating who knew what and when. There have been reports that Treasurer Shannon O'Brien is the state official who forced Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman James Kerasiotes to come clean about the numbers. Where was Cellucci when O'Brien was holding the line?

Cellucci's exceedingly bad judgment about his political allies extends beyond Cashman and Kerasiotes. Just last week, the governor vacationed in the Azores at the home of Antonio Frias, a general contractor who has worked on state projects, including the Big Dig. (Last year, Frias's son Anthony purchased property from Cellucci for almost twice its assessed value -- giving the governor a $225,000 profit, according to the Boston Herald.) Although Cellucci's free stay in the Azores may technically have been legal, there's no question that it looks bad. Just as bad as, say, taking a state police chopper home for the holidays.

Speaking of helicopters, what are we to make of Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift's continual mishaps? Although the State Ethics Commission, which just completed a months-long investigation into her behavior, concluded that the most serious charges against Swift (relying on her staff to help her move into a new apartment, using a police helicopter to fly home for Thanksgiving, and asking her aides to mind her daughter at the State House) did not rise to the level of actual ethics violations, it did find that she erred in asking two of her aides to babysit her daughter outside the State House. The bottom line is that she's something of an airhead who had no idea how to manage the mess she made. And neither did the governor -- who defended her from the first messy story to the most recent. Although the local media have been fawning over Swift for her newfound ability to apologize, we've seen no indication that the lieutenant governor has learned enough not to make the same mistakes again. Nor have we seen any signs that the governor has developed the management skills to keep her out of trouble: last week Cellucci defended Swift yet again, explaining that she had been a "new mother" in a "new job." Please.

But Swift isn't the only member of Cellucci's staff to have shown poor judgment. How about Highway Commissioner Matthew Amorello's solicitation of campaign donations from contractors who do business with his office? And Cellucci's decision to accept campaign donations from Amorello's family while his own office investigated Amorello's behavior? It's too bad Cellucci and Swift can't muster up more of the rare leadership displayed when they quickly dealt with Peter Blute after his infamous booze cruise and use it in this situation.

It's hard to imagine George W. Bush -- should he win November's presidential election -- overlooking the stench from all this sleaze to appoint Cellucci to a post in his administration. Whether he does or not, the Commonwealth will lose: if Cellucci stays, we're stuck with him. And if he goes, we're stuck with Swift.

What do you think? Send an e-mail to letters[a]phx.com.