Boston Herald, MA
July 28, 2006

One chapter ends as another begins
By Boston Herald editorial staff
Friday, July 28, 2006

Had Matt Amorello resigned from the Turnpike Authority on July 11 he
might have been seen as a martyr – willing to quit for the simple
reason that a woman died in a tunnel he was charged with ensuring was
safe. He wouldn’t have emerged unscathed, but after the requisite
apology tour he might have stitched together his tattered reputation.

With Amorello, though, it was never about doing the right or
obvious thing. It was about lawyers and liability, politics and yes,
paychecks. It took two weeks and careful negotiations but he finally
agreed to step aside, and we can’t say we’ve shed a tear. The focus
now is rightly and solely on the investigation into the ceiling
collapse that killed Milena Del Valle and the safety of the entire
tunnel system.

But as the saying goes, when the door slams shut on Amorello’s
rear end, a window opens – an opportunity to view both the bricks and
mortar of the Big Dig infrastructure and the stalled `development’
along the Rose Kennedy Greenway with a whole new perspective.

The Greenway was supposed to be our reward for putting up with
nearly two decades of inconvenience. Among Amorello’s greatest
contributions – planting trees and doing the bidding of friends in
the Legislature by granting one of the precious few parcels to a
group that plans a memorial to victims of the Armenian genocide.
Let’s just say Amorello never quite got the `vision thing.’

It’s a little late, but Amorello’s departure still presents an
opportunity to shake the old-school politics plaguing this project
and to ensure that the promise of the Greenway is fulfilled. Gov.
Mitt Romney will select a third new board member to replace Amorello
and the new MTA board will have its first meeting on Aug. 16. Their
work is cut out for them.