"Aloisi named secretary of transportation" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | December 20, 2008
Governor Deval Patrick appointed James Aloisi Jr. yesterday as his transportation secretary, shrugging off criticism from those who said that elevating a well-connected lawyer and key player in the tumultuous history of the Big Dig undermines the governor's message of reform....
Aloisi, who will take the $150,000 post in early January, declined to say whether he would support an increase in the gasoline tax, although he served on a transportation commission that unanimously recommended raising the tax by 11.5 cents and then tying it to inflation.
Aloisi's candidacy for the powerful post was unpopular among some Democrats and Republicans in the days leading up to yesterday's appointment. In a move that diminished the attention it received, Patrick announced the final decision on a Friday afternoon when much of the state was dealing with a major snowstorm. Patrick aides said the governor was busy monitoring the storm and declined to make him available to discuss the Cabinet pick....
Yeah, the SLIMY LITTLE DEVIL decided to do an underhand move, thinking we wouldn't notice and be outraged. WRONG!!!!
While Aloisi is intimately familiar with the state's transportation problems, he is also a controversial choice, in part because he wrote the law that saddled the Turnpike Authority with the Big Dig's debt and later made money representing the authority as outside counsel.
Related: The Big Pit
As a key lawyer working on the Big Dig, he was part of the team that kept a cloak of secrecy over the true cost of the $15 billion project. He has been a staunch defender of Matthew J. Amorello, the combative former Turnpike Authority chairman, praising him in a book Aloisi wrote about the project.
As a gubernatorial candidate, Patrick ran as an outsider and railed in televised ads against the "Big Dig culture."
"They've got one hell of a challenge to cut through the public relations of this," said Senator Mark C. Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat who has been critical of Aloisi's candidacy for the job. "How do you convince the public to have faith in the leaders when, in this case, Jimmy Aloisi's talent and experience have been a common thread in all of the problems."
TOO LATE!!! Maybe hanging a few guys like Madoff, Paulson, Bush, and Cheney would help regain a little, but beyond that....
But others say that picking Aloisi could prove to be a smart choice, bringing a sense of pragmatic politicking to an administration that sometimes seems out of step with the ways of Beacon Hill....
I thought he was the CHANGE GOVERNOR?
Aloisi will be replacing Bernard Cohen, who had a deep knowledge of transportation issues but was generally ineffective at navigating the state's political waters....
So we lost a GOOD MAN because he wasn't a corrrupt piece of filth like the rest of our looting liars, I mean, legislators?
The governor's choice of Aloisi did not appear to sit well yesterday with some in Patrick's core constituency, sparking a discussion on Blue Mass Group, a left-wing blog that has been strongly supportive of Patrick.
Ha-ha-ha! Lefties getting mad!! I love it!
How's it feel, ding-dongs? I'm sorry, but I am frustrated these days!
Misery loves company!
"When it's the bottom of the ninth, two outs, two on, and the home team down by two . . . who do you want at bat?" wrote David Kravitz, one of the blog's cofounders. "Do you want a .205 hitter with a record of not many extra-base hits and a lot of strikeouts? 'Cause that's how Aloisi strikes me."
WTF is with the damn SPORTS reference? Not a game!!!!
Republicans also ridiculed the governor's choice yesterday.
:-)
"The hypocrisy of this appointment is staggering," said Barney Keller, spokesman for the Massachusetts Republican Party. "James Aloisi is the embodiment of the Big Dig culture that candidate Patrick once decried."
Yeah, IT IS!! They couldn't find ANYONE ELSE that was QUALIFIED in the WHOLE WORLD?
