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On shaky ground? After fumbling start, new state transportation czar, Tibbits-Nutt, is quietly assigned some management help
Ok, maybe it would be a stretch to say that Monica Tibbits-Nutt should watch her back.
After all, this is state government we are talking about, not La Cosa Nostra.
Yet it’s also hard see the Healey administration’s quiet hiring of Luisa Paiewonsky as a huge vote of confidence in the state transportation secretary, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and missteps.
A former top federal transportation official, Paiewonsky recently began work at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, tasked with helping manage two key mega projects, Contrarian Boston has confirmed.
Paiewonsky will head the newly created Office of Megaproject Delivery, which will come with a salary of $250,000 a year, MassDOT officials said in response to inquiries from Contrarian Boston.
Paiewonsky, former head of the state highway department as well, will work on the $2 billion plan to straighten the Turnpike in Allston, freeing up valuable real estate for housing and parks, and the $4 billion-plus plan to replace both Cape bridges.
Adding to the intrigue, Paiewonsky was a candidate herself for the secretary of transportation, the post that Tibbits-Nutt now holds.
Also odd? The lack of any press release or announcement by state transportation officials of such a high profile hire.
Still, one factor in the move may be Tibbits-Nutt’s handling of the big Allston highway project, which has raised concerns that she is not moving quickly enough to capitalize on a $335 million federal grant.
Basically, if the project doesn’t move along, it will be that much easier for the incoming Trump administration to pull the plug on the grant, insiders warn.
Sparking concerns, in June MassDOT formed four different working groups on the Allston project, only to see three of them go inactive after an initial flurry of activity.
Overall, there is also concern that Tibbits-Nutt hadn’t built out a strong or extensive enough management team. That’s a particular worry, given her background in the advocacy sector - before joining MassDOT as an undersecretary she was head of the 128 Business Council - and her lack of experience overseeing a large government bureaucracy, insiders say.
Meanwhile, Tibbits-Nutt has also infuriated key local and state leaders over her handling of another key aspect of the Allston Turnpike project.
Last spring, the state transportation secretary made a high-profile, crowd-pleasing pledge, vowing to bar a diesel train storage yard from being plunked down on part of the Allston acreage to be freed up by the planned straightening of the Turnpike.
"The layover's gotta go," she told neighborhood advocates, repeating the phrase twice for effect, Streetsblog MASS reported.
This week, Tibbits-Nutt reneged on that promise amid apparent pressure from Amtrak executives. That reversal, in turn, has resurrected concerns that the train yard could wreck hopes of building badly-needed housing on the reclaimed Turnpike land.
“Coming out in public and making a big policy decision and then walking it back is not what good managers and leaders do,” Harry Mattison, an Allston resident and member of MassDOT's Allston Multimodal Project Task Force, told Contrarian Boston.
Let’s just say Tibbits-Nutt is no stranger to controversy. She made headlines for all the wrong reasons last spring when she threatened to slap toll booths on the New Hampshire border, while also deriding drivers of F-150 pickup trucks.
If that weren’t enough, she boasted of the power she wields as state transportation secretary, while also vowing to use her authority as a “weapon” to achieve policy goals.
Gov. Maura Healey quickly disavowed those comments, with Tibbits-Nutt forced to backtrack and keep a low profile for weeks following her controversial remarks.
That said, whatever the concerns the governor may have, Tibbits-Nutt also appears to have lucked into some job security.
Why? Well, she’s Healey’s second transportation secretary; the first, Gina Fiandaca, left under a cloud after just seven months on the job.
And the governor is not seen as interested or eager to move on from Tibbits-Nutt and hire someone else, which would mean three different transportation secretaries in three years.
Not the look Healey wants as she crosses the midpoint of her first term as governor.
Anyway, officially it is all happy faces and smiles over at MassDOT when it comes to the hiring of the high-powered Paiewonsky, who is a certified big deal in the world of government transportation agencies.
“I am proud to welcome Luisa Paiewonsky to our team as the Executive Director of the Office of Megaproject Delivery,” Tibbits-Nutt said in a statement. “As an industry veteran, Luisa brings a depth of expertise and experience in managing complex projects.”
Secret to making housing more affordable in Massachusetts? A little bit of everything from the reform bucket, and then some, new study finds
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