"Hearing Called on BWI Manager Dispute"

Wednesday, April 3, 2002

Hearing Called on BWI Manager Dispute
The Washington (DC) Post


Maryland lawmakers said yesterday that they will convene a hearing on the
search for a new manager of Baltimore-Washington International Airport after
a consultant helping to find candidates declared the process tainted by
politics.

The House Appropriations transportation subcommittee has summoned the
consultant, Tim McNamara, as well as members of the Maryland Aviation
Commission and state Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari for a hearing
Friday in Annapolis.

Last weekend, McNamara quit as BWI's headhunter in the national search for a
director at one of the country's fastest-growing airports. He said Porcari
had "tainted" the search process by selecting a final candidate who did not
undergo the same screening as other candidates McNamara sought out.

Porcari contended that none of four finalists for the job came from
McNamara's search but resulted from state officials' national advertising
campaign and contacts in the transportation industry. The state paid Boyden
Global Executive Search, of which McNamara is a partner, $50,000 for its
work.

"We have a lot of confidence in Porcari," said Del. Peter Franchot
(D-Montgomery), chairman of the transportation subcommittee. The panel
oversees BWI, the nation's largest state-owned airport.

He said he wanted to know whether McNamara had "a smoking gun" to support
his complaints.

"I would be very surprised if there's any there," Franchot said of
McNamara's criticisms. "If there isn't, I have questions about why we would
spend $50,000 to have the state smeared."

McNamara and Porcari did not respond to telephone calls yesterday.

Sources familiar with the search said Porcari had settled on Paul J.
Wiedefeld, a vice president at the engineering and construction firm of
Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc., which is doing part of the work of the $1.8
billion expansion at BWI.

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