"BWI job search stirs up a fracas"

Wednesday, April 3, 2002

BWI job search stirs up a fracas
Recruiting firm's barbs have officials talking legal action 
By Paul Adams
The Baltimore (MD) Sun


Maryland transportation officials said yesterday that they are still
searching for a new airport director and are considering taking legal
action against an executive search firm that resigned Monday amid
accusations that the hiring process was tainted by state officials. 

The Maryland Aviation Commission, which oversees Baltimore-Washington
International Airport, voted March 13 to recommend that Transportation
Secretary John D. Porcari hire Paul J. Wiedefeld, a Baltimore
construction and engineering executive with extensive experience
managing state transportation projects. Wiedefeld has been interviewed
by Gov. Parris N. Glendening, but no offer has yet been extended and a
spokesman for Porcari said the position remains open. 

Boyden Global Executive Search partner Tim McNamara complained that his
firm has been cut out of the hiring process, prompting him to send a
letter of resignation that raised questions about the selection process.
Wiedefeld was not among the candidates selected by Boyden in a
nationwide search that began nine months ago. 

"It's the first public-sector search in 16 years where we haven't been
in the loop from the get-go of the entire search," said McNamara, whose
firm was paid $50,000 plus expenses to conduct the search. "The
integrity of the process is not there when there are multiple processes
going on at the same time." 

Porcari's office said it was blindsided by the resignation and
McNamara's public comments about the search, first reported in the
Washington Post yesterday. 

"Our legal team is reviewing the potential breach of contract and the
breach of confidence by the executive search firm," said Jack Cahalen, a
spokesman for Porcari. He declined to comment on the status of the
search, which has been narrowed to a "few candidates." 

McNamara's accusations come at a turbulent time for the region's busiest
airport, which is still recovering from the after-effects of the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks and a sluggish economy. The airport has been
searching for a permanent executive director since David L. Blackshear
was forced to resign amid accusations that he made racist and sexist
remarks to two staffers. Blackshear discounted the complaints, saying
they were a result of political meddling by airport staff with close
ties to the governor. 

Some airport commission members defended their candidate yesterday,
saying there was no political pressure from the governor or
transportation secretary to pick Wiedefeld. 

"There was no kind of shenanigans and no kind of pressure from any of
the political people to do anything of this sort," said Robert Linowes,
a Washington attorney and senior member of the aviation commission. 

Wiedefeld, 48, is vice president of Parsons Brinckerhoff, a construction
and engineering firm that has designed numerous BWI capital projects and
is handling the airport's $1.8 billion expansion. 

He held several high-level planning positions within the state
Transportation Department before leaving for the private sector in 1994,
but has no experience in airport or aviation management. 

Proponents say Wiedefeld would bring with him critical knowledge of mass
transit systems and valuable connections that he developed during his
tenure as MDOT's director of the office of systems planning and
evaluation, and later as manager of Parsons in Baltimore, an
international firm that has played a role in almost every major
transportation project in the state. 

"This guy knows numbers, he knows capital projects, he knows procurement
and construction," said O. James Lighthizer, former transportation
secretary. "He is a solid guy, a real professional. He is a good choice.
I wouldn't hesitate to hire him for that job if I were secretary today."


Nicholas J. Schaus, a former deputy administrator at BWI, also praised
Wiedefeld, saying he worked well with airport staff on various capital
projects during his tenure. Schaus pointed out that two former airport
directors - Karl Sattler and James Truby - also lacked major airport
experience before coming to BWI. 

"[Wiedefeld] knows transportation planning from the top levels," Schaus
said. 

Though hired to vet all candidates, Boyden was never asked to interview
Wiedefeld or check his background before the aviation commission made
its decision. 

At least one commission member questioned the decision to exclude the
hired consultants. 

"I was surprised by the ... lack of interface with the consultant," said
George Ferris, a commission member and chairman of brokerage firm Ferris
Baker Watts. He declined to comment on whether political pressure played
a role in the selection. 

Executive search experts said it is not unusual for clients to find
candidates on their own. But typically those candidates are passed along
to the search firm, which conducts the interviews and background checks.


"It's very common for search consultants to review internal candidates
or candidates that may have come from contacts with the board, but the
idea is to let [consultants] screen them no matter where they come
from," said Peter Felix, president of the Association of Executive
Search Consultants, a New York-based trade group. 

David Plavin, president of Airports Council International, said airports
typically rely on executive search consultants when selecting new
managers. 

"I know that's been true with the ones I've been involved in," Plavin
said. 

"On the other hand, if you're a public agency it's hard to imagine why
you should feel bound by that. Why should you feel constrained by the
fact that you've hired this [head hunter] to help you find people?" 

Linowes said there was no need to further vet Wiedefeld because the
candidate was already well known in state government. Linowes criticized
Boyden, saying the search firm failed to identify quality candidates. Of
four candidates considered carefully by the commission, none was
recommended by Boyden, he said. 

Del. Peter Franchot, who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee
that oversees the airport, said his panel will hold a briefing on the
matter Friday at which it will hear from Porcari, members of the
aviation commission and possibly the contractor. 

Franchot said that at first glance it appears to be a case of "a
disgruntled consultant with an ax to grind." 

"There are concerns that the consultant did not do his job and conducted
himself in an unprofessional way," he said. 

The Montgomery County Democrat gave a strong endorsement of Porcari,
saying he has "the complete confidence" of legislative leaders. 

That appears to be the case in the Senate as well. 

Sen. Ulysses Currie, chairman of the Budget and Taxation subcommittee on
transportation, said he trusts Porcari's judgment. 

"This secretary, Porcari, has done a darn good job with the Department
of Transportation. Under his leadership, there have not been any
concerns at all," the Prince George's County Democrat said. 

Sen. Barbara A. Hoffman, chairwoman of the committee, said that with
about a billion dollars' worth of building projects pending at the
airport, hiring a construction executive might be a good idea.


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