"Phoenix airport security chief blasted TSA"

Sunday, August 8, 2004

Airport security chief blasted TSA
Agency denies suspension link
By Dennis Wagner
The Arizona Republic


Just days before Marcia Florian was suspended as security chief at
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, a Seattle newspaper quoted
memos she authored ripping management practices in the nation's
Transportation Security Administration.

Florian was placed on paid leave a few days after the Seattle Times
story, and in the midst of an Arizona Republic inquiry into claims that
she intentionally lengthened wait times at Sky Harbor passenger
checkpoints to justify the hiring of more screeners.
 
TSA officials have refused to divulge what prompted the disciplinary
action and a related investigation by the Department of Homeland
Security. But Amy von Walter, a TSA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.,
said Florian's suspension was not instigated by the Seattle report or
The Republic's investigation. 

Meanwhile, an e-mail last week suggests Florian fell victim to Beltway
politics involving TSA Administrator David Stone, who beat her out for
the agency's top job late last year.

The e-mail was posted July 28 on a Yahoo message group for retired
Phoenix police by a writer identified as Marcia Florian. It says:

" . . . I was considered one of the model federal security directors
until December 2003 when I was requested by the Office of White House
Personnel to interview for the position of administrator for the TSA.
Since that time, it seems that the then acting administrator (my
competitor for the position) and now confirmed administrator lost
confidence in me, and my standing within the TSA has changed.

"I am very disappointed . . . I have served with integrity and honor.
However, in the last few days, I have learned much about politics at a
much higher level." Florian did not respond to requests for comment.

Von Walter emphasized that the investigation is being conducted by
Homeland Security's inspector general and is not under Stone's
direction. Responding to the e-mail posted on Yahoo, she added, "That's
a convenient excuse for someone engaged in personal damage control."

Florian's February letter to Stone, quoted in the Seattle newspaper,
complains of a "staffing crisis" at America's airports because security
screeners have been subjected to so much dishonesty and abuse in the
past two years.

"The continued decline in resources jeopardizes safety and morale, as
well as customer service," she wrote. "We expect consistency but provide
none ourselves. Our screeners have endured false promises from hiring
contractors, weeks or months with no (or incorrect) pay or benefits,
competency testing, right-sizing, mandatory conversion to part time,
forced overtime and now a recertification process that shows no regard
for screener morale, effectiveness or livelihood."

The TSA was created to replace private airport security firms with
federal employees after al-Qaida hijackers crashed jetliners into the
World Trade Center and Pentagon. The agency initially planned to have
more than 60,000 screeners, but Congress forced cutbacks by authorizing
only 45,000. Nevertheless, Von Walter said, TSA maintains staffing
levels to assure public safety and customer service.

Florian's suspension as federal security director in Arizona coincided
with a Republic investigation of e-mails sent to her and others by Fred
Carter, screening manager at Sky Harbor. Those messages described a
policy of shifting personnel away from checkpoints when business was
slow so passengers would spend an average of 15 minutes waiting in
security lines.

Florian has said the idea was to balance manpower, not dupe headquarters
into providing more screeners. But the memos refer to "our effort to
increase our wait times." They were written at a time when airports
nationwide were competing for more screeners, and Florian was
campaigning for a larger staff.

The TSA authorizes hiring based in part on average checkpoint wait
times. This spring, Sky Harbor passengers averaged five to six minutes
in security lines, well below a 10-minute threshold set by agency
officials to identify understaffed airports.

Several airport workers in Phoenix confirmed to The Republic that
checkpoint delays were created to justify more hiring."It was
disseminated to us grunts," said Jon Reed, 31, who quit his screening
job last month to become a real estate agent. "We walked around
scratching our heads and saying, 'What the heck's going on here? Why do
they want these lines longer?' "

This spring, Sky Harbor was granted 44 additional screeners, for a total
of 940. But workers complain that mismanagement, ethnic discrimination,
cronyism, low morale and attrition may combine to jeopardize safety and
service. Von Walter declined to comment on the accusations.

Timeline of transportation issue

September 2001: Transportation Security Administration created to
replace private airport screeners with federal employees.

March 2002: Marcia Florian, a 27-year Phoenix police officer, is sworn
in as federal security director for Arizona, overseeing operations at
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and nine other commercial
airports in the state.

December 2003: Florian interviews for TSA's top job; loses out to David
Stone.

Feb. 20, 2004: Florian, as chair of the Federal Security Director
Advisory Council, writes scathing letter to Stone about mismanagement
and abuse within the TSA.

April 5, 2004: Fred Carter, screening supervisor at Sky Harbor, sends
e-mail to Florian and others about plans to extend wait times at
passenger checkpoints.

July 20, 2004: The Arizona Republic launches investigation of Carter
e-mails.

July 21, 2004: The Seattle Times reports on TSA mismanagement and abuse
of airport screeners, quoting Florian's letter to Stone.

July 27, 2004: Florian is placed on paid leave for unspecified reasons
pending an investigation by Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector
General.

July 28, 2004: E-mail in Florian's name suggests she has fallen victim
to politics at a much higher level.

Sources: Transportation Security Administration Web site, Seattle Times,
TSA representatives


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