Ex-security chief: O'Hare is the least-secure airport in country Says he was fired in retaliation for raising questions on vulnerability
By Fran Spielman
Chicago Sun Times
CHICAGO — O'Hare Airport is the "least secure airport in the country" -- and vulnerable to a terrorist attack -- because of an aviation commissioner hell-bent on building runways at the expense of security, the airport's fired security chief charged Wednesday.
Jim Maurer said he was fired from his $130,380-a-year security job in mid-September not because he "physically attacked" one of Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino's top lieutenants, as Andolino claimed, but because he raised security concerns the commissioner didn't want to hear.
Maurer's explosive charges are outlined in a lawsuit filed Wednesday against Andolino and her top deputy, Ellen O'Connor. He's seeking reinstatement, back pay and in excess of $2 million in damages for what he calls a "retaliatory discharge" and "slander" of his reputation.
Maurer's lawsuit claims that O'Connor, an assistant aviation commissioner, even went so far as to file a "false police report" claiming that Maurer had assaulted her, when he did not.
Andolino "made up this stuff to get rid of me because I was the guy who brought the turd to the punch bowl. Every time I would bring up a security issue, they didn't want to hear about it. It all cost money. It interfered with their O'Hare Modernization Program. That's all they care about," said Maurer, 63.
"O'Hare is the least secure airport in the country because of security lapses they poo-pooed every time I brought it up. I can't go into some of it because it would be so easy for some whack job to go in and shoot up the place."
Pressed for specifics, Maurer talked about his failed efforts to persuade Andolino to move the communications nerve center away from the terminal core.
He outlined a "severe manpower shortage" that has reduced authorized police strength from more than 220 officer before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to "120-something" today. On some nights, there are "as few as two armed officers patrolling the entire airport," he said.
But Maurer charged that the biggest security problem of all is the fact that O'Hare is "the only airport in the country that allows private vehicles to park on the secure side of the airfield."
"Ten thousand vehicles a day drive through and park in the northwest hangar area of the airport, even though they've been warned twice by TSA and Homeland Security. It's private parking for airline employees, and they don't want to piss off the airlines," Maurer said.
"This has the potential for creating the biggest catastrophe of any airport scenario you could have. Forget about seizing airplanes. You don't have to do that. You have 28 miles of perimeter that are not properly secure."
Mayor Daley sloughed off Maurer's explosive allegations and declared O'Hare to be a "good airport" that's perfectly safe.
"He's disgruntled. You would be, too. . . . Any time someone is asked to leave, of course they're gonna say that," the mayor said.
Andolino was out of town and unavailable for comment.
|
Most Commented Articles