3 TSA officials resign
FINDLAY -- The top three U.S. Transportation Security Administration officials at Pittsburgh International Airport resigned Tuesday after an investigation into allegations that included fraud, intimidation and sexual harassment.
TSA Director Robert Blose, 55, and two assistant directors resigned, citing "personal reasons," after a three-month investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the TSA's parent agency.
TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis declined to discuss the investigation and would not say whether that led to the resignations. Resigning with Blose, a retired colonel in the Marines, were Craig Martelle, assistant federal security director, and Bill Rough, deputy assistant federal security director for screening. Rough has been on paid leave since the investigation began in February.
Davis said the three face no charges as a result of the investigation. "No other issues are pending investigation at this time," she said.
Employees who called for the investigation, first reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on April 29, cheered the departures but questioned why the TSA allowed them to resign.
"There is still no one being held accountable for the lives destroyed by the management of this organization," said Lillian Bonner, a former administrative assistant for Blose who pushed for the investigation.
Blose and Rough could not be reached for comment. Messages left for Martelle were not returned.
The TSA, which employs security screeners at most U.S. airports, appointed Thomas Rice, the agency's director at Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio, to serve as the interim director at Pittsburgh International.
"By appointing Mr. Rice as the acting federal security director, the TSA is demonstrating its commitment to providing our work force at Pittsburgh with strong leadership," Davis said.
The TSA also moved Tim Norris, an assistant security director at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, to Pittsburgh International. Norris will serve as the acting assistant director for screening at Pittsburgh International.
Cindy Burns of Elizabeth Township and other TSA employees said Rice is respected across the agency. Burns said in April she was removed from her position as TSA payroll officer and forced to work a late-day screening shift after she told administrators they were misusing overtime. She described the change in her duties as retaliation by Martelle, Rough and others.
Burns said TSA employees at Pittsburgh International were told Tuesdday to let their three former managers pack their belongings and leave the airport quietly.
"I think they put the word out that they wanted to let these guys have some dignity and respect," Burns said. "Unfortunately, we weren't given any respect. We put up with their abuse for three years.
"We're very thankful they're gone. The screening force is as happy as ever -- jumping with glee. We hope things will finally start to turn around."
Employee complaints prompted an internal TSA investigation in February and led to an internal affairs investigation headed by Homeland Security. Among the employees' accusations:
Blose, 55, accepted the Pittsburgh International position in May 2002, after retiring from the Marines and his last job as dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
Blose grew up in Mifflin County and attended Lock Haven University before his military career.
Bonner, his former administrative assistant, celebrated his departure from the airport. "As a result of the investigation, the dictatorship, sexual harassment, intimidation and existence of an extremely hostile work environment at TSA-Pittsburgh has now come to an end," she said. "Hopefully with new leadership, TSA employees can now do what they were hired to do -- serve and protect."
Allegheny County Airport Authority Executive Director Kent George said screening at Pittsburgh International has not suffered.
"At no time has security been compromised in any way, shape or form during the investigative process," George said. "Nor was the quality of security ever questioned."
The TSA was formed in November 2001 in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The agency employs 348 people at Pittsburgh International Airport but is facing possible cuts.
