-Caveat Lector- Bared Breasts Launch Mass. Scandal By LESLIE MILLER .c The Associated Press BOSTON (AP) - It was smooth sailing for Gov. Paul Cellucci's administration until a stunt actress named Gidget bared her breasts to a newspaper photographer while aboard a taxpayer-funded booze cruise. The raised tank top opened a Pandora's box of daily allegations ranging from cronyism to abuse of power to uncontrolled spending within the Cellucci administration. Reports surfaced Wednesday that a recent Cellucci appointee had approved a state contract for his recently disbarred divorce lawyer, and another appointee had been found to have sexually harassed an underling. Cellucci said Wednesday he is undisturbed by all the turmoil in his administration. ``We've got over 60,000 people working for us,'' he said. ``So will there be problems occasionally? Sure. It's our job to deal with those problems. That's what we're doing.'' The troubles began on Aug. 17, with a boozy Boston Harbor cruise chartered by Massachusetts Port Authority director Peter Blute, a former congressman. He was accompanied by a controversial GOP fund-raiser and a number of young women, including Gidget Churchill, who lifted her top after spotting a Boston Herald photographer waiting on shore. ``That was a bad thing to do,'' Cellucci said after returning from a Florida vacation Saturday, looking tanned but not particularly rested. Blute resigned hours after the booze cruise photos hit newsstands, but that was just the beginning. On Friday, David Shagoury, chief of staff for state Economic Development Director Carolyn Boviard, resigned amid allegations that he and Ms. Boviard were having an affair. The 33-year-old Shagoury - immediately nicknamed ``Shagadelic'' by a local columnist - had reportedly threatened to punish employees who gossiped about the alleged affair, which Ms. Boviard, 44, denies. The same day, Nancy ``Hasty'' Evans quit her job as planning director for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The Republican appointee said she could no longer tolerate cost overruns that ran into hundreds of millions of dollars. On Tuesday, Cellucci appointed his chief of staff, 33-year-old Virginia Buckingham, to the top Massport post, immediately drawing criticism that Ms. Buckingham is far from qualified for the position. He was also criticized for his choice of replacement for Ms. Buckingham as chief of staff - Stephen O'Neill, a Cellucci aide who had been his driver as recently as 1991. ``They've always got a shortage of qualified Republicans, but they're reaching down really low,'' said Dan Payne, a Democratic consultant. ``Cellucci has not distinguished himself with strong people around him. There are no adults he can turn to and say, `Get this class in order'.'' Corruption is nothing new in Massachusetts and certainly not limited to Republicans, said John Sears, a Republican political consultant. ``Massachusetts' congressional delegation has a couple of very black eyes from its own past that might be deemed more serious than booze cruises or love affairs in the office,'' said Sears, referring to the Chappaquiddick tragedy that doomed Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's shot at the presidency and Rep. Barney Frank's admission he improperly used his congressional office to aid a male prostitute. Nevertheless, gleeful Democrats say they've seen the scandals coming for a long, long, time - ever since Republican Gov. William Weld strayed from his campaign promise in 1990 not to hire any political hacks, or ``walruses,'' as he called them. Six years later, it was revealed Weld's patronage appointees called themselves the ``walrus club,'' and the administration kept a priority list of job candidates who had supported Weld or the GOP. Cellucci had been Weld's lieutenant governor until July 1997, when he became acting governor after Weld resigned for an unsuccessful pursuit of the ambassadorship to Mexico. ``There is no one in the business of politics in Massachusetts, Republican, Democrat, Independent, reporter, official or independent observer, who was surprised by this,'' said Michael Goldman, a Democratic political consultant. ``Fairly or unfairly, they've had such a good run, and now it's turned. That's the way it works in this business.'' DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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