The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 22

A22 City Region The Boston Globe WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2001 THE CELLUCCI nOMINATION Cellucci says he'll 'serve the country' Cellucci waved off a reporter's question about his current debts. As the administration's representative in Ottawa, Cellucci will face tensions, especially on two fronts. He must convey the administration's support for oil exploration in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and for the building of a national missile defense. Canadians strongly object to both. In a statement released by the White House, Bush said his appointment of his longtime friend and political ally signals his commitment to strengthening US-Canada relations.

"Governor Paul Cellucci is a friend and a fellow governor," the statement said. As a governor from the Northeast, he has worked closely with Canada over the years on issues of mutual concern like energy, trade, and preserving the environment" cy, and that his wife, Jan, no fan of politics, did not want to live in Washington. Discussion about the Ottawa post which had been mentioned informally, grew serious during the past three weeks. Cellucci began filling out forms for a background check two weeks ago, sources said. White House officials said they do not expect any of the controversies that have dogged Cellucci's governorship to pose serious problems.

This is what he wanted," one White House official said of the posting. "This was his preference." The governor echoed that sentiment yesterday, saying he does not believe his personal finances and history of heavy debts will interfere with confirmation. "Having run for governor in 1998, it is pretty clear all the people in front of me did a pretty good job of making sure I was under intense scrutiny," he told the CELLUCCI ContinuedfromAl to resign as governor until he is confirmed, and predicted the process will take "months, rather than weeks." Sources said Bush wants Cellucci confirmed before an economic summit in Canada in late April. Cellucci and Swift had refused to comment on his expected departure, which has shaken the state's political world, until yesterday's official announcement from the White House. At a packed late-afternoon news conference, Swift said she is prepared for the dual challenge she faces serving as the state's chief executive and the mother of a 2-year-old and twins due in June.

Swift said she will heed her doctor's advice on how active she can be, but she does not anticipate any problems working full time before and after delivery. Cellucci expressed strong confidence in Swift's ability to lead the state, and said he does not believe sions about a job ever since Bush was declared the winner of the election in mid-December. "It was part of a mutual thing between me and President Bush," Cellucci said. A Republican source close to Bush said the president had not seriously considered Cellucci for any other high-level job, and that Cellucci had expressed a desire for a position that would offer him some autonomy. "This wasn't Paul saying, 'I want ajob, any job, this Republican said.

Sources said discussion of ajob for Cellucci arose when Cellucci and a host of other Republican governors gathered with Bush at his ranch in Texas shortly after the US Supreme Court declared Bush president At the time, Cellucci communicated that he was not interested in a Cabinet position, but would prefer an ambassadorship. Sources said the governor expressed little interest in running a federal agen her pregnancy or delivery of the twins will interfere with her work. "I don't believe that will be a factor," he said. Cellucci said he believes people in Massachusetts will understand and respect his decision to join the Bush administration. "It is in the great tradition of democracies, when asked to serve your country, you do so," Cellucci said.

The formal offer from Bush came at 7 a.m. Monday, sources said, when Cellucci was in his room at the Willard Hotel in Washington, two blocks from the White House. The governor was in town to receive an award from the Cato Institute. The public announcement was put off a day, out of respect for Congressman J. Joseph Moakley, who announced during a news conference Monday afternoon that he has incurable leukemia.

While emphasizing that Bush made the offer, Cellucci confirmed reports that he had been in discus 1 iy 'St v2n 9 a JOSEPH P. KENNEDY II Running for governor? 9.TH DISTRICT Another Kennedy eyed for Congress By Steven Wilmsen GLOBE STAFF First it was Joseph P. Kennedy II that everyone was watching, waiting for him to declare whether he would make a 2002 bid for the state's top job. But now, eyes are on another Camelot progeny. Political speculators and strategists say brother Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, the 36-year-old ninth child of Robert F.

and Ethel Kennedy, is the newest wild card in a looming race to succeed ailing US Representative J. Joseph Moakley as he vacates his 9th District seat Max Kennedy "would be a very strong candidate and a very qualified candidate," said Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman Phillip W. Johnston, who is close to the Kennedy family. "I would not be surprised at all to see him run. Currently living in Cambridge and running the Watershed Insti- Max Kennedy Svouldbeavery strong candidate would not be surprised at all to see him Phillip Johnston, state Democratic chairman tute, a Boston College nonprofit that exposes inner-city students to urban environmental issues, Max Kennedy is seen by some as a strong contender in a Democratic race that could be won on ideological grounds instead of political experience.

Name recognition, of course, doesnt hurt Previously said to be mulling a run for the 10th District seat now held by US Representative William D. Delahunt Kennedy might find a warmer welcome in the 9th District where redistricting is expected to encompass more of the South Shore. Max Kennedy, whose political experience consists mainly of running his uncle Edward M. Kennedy's barely-contested 2000 US Senate reelection campaign, could find himself up against formidable political foes like House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran and Mayor Thomas M.

Menino. Some say his chances of getting on the ballot in 2002 are slim if brother Joe Kennedy, the former US representative from Brighton, decides to run for governor. "It's just sort of a rule," one Democratic operative said. "You dont want too many Kennedys at onetime." Still, many say politics-as-usual may be moot in 2002, with the combination of congressional re-districting and the one-two punch of Governor Paul Cellucci's midterm departure for Canada and Moakley surprise announcement that a deadly form of blood cancer will force him to bow out after 30 years in Congress. "If a seismic shift to the political landscape," said Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic strategist "Nothing is certain." Governor Paul Cellucci discussing his nomination as US ambassador to Canada, during a news conference yesterday at the State House.

PERKS OF THE JOB Heated sidewalks, theaters, and a mansion Glen Johnson of the Globe staff contributed to this report. GLOBE STAFF PHOTODAVID L. RYAN constituency, advocating for a state. As a diplomat you're advocating for your country." Regarding entertaining, Clancy said: "Dont forget to politicians and diplomats, social events are only a backdrop for doing business." Mary Ellen Gilroy, public affairs officer at the US Embassy in Canada, said if no 40-hour work "You're essentially on duty 24 hours a day," she said. "If the sort of thing where you start your day at a working breakfast with a Cabinet minister from the Canadian government and go into a series of meetings, and you have a working lunch with maybe some Canadian business people, some more meetings in the afternoon, two or three receptions.

While it sounds fun and glamorous initially, you're going to these things and delivering a subtle message to someone." No one in the State Department or the White House press office could say how much Cellucci will earn as ambassador, but the salary range runs from $117,000 to about $160,000. Cellucci's current annual salary is $135,000. Other ambassadors have complained that the "representational allowance" for entertaining diplomats is insufficient forcing them to tap personal funds, but no one could estimate yesterday the budgets Cellucci will have. Clancy said Ottawa gets films as quickly as Boston, something that should make Cellucci happy. She intends to give the governor some dining tips.

"The French restaurants are the ones people tend to think of," she said. "But there are a number of fine Italian restaurants." If i iJl. By Stephanie Ebbert GLOBE STAFF Sure, the average daily winter temperature is 14 degrees Fahrenheit But Canada's capital city still has its perks for a guy like Governor Paul Cellucci Consider the heated sidewalks. Some Canadian movie theaters have we mentioned that there are four movie megaplexes for Massachusetts' most notable film buff to enjoy? have heated walkways. Likewise, shoppers along Ottawa's Rideau Street are warmed inside heated plexiglass walkways.

Not that the outgoing governor will have to walk anywhere. As ambassador, Cellucci will have a car and driver at his disposal, a rent-free, 32-room mansion with stone terraces overlooking the Ottawa and Gatineau rivers, and an entertainment budget for receptions with diplomats. For Cellucci, a politician widely known to enjoy the more regal aspects of public life, Ottawa could be just the place, some say. The governor will be constantly entertaining, his social calendar booked with dinners, parties, and cocktail receptions. Indeed, every Fourth of July, the US ambassador throws one of the city's biggest social events, a very American barbecue with hot dogs, hamburgers, and fireworks for 5,000 guests.

The past US ambassador hired chefs from Le Cordon Bleu, the world's best-known French classical cooking school, to prepare dessert Not surprisingly it is a must-attend bash among diplomats. "To be an ambassador for your country has great cachet," said Mary Clancy, Canadian consul general to New England. "I would think Ottawa would be a very prestigious post. You get better theater in London but you get better restaurants in Ottawa." In some respects, it will be like going to work in Boston's City Hall. Ottawa, a city proud of its historic architectural beauty, has a massive, modern embassy viewed as a monstrosity when it opened two years ago.

The embassy is plunked down just two blocks from Byward Market cross between Haymarket and Quincy Market similarly ringed by trendy little shops and boutiques. But the $54 million embassy, staffed by some 225 people who will report to Cellucci, sits on stately Sussex Drive, the ceremonial route that passes Parliament the National Gallery, the French and British official residences, Rideau Hall, home of the governor general, and the prime minister's home, 24 Sussex. The embassy has two distinctly different entrances one sided with glass and stainless steel, the other a granite and limestone facade. Carved in the interior are quotes from four presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and John F.

Kennedy. It was Kennedy who said: "Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies." Down that street and around a curve is where the US ambassador's residence sits in a neighborhood where other ambassadors live. The house, on gated grounds, was built in 1908 by a railway commissioner and is called Lor-nado, for the novel, "Lorna .1 CP FILE PHOTO duties despite his inability to speak French, which she said will not pose a problem in bilingual Ottawa.

"You're doing the same thing as in government" Clancy said. "As a politician, you're advocating for a The US Embassy in Ottawa was new in 1 999, and is now the intended destination of Governor Paul Cellucci. Doone." It is a 2 V4-story limestone edifice reached by a sweeping driveway. Clancy, who was appointed consul after losing her Parliament seat said Cellucci should have an easy time learning his diplomatic i.