Roosevelt Criticizes Weld's Campaign Administration

BOSTON--Governor William F. Weld '66 has failed to control corruption in his campaign administration, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mark Roosevelt '78 charged at a press conference yesterday.

The conference marked a continuation of Roosevelt's attempt to make ethics the central issue in the campaign.

"Bill Weld is not personally corrupt," Roosevelt said. "But he has allowed corruption to occur around him."

The democratic nominee also repeated his request for more information on Weld's fund-raisers.

Roosevelt charged that Weld has mismanaged the Central Artery Project, a highway and tunnel renovation which is $3.5 billion over budget.

Weld's chief fund raiser, Peter Berlandi, is a consultant for a company working on the project.

"Central Artery is just one piece in the puzzle," Roosevelt said. "This administration has had problems with ethical issues since day one."

Weld has denied that ethical violations occurred.

"We have complied with the letter and the spirit of the law," said Paula Popeo, Weld's press secretary.

Popeo said Weld will refuse requests to release more information about his fund-raisers.

Despite the charges, Weld still holds a significant lead in recent opinion polls and has raised several times more funds than his opponent.

"These charges aren't real issues," Popeo said. "Their campaign is in big trouble if ethics is all they focus on."

Roosevelt's campaign is suffering from financial strains.

Lack of funds has kept the democratic nominee's ads off the airwaves while the Weld campaign has advertised widely.

"Our goal is to be back with television ads in a short time and to run a credible campaign," Roosevelt said yesterday, nothing that he will start a bus tour soon.