Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Ridge tells colleagues he may retire

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 12:35:46 -0400

Ridge tells colleagues he may retire

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Ted Bridis

July 30, 2004  |  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Homeland Security Secretary Tom
Ridge is considering stepping down after the November election, telling
colleagues he is worn out from the massive reorganization of government
and needs to earn money in the private sector to put his teenage
children through college, officials said.

Ridge will not make a final decision until he talks to President Bush
later this year and is focused on thwarting the terror attacks that
officials fear al-Qaida will attempt before November, Assistant Homeland
Secretary Susan Neely said.

"Secretary Ridge is focused
entirely on the job the
president has asked him to
do,'' Neely said Wednesday.

Several senior Homeland
Security officials told The
Associated Press that Ridge
has indicated in recent weeks
he probably will resign after
the election, even if Bush wins.
They spoke only on condition
of anonymity, citing the
delicate nature of describing
private conversations with
their boss.

Ridge, 58, has explained to colleagues that he needs to earn money to
comfortably put his two children, Tommy Jr. and Lesley, through college,
officials said. Both are now teenagers.  Ridge earns $175,700 a year as
a Cabinet secretary.
The former Pennsylvania governor, who agreed to serve as the
department's inaugural secretary, also has expressed to colleagues
frustration over the continuing challenges of reorganizing the 22
disparate agencies that formed the Homeland Security Department,
officials said.

One senior official said Ridge has cautioned that his plans, while
leaning toward resignation, could be changed by coming events, such as
another terror attack or a discussion with the president.

On a plane flight from Boston this month after viewing security
preparations for the Democratic National Convention, Ridge addressed his
future carefully. ``The job is going great _ personally,'' he said.
``When the president is re-elected, he'll have conversations to
determine what he wants and what his Cabinet members want.''
When asked if he was worn out, Ridge said: "I am not
authorized to be stressed.''

Congress and the independent commission that investigated the 2001
terror attacks have criticized elements of the fight against terror _
from intelligence cooperation and the color-coded warning system to the
delayed deployment of a more advanced airline screening system for
passengers.

Ridge has personally faced criticism over frequent but vague public
warnings about possible terrorist activity, and he was widely ridiculed
last year for urging homeowners to stock up on duct tape and plastic
sheeting to seal themselves inside during a chemical or biological
attack.

Republicans are quick to note that the administration also has not
suffered another terror attack on U.S. soil in the three years since
Sept. 11, 2001, while undertaking the largest reorganization of
government in a half century.

Ridge has spent decades in public service and has relatively little
savings from his lengthy career in government. When Ridge left
Pennsylvania as governor, where he served from 1995 to 2001, he was
earning $138,316 each year.

Ridge owns an $873,000 home in Bethesda, Md., with his wife, Michele,
which they bought last year with a $784,800 mortgage, according to
property and banking records. Ridge's most recent financial disclosure
reports, filed in early 2003, showed that he owned between $122,000 and
$787,000 in stocks and funds, including modest ownership in The Walt
Disney Co., General Electric, Nike, Oracle Corp. and Microsoft Corp.

By contrast, government officials at Ridge's level can easily earn
millions of dollars each year in the private sector.
The Homeland Security Department, formed in March 2003, is composed of
organizations
from agencies that included the Immigration and Naturalization Service,
Customs Service,
Coast Guard, Secret Service and the Transportation Security
Administration. It has a
budget of $36.2 billion and more than 180,000 employees

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