DiMasi's Leftovers
It's full of good stuff!!!
"US expands inquiry into DiMasi friends; State building contract at issue" by Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | March 27, 2009
Federal investigators have broadened their inquiry into the business dealings of friends of former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, reviewing a $1.4 million state contract awarded to a company co-owned by Richard Vitale to manage a signature state building in downtown Boston, according to two officials....
The three-year contract to manage the state Transportation Building was awarded in 2006 to Genesis Management Group LLC, which was formed by three partners, including Vitale, who was DiMasi's close friend and accountant at the time.
Just months after Vitale and his partners incorporated Genesis, it knocked out a company that had held the management contract since 1992. Genesis submitted the low bid, but according to the bidding rules, the state had discretion and was not required to award the contract based on price alone.... Genesis receives a management fee of $70,000 a year and nearly $400,000 to cover salaries of Genesis on-site property management staff. Besides the salaries and fees, the company has the authority to put out bids and award maintenance, operations, and repair work using an annual budget of more than $7 million.
Genesis landed the contract at around the same time that Vitale was helping special interests win favorable treatment on Beacon Hill. Vitale has been indicted by the state on charges that he secretly used his friendship with DiMasi to help the Massachusetts Association of Ticket Brokers win House passage of a bill that would remove the state's cap on ticket prices.
Vitale also received $600,000 from a sales agent for the Burlington software company
Just a regular toilet of corruption down there, huh?
Although he has been involved in some large-scale development projects, Vitale has little experience managing real estate. Grant is a former executive with Urban Retail, which ran several government buildings, including the Moakley courthouse, the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, D.C., and 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, a City of Boston office building. He also was executive vice president and general manager of Copley Place....
The proposal described Vitale's property management role as "a new venture." With his vast accounting experience, the proposal says, Vitale can "successfully service the client's specific needs for financial accounting, reporting, and tax consulting."
Genesis's bid, one of four, was $138,973 less than the second-lowest bid. In its request for proposals, the division said it would evaluate the bidders "to determine best value for the Commonwealth." Cost was one of eight criteria considered. Others are demonstrated experience, the clarity of the proposal, and the extent to which minorities and women are part of the company.
Among the other bidders were two firms that had specialized in real estate management for more than a century - RM Bradley, which had managed the building since 1992, and Codman Co. Inc. Officials of the losing companies declined to comment on the contract award.
Since 2007, Genesis has also been managing a city building in West Roxbury. Under the $1.49 million contract, it operates a building on Rivermoor Street that houses the city archives and
Genesis also manages 495 Business Center, a private office park in Tewksbury. To help it win the Transportation Building work, Genesis cited Vitale's experience developing real estate - including Manchester Downtown Visions LLC, a mixed-use development including residences, a semipro baseball stadium, retail space, and a hotel along the Merrimack River in Manchester, N.H. The proposal also cited the work of Vitale's former accounting firm, Vitale Caturano, in managing its corporate headquarters, a 90,000-square-foot office building on Constitution Wharf in Charlestown....
I can't breathe from the stench.
