"2 moderators use obscure law to pad pensions; Milton, Canton pair drew on political connections" by Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff | March 10, 2009
Aaaaaaah, only in Massachusetts!
Robert K. Lamere was an esteemed figure as Milton's volunteer town moderator, the steady hand on the gavel at the annual Town Meeting. One town to the south, Michael P. Curran also bore the moderator's title, leading the familiar rite of small-town government in Canton.
But these local figures came to differ from virtually every other town moderator in the state. Using their political connections, they successfully lobbied the Legislature in 2002 to win lucrative pension enhancements for the brief stints they served at the podium - which typically amounted to 10 hours a year.
The little-known Beacon Hill legislation allowed both men to cobble service credits from their volunteer duties for their towns onto pension credit for other public-sector jobs, giving them enough service time to collect greatly enhanced pensions....
Lamere today has a pension of about $63,000 annually.... Curran now collects about $46,500 a year in pension benefits....
Pretty good for 10 hours a YEAR, huh?
Their cases illustrate the Legislature's frequent willingness to reward the politically connected with lucrative public pensions, in votes that typically receive scant public attention. Lawmakers have passed bills to allow library trustees, for example, to win pensions, as well as authorized certain disability pensions for firefighters and police officer without requiring any medical reviews.
Yeah, yeah, it's always some unionized shit, according to the pro-corporate looting Globe.
Curran, 76, said there was nothing inappropriate about using his political connections to push legislation and cash in. "If the system exists, you have the right to take advantage of it," he said....
And we have the right to tar, feather, and dunk you!
Curran's pension is paid by local property taxes.
Oh, is he pooching you but good!
And SMELL the RANK, STANK CORRUPTION of MASSACHUSETTS POLITICS!!!
The 2002 bill that benefited Lamere and Curran was shepherded through the Legislature by state Representative William C. Galvin of Canton, a Democrat and longtime friend and political ally of Curran. Curran and Lamere lobbied him, Galvin said....
Curran has been a staunch political supporter of Galvin - and of Galvin's father when the elder Galvin held the same legislative seat his son now occupies. For many years, Curran chaired the Canton Democratic Town Committee. He has contributed to the younger Galvin's campaign fund regularly since 1991.
Moreover, Curran and Galvin for many years rubbed shoulders as town hall colleagues: Curran served as full-time town counsel in the 1990s, earning about $66,000 a year, while Galvin served as an elected member of the Board of Assessors (qualifying him for an enhanced pension). William T. Friel, Canton town administrator, said he knew about the legislative proposal to enhance Curran's pension, but decided not to notify the Board of Selectmen, the finance committee, or the finance director, even though it would affect the town's bottom line.
"It was not done under the cover of darkness," he said. "People knew about it." But the bill was never publicly discussed in Canton....
Why must politicians instantly lie about things. It's a character defect of some sort, isn't it?
Lamere served as moderator from 1960 to 1982, during which time he was a partner in the Boston law firm Sullivan and Worcester. When he retired after 33 years with the firm, Lamere became a senior counsel to the Big Dig. While there, he lobbied for pension credit. He retired 18 months after the bill passed.
Oh, so THIS GUY is SKILLED at RIPPING US OFF!!!!!
Lamere is retired from the Turnpike Authority, which managed the Big Dig. When the Turnpike Authority demanded the Town of Milton help pay Lamere's pension, Milton refused. That means turnpike and tunnel toll-payers are underwriting the $43,000 portion of Lamere's pension attributable to his town moderator service.
--more--"That ass gotta be sore after all the kicking it's getting, Bay-Stater!
