"Special elections to cost $500,000" by John C. Drake, Globe Staff | March 18, 2009
When House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi stepped down from his post weeks after beginning a new term, the action left the city of Boston and the state with a $96,000 bill to replace him in a special election, which will take place in June.
Not only that, the stink stayed around until January so he could get a larger, taxpayer-funded pension.
Governor Deval L. Patrick increased the burden even more last week when he picked state Senator Marian Walsh for a state job, leaving four communities plus the state with around a $340,000 tab for a special election to replace her. That election has not been scheduled, but probably will be held during the summer.
For a job that had been vacant for a dozen years.
With police details added in, filling the two vacancies will cost cash-strapped communities and state taxpayers about $500,000. Neither the state nor cities and towns budget for special elections, meaning that local officials have to find the money when budgets are being slashed and communities are laying off workers....
Secretary of State William F. Galvin, who works with the Legislature to schedule special elections, said.... the cost of the Walsh special election could be higher because it could be held in the summer when schools are closed. That election will not be scheduled until Walsh is confirmed as the new, $175,000-a-year assistant director of the Massachusetts Health and Education Facilities Authority and she resigns her seat. The state covers the cost of printing ballots for special legislative elections and also covers a portion of staffing costs for cities and towns....
Good use of tax dollars, 'eh?
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Governor Deval Patrick, who campaigned on a platform to fight business as usual on Beacon Hill, has given one of his earliest political supporters a $175,000-a-year job as an assistant director at a state bonding authority, a position that had sat vacant for more than a dozen years.
Oh, so we DIDN'T REALLY NEED ONE, did we?
State Senator Marian Walsh's appointment was approved yesterday by the board of the Massachusetts Health and Education Facilities Authority, which is dominated by Patrick appointees. The new post will give her a pay raise of nearly $100,000 a year. The agency said Walsh will head its new effort to reach out to other authorities and state agencies to create savings by pooling resources.
The FIRST THING you can do is RESIGN -- and then the REST of the BOARD can FOLLOW YOU!! That will save us some money!! Are you ANGRY YET like ME?!!!
Republicans sharply criticized Patrick yesterday for appointing Walsh, a nine-term West Roxbury Democrat, to such a high-paying post as the nation slides into serious recession and the state government is slashing its budget and laying people off....
I often wonder how many servings of shit Mass. DemocraPs have to fill up on before they puke. The appetite seems bottomless.
"Creating a job for Marian Walsh does not count as one of the thousands of jobs Governor Patrick promised to create in Massachusetts," said Barney Keller, the GOP spokesman. "Instead of rewarding supporters with high-paying jobs, the governor should focus on creating jobs for the thousands of unemployed taxpayers."
Two years ago, Patrick appointed Walsh's husband - Paul V. Buckley, a retired District Court judge - to the state's Industrial Accident Board, a post that pays $113,000 a year. That job will sharply increase his state pension....
Oh, so the GOOD GUV already HELPED OUT the HUBBY at YOUR EXPENSE, taxpayers!! What a DETESTABLE PIECE of SHIT this guy has turned out to be!! A SMELLY, SMELLY, STINK-SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Walsh, the Senate majority whip, will see a significant boost in her current $76,440 state salary. But the authority is not part of the state pension system, and her new salary will not boost her state retirement benefits. The agency, which secures tax-exempt capital financing for hospitals, colleges and universities, cultural and research institutions, and human service providers, has a private savings retirement system....
Walsh's credentials in public bonding are not as strong. She holds a theological degree from Harvard Divinity School and a law degree from Suffolk University. She has worked on state finance and financial regulation issues, serving as Senate chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Joint Committee on Banks and Banking. She also led efforts in the Senate to force private, nonprofit organizations to open their books to the public.
Walsh was one of the first state political figures to back what was then considered a long-shot bid by Patrick to win the Democratic nomination for governor in 2006. Within days after winning the governor's race, Patrick, having vowed to upend the political culture on Beacon Hill, told reporters that state legislators should not expect patronage appointments from him....
Oh, so DEVAL SOLD US SHIT, huh? I WON'T FORGET THAT!!!!!!!!!!!
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And remember these?
The State Budget Swindle
Pigs at the State Trough
A Slow Saturday Special: Statehouse Slush Fund
Hollywood S***s on Massachusetts
Start calling back and cutting there first!
