Related: Criminal State Senator Drunk With Power
"Ex-BRA official told to return consulting fees; Board rules pensioner was paid $256,953 in excess" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | June 2, 2009
Paul L. McCann, a well-connected former Boston Redevelopment Authority official dubbed Mr. Inside, has been ordered by state pension officials to pay back the more than a quarter of a million dollars that he earned under a lucrative consulting contract the agency handed him after his retirement in 2005.
It was the second time in as many weeks that state pension officials had cited the BRA for paying its employees salaries that violated legal limits on postretirement income.
Previously, state pension officials ordered Jansi Chandler, a BRA economic development official, to return $151,473.60 in "excess earnings" that she was paid between 2000 and 2008, while she was also drawing a pension from her former job in Lynn.
Related: The Lynn Lootings
And HERE the STATE IS RAISING TAXES and SLASHING SERVICES!!!!
Related: The Perils of One-Party Politics: Massachusetts' Democracy
The latest case found that the BRA violated state law by signing a consulting contract with McCann in late 2005 that paid him $126,176 in 2006, $264,341 in 2007, and $162,307 in 2008, while he also drew a $96,291 annual pension from the agency.
It is called DOUBLE-DIPPING and it is why THIS STATE is in SOOOOOO MUCH TROUBLE!!!!
In a May 28 letter, the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission said McCann's excess earnings totaled $256,953. The commission asked the BRA to recoup the money and added that if the BRA declined to act, the commission would ask the Boston Retirement Board to recoup $219,846.59 in pension payments from McCann. McCann referred a call yesterday to his lawyer, Thomas F. Gibson of Cambridge....
Why should TAXPAYERS have to GO THROUGH THIS?
Tracking down LOOTERS when there should be none -- with OUR OWN MONEY!?
State law prohibits retirees from working at a government agency as an employee, independent contractor, or consultant for more than 960 hours per year and from collecting more in total income than the salary for the position they held at retirement. State pension officials found that the BRA's contract with McCann violated the law all three years....
Well, that's legal looting, so....
McCann was a longtime force at the BRA, working 47 years at the agency and rising from office clerk to executive assistant. PERAC began investigating McCann's payments after the Globe published a report about his contract in April. The BRA canceled the contract after the story ran....
Then why are you tanking, Globe?
Allowed them to get away with it in the first place, then cover it up for the most part?
--more--"
The Boston Redevelopment Authority has adopted a new policy to clamp down on pension excesses, after state officials reprimanded the city agency for paying its employees salaries that violated legal limits on post-retirement income.
Why did the STATE HAVE to COME IN, Bahstahn?
The policy will require the approximately 300 current employees of the BRA, as well as any job applicants at the agency, to disclose their previous government jobs and current retirement income. The new requirement is designed to ensure that the BRA does not violate a state law that imposes limits on the number of hours public retirees can work at government agencies, and the salaries they can collect.
“It’s the right thing to do,’’ said the BRA director, John F. Palmieri. “We’re trying to make sure we pay attention to relevant law and behave as professionally as we can.’’
Where ya been?
The move follows articles in the Globe documenting lucrative and apparently illegal salaries paid to two BRA employees who were already drawing pensions from previous public positions.
In the first case, Paul L. McCann, a former veteran BRA official dubbed “Mr. Inside’’ for his half-century at the agency, was ordered by state pension officials to pay back the $256,953 that he had earned under a con sulting contract the agency handed him after his retirement in 2005.
In the second case, state pension officials ordered Jansi Chandler, a BRA economic development official, to return $151,474 in “excess earnings’’ that she was paid between 2000 and 2008, while she was also drawing a pension from her former job as director of community development for the city of Lynn....
--more--"
But there is MORE!
A state Senate panel today will recommend tougher measures to crack down on developers who abuse the Massachusetts affordable-housing program by keeping excess profits for themselves instead of returning the money, as required, to cities and towns.
No wonder our towns are going broke!
Everybody takes their hunk of flesh, huh?
The controversial program, known as Chapter 40B, has been marred by builders who inflate expenses, underreport profits, and deprive municipalities of millions of dollars, said Senator Marc R. Pacheco of Taunton, a Democrat who is chairman of the Post Audit and Oversight Committee, which is scheduled to issue the findings of a months-long study this afternoon....
But TAXES HAVE TO GO UP!
Pacheco said: "Every penny that ought to be recouped for the taxpayer should be, and it should be done as soon as possible."
Yeah, sure. Why should it have to come to that, ya bunch of thieves?
At a September hearing before the committee, state Inspector General Gregory Sullivan testified that no mechanism existed to track which projects had been certified for financial accuracy....
As a result of his inquiry, Sullivan found "developer profits were routinely and substantially understated. The results, in many cases, were windfall profits to the developers which deprived the respective municipalities of the excess profits."
The law, although spurring the development of 26,000 units of affordable housing since 1969, has been an irritant for many communities that have lost control over development....
(Sigh, sob)
Pacheco said Chapter 40B will remain controversial because the law allows builders to bypass jealously guarded zoning restrictions. However, he said, the program "at least should be something that is done the way it was intended to be done, in terms of accountability and profits going back to the communities if it exceeds a minimum number."
Despite its flaws, the Post Audit committee concluded, "Chapter 40B has proven to be an innovative and effective method to encourage developers to build housing and at the same time meet the demand for affordable housing in Massachusetts."
Even though they are sticking it to us!
Does a rape victim thank the rapist?
Pensions:
"Pension a bounty shared; 2 Essex County officials approved each others' deals" by Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff | June 21, 2009
The working relationship between Timothy A. Bassett and Katherine O’Leary was especially fruitful for themselves: They quietly voted to approve or signed off on each other’s deals to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in promised pension benefits, according to a Globe review of hundreds of pages of documents obtained under the state public records law.
Related: Taking Care of Timmy Bassett
They are lucky they are keeping their heads!!!
O’Leary, for example, was given credit for working summers as a playground instructor in Salem while she was a teen - time that allowed her to boost her pension into a more lucrative category.
Related: Massachusetts' Campgrounds Closed
Bassett, meanwhile, was awarded an annuity that would have boosted his retirement income by as much as $63,000 a year. It was rescinded two weeks ago after Globe queries....
Yeah, you guys are doing real great.
One of his first acts as treasurer was to sign off on an unusual pension deal for O’Leary - an arrangement that had to be approved by the Essex pension board that Bassett chaired. It allowed her to take an early, enhanced pension reserved for elected officials who lose an election or political appointees ousted in a change in leadership.
But O’Leary departed her elective office voluntarily and thus appeared not to qualify for such a pension. Still, at the time, there was precedent for it. By the time of O’Leary’s retirement, the State Retirement Board had approved early, enhanced pensions for six retiring legislators - in apparent contradiction to the spirit of the law....
That's Massachushitts!
The dilemma for Bassett was resolved with the enactment of a law exclusively for him....
WOW! Now THAT'S CONNECTIONS!
