Unless you want another unqualified and disingenuous Democrat. voters.
"Auditor candidate claimed two property tax exemptions; Bump entitled to only one, state officials say" by Stefanie Geisler and Walter V. Robinson, Globe Correspondents | October 7, 2010
Suzanne M. Bump, the Democratic nominee for state auditor, considers the Berkshire town of Great Barrington her home. She and her husband vote and register their cars there. It is the address she lists on the Nov. 2 ballot.
Because of that, she receives a benefit: exemption from paying a personal property tax levied on homeowners who are not full-time residents.
But Bump and her husband, Paul F. McDevitt, have saved more than $6,000 in Boston property taxes since 2006 by reporting that a condominium they own in South Boston is their principal residence, according to tax and property records examined by the Globe.
In an interview Monday, Bump insisted that she is legally entitled to both tax breaks.
Please keep this all in mind as you read her comments below.
“There is nothing wrong with what I am doing,’’ said Bump, a lawyer, who, if elected auditor next month, would be responsible for ensuring that taxpayer money is used appropriately. “I am completely within the law, both the letter and the spirit of the law,’’ she said.
The unrepentant and remorseless parsing shows how out of touch she is.
On Tuesday, however, the state Department of Revenue said that no taxpayer can claim residential status in more than one community in order to receive multiple tax breaks....
Yup, can't be in two places at once.
On Monday, after reviewing her own tax records and public documents provided to her by the Globe, Bump sought to explain the apparent contradiction by making a legal distinction between the two homes, clarifying that Boston was her only legal principal residence.
“Great Barrington is my primary residence; that’s where I have a three-bedroom house that I consider my home,’’ Bump said. “I principally reside in the city of Boston. Primary residence, principal residence — I see them as two different things.’’
Not the person I want in charge of auditing anything.
But Bump sidestepped questions about whether she believes it is justifiable or appropriate for her to claim both tax breaks. “It’s quite immaterial what I believe,’’ she said....
Maybe she is just crazy.
Late Tuesday, after the Globe informed Bump that state and local tax officials believe she is not entitled to both tax breaks, she issued a statement saying that if either Boston or Great Barrington “taxing authorities notifies me that my tax status needs to be reviewed, I will accommodate them.’’
**************
Karen Avalle, who was the Great Barrington town assessor for 15 years, said her office would have had no reason to believe that Bump was anything but a full-time resident. Christopher Lamarre, who took over last month as Great Barrington’s assessor, declined to be interviewed about Bump’s eligibility for the tax break....
Anthony P. Polito, a tax law specialist at Suffolk Law School, said that even if the different wording afforded Bump a loophole, “I don’t think the voters would be happy.’’
No, we are not.
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"Bump requests review of tax break; Seeks opinion on Boston property" by Walter V. Robinson, Globe Correspondent | October 8, 2010
Suzanne M. Bump, the Democratic candidate for state auditor who has been receiving property tax breaks for homes in both Boston and Great Barrington, asked the Boston Assessing Department yesterday to review her eligibility for the Boston tax exemption she has received for more than four years.
Bump gave the Assessing Department a check for $5,875.05 in case the city decides the exemption is unwarranted. The check covers her tax savings from July 2006 through July 2010.
Yeah, that will make it all go away, right?
Bump said she asked for the review “out of an abundance of caution,’’ but said she continues to believe she is entitled to the tax break, which has cut her Boston property taxes by nearly half on a condominium she and her husband own in South Boston.
They key word there is ENTITLED!
Nothing sicker than a POLITICIAN that feels ENTITLED to something!
The Globe reported yesterday that Bump and her husband, Paul F. McDevitt, have been receiving residential tax breaks on both homes by reporting each as their principal residence....
Bump criticized the Globe report, saying in a post on her campaign web site that the newspaper had “implied that I received some undeserved benefit.’’
And arrogant, too. Not qualities we want in an auditor.
On the website and in an interview, Bump said she had received verbal assurances from both communities this week that her tax breaks are legal.
Doesn't matter; you are running for office and it LOOKS and SMELLS REAL, REAL BAD!
Bump acknowledged in an interview that she and her husband did not tell Boston officials, when they applied for the Boston tax exemption, that they were already receiving a tax break in Great Barrington that is reserved for full-time residents.
As if they wanted to keep it hidden. They KNEW they were doing something wrong!
The Boston tax exemption is intended for those whose Boston property is their principal residence....
In an interview Saturday, Bump described the eight-room Great Barrington home, which sits on nearly 5 acres, as her principal residence, even though she had sought the Boston tax exemption by reporting the South Boston condo as her principal residence. On Monday, she said the Great Barrington home was actually her primary residence.
Bump said Tuesday that Great Barrington’s chief assessor, Christopher Lamarre, had assured her that her claim to the resident-only tax advantage is legitimate.
Lamarre, who began the job last month, is away on vacation and could not be reached for comment.
I guess that's why he declined to be interviewed(?) yesterday.
However, Karen Avalle, who held the job for 15 years until retiring last month, told the Globe that Bump could not receive property tax breaks in two communities.
The couple bought the South Boston condominium, a 700-square-foot, one-bedroom unit, in 2004, and Bump said that she has spent the vast bulk of her time there since 2005, when she joined Deval Patrick’s gubernatorial campaign staff. Bump then served as the state’s secretary of labor and economic development from 2007 until late last year....
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Also see: Boston assessors revoke tax break on Bump condominium
Yeah, she has cleaned up her act, sure....
"Campaign disclosure improving; But Bump lagging in reports on donors" by Gal Tziperman Lotan, Stefanie Geisler, and Walter V. Robinson, Globe Correspondents | October 12, 2010
Statewide candidates this year have shown vast improvement in reporting the occupation and employment information of their major contributors, with most providing the information for 90 percent or more of their donors.
Candidates are required by law to make efforts to report identifying information for all donors who give $200 or more, as a way to alert voters to the possible influence of special interests. Late last year, the Globe reported that statewide candidates had failed to collect the identifying information for thousands of major donors in the prior three years.
Since that article, however, compliance rates have soared, according to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance and a Globe review of 2010 campaign filings by major party candidates.
Of the 15 major candidates for statewide office, all but three had reported the information for at least 90 percent of their donors and seven had reported it for more than 97 percent of donors.
The candidate with the worst record? Suzanne M. Bump, the Democratic candidate for auditor, who had reported that information for just 61 percent of her major donors as of the end of September.
What a piece of work she is.
So what is the lame-ass and insane excuse this time?
Since the Globe asked Bump about the issue on Oct. 2, her campaign staff has scrambled to obtain the information and add it to her finance reports. But a week ago Saturday, with that information missing for two of every five of her donors, Bump nonetheless declared herself in full compliance with state campaign finance law — saying she had made her best effort to get the information from donors....
Not good enough.
“I am very committed to complying with the law, and I am in full compliance with the law,’’ Bump said in an interview on Oct. 2.
Umm, doctor, we would like to have Ms. Bump committed. Thank you.
A year ago, the highest nondisclosure percentage, at 36 percent, belonged to Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill. This year, however, between Jan. 1 and Sept. 28, Cahill, now a gubernatorial candidate, had a 90 percent disclosure rate.
One reason most candidates have boosted compliance: This year, candidates are insisting on having the information when they accept a check. In addition, most of the campaign websites will not accept donations online without occupation and employer information.
Bump told the Globe that supporters who make online donations at her website are asked to include their occupation and employer. But, according to a Globe test of the system, her website required virtually no disclosure.
This is what the intrepid Globe reporters are up to, huh?
Last week, as part of the test, the spouse of a Globe reporter was able to make a $200 donation to Bump on her website, which made no mention of the need for disclosure. The website accepted the contribution once the credit card information, name, address, and e-mail address were entered, and the campaign e-mailed a confirmation.
Suzanne the scum!
On Saturday, when the Globe raised the issue again, Laura Marlin, the campaign manager, said neither Bump nor her campaign aides were aware that the site did not require the information. By Sunday, the website had begun requiring the information. Marlin said Bump’s website initially required that information, but stopped several months ago because of a software glitch.
We can't have pathetic liars in the auditor's office!
Bump’s personal finances have also raised eyebrows. The Globe recently reported that for more than four years, Bump and her husband claimed residential property tax breaks on homes they own in South Boston and Great Barrington by claiming both as their principal residence. Bump repeatedly insisted she was entitled to both tax breaks....
When the Globe first raised questions about the high percentage of her unidentified donors, Bump said she supported the goal of greater transparency, but aggressively defended her campaign’s compliance efforts.
She is frikkin' irritating!
The LIAR that ALWAYS has an EXCUSE or EXPLANATION!
The Globe reviewed Bump’s campaign filings as part of a routine look at public documents that also focused on her opponent in the auditor’s race, Mary Z. Connaughton, a Republican. The documents showed that large numbers of Bump’s major contributors had provided just a name and address, while Connaughton’s filings gave the information for more than 97 percent of donors....
Republicans never get credit for clean government here in the Globe -- the mouthpiece of one-party liberal fascism.
For 101 of those 185, the campaign finance reports did not indicate that the required letter had been sent. Bump said that the letters had been sent, but that a clerical glitch had prevented the campaign from posting that information.
The dog ate my homework.
In an interview last Monday, when the Globe asked Bump again why her disclosure rate was lower than other candidates’, she said again that she was in full compliance with the law. But, she added, “I wish that I had met a higher standard.’’
It's not a lie if you keep repeating it.
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Related: Globe Editorial Two homes, too little sense
Taxing problem for would-be auditor
Another politician taxing my patience.
Looks like the Globe is trying to give Bump a bump, folks:
"Auditor candidate faced harsh review; Connaughton was lottery finance chief" by Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | October 23, 2010
With her training as a certified public accountant and her years as chief financial officer of the state lottery, Republican Mary Z. Connaughton says she is the only candidate qualified to be the next state auditor.
Now THAT is a QUALIFIED AUDITOR!
Not some political hack that wants to stay on the state payroll (with its nice pension and health plan).
What Connaughton does not mention in her stump speech is that while she oversaw the lottery’s finances in the mid-1990s, the agency was the subject of a blistering critique from the man she hopes to succeed, state Auditor A. Joseph DeNucci.
Related: Who's Auditing the Auditors?
Not One Honest Man in Massachusetts Government
Yes, nowhere does the Globe mention the rank corruption of DeNucci's office all these years.
They should call it the absolver office; seems like it is more about covering up corruption.
In a 1997 audit, DeNucci accused lottery officials of poor accounting practices that his office said violated state law and cost the Commonwealth more than $1.6 million in lost revenue from July 1994 through June 1996.
Well, anything Joe said is now under doubt and to be questioned.
The report highlighted what auditors called “questionable transactions, waste, abuse, legerdemain, and mismanagement,’’ blaming “serious weaknesses’’ in the agency’s management and accounting practices.
The audit focused primarily on three things: a billing scheme allegedly designed to obscure questionable expenses; an end run around a legislative cap on advertising; and the lottery’s failure to collect millions of dollars owed by stores and others who sell tickets.
All of these practices had been going on before Connaughton arrived, and in an interview she took credit for stopping them. But the audit, along with a second one two years later, cast doubt on her assertions.
I cast doubt on the axe-grinding auditor.
“I really believe I did a great job at the lottery,’’ she said. “I’m proud of the work I did there. There were many problems throughout the lottery, and we worked hard to correct them.’’
Connaughton, who also served on the board of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, is facing Democrat Suzanne Bump, a former state representative and Patrick administration official, on the November ballot. Green-Rainbow candidate Nat Fortune is also in the race.
I may have just found a candidate!
Connaughton was in charge of financial operations at the lottery from January 1995 to August 1997, much of the period covered by the 1997 audit. She was also the person responsible for working with the auditors during their investigation.
The audit uncovered a “doughnut fund,’’ a method the lottery allegedly used to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars of expenses.
Some would call it a SLUSH FUND!
The lottery funneled bills for promotional and entertainment expenses, such as Christmas parties and Boston Symphony Orchestra tickets, to its advertising agency, which then billed the lottery for the same amount under the innocuous heading miscellaneous. That way, individual expenses were not itemized or subject to scrutiny by state officials or the public....
Hey, that is what GOVERNMENT IS! ONE BIG PARTY at TAXPAYER EXPENSE!
The report concluded that the lottery was allowing agents to treat lottery receipts like their own money, instead of recognizing they were required to return it to the lottery as soon as possible.
Even with all the problems cited in the report, auditors said they were not able to present a complete picture of the lottery’s finances, because agency officials refused to cooperate and turn over requested documents. When lottery officials finally agreed to answer questions, the auditors wrote, their responses were “evasive, nonresponsive’’ and part of an ongoing pattern of “distortion, misrepresentation, and avoidance of the truth.’’
Who knew the auditor's office was reading the Boston Globe?
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Connaughton's boss at the lottery, former state treasurer Joseph D. Malone, praised her and said the 1997 audit was nothing more than political payback from DeNucci, who, Malone said, was angry because he had fired DeNucci’s son-in-law from his lottery job.
Yeah, that sounds like Joe!
“The real story about this audit is that Joe DeNucci’s son-in-law was an employee at the lottery that I let go when we switched from public employees delivering tickets to UPS,’’ Malone said.
“It saved millions and millions of dollars over my term, and it was the right thing to do,’’ he said. “Joe DeNucci embellished the audit in order to get even.’’
Malone called Connaughton “a person of the highest integrity.’’
DeNucci countered that Malone was calling the audit political “because he had no other defense for it.’’
“Joe Malone has always needed someone to blame,’’ said DeNucci, who is supporting Bump in the auditor’s race. “What my auditors found was mismanagement and failure to follow the law.’’
Why am I not surprised?
In a letter written to her a month after she left the lottery in August 1997, Samuel L. DePhillippo, then the agency’s executive director, thanked her “for all your fine efforts and accomplishments’’ as chief financial officer of the agency.
“Despite a constant array of business challenges and personal tragedies,’’ he wrote, “you always maintained the highest level of commitment, integrity, and understanding.’’
Just the kind of person you WANT as an AUDITOR!!
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"Wanted: job as top watchdog; Connaughton, Bump take aim" by Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff | October 25, 2010
For the first time in nearly a quarter century, voters next week will elect a new state auditor — quite possibly the most obscure of statewide offices. But perhaps it should come as no surprise that a lively contest is underway for the post.
The auditor is the one who gets to dig in with a scalpel to see if government agencies and programs are being run effectively or whether they are inefficient and wasteful as so many critics claim.
Or shovel dirt on top of things. Looks like Malone was right.
The auditor decides whether taxpayers’ money is being spent appropriately and recommends ways to tighten programs if it’s not.
Then BUMP DISQUALIFIED HERSELF with the double-dipping tax break!
Republican Mary Z. Connaughton, a former member of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board, is vying with Democrat Suzanne M. Bump, a former state labor secretary and legislator, for the office A. Joseph DeNucci has held since 1987. A poll published in yesterday’s Globe suggests the race is a dead heat....
Related:
"Democrat Suzanne Bump, a former legislator and labor secretary in the Patrick administration, is in a dead heat with her GOP rival, Mary Z. Connaughton, a CPA and former Turnpike Authority board member. Bump drew 33 percent; Connaughton 32 percent"
Connaughton, 50, of Framingham, stresses her credentials as a real-world accountant to make the case that she’s the best candidate for the job. A partner in a business development firm, Connaughton previously worked as a chief financial officer of the Massachusetts State Lottery and was an unsuccessful candidate for state representative in 2004.
“I have a track record of being independent on the turnpike board, and as a CPA, I’m bound to a higher standard of independence,’’ Connaughton said. “This job can’t be political. It has to be professional.’’
But as the Globe recently reported, Connaughton herself faced a stinging audit for her work at the lottery. A 1997 audit of the lottery accused officials of poor accounting practices that violated state law and cost the state more than $1.6 million in lost revenue. Connaughton was in charge of the agency’s financial operations for most of the period of the audit — July 1, 1994, to June 30, 1996 — and was responsible for answering the auditors’ concerns. The audit also noted that the agency refused to cooperate and turn over requested documents.
And the Globe leaves it at that.
Bump represented Braintree in the state House of Representatives for four terms, before becoming a lobbyist and starting her own law firm. She served as Governor Deval Patrick’s labor secretary from 2007 until late last year. While her opponent derided her recently as “Miss Beacon Hill,’’ Bump countered that she used her years in public office to challenge the powers that be, and lost her seat in the House after sponsoring a measure overhauling workers’ compensation.
“If I’m willing to put my own career on the line, do you think I’m going to care about protecting anybody else on Beacon Hill?’’ Bump said in a recent debate hosted by WBZ’s Jon Keller....
But Bump had some accounting to do of her own, after the Globe reported she was receiving tax breaks for primary residences in both Great Barrington and South Boston. Bump argued she was entitled to both tax breaks, because one was her “primary’’ residence and the other her “principal’’ residence. After the report, however, she asked Boston assessors to review her eligibility for the exemption, which they ultimately found unwarranted. She repaid the city $5,875.05.
As if that makes it all right.
Bump said she would bring to the job a history of effective leadership, fixing broken systems and demanding accountability from state agencies....
After what she has said and done. SIGH!
As part of her platform, Bump calls for auditing the Legislature, whose spending is not now screened by the auditor’s office. But the Legislature would have to pass a law allowing itself to be audited— a tall order for a political entity....
Welcome to the fascist state of Massachusetts.
Also see: The Perils of One-Party Politics: The Problem
The Perils of One-Party Politics: The Ruling Party
The Perils of One-Party Politics: Massachusetts' Democracy
See why I say we need Republicans up here?
Also running is Green-Rainbow candidate Nathanael Fortune of Whately, an associate professor of physics at Smith College.
Oh, a LOCAL GUY!
One who MUST KNOW SKYSCRAPERS can NOT FALL THAT WAY because of FIRE!
Republican candidate Mary Connaughton promised yesterday that her first action as state auditor, if elected, will be to file legislation subjecting the House and Senate to a full financial audit that would throw the curtain back on a branch of government currently protected from such scrutiny.
Connaughton, appearing in the drizzle outside the State House with about a dozen supporters, including several lawmakers, said a new era of transparency is needed to restore the public’s trust in government in Massachusetts....
I don't think trust can be restored anymore. Not until the looting is stopped.
Connaughton, a former state Lottery chief financial officer and Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board member, is running against Democrat Suzanne Bump, a former lawmaker, lobbyist, and labor secretary under Governor Deval Patrick.
Not qualified for auditor.
The issue of auditing the Legislature, a proposal that has surfaced and stalled many times on Beacon Hill, has become a staple platform item for both candidates over the past few weeks....
Paper made it sound like Bump had invented it.
A few lawmakers turned out to back Connaughton, who said she planned to use the press and social media to advance her effort....
Globe coverage needs an audit.
Connaughton said she also believed the Legislature should be subject to some type of open meeting law and said she would model her office after the Congressional Budget Office on Capitol Hill, conducting financial analyses of all major spending bills before the Legislature.
“As Supreme Court Justice Brandeis once said, sunshine is the best disinfectant, and I plan to bring a whole lot of sunshine to Beacon Hill,’’ Connaughton said.
During her brief appearance, Connaughton did not mention Bump by name, though it was just days after a contentious 15-minute, mini-debate between the two candidates.
Bump and Connaughton battled in a sharp and short war of words Sunday in a debate moderated by Jon Keller of WBZ-TV, who deployed “one at a time’’ cautions several times.
Cat fight.
Connaughton portrayed Bump as an insider-loving former lawmaker-lobbyist who does not understand the job, calling her “Miss Beacon Hill.’’
Her deceitful comments have proven that.
Bump painted Connaughton as a micromanaging accountant whose public service career has depended on assignments handed out by former Republican treasurer Joseph Malone and former GOP governor Mitt Romney.
You know, the PERON YOU WOULD WANT as an auditor!
Bump said she would use the auditor’s job to make fundamental changes in state government and “to advance an agenda on behalf of the taxpayers.’’
By DOUBLE-DIPPING on the PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS, sigh!
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Globe's advice?
Globe Editorial For skills and independence, Connaughton for auditor
I'm undecided as I contemplate tomorrow's vote; won't make up my mind until I am in the booth on this one. It won't be a bump for Bump, though.
