So says Harshbarger.
"Former state AG goes to aid of ex-Chelsea housing chief; Harshbarger angers Patrick with pitch" by Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy Globe Staff / November 12, 2011
Former Massachusetts attorney general L. Scott Harshbarger, who has long positioned himself as a champion of honest and open government, has emerged as an unlikely ally of Michael E. McLaughlin, the former Chelsea Housing Authority executive director, who abruptly quit after his $360,000 annual compensation was revealed.
Harshbarger called Governor Deval Patrick on the governor’s cellphone this week trying to cut a deal on behalf of McLaughlin, whose entire agency is now under investigation by the FBI, the attorney general, and several other agencies over his extraordinary pay and his efforts to collect a state-record pension.
Patrick was alarmed by the call, during which Harshbarger asked if McLaughlin could end the controversy by accepting a lower retirement benefit, according to two people briefed on the phone call. The next day, Patrick’s chief of staff, Mo Cowan, called Harshbarger back and told him not to call on the matter again.
Harshbarger, who went on to serve as president of the citizen watchdog group Common Cause after an unsuccessful run for governor in 1998, yesterday told the Globe that he intervened on McLaughlin’s behalf at the request of a “mutual friend,’’ whom he would not name, and was not representing him. He said he had known McLaughlin since the two first ran for office in Middlesex County in 1978.
But Harshbarger called back about 40 minutes later to explain that he was acting as McLaughlin’s lawyer and had met privately with the former housing chief, a fact he did not disclose to the governor.
He also did not disclose that relationship in an e-mail to a Globe editor on Nov. 5 suggesting that McLaughlin is “perilously close’’ to being the victim of a “reputational witch hunt.’’
Harshbarger, 69, said the phone call to Patrick on Nov. 8 was “totally innocent and appropriate. Nothing was intended and nothing came out of it.’’ But, he said, in hindsight “I wouldn’t do it again obviously . . . because of the implications it raises.’’
Since he stepped down as the president of Common Cause in 2002, Harshbarger has been called on frequently to investigate corruption and recommend reforms.
He was appointed by Governor Mitt Romney to head a commission on prison reform and more recently advised the state courts on how to recover from the patronage scandal in the Probation Department that led to an indictment of the former commissioner.
This time, though, Harshbarger was acting on behalf of a man caught in an ever-deepening scandal....
Harshbarger laid out a robust, if rambling defense of McLaughlin in an e-mail to the Globe editor on Nov. 5. He suggested that McLaughlin did not deserve so much attention and that the Globe would be better off focusing on the high paycheck of NStar chief executive Thomas May....
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Related: Chelsea's Slum Lord
Time to make some more calls:
"Murray tied to ex-Chelsea official; Lieutenant governor, housing chief called each other more than 80 times in 7 months" November 18, 2011|By Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff
Timothy P. Murray, has remained publicly silent about the alleged abuse of housing money for more than two weeks even though he has often advocated for public housing....
Now, it is becoming clear what a good friend Murray has been to McLaughlin: the two called each other more than 80 times over the last seven months, McLaughlin’s cellphone records show. When the Globe began asking McLaughlin about his true salary and why he told the state that it was only $160,000, McLaughlin called the lieutenant governor each time within hours, according to the phone records.
After the Globe printed his actual income on Oct. 30, McLaughlin told colleagues at the housing authority that he was in constant touch with Murray, assuring Murray that the controversy “was a two-day story’’ that would “blow over.’’ McLaughlin urged Murray to “stay out of it and not come to [his] aid,’’ said a person with direct knowledge who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation.
“He was adamant that Murray should stay out of it and that he could make it go away,’’ this person said.
But the controversy did not go away, and McLaughlin resigned on Nov. 3 under pressure from Patrick.
Murray declined to be interviewed about his relationship with McLaughlin, but he said in a prepared statement that the former Chelsea housing director was “a supporter’’ and said he felt betrayed when he learned about McLaughlin’s compensation, which may be the highest of any US public housing official.
“Mike McLaughlin was a supporter and volunteer during my campaign in 2006,’’ wrote Murray, referring to his first campaign for lieutenant governor. “Since then, I stayed in touch with him, as I do with many of the people who volunteered for me and with local officials across the state.
“Like most everyone else, I had no idea how high Mike McLaughlin’s salary was or that he was misleading the state about it for years, which is outrageous and unacceptable. When we discovered that, this administration took swift and decisive action. I support and am proud of our response to date, and we’re going to continue to investigate what happened at the Chelsea Housing Authority,’’ he wrote.
Murray said that he is “frustrated’’ on a “personal level’’ because of what he has learned about someone with whom he thought he had a “straightforward relationship.’’
The FBI and several other state and federal agencies are investigating McLaughlin and the housing authority amid allegations that employees shredded and removed documents around the time of McLaughlin’s resignation. On his last day, McLaughlin cosigned checks for more than $200,000 to himself for what he said were unused vacation, sick, and personal days - though the records that would confirm that have been destroyed.
McLaughlin almost immediately applied for a state pension that would be the largest in state history, based on his income. Yesterday, the Chelsea Retirement Board tabled discussion of McLaughlin’s application for a $278,000 pension after the attorney general warned the board that McLaughlin may not be entitled to the money.
McLaughlin was much more than just an ordinary supporter and volunteer for Murray, according to several Merrimack Valley politicians with direct knowledge of the relationship who asked not to be named because of fear of retaliation. He was a key operative in 2006 as Murray, then the mayor of Worcester, built a statewide organization, according to these people, and McLaughlin acted as master of ceremonies for Murray fund-raisers more than once.
“He’s the lieutenant governor’s guy in the Merrimack Valley,’’ said one political figure. “Everyone knows that.’’
McLaughlin liked to brag to colleagues that “Murray needed him’’ for “putting together little deals’’ such as finding jobs for supporters, said a person who heard McLaughlin make those remarks but asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation.
McLaughlin was in touch on the phone with Murray more than anyone else, based on an analysis of 12 high-call-volume days when McLaughlin and Murray connected 41 times. McLaughlin typically was in contact with Murray three times a week over the seven months of the records, even calling Murray while McLaughlin was vacationing in Naples, Fla.
McLaughlin, his wife, and two children have donated $3,725 to Murray since 2006, though the Murray campaign late last night announced that they were returning some of the money.
A spokesman for Murray’s political committee said the $900 McLaughlin contributed to Murray was donated to the Chelsea Boys & Girls Club in light of McLaughlin’s “deception’’ in not revealing his actual compensation. Cohen said an additional $700 donated by two Chelsea Housing Authority board members was also sent to the club. Murray’s committee has kept the rest of the McLaughlin money.
Several sources said they believe Murray helped McLaughlin’s son Matthew obtain a $60,000-a-year job in 2008 as a member of the Board of Appeals, which hears appeals from drunk drivers who have lost their licenses - despite the concerns of the state Registrar of Motor Vehicles at the time, Anne Collins.
Collins worried about hiring Matthew McLaughlin because of his lengthy driving record that included a license suspension for refusing to take a breathalyzer and six speeding tickets, according to McLaughlin’s driving record and a source with direct knowledge of the appointment. But Collins felt she had no choice but to hire him, according to someone with knowledge of the appointment.
Politicians are ALL the SAME, aren't they?
Matthew boasts that Murray is his “godfather,’’ according to former co-workers, and takes advantage of the connection to spend a lot of his time elsewhere. He has posted photos from Florida on his Facebook page when he was scheduled to hear some of the tens of thousands of cases before the Board of Appeals, the former co-workers said.
Frustrated officials complained directly to Murray, but McLaughlin’s work habits did not improve, said former co-workers.
Neither Michael McLaughlin nor his son, Matthew, returned calls from the Globe....
Murray campaign spokesman Michael Cohen denied that McLaughlin played a major role in Murray’s political operation.
Asked whether Murray was aware that McLaughlin has a long history of attracting controversy and investigations dating back to his days as a Middlesex County Commissioner in the 1980s, Murray campaign spokesman Cohen said: “We have had thousands of supporters and volunteers over the years. We don’t know the personal histories of them all.’’
That is so weak.
McLaughlin’s cellphone records, obtained in a public information request, cover the period from March 29 to October 27 and do not cover the period after McLaughlin’s salary became public and his agency was engulfed in controversy. However, sources with direct knowledge of McLaughlin’s actions at the authority say that McLaughlin’s contacts with the lieutenant governor continued.
But Patrick administration spokesman Brendan Ryan said just because McLaughlin had contact with Murray doesn’t mean he found sympathy.
Murray “doesn’t like people taking advantage of his friendship,’’ said Ryan.
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"Patrick defends Murray on calls" November 19, 2011|By Sean P. Murphy and Glen Johnson, Globe Staff
Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray today strongly denied that there was anything improper in his relationship with the former Chelsea Housing Authority director who resigned abruptly after the Globe revealed he was making $360,000 a year.
Murray and former Chelsea housing director Michael E. McLaughlin called each other 83 times during the past seven months, McLaughlin’s cellphone records show, including several calls after the Globe began asking questions about McLaughlin’s salary, which he had reported to the state was only $160,000.
Speaking before an annual ceremony to recognize police bravery at the State House, Murray and his boss, Governor Deval Patrick, insisted that Murray was only doing his job in talking to McLaughlin....
Patrick stoutly defended his second in command, bristling when a reporter asked why the lieutenant governor would need to call a Chelsea housing official so frequently.
“Do you know how much phone tag we play around here?” Patrick asked. “We and in particular the lieutenant governor is in constant contact with local elected officials all around the Commonwealth. And let me tell you what I don’t like, what I don’t appreciate, is insinuation when there is nothing.”
Methinks he doth protest too much.
Now he knows how Saddam Hussein felt before the invasion (or how Iran's leaders feel now).
At the statehouse press event, Murray also denied that he had done anything improper in helping McLaughlin’s son, Matthew McLaughlin, get a job as a member of the Registry of Motor Vehicles’ Board of Appeals, which hears appeals from drunk drivers who have lost their licenses.
Several sources told the Globe that Murray helped Matthew McLaughlin to obtain the $60,000-a-year job despite concerns about McLaughlin’s lengthy driving record, which included a license suspension for refusing to take a breathalyzer test.
Former co-workers of the younger McLaughlin said that he referred to Murray as his “godfather,” something the lieutenant governor said today that he had never heard before....
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How's that FBI investigation coming?
"FBI begins Chelsea inquiry; Legality in question in officials’ handling of housing chief’s pay" by Sean P. Murphy and Andrea Estes Globe Staff / November 10, 2011
The FBI has begun investigating the finances of the Chelsea Housing Authority amid growing concern that agency officials may have committed crimes in paying the former chief an extraordinary $360,000 a year while concealing his full compensation from the government agencies that paid the bills.
Federal agents are looking at how the housing authority may have “spun the budget’’ to cover up former director Michael E. McLaughlin’s salary by transferring money among accounts, said one official with knowledge of the FBI’s involvement. Among other things, investigators are also scrutinizing McLaughlin’s expense and travel records, said the official, who declined to be named.
The FBI was called in because much of the agency’s funding comes from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development....
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He didn't even get a going away party:
"Harassment claim paid with housing funds; Chelsea agency didn’t report deal" November 23, 2011|By Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff
Embattled former Chelsea Housing Authority chief Michael E. McLaughlin once used $40,000 in authority funds to settle a sexual harassment claim that came about after a top aide humiliated a manager by giving her sex toys at her retirement party.
The aide - described by many employees as the longtime close companion of McLaughlin - presented the toys at the manager’s retirement party at Foxwoods in Connecticut in 2002.
McLaughlin passed the gifts off as a joke, according to people who were there, but several employees interpreted the scene as retaliation against the manager for her earlier questioning of McLaughlin’s unusual accounting techniques.
“It was his way or the highway,’’ said one guest at the party who was aghast at the way that McLaughlin and his top aide, Linda Thibodeau, embarrassed the woman in front of about 40 agency employees and guests.
A few months later, the authority’s board of directors quietly approved money “to settle a claim with a former employee,’’ say the meeting minutes, but apparently never filed the required report of the payment with the state or federal agencies that provide most of the Housing Authority’s funding.
The Foxwoods incident is one of several troubling accounts about McLaughlin’s conduct at the authority that have emerged since he was forced to resign Nov. 3 amid public furor over his $360,000 salary, which he had concealed from state officials. On the day McLaughlin resigned, he cosigned checks to himself for more than $200,000 for what he said were unused vacation, sick, and personal days, while an employee shredded records.
Now, the FBI is conducting a criminal investigation into alleged misuse of government funds at the authority, which manages 1,450 housing units for low-income people. McLaughlin and his entire board of directors have resigned under pressure from Governor Deval Patrick, and they were replaced this week by a court-appointed receiver.
Several employees said that McLaughlin openly played favorites during his more than 11 years at the helm and punished dissenters, creating what staff members outside the inner circle saw as a culture of unfairness.
“Everyone knew to keep your mouth shut, keep your head down and do your work,’’ said one employee who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.
Gee, the guy sounds like a REAL BULLY!!!!
While the woman who received the sex toys left the authority in humiliation, the aide who arranged the party has flourished....
McLaughlin and Thibodeau did not return calls seeking comment. Thibodeau has been out on medical leave since the day after an investigator for state Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan attempted to question her at the authority’s headquarters.
The manager who received the sex toys had questioned McLaughlin’s irregular payroll practices, including the way he structured his contract so that it was difficult to discern his full pay. She decided to take advantage of a statewide early retirement program to get out of an increasingly tense workplace.
Employees pitched in to pay for the woman’s retirement party, and even the longest serving board member, Henry Cordero, came along. But the woman had been warned that her bosses would be giving her “something not too nice,’’ a co-worker told her. “Just play along with it.’’
At the party, say people who were there, Thibodeau presented the woman with a vibrator and a blow-up doll as parting gifts.
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Real funny, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
The woman asked not to be named because she felt humiliated by the event.
Boston attorney Jody Newman later wrote the authority a demand letter, which is normally sent before someone files a lawsuit. Shortly thereafter, the woman, who still had a few weeks left to work, was escorted from the building and prevented from retrieving anything from her computer, according to someone who witnessed the incident....
Authority officials apparently never told state and federal housing officials about the settlement, which could have undermined their efforts to improve the agency’s reputation. The authority had been considered troubled by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development when McLaughlin arrived in 2000, but began winning “high performer’’ awards from HUD the very next year....
McLaughlin and Thibodeau frequently attended housing conferences and vacationed together, traveling out of state to the same destination on at least six occasions since April of this year, authority records show....
It SOUNDS like they are having an AFFAIR!
McLaughlin, whose wife is chronically ill, has been a close companion to Thibodeau for years, according to interviews with numerous associates and co-workers, including people who were told directly about the relationship by Thibodeau....
McLaughlin is a SCUM!!
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More scum:
"Apartment construction booms as rents rise" October 15, 2011|By Casey Ross, Globe Staff
A burst of apartment construction is sweeping across Boston’s neighborhoods, as several developers are starting towering projects to tap into high demand for rental units while the homeownership market continues to struggle....
The rush of activity is fueled by climbing rents and dropping vacancy rates that make apartment buildings particularly attractive investments in the otherwise dour real estate market. In the quarter that ended Sept. 30, average asking rents in Boston climbed to $1,773, making the city the fourth most expensive rental market in the country, according to Reis Inc., a real estate research firm. Only New York City; Westchester, N.Y.; and Fairfield County, Conn., are more expensive....
More people are being forced to pursue rentals because they can’t afford higher down payments banks are demanding following the housing crisis. That is putting more pressure on the apartment market, causing average rents to increase....
Real estate specialists said the current market is particularly unusual because it is fueling rental construction at all price points, from luxury units in the Back Bay and downtown, to mid-priced apartments in the suburbs, to scores of affordable homes being built in Chinatown and at the Charlesview Residences in Cambridge.
Affordable units are attractive to investors because many come with credits they can use to lower their tax bills. Compared to other investments - such as stocks or government bonds - such tax credits also are seen as producing larger and more reliable returns in strong urban markets....
In other words, STATE AUTHORITIES will always make sure tax loot goes to the "investors."
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And about that affordable housing:
"Construction of affordable housing units has stalled across the state over the last five years, and dropped sharply in many Boston suburbs, even as demand soars during a time of rapidly rising need....
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I guess it all depends on which month you rent a Globe, sigh.
