Medford Housing executive resigning under fire
Backstory:
"Medford housing chief faces scrutiny over hirings" April 24, 2012|By Sean P. Murphy and Andrea Estes
MEDFORD
- Medford Housing Authority chief Robert Covelle hired his close friend
and bocce teammate to a $53,000-a-year job, demoting a staff member to
create the opening, his employees say. He hired his son’s girlfriend in a
no-bid contract to do more than $4,000 worth of seasonal decorations in
the office, according to federal investigators. He created a new
$85,000-a-year job that went to a family friend of Mayor Michael J.
McGlynn of Medford.
And when two employees complained separately
in writing to the Medford Housing Authority board about Covelle’s
alleged attempts to get jobs and subsidized housing for insiders, each
was suspended from work, for allegedly being rude or for showing anger,
according to records and interviews.
The
housing authority in this blue-collar city of 55,000 has been under
siege since last June when state officials first visited the Riverside
Avenue headquarters to investigate allegations of widespread favoritism
in hiring and contracting under Covelle, the brother-in-law of the late
Middlesex County sheriff, James DiPaola.
Related: Boston Globe Murdered Middlesex Sheriff
It is illegal for public officials to use their official position to help friends or family get jobs or contracts.
Except that it happens all the time and that is how the system is run.
So who did Covelle piss off?
In
recent months, state troopers have raided authority offices, carrying
out boxes of documents, while authority officials have been called to
testify before a state grand jury that is considering criminal charges.
Last week, some city councilors called for Covelle’s resignation after a
federal audit showed almost $1.4 million in questionable spending in a
15-month period, including the $4,355 paid to decorator Erica
DeCrescenzo, now married to Covelle’s son.
Not to approve of the looting in any way, shape, or form, but notice bankers are never brought up for this kind of s***? Are those that perpetrated the foreclosure fraud being investigated? No, they paid a slap on the wrist fine and went back to doin' bidness!!!!
Covelle insists that he
has done nothing wrong, arguing that many of the questionable spending
practices cited in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development
audit started before he arrived in June 2009. At a contentious housing
board meeting last week, Covelle boasted that the authority is in good
financial condition. Coming to his defense was the friend that he hired
as a $53,000 housing manager, who portrayed Covelle as a victim of
bitter employees.
“Bob is unfortunately taking the rap here for
things that happened here for the umpteenth year,’’ said Santo “Sam’’
Pirri, who plays bocce with Covelle at the Malden Italian-American Club.
He told the audience of more than 50 people that Covelle has been
targeted by a “disgruntled group of people who sent a letter in to
HUD.’’
But others say Covelle has clamped down on dissent during the federal
and state investigations, creating a climate of fear for employees....
The controversy in Medford comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of
public housing following disclosure that the housing director in nearby
Chelsea, Michael E. McLaughlin, had concealed his $360,000-a-year
salary, which he collected despite rarely working a full day at his
office. The authority’s entire board of directors resigned under
pressure from Governor Deval Patrick, and a state receiver took over
day-to-day operations until a new board could be appointed.
See: Chelsea Evictions
Sunday Globe Special: Auditors Enabled Slumlord Stealing
The
state’s 242 housing authorities collectively receive billions of dollars
from state and federal government, but they are run by local boards
that often receive only superficial outside review. For instance, the
Chelsea and Medford housing authorities were both rated as “high
performers’’ by federal housing authorities just before allegations of
wrongdoing surfaced....
Just like all those AAA-rated securities in the continuing mortgage-backed securities crisis before they s*** the bed.
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Related: Housing director's support dwindles
Medford's Covelle says he'll fix problems
Patrick urges Covelle to resign
He'll think about it:
"Medford housing director on leave" May 01, 2012|Matt Byrne, Globe Correspondent
Faced
with calls for his resignation, Robert Covelle, the Medford Housing
Authority director, took an unpaid two-week leave of absence Monday
night, giving the agency’s board of commissioners time to decide whether
he can continue to lead the agency amid state and federal
investigations of alleged favoritism in hiring and contracting.
The
board voted to place Covelle on leave from his $126,000-a-year job just
days after Governor Deval Patrick demanded Covelle’s resignation
following a federal audit that found widespread problems in the
authority’s management.
At least he wasn't pulling a McLaughlin.
The
board also voted to place the authority’s second highest paid employee,
John Lonergan, on indefinite leave while the Medford police investigate
whether he improperly kept money from the sale of copper salvaged from
public housing....
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"Housing chief’s removal sought; Medford officials cite hiring of man with criminal past" by
Sean P. Murphy and Andrea Estes
Globe Staff
/
May 3, 2012
The entire Medford Housing Authority board, as well as the city’s mayor,
called on housing chief Robert Covelle to resign Wednesday as new
information emerged in a scandal that has engulfed the agency for weeks
following reports of favoritism in hiring and contracting.
“I strongly believe that it is in the
best interest of the Medford Housing Authority and the citizens of
Medford that you resign,’’ Mayor Michael J. McGlynn, who appoints a
majority of the board and has been one of Covelle’s leading backers,
wrote in a letter to the embattled housing chief. “To do anything less
could be detrimental in the relationship between [the housing authority]
and the state and federal government.’’
He turned on him after Covelle created a job for his friend!
All
four commissioners on the board, which has one vacancy, informed the
Globe Wednesday night that they would vote to dismiss Covelle if he did
not resign. At least one, Sylvia Jean Baumeister, said she made her
decision after learning that a maintenance worker had been hired - and
given a master key to authority properties - despite having a criminal
record....
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