"Murray donors queried in probe; Chelsea workers tell of pressure to support lieutenant governor" by Scott Allen and Sean P. Murphy | Globe Staff, September 01, 2012
Prosecutors from Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office questioned two Chelsea Housing Authority employees under oath this week about their political connections to Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray, part of an intensifying criminal investigation into whether the housing agency’s former director illegally turned the workplace into a political machine aimed at helping Murray win election.
The employees, who are maintenance workers, testified that they attended three fund-raisers for Murray, giving $100 each time and meeting the lieutenant governor. One of them, Robert Hamilton, also said that former housing boss Michael E. McLaughlin asked him and other employees to help get out the vote for Murray and Governor Deval Patrick on Election Day in 2010.
“I didn’t want to go, but Mike [McLaughlin] said he wanted faces up there,” said Hamilton, referring to one of the fund-raisers. Hamilton, 69, said he has never been politically active and had only voted twice since 1968 before being recruited to help Murray....
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Related: FBI moving offices to Chelsea
Little late, isn't it?
"Chelsea ex-housing chief may have misused $1.5 million" by Sean P. Murphy | Globe Staff, September 06, 2012
A scathing new audit of Chelsea Housing Authority reveals that disgraced housing director Michael E. McLaughlin may have misused as much as $1.5 million in federal funds set aside for the low-income people the authority serves.
In its report, the independent auditing firm Hurley O’Neill & Company highlights a series of questionable expenditures that suggest McLaughlin was raiding funds that were supposed to be used to maintain the buildings to pay everyday expenses, and subsidizing higher salaries for himself and key lieutenants....
One of the reasons we don't need higher taxes, and why the poor are still miserably poor.
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"Alleged diversion of Chelsea housing funds deprived tenants; Investigation by HUD today" by Sean P. Murphy | Globe Staff, October 02, 2012
Former Chelsea housing chief Michael E. McLaughlin appears to have diverted millions in federal money from construction projects for low-income family and elderly housing, records show, freeing up an enormous slush fund that benefited himself, his family, and his friends, while leaving tenants to make do in dreary apartments that have not been updated in 50 years or more.
A Globe review of almost $9 million in federal funding paid to McLaughlin’s agency since 2002 found that more than $3.5 million of it was slated for projects that were not done, despite written promises to use the money to pay for new kitchen cabinets, baseboard heating, boilers, elevators, waterproofing, and other capital improvements.
Instead money went to lavish salaries and travel, to poorly documented everyday expenditures such as $530,000 paid to the city of Chelsea for trash pickup, and more unusual expenses such as the $165,000 the authority paid a social service agency that hired McLaughlin’s son Matthew to oversee maintenance work at the authority.
Today, investigators from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development are expected to descend on Chelsea Housing Authority headquarters, trying to account for all the federal money and requiring Chelsea to repay any money that was misused....
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Related:
Link Chelsea’s housing authority to Boston’s, or risk corruption
Because it is so widespread?
"Time cards put Winchester housing chief in two places at once" by Sean P. Murphy |
Globe Staff, November 01, 2012
A new state audit shows that the Winchester housing director, who also kept a full-time law practice, filed 16 conflicting time cards showing him in court when he claimed to be at the authority, undermining his insistence that he juggled two careers simply by working “nights and weekends.”
Joseph M. Lally, 59, abruptly resigned his $73,000-a-year housing authority position after 11 years on the job on Oct. 5, days before publication of a Globe story that featured Lally prominently as an example of housing authority executive directors who face little accountability for their work. Lally had claimed that he did the housing job properly by working an average of almost 70 hours a week.
See: Sunday Globe Specials: Helping the Homeowner
More like helping him$elf.
But state Auditor Suzanne Bump’s office found numerous discrepancies when auditors compared the handwritten time cards Lally used to record his hours as the full-time town housing director in 2010 and 2011 with the hours he claimed when seeking payments from a state agency that provides legal representation for poor clients.
“It would be difficult” for Lally to appear in court on 16 different occasions when simultaneously he was “logged in at the authority,” according to a draft of the report which was obtained by the Globe. The report concludes that Lally’s work as a lawyer “is not in the best interest of the Authority because the executive director should be conducting housing authority business during the Authority’s normal business hours.”
The audit also raised serious questions about how well Winchester public housing is managed, finding apartments that contained numerous violations of the state sanitary code, from peeling paint to rubbish in the yards. The Winchester agency manages the housing for 242 elderly and low-income families and individuals.
Lally did not return calls.
Lally is at least the third Massachusetts housing director to step down amid questions about his integrity in the last year, following Michael E. McLaughlin of Chelsea and Robert Covelle of Medford, both of whom were accused of abusing their positions to help themselves and their friends....
Related: Chelsea Evictions
Covelle Caves and Quits
Lally’s pension, which he applied for at Winchester town hall Oct. 12, may also be in jeopardy. Based on his housing authority salary and years of service, Lally qualifies for a pension of more than $55,000 a year, according to a Globe estimate....
And you wonder why you are forever seeing endless service cuts, Massachusetts?
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"Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray says he won’t run for governor" by Noah Bierman | Globe Staff, January 18, 2013
Timothy P. Murray, the 44-year-old Worcester Democrat, had also been contending with some political baggage, including low poll numbers, a mysterious high-speed car crash on an early morning in 2011, and a political friendship with a former housing authority director now under a joint federal and state investigation....
The sudden announcement by Murray, a former Worcester mayor, surprised many on Beacon Hill. Despite the controversies, he had raised $447,000 last year, more than any other candidate with fund-raising accounts at the state level. And in November, Murray told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, ‘‘Like many of you in the room, I would like to be governor.’’
Related: Murray raises $447,000 in year, leading officeholders
But....
On Friday, in a sometimes combative press conference with reporters in Worcester, Murray maintained that his decision had nothing to do with the political controversy surrounding Michael E. McLaughlin, who resigned as Chelsea housing authority director in 2011 after the Globe revealed he deliberately concealed his $360,000 salary from state regulators. Investigators are looking into multiple issues surrounding McLaughlin, including his political fund-raising on behalf of Murray.
That surprises me.
“This is a family decision, a personal decision, about how I want to spend the next two years, to six years,” Murray told reporters, after a speech promoting Patrick’s plan to rebuild the state’s transportation system. Murray said he would not seek any office in 2014, but did not rule out a future run.
That's the oldest cover excuse in the book!
Patrick stood by him at the lectern, along with the governor’s Cabinet, as more than 100 supporters cheered their native son....
Is Massachusetts really filled with so many sheeple?
Some of Patrick’s key supporters were waiting anxiously on Murray, with some saying they planned to support him. But the road would not have been easy, given a number of factors, possibly including the tax proposal unveiled by Patrick this week that would raise $1.9 billion for transportation and education....
Kind words came from politicians around the state, including a would-be rival for the Democratic nomination, Treasurer Steve Grossman, who praised Murray’s service and “deep commitment to focus first and foremost on his family responsibilities.”
C'mon!
********************************
In addition to Grossman, potential Democratic candidates include Donald M. Berwick, a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and State Senator Dan Wolf, the founder of Cape Air.
Murray’s exit could also clear the way for US Representative Michael E. Capuano, an urban liberal who would draw some of the same supporters as Murray. Capuano, a former Somerville mayor, said this week he will not run for Senate.
His spokeswoman, Alison Mills, said Capuano “has already received a great deal of encouragement and will consider other opportunities at the appropriate time.”
Charles D. Baker, a Republican who ran for governor in 2010, is considering another run as well....
It's time, Massachusetts!
Peter Ubertaccio, a Stonehill College political scientist, said that, in addition to the car crash and McLaughlin issues, Murray would have had to defend Patrick’s tax plan, which could also prove a challenge to others seeking the nomination.
“It’s going to be very difficult for Democrats in 2014 to run defending higher taxes,” he said.
Republicans seized on the same point.
“The timing of it makes it seem as if the governor’s proposal for the largest tax hike in state history would have been the greatest of all burdens,” said Tim Buckley, spokesman for the state Republican Party.
Philip W. Johnston, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party, said Democrats cannot afford to lose focus on the corner office, even as many are now more interested in the race to replace Senator John F. Kerry if he is approved as secretary of state. Johnston worries that candidates for governor will lose six months of fund-raising activity because of the expected Senate election.
“The governor’s race is the name of the game for our state and certainly for the Democratic Party,” he said. “The Senate race is very important also, but running state government remains the principal job in the state.”
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Related:
"Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, who typically chairs the meetings and breaks a tie, was on a trade trip to Germany."
How is he helping run government from there?
"McLaughlin charged in hiding of pay" by Sean P. Murphy and Andrea Estes | Globe Staff, January 23, 2013
The former chief of the Chelsea Housing Authority was charged Wednesday with four felony counts of deliberately concealing his inflated salary from state and federal regulators from 2008 until he resigned in 2011, triggering a scandal that has rocked Massachusetts’ public housing system to its foundation.
US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz announced the federal charges against Michael E. McLaughlin, 67, of Dracut, alleging that McLaughlin deliberately underreported his annual salary by up to $164,000 a year in mandatory reports to state and federal housing regulators. The charges were contained in a document that is normally used when the defendant has agreed to plead guilty.
Each violation carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but McLaughlin, who has no criminal record, will probably face a much less severe punishment. Under federal guidelines, a conviction on even one count calls for at least eight months in jail.
Word is McLaughlin is going to avoid jail time by the letters of the law.
Public officials greeted news of the charges with satisfaction, saying that McLaughlin had violated the public trust for years at the Chelsea Housing Authority while he built up his power and salary at the expense of the low-income people he was supposed to serve.
State Attorney General Martha Coakley said her office will continue a criminal investigation that has focused in part on McLaughlin’s fund-raising for Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray.
McLaughlin was barred from most political fund-raising as a public employee, but he actively organized numerous fund-raising and political events for Murray and frequently communicated with him by cellphone....
“Michael McLaughlin lied.... he misled.”
Depends on who does it when you receive those words.
************************
The charges against McLaughlin come less than a week after Murray, his close political ally, announced that he would not seek the governorship in 2014, surprising some observers, since Murray had been aggressively raising money. Murray has been questioned by prosecutors in the investigation.
Murray said that he simply wanted to spend more time with his family, and a spokesman said Wednesday that Murray’s decision had nothing to do with the McLaughlin investigation....
Liar.
Patrick has proposed abolishing the state’s 242 public housing authorities after the McLaughlin scandal....
McLaughlin resigned in late 2011 after the Globe reported his oversized salary and the fact that he was in line for one of the largest pensions in state history, up to $278,000 a year....
At the time, McLaughlin admitted to a Globe reporter that he had deliberately under-reported his salary in reports to state and federal regulators, attributing the misleading reports to “the rebel in me.”
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"Patrick targets public housing boards" by Sean P. Murphy | Globe Staff, January 10, 2013
"Patrick targets public housing boards" by Sean P. Murphy | Globe Staff, January 10, 2013
Governor Deval Patrick on Thursday will propose eliminating the state’s troubled patchwork of 240 public housing authorities and replacing them with six regional agencies in an effort to eliminate waste and corruption from the housing program for low-income and elderly people, state officials say.
I don't know what to do, but I know centralization never seems to help. Maybe we could billet all these people in foreclosed homes that are unoccupied.
I don't know what to do, but I know centralization never seems to help. Maybe we could billet all these people in foreclosed homes that are unoccupied.
Public housing, which shelters more than 300,000 people in Massachusetts, has been buffeted by controversy for more than a year since the Globe reported the inflated $360,000 salary of Chelsea’s housing director. Several other directors were forced to resign amid allegations of abuse of their position.
Patrick’s proposal, which is sure to be controversial on Beacon Hill, would consolidate public housing management — including budgeting, planning, and administrative functions — into six central offices, while leaving a corps of managers and maintenance workers at local housing authorities.
Local boards would be cut, eliminating the need for more than 1,000 politically appointed commissioners....
Some legislators may find Patrick’s plan too bold. For decades, housing authorities have been run like separate fiefdoms in each town or city, each with its own board and a chief often selected for political rather than managerial skills.
“The interests are just too entrenched to make it happen,” said one member of a commission appointed by Patrick last year to recommend public housing reforms, who asked not to be identified for fear of alienating others in the housing industry.
“You would have a thousand commissioners calling their state reps and senators complaining bitterly,” the commission member said.
The president of the organization that represents public housing leaders said his group would strongly oppose elimination or consolidation of any housing authorities.
“We will be unveiling our own proposal soon, one that does not undermine local responsibilities,” said Richard Leco, adding that the group would go to legislators for support.
As the Globe reported in October, critics say that a significant part of the public housing problem in Massachusetts is the huge number of housing authorities, making it difficult for poor and elderly people to navigate the system while straining the leadership talent pool.
Only the state of Texas has more housing authorities than Massachusetts, making state or federal oversight of each individual authority challenging.
Michael E. McLaughlin, the former executive director of the Chelsea Housing Authority who resigned in 2011 after the Globe reported his huge salary, graphically illustrated the lack of accountability among public housing officials.
He is now under investigation by federal and state officials in the apparent diversion of millions in federal money from construction projects.
But, for years, McLaughlin received awards for his performance, and his board did not even know how much they were paying him.
A Globe review of records showed McLaughlin failed to carry out some $3.5 million in promised improvements, such as heating and kitchen upgrades, thus freeing up an enormous slush fund that benefited himself, his family, and his friends.
But the lack of oversight went far beyond Chelsea. Easton’s housing director, Susan Horner, spent hours at work sending flirtatious e-mails to various men, while problems were piling up, from unsanitary apartments to money missing from the laundry room....
Related: Sunday Globe Specials: Helping the Homeowner
Related: Sunday Globe Specials: Helping the Homeowner
In Winchester, the housing director had a second full-time job as a courthouse lawyer, requiring him to be away from the housing authority for 31.5 hours a week the last three years.
Joseph M. Lally abruptly resigned his $73,000-a-year position on Oct. 5, days before publication of an article detailing his hours.
A state auditor’s report later showed that Lally filed 16 conflicting time cards showing him in court when he said he was at the authority....
“This bill will simplify and professionalize our public housing system, improving transparency and accountability,” Patrick said in a statement. “We owe the residents and the general public no less.”
The overhaul, if passed by the Legislature and signed into law, would mark the most significant change in public housing since cities and towns began building housing and subsidizing rent for veterans returning home from World War II.
Ownership, governance, and management of thousands of housing developments across the state, worth billions of dollars, would shift, on July 1, 2014, from local boards of commissioners to six regional organizations, Heyer said.
Instead of city mayors and town voters choosing four of the five board commissioners, with one picked by the governor, as is now the practice, the six regional housing authorities would be controlled by nine board members appointed by the governor, three of whom would be nominated by local governments, though details are not worked out, Heyer said.
Instead of each housing authority acting separately, management would come from a central office under the direction of one executive director and other senior managers.
Heyer said the regional approach would coincide with another major change: allowing tenants to apply for housing statewide, instead of community by community.
“People now interested in housing in 10 places have to fill out 10 applications,” she said. “That’s ridiculous. In the new system, there will be one application, one wait list.”
Heyer said officials of the Department of Housing and Community Development, which developed the makeover blueprint, estimate that the reorganization will cost $3 million to $7 million.
She said that many times that amount is expected to be saved due to greater efficiencies, better maintenance, and faster unit turnaround when tenants move out, among other steps.
How many times have we heard that one?
How many times have we heard that one?
A map dividing the state into regions has not been drawn yet, but the regions would be contiguous and roughly the same size.
One region would include the Boston Housing Authority, the largest in the state, with almost 3,500 public housing units and subsidized apartments.
The thousands of people now employed by housing authorities would have the opportunity to move into new positions, either in the central office or on local housing sites, Heyer said.
Site managers, maintenance employees, and other workers would remain local, Heyer said, available to help tenants and respond to emergencies.
“Tenants will experience very little change,” she said.
Patrick’s initiative marks a turnaround for the administration from last year.
When Patrick, furious over McLaughlin’s salary, attempted to increase the professionalism of housing authorities by reducing their numbers, the idea was rejected almost immediately by the panel Patrick assembled to consider changes.
Instead, Patrick settled for recommending more training for board members and a proposal to set up a new agency that could provide administrative support for authorities with fewer than 200 units.
Now, Heyer said, Patrick is prepared to make his case to legislators.
“The governor is committed to strong leadership and looks forward to engaging the Legislature in this important initiative,” she said.
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"Timothy Murray under fire over campaign funding" by Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy | Globe Staff, January 24, 2013
State campaign finance regulators have found evidence that Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray may have violated state law by accepting political donations from the disgraced former Chelsea housing director.
In a previously undisclosed letter, sent in September, they asked the attorney general to investigate Murray, as well as key members of his campaign team. If eventually charged and found guilty of knowingly accepting illegally raised campaign contributions, the lieutenant governor could face up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500 for each violation.
Aides to Murray, who said last week that he will not run for governor in 2014, have repeatedly said that he did nothing wrong and is not a focus of the state’s criminal investigation of the fund-raising activities on his behalf by former Chelsea housing director Michael E. McLaughlin.
It was Murray himself who initially requested that state campaign regulators examine his fund-raising, presumably hoping the outcome would clear his name.
However, the Sept. 19, 2012, letter from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance to the attorney general’s office leaves no doubt that regulators found evidence of wrongdoing by Murray in his relationship with McLaughlin, who organized numerous fund-raisers for Murray even though, as a public employee, he was barred from political fund-raising....
Why hasn't he been removed from office?
The letter raises new questions about Murray’s short-lived gubernatorial bid, which ended abruptly when Murray withdrew to spend more time with his family, surprising some supporters. Murray had been raising funds since the fall, including $136,639 in the last two weeks of December alone....
Governor Deval Patrick staunchly defended his lieutenant governor on Thursday, saying he believes that Murray did nothing wrong....
Hopeless.
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"Timothy Murray under fire over campaign funding" by Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy | Globe Staff, January 24, 2013
State campaign finance regulators have found evidence that Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray may have violated state law by accepting political donations from the disgraced former Chelsea housing director.
In a previously undisclosed letter, sent in September, they asked the attorney general to investigate Murray, as well as key members of his campaign team. If eventually charged and found guilty of knowingly accepting illegally raised campaign contributions, the lieutenant governor could face up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500 for each violation.
Aides to Murray, who said last week that he will not run for governor in 2014, have repeatedly said that he did nothing wrong and is not a focus of the state’s criminal investigation of the fund-raising activities on his behalf by former Chelsea housing director Michael E. McLaughlin.
It was Murray himself who initially requested that state campaign regulators examine his fund-raising, presumably hoping the outcome would clear his name.
However, the Sept. 19, 2012, letter from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance to the attorney general’s office leaves no doubt that regulators found evidence of wrongdoing by Murray in his relationship with McLaughlin, who organized numerous fund-raisers for Murray even though, as a public employee, he was barred from political fund-raising....
Why hasn't he been removed from office?
The letter raises new questions about Murray’s short-lived gubernatorial bid, which ended abruptly when Murray withdrew to spend more time with his family, surprising some supporters. Murray had been raising funds since the fall, including $136,639 in the last two weeks of December alone....
Governor Deval Patrick staunchly defended his lieutenant governor on Thursday, saying he believes that Murray did nothing wrong....
Hopeless.
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