Cape Cod Today: SHNS: Weekly roundup - Somewhere in the Blue Hills Hunters head to the Blue Hills, island alpacas head to the State House

Weekly roundup - Somewhere in the Blue Hills

Hunters head to the Blue Hills, island alpacas head to the State House

ARTICLE | POLITICS | DECEMBER 6, 2015 06:00 AM | BY MATT MURPHY, STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

- See more at: http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2015/12/06/227299-Weekly-roundup-Somewhere-Blue-Hills#sthash.ksEE08LM.dpuf

One last toga party, anyone?

It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the State House this week as deer hunters fanned out across the Blue Hills and ballot campaigns held their breath waiting for a thumbs up from Bill Galvin.

Poinsettia and wreaths cropped up, the Senate President's office doors were swung open to showcase the annual ornate decorations and Gov. Charlie Baker helped light the capitol tree on the front lawn with a festive celebration that included island alpacas from the Vineyard.

But as holiday music filled the marbled halls of the building, gun violence - and not what was happening under protest in the Blue Hills - once again gripped the country and funneled down to Massachusetts where Gov. Charlie Baker and Rep. Lori Ehrlich became unwitting partners in anti-crime.

Ehrlich, a Marblehead Democrat, seized on the national drumbeat from Congressional Democrats after the attacks in Paris and the latest mass shooting in San Bernardino, California and filed legislation here in Massachusetts that would prohibit anyone on the F.B.I. terrorist watch list or the federal no-fly list from purchasing a gun.

The next day, Baker told a room full of newspaper executives that if it's true that those on a terrorism watch list are able to pass background checks to buy guns, the policy needs to be "fixed, period." Ehrlich, needless to say, welcomed support from the Republican governor, perhaps giving her effort the push needed to make it onto the 2016 agenda.

Speaking of agendas, Rosenberg said the Senate would be ready in early January when it returns from recess to take up public records reform legislation and a safe driving bill that could take phones out of the hands of drivers once and for all.

But before he gets there, the Amherst Democrat had to absorb the jarring news that he's losing one of his key leadership team members. Ten senators, including Rosenberg, boarded a plane for Israel on Thursday, but before they jetted off on the international trade mission Rosenberg got a call few saw coming.

Sen. Anthony Petruccelli, an East Boston Democrat who started his career on Beacon Hill in the House, was on the other end of the line telling his boss that he planned to resign to join the downtown lobbying firm Kearney, Donovan and McGee.

While Petruccelli, the Senate majority whip, is certainly not the first to follow this path, his departure from the Senate and Rosenberg's leadership team caught many off guard. He may have been fifth on the depth chart behind Rosenberg, but he was widely considered to have the potential to one day lead the Senate if he stuck around long enough.

Lobbyists had also come to view Petruccelli as a dealmaker in an increasingly ideological Senate. In addition to having a knack, according to some who worked with him, for being able to see his way through the policy and the politics of issues swirling on Beacon Hill, Petruccelli had the respect of many House members, whose position toward the Senate has become fraught with tension.

"Holy s#@$!," one senator exclaimed when told Petruccelli would be announcing his resignation.

Petruccelli's departure will remove a likely vote in favor of charter school expansion from the Senate at a time when the chamber's leaders are considering whether the support exists to pursue charter legislation.

If Senate leaders think the votes aren't there by early next year, they may decide to simply let the voters decide in 2016, which made it all the more important that ballot petitioners got their signatures in on time.

The coalition behind the ballot initiative to expand charters was one of six groups that Secretary of State William Galvin said he thought submitted sufficient signatures by Wednesday's deadline to move forward in the ballot petition process. Supporters of a constitutional amendment to impose a higher income tax on earnings over $1 million appear to have cleared the threshold.

The other ballot questions on track for November 2016 include expanded gaming, Common Core education standards repeal, protection of farm animals, marijuana legalization and health care pricing controls. While one group proposing to regulate marijuana like alcohol appear to have the signatures to proceed, another group pushing a simpler legalization question without the government oversight, by their own admission, probably fell short.

Former Gov. Deval Patrick popped back into the news cycle briefly this week when Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that the native Chicagoan would advise a new task force reviewing city police practices in the aftermath of the shooting of a black teenager.

Violence of a different sort in the Blue Hills also made headlines as Gov. Baker was forced to defend the first deer hunt on the state-owned land in nearly a century as the best of bad options to control the overpopulated deer in the area.

Hunters killed 41 deer over the first two days of the controlled hunt in an area where deer number close to 85 per square mile, well above the desired population of 18 per square mile.

"It's like shooting fish in a barrel here," Governor's Councilor Marylyn Devaney reported from the front lines where she had joined with protesters in support for more humane population control measures. "It's cruel."

STORY OF THE WEEK: As many as six ballot questions could appear before voters in 2016 if lawmakers don't act first, but Sen. Anthony Petruccelli won't be around to help make that decision.

About the Author  »

Matt Murphy, State House News Service

Matt Murphy covers major media, lobbying firms, government agencies, political junkies as well as towns Statewide. He likes to cover politics and campaigns.

- See more at: http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2015/12/06/227299-Weekly-roundup-Somewhere-Blue-Hills#sthash.ksEE08LM.dpuf

The cost of promoting the Genting/Wampanoag/Taunton Folly

Taunton and the South Coast are surrounded by failed infrastructure, unable to handle current traffic loads, gridlocked during summer travel weekends.

While South Coast rail is sorely needed, it wasn't on anyone's priority list until Governor Slot Barns promoted Predatory Gambling.

This is what it's gonna cost you:

The bill also includes $2.3 billion for the South Coast rail project....


FROM:

State Ethics Commission preceeds against former Rep. Demetrius Atsalis

Increased bond limits for Steamship Authority - $2.3 billion for the South Coast rail project

Article | Politics | March 7, 2014 - 7:00am | By Michael P. Norton, State House News Services

Gubernatorial Candidates and Global Warming

As we approach the Gubernatorial elections, it's important to consider each candidates position on Climate Change and the threat it poses.

Romney opted out of RGGI as governor and sought to rob the clean energy $$$ to fund budget shortfalls.

Charlie Baker opposed Cape Wind.

AG Martha Coakley has carefully cloaked her opposition to Cape Wind.

This is an urgent problem to be considered when determining the next governor.

Governor Deval Patrick plans major spending to guard against global warming risk

Will commit $52 million to support his multi-pronged approach to preparing for climate change to protect coastal communities

Article | News | January 14, 2014 - 2:00pm | By Matt Murphy, State House News Service

 

 

 

There have been five major storms since 2010, including Superstorm Sandy shown above.

 

Patrick to make major investment in last year as Governor

Wants state prepared for another Sandy-type Superstorm

Gov. Deval Patrick will make a major investment during his last year in office to try to protect the state's energy infrastructure and guard critical roadways and coastal communities from what the administration sees as heightened risks from global warming.

Patrick on Tuesday will commit $52 million to support his multi-pronged approach to preparing for climate change, including a $40 million municipal grant program to be administered by the Department of Energy Resources to help cities and towns steel electric transmission and distribution systems from the impacts of severe weather.

The grants will be paid for with money from retail electricity suppliers who make alternative compliance payments to the state if they have insufficient renewable energy credits required under the state plan to force investment in renewable energy sources.

$10 million will be directed to coastal infrastructure

Another $10 million will be directed to coastal infrastructure, including $1 million available through the Office of Coastal Zone Management in grants for municipalities to reduce the risks associated with coastal storms and sea level rise, such as flooding.

The governor detailed his administration's approach on Tuesday morning at the New England Aquarium in Boston. Counting five major storms since 2010, including Superstorm Sandy, Patrick will announce plans to partner with UMass Amherst's Northeast Climate Science Center to appoint a state climatologist to help the state and communities understand the risks.

While Patrick plans use his executive authority to implement much of the plan, about $2 million in spending for transportation vulnerability assessments and public health initiatives will require legislative approval.

Inventory of the vulnerabilities of electricity generation facilities

Under the new action plan, the Department of Public Utilities will work with utilities to speed efforts to "accelerate storm hardening and deploy micro-grids and resiliency projects for transmission and distribution." The administration will also take inventory of the vulnerabilities of electricity generation facilities throughout the state and their preparedness plans in case of storms or disaster.

"Recent storms and related outages serve as a reminder that it is critical we secure our energy grid to endure more extreme weather patterns," Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rick Sullivan said in a statement. "I will work with my team, my colleagues across the Administration and stakeholders to act quickly and responsibly to harden our energy sources."

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation will similarly assess the vulnerabilities to extreme weather of its facilities and adopt "climate adaptation plans" by 2015, while the Department of Conservation and Recreation will rate the levels of exposure of its parkways and roadways susceptible to flooding during storm surge high tides.

Part of Patrick's approach to preparing for climate change includes a charge for Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency planners to advise about hazards present for smart growth and sustainable developments. MEMA will start sharing its hazard data for use in building assessments, according to the administration.

The governor will also direct the Department of Public Health to develop additional programs and strategies to assist local boards of health with the impacts of climate change. Part of that planning will include an analysis and monitoring of disease in oysters and mosquitoes.

Suggesting climate change may be playing a role, the administration noted that the state experienced a rise in mosquito-borne Eastern Equine Encephalitis in the summer of 2012 that led to aerial spraying in some communities, while oyster beds in 2013 had to be closed for the first time due to vibrio parahaemolyticus.

The Department of Environmental Protection will work with communities to make sure infrastructure associated with delivering potable water to residents is protected as best it can be from natural disaster.


http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2014/01/14/23566-governor-deval-patrick-plans-major-spending-guard-against-global-warming-ri

 

REPEAL THE CASINO DEAL may make ballot

Casino, gas tax increase repeals may make ballot

By Michael Levenson

| Globe Staff November 29, 2013

Major casino and gas tax initiatives designed to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for transportation, local aid, and other needs could be undone by Massachusetts voters at the ballot box next year.

Secretary of State William F. Galvin said two proposals — one that would repeal the state’s casino law and another that would eliminate automatic increases in the state gas tax — are among seven ballot questions that appear to have garnered enough signatures to qualify for the November 2014 ballot.

The proposals would allow voters to eradicate two key items that state lawmakers and Governor Deval Patrick spent years devising. The ballot questions would also have serious implications for the state budget, which relies on gambling and gas revenue to pay for road and bridge projects and basic services such as trash pickup in cities and towns.

“It would force difficult choices to be made,” said Stephen M. Brewer, a Barre Democrat who is the state Senate’s budget chief. “We would be governed by what the vox populi says.”


Supporters of the ballot questions say they were able to gather enough signatures by tapping into a deep vein of anger over the legalization of casinos and at the prospect of automatic increases in the gas tax — two items that were championed by Patrick.

“It’s a taxpayer revolt,” said Steven W. Aylward, a Republican activist from Watertown and leader of the Tank the Gas Tax coalition.

David Guarino, a spokesman for the group Repeal the Casino Deal, said the coalition also harnessed voter discontent.

“We know from experience that David doesn’t often topple Goliath, but we have the deep-pocketed casino industry on the ropes, and we think voters deserve the chance to deliver the final blow,” Guarino said.

Tank the Gas Tax, a group made up of Republican lawmakers and activists, is pushing to repeal a law approved earlier this year that triggers automatic increases in the tax when inflation rises.

The measure was part of a larger tax increase that raised the gas tax from 21 cents to 24 cents per gallon.

The ballot question would leave that 3 cent per gallon increase intact, but would prevent future increases tied to inflation.

The governor and Legislature pushed the gas tax increase to help fund repairs to deteriorating roads and bridges, and to expand rail and bus lines. State officials say that linking the gas tax to inflation will generate $5.7 million for the state next year and then grow annually to about $183 million in 2024.

But Aylward’s group says the law flies in the face of basic democratic principles, by eliminating the need for legislators to vote every time they increase taxes.

“They’re changing the paradigm, and they want the taxes to be automatic,” Aylward said. “That removes the accountability for elected officials, and that’s what’s so infuriating to people.”
Aylward said volunteers gathered more than 100,000 signatures — well beyond the 68,911 needed — to place the gas-tax repeal on the 2014 ballot. Galvin said the signatures are still being certified, but he agreed the referendum is “running up a pretty good surplus” and should qualify for the ballot.

Brewer asserted that it would be a mistake to repeal the gas tax law. He said that linking the tax to inflation guarantees that it does not lose its purchasing power as the cost of goods rises.

“The cost of steel never goes down, road materials — because they’re fossil-fueled based — never go down, and labor costs don’t go down,” he said. “And, we hadn’t adjusted our share of the gas tax in 23 years.”

The ballot question that would repeal the 2011 casino law is facing a tougher road.

Galvin said the question appears to have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. But Attorney General Martha Coakley has ruled that the question would violate the Constitution by taking away the contract rights of companies that applied for casino licenses, without compensating them for their losses.

Repeal the Casino Deal is challenging her ruling in the Supreme Judicial Court, and says it is hopeful that, if it prevails, it can build on the recent string of defeats that casino proposals were dealt in elections in East Boston, Palmer, and Milford.

“We remain hopeful and optimistic, though we know we have a long road to go to reverse this ill-advised casino deal,” Guarino said.

Brewer said outlawing casinos would pose a serious challenge for the state, which is counting on $300 million to $500 million in future gambling revenue to help pay
for police officers and firefighters, among other essential services.


The Patrick administration declined to comment on the ballot questions and referred instead to comments the governor made on Nov. 20, when he was asked about the cities and towns that have rejected casino proposals.

“No, I don’t think the law should be repealed,” Patrick said then. “It’s working exactly as it’s supposed to, which is to authorize up to three destination resort licenses and one ‘Racino,’ I guess it’s called, and to let local communities make decisions about whether they wanted the facilities on their own.”

He doesn't want a casino in his town!

Five other questions appear to have qualified for the ballot, Galvin said.

A question sponsored by environmental groups would extend the nickel deposit on soft drinks to noncarbonated beverages such as water, iced tea, and juice.

Four union-backed proposals would raise the minimum wage from $8 an hour to $10.50; allow workers to earn up to 40 hours a year in paid sick time; establish limits on the number of hospital patients assigned to each nurse; and seek to curb hospital operating margins and pay for hospital executives.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/29/voter-anger-propels-ballot-questions-repeal-casino-law-and-automatic-gas-tax-increases/9Ua9MQjkUnmdQq7NlwvJSI/story.html?s_campaign=email_BG_TodaysHeadline


Casino law’s foes are still in the game
By Shirley Leung | Globe Columnist
November 29, 2013

Here’s an early Christmas gift from me to all you casino opponents out there: The repeal could be real.

For months now, you have been furiously collecting signatures to get on the 2014 ballot to repeal our nascent casino law, even hiring about 20 people to stand in front of supermarkets. Well, last week you turned in over 90,000 signatures, and now the secretary of state says Repeal the Casino Deal appears to have the necessary signatures to move forward in the referendum process.

Of course, anything having to do with casinos in our state is complicated. Attorney General Martha Coakley dealt you an unexpected blow in September when her office ruled that repealing the casino law is unconstitutional. You appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court, and that’s where you and the attorney general will likely square off.

Do you have a chance? You bet. There’s enough gray to fill a book with at least 50 shades.

“My first reaction: It sounds very thorny to me,” said former Justice John Greaney, who spent 20 years on the SJC and now teaches law at Suffolk University. “The only definitive way to settle that would be an opinion from my old court.”

Peter Sacks, a senior attorney and state constitutional expert in Coakley’s office, wrote in an 11-page decision that when casino companies pay substantial fees to apply for gaming licenses it’s an implied contract — and there’s an expectation that the gaming commission will award them. Contract rights are considered property, and as such, he noted, they may not be “taken” by an initiative petition.

But others disagree. Applicants may have paid a $400,000 fee to compete for a gaming license, and that might seem like a contract, but the casino law makes it clear the commission doesn’t have to hand out a slot parlor license or any of the three resort casino licenses. Because of that, applicants know they may go through the process and end up with nothing. They also know that once awarded a license, the commission can revoke or suspend it at any time.

“There is some kind of room for interpretation here,” said Lawrence Friedman, a professor at New England Law who wrote the book on the Massachusetts state constitution. (For real — it’s 245 pages long.) “The attorney general’s current opinion hangs on the conclusion that the casino applicants have an implied contract with the Commonwealth. Whether the applicants actually have such an interest is debatable.”

Greaney believes the SJC will deal with this case right away, given that the commission wants to hand out licenses by the spring. If the court sides with the repeal group, Greaney says, the commission may choose to suspend the licensing process until the ballot outcome because there would be so much uncertainty.

Ouch. For the pro-casino folks, Greaney just sounded like the Grinch who stole Christmas.

“I am sure they have thought about it,” he said of the possibility of delaying licenses. If the commission waits until the ballot passes, “it’s going to be a much bigger mess.”

Here, we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. Even if the SJC allows the petition to move forward, there are still more steps. Proposed ballot petitions are sent in January to the Legislature, which has until the first week of May to decide whether to trump voters and change laws in question preemptively. If no action is taken, proponents must gather another 11,485 signatures by July to get on the November ballot. Then, of course, there’s a vote.

To gambling opponents, the casino law has been an unwanted gift but with no easy return policy.


http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/11/29/repeal-casino-law-could-real/VWDattx0Zy9NgkmQ1gyyeO/story.html

After bringing Predatory Gambling to the Commonwealth that will provide low wage jobs,  suck discretionary income from those least able to afford it and destroy communities, Governor Slot Barns laments his pay?

Can't we all just visualize him clipping coupons?

Deval Patrick claims he longs for private sector payday

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Gov. Deval Patrick is itching to jump back into the private sector because he misses the hefty paydays, he told city business leaders yesterday.

Patrick said he’s feeling the pinch of his $139,800 annual Corner Office salary and will be looking for a job when his term ends in 14 months.

“I’m looking forward to returning to the private sector. I miss the private sector, especially on payday,” he said at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. “I owe my family some earnings and some time.”

Patrick spoke at the chamber’s Governmental Affairs forum and officially announced more than $1.3 billion in infrastructure improvements, including replacing at least 226 outdated Orange Line and Red Line cars. The state will also install open road tolling on the Massachusetts Turnpike and eliminate the turns before and after tolls to ease congestion and allow cars to get through the tolls faster, he said.

“Everybody’s gotten stuck in traffic on the Pike,” Patrick added. “We’ve got an opportunity by straightening out that turn at the Allston tolls and adding electronic tolling to make the commute smoother.”

By making the Pike straighter, 60 acres of land will be opened up for development, Patrick said.

The transportation investments come after a budget disagreement between the governor and the state Legislature that saw the state Senate and House pass a transportation bill roughly half the size that Patrick wanted.

He said money will have to be moved around and some projects may have to be delayed in order to make the infrastructure improvements, calling the move “inevitable.”

 - See more at: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/10/deval_patrick_claims_he_longs_for_private_sector_payday#sthash.jOZEr4We.dpuf

Senator Scott Brown's Poor Judgement

Senator Scott Brown traveled from Washington to lobby Governor 'Slot Barns' Patrick for his best BUD, Gary Piontkowski who ingratiated himself with many others, unless, of course, you were an abutter he was forced to intimidate and bully.

There does seem to be an inordinate amount of BULLYING going on in Plainville.....

While former Senator Scott Brown's choice of friends and fund-raisers may seem questionable in regards to Plainridge/Piontkowski, don't ignore the Senator's connection to the New England Compounding Lab and his support for DE-REGULATION in all sizes and colors.

The Perennial Candidate Scott Brown might choose his friends more wisely. Even if the name Piontkowski is easily forgotten next election cycle, the avoidable deaths caused by his other best BUDS are not.

Scott Brown’s Pal Deemed Too Sleazy For Slots By State Commission

The Gaming Commission finds former Plainridge president Gary Piontkowski so corrupt that the racetrack is ineligible for slots.

By David S. Bernstein|Boston Daily|August 6, 2013

 

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission decided yesterday that Plainridge Racecourse’s recently-booted president Gary Piontkowski was so insanely sleazy and corrupt that the track had to be deemed ineligible for a slot machine license.

 

This result will be celebrated by the many Beacon Hill folks who have, over the years, described Piontkowski to me as someone who they feel dirty being in a room with. But it must be a bitter disappointment for Piontkowski’s No. 1 superfan and booster, Scott Brown.

 

The Plainridge facility is in Brown’s old state senate district, and over the years, the two developed a close friendship. Brown was well known to frequent the racecourse and enjoy a drink with his pal Gary. Piontkowski became a big donor and fundraiser for Brown; Brown became a hardy advocate for the racing industry—and in particular, for allowing Plainridge to fill its halls with slot machines.

In 2008, Piontkowski sold a 50 percent share in a trotter he owned to Brown’s younger daughter, Arianna, for $3,000. They co-owned the horse together, as it ran and won money, but that wasn’t seen as a potentially compromising business partnership for Brown because it’s perfectly normal for a successful businessman to go sharesies with a 16-year-old girl.
 

When Brown went on to become a US Senator in 2010, he demonstrated a weird fixation in his conversations with political leaders back in Massachusetts, including governor Deval Patrick and senate president Therese Murray. They would want to discuss issues of importance to the Commonwealth going on in Washington, like Republicans filibustering huge chunks of Medicaid funding. But all Brown wanted to talk about was how they should pass a gaming bill that put slot machines at Piontkowski’s track. The Globe‘s Joan Vennocchi dubbed him “Senator Slots.”
 

This April, as the Gaming Commission was doing its required investigation into Plainridge, Piontkowski abruptly retired as president, citing “health reasons.”
 

As we learned recently, the “health reasons” were that Piontkowski had been literally stuffing wads of the track’s money into his pockets for years, which is enough to make you sick. This revelation, uncovered by the Commission, came as a total surprise to Piontkowski’s business partners and fellow executives, because every time the track’s CFO had tried to tell them about it, they stuck their fingers in their ears and sang “My Old Kentucky Home” at the top of their lungs.
 

Once the Commission received testimony about the casual theft of well over a million dollars by the track’s president, however, the Plainridge powers leapt into action to save their chance for a slot machine license: they allowed Piontkowski to leave under a false “health reasons” pretense, without penalty or punishment and without repaying any of the money plus a full buy-out of his shares and an extra two years’ salary for his troubles. Because that’s exactly what you would expect any gambling establishment to do for somebody who stole $1.4 million out of their money room.
 

And they seem startled that the Commonwealth has decided that Plainridge shouldn’t be chosen as the recipient of the state’s only slots-only license.
 

I wonder what Scott Brown has to say about that decision. Is he sad that all his years of advocating for Plainridge to get slot machines has come a-cropper? Or does he not care, now that his buddy is no longer president and part-owner of the place?
 

And is Brown bothered by the fact that the guy he shared so many good times with—and accepted so much funding from—turns out to have been so sleazy?
 

I doubt we’ll hear much from the former US Senator on these questions. And if he is planning to run for something in 2014 (the latest scuttlebutt is that he wants to take on Ed Markey for Senate), he’s probably hoping that the media will have forgotten all about this by the time he gets around to announcing. I, for one, plan on remembering.

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2013/08/06/scott-brown-pal-gary-piontkowski-plainridge-racecourse/



New England Compounding Lab, De-regulation and Jeopardizing Human Lives:

Framingham Pharmacy Contributed to Brown

Toyota and the Tea Baggers: Did you ever notice......

NECC owner bought $2.4M home here this spring

Dirty shoes? How did steroids get contaminated?

Putting Lives At Risk For Deregulation
The human cost of 'deregulation' and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
And some call themselves 'Christians'!.....
Patriotism

Compounding problems with health and safety oversight

Goose-Stepping Against Regulations

Rewarding Failure

Not known for 'heavy lifting,' the Boston Herald article below includes this revealing comment:

McClain is leaving the job as DCF is embroiled in a class-action federal lawsuit brought by Children's Rights, a New York-based watchdog group. The suit accuses the agency of failing to protect children under its care from abuse, allowing kids to founder in the foster care system and doling out too many psychotropic drugs. The agency also has come under renewed scrutiny as the number of children dying in state care is on the rise, with 40 children dying in 2011, 36 in 2010, and 27 in 2009.

This is offered by Children's Rights:

Overview

Citing one of the nation’s highest rates of abuse of children in foster care and other persistent and severe problems throughout the Massachusetts child welfare system, the national advocacy group Children’s Rights and Boston law firm Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP – with the support of advocates and families throughout the state — filed a class action in federal court on April 15, 2010, seeking broad reform on behalf of 8,500 abused and neglected children statewide.

Naming six child plaintiffs who have been badly harmed in Massachusetts foster care, the lawsuit (known as Connor B. v. Patrick) charges the state’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) with violating the constitutional rights of children by routinely placing them in dangerous and unstable situations once removed from their parents’ care and failing to take necessary actions to meet the legal and moral obligation of the state-run child welfare system to ensure the safety and well-being of children in its custody.

According to the children’s complaint, the rate at which children in Massachusetts foster care suffer abuse in state-supervised foster homes and institutions is nearly four times the national standard. DCF further traumatizes children by moving them frequently between foster placements; one-third of children in state foster care get shuffled around to at least five different placements during their time in state custody, according to the complaint. The complaint also points to the state’s decade-long failure to adequately prepare and support families to be successfully reunified with their children in foster care.


Massachusetts again elected a Governor with lofty promises and no experience, more focused on Predatory Gambling than substance. Appointments have been disappointing, to say the least.

How many more children will die?

When will we learn? And the man under whose leadership deaths increased has moved on? 

It's time for change!


Deval Patrick's child welfare czar quits

Friday, March 8, 2013

 

The head of Massachusetts' Department of Children and Families is leaving the embattled agency to take a job in Washington with a trade group.

Angelo McClain was named CEO of the National Association of Social Workers, an advocacy and lobbying group for social workers, the group announced in a press release today.

McClain, who previously worked for a child welfare office in New Jersey, was appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick to lead DCF in 2007 after the agency had come under fierce fire following the high-profile deaths of several children in state care.

"Angelo has helped thousands of families become stronger and better prepared to protect and nurture their children," state Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz said in a statement several hours after the association announced McClain's hire. "He has been a mentor to foster children and helped institute some of the nation’s most comprehensive standards for addressing abuse and neglect.

Throughout his career he has served in numerous social services leadership roles across the country and we congratulate him on this prestigious position."

McClain is leaving the job as DCF is embroiled in a class-action federal lawsuit brought by Children's Rights, a New York-based watchdog group. The suit accuses the agency of failing to protect children under its care from abuse, allowing kids to founder in the foster care system and doling out too many psychotropic drugs. The agency also has come under renewed scrutiny as the number of children dying in state care is on the rise, with 40 children dying in 2011, 36 in 2010, and 27 in 2009.

The National Association of Social Workers said McClain will take over the job of CEO in May.

“The NASW Board of Directors is delighted to welcome Dr. McClain to NASW,” says NASW President Jeane Anastas. “We are confident that our organization, its members, and the communities social workers serve, will benefit greatly from Dr. McClain’s expertise and leadership in providing social work services for those in need.”

McClain is the latest member of Patrick's team to quit in recent months. He follows Administration and Finance Secretary Jay Gonzalez, Health and Human Services Secretary JudyAnn Bigby, Public Safety and Security Secretary Mary Beth Heffernan, Education Secretary Paul Reville and Department of Transitional Assistance Commissioner Daniel J. Curley.

 

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2013/03/deval_patricks_child_welfare_czar_quits?utm_source=Morning+3%2F8&utm_campaign=ML+afternoon+1&utm_medium=email

 

 

 

Class-action suit challenges Massachusetts foster care system

New York advocacy group says state is not protecting kids from unfit homes, abuse and neglect

Patronage: Alive and Well under Patrick, Murray

Patrick, Murray at wheel of patronage

By Peter Lucaslowellsun.com

Updated: 11/27/2012

 

If Gov. Deval Patrick really wants to find out who hired Sheila Burgess, he has two options.  He can look in the mirror. Or, he can step into the office next door. There he will find Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, his co-patronage czar, who with the governor's assent, most likely did the hiring.  It is nothing less than an insult for Patrick and Murray to pretend they have no idea how the unqualified Burgess, a veteran Democratic Party campaigner and fundraiser, was hired as director of state Division of Highway Safety.  These political patronage jobs like Burgess' do not go to strangers who walk in off the street.  No, these jobs go to political people recommended by political people who are hired by political people. It's called patronage.  And when it comes to hiring a campaign person for a cushy $87,000-a-year state job, complete with bennies, you can rest assured that the hiring is not done by HR. It is done by the governor, or the lieutenant governor, or both. That is the way the system works, despite what they say.  And while Patrick may piously deny the existence of patronage, or claim he knows nothing about it, his administration is up to its eyeballs in handing out political patronage jobs.  Not that there is anything wrong with it, as Seinfeld would say. It is only "wrong" when you get caught appointing people who are not qualified, like Burgess.
Remember how Patrick was going to change the culture on Beacon Hill? He changed

it all right. He changed it by adopting it, which is why he hired Burgess to oversee driver safety. Her driving record is so bad she could be sitting in for the lieutenant governor.

Burgess, 48, is, of course, the political operative hired by Patrick in 2007 as director of highway safety, even though her main qualification appears to have been in crashing cars. The Burgess story initially was broken by Sean P. Murphy of The Boston Globe.  The six-member highway-safety agency, which distributes millions annually in grants to police departments, is charged with warning the public of the dangers of drunken driving, texting while driving, speeding, failure to wear seat belts and so on.  No sooner did the story break about Burgess' long record of driving accidents and infractions, than nobody could quite remember who hired her, but that Patrick would get to the bottom of the mystery.  Anyway, he said, she should not have been hired for that specific job.  "It was a screw-up," Patrick said, even though Burgess held the job for five years. She was so good at what she did, he said, that he would find another job for her.  How good was she? Burgess had 34 entries on her driving record dating back to 1982, according to the Globe. Her record includes seven accidents, four speeding violations, two failures to stop for a police officer, one driving without a registration or license in her possession, one driving without a seat belt on and one failure to stay in her lane. She is currently on paid medical leave following an Aug. 24 crash in which she drove her state vehicle off the road and crashed into a boulder at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton.  With a record like that, who better than to warn the public about the hazards of driving than someone who has already wreaked havoc on the highways?
But the real story of her hiring goes to the heart of Democratic Party patronage politics in Massachusetts. Burgess was recommended for the job to Patrick and Murray by rubber stamp, good government liberal U.S. Rep. James McGovern, who has a Worcester connection with Murray.

As a paid political consultant and fundraiser, Burgess worked for McGovern, Murray, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, gubernatorial candidate Shannon O'Brien, the late U.S Rep. Joe Moakley, as well as others. So you can see how qualified she was to deal with highway safety, or political campaigns. Which is why Patrick said he would have another soft state job for her when she got back to work. Then, suddenly, on the eve of Thanksgiving, he fired her. But why would Patrick rehire and then fire someone he had nothing to do with hiring in the first place?
It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Perhaps the mirror will tell him. Or he can ask the guy sitting next to him.


Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/peterlucas/ci_22072400/patrick-murray-at-wheel-patronage?utm_source=Morning+11%2F27&utm_campaign=ML+afternoon+1&utm_medium=email#ixzz2DQoSeg9B

 

Another Patrick/Murray Failure

Thanks to Sean Murphy and the Boston Globe!

This highlights the failures of this Administration to conduct even reasonable Due Diligence in hiring.

The Public Records statute needs to be amended to include, among numerous other things, the right of the public to review ALL cell phone records recorded with times and dates, after all, the public is paying the bills.

State highway safety chief has long driving record, recent accident

Democratic operative given state job in 2007

Sheila Burgess crashed a state vehicle Aug. 24 at Blue Hills.

By Sean P. Murphy

Globe Staff / November 17, 2012

Her driving record includes seven ­accidents, four speeding violations, two failures to stop for a police officer, one failure to stay in her lane, one driving without registration or license in possession, and one driving without wearing a seat belt.

When she was nabbed for speeding in New Hampshire in 1999, she failed to show up at her hearing, records show. Until Nov. 1, her license was on nonrenewal status for failure to pay local excise taxes.

There are 34 entries on her driving record, dating back to 1982.

Yet Sheila Burgess is director of the Massachusetts Highway Safety Division. Her mission is to reduce accidents by promoting good driving practices. She oversees public campaigns on the dangers of speeding, texting while driving, driving while impaired, and failing to wear a seat belt, among other hazards.

Burgess’s most recent crash occurred on Aug. 24, as she was driving a state vehicle during work hours. At 1:16 on a sunny summer afternoon, her car veered off the road in the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton and slammed into a rock outcropping, a State Police report says.
 

Burgess was appointed to her $87,000-a-year position in July 2007, without any background in public safety, transportation, or government administration. Her experience was in Democratic Party politics. For almost two decades as a paid consultant and congressional aide, she had raised money and ­advised candidates for public office, including — according to her resume — Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, who had taken office six months earlier as part of the new Patrick administration.

Burgess, 48, of Randolph, suffered a head injury in the crash and has not returned to work, and while officials say she is on “approved leave,” they have declined to say whether she is getting paid. She told police after the crash that she swerved into the woods to avoid an oncoming vehicle, the State Police report says. She was not cited for any driving ­violations.

In a short interview on Wednesday, Burgess said, “I was in an accident and have a head injury.” She referred detailed questions about the crash and her job to the state public safety agency, which oversees traffic safety.

A spokesman for Governor Deval Patrick and Murray said late Friday that Burgess was hired, in part, based on the recommendation of US Representative James McGovern, for whom Burgess once worked as a consultant. Brendan Ryan, the spokesman, said he could not address why Burgess was hired into the administration as head of traffic safety despite her record of driving violations.

McGovern did recommend Burgess, said a spokesman for the representative, but not for a specific position.

“He just said, ‘Here’s a good person for the Patrick administration to hire,’ ” said Michael Mershon, the spokesman. Mershon said he had no information on whether her driving record was known to McGovern at the time of his recommendation, or who specifically in the Patrick administration he made the recommendation to.

After arriving at the scene of Burgess’s crash, State Police apparently took no investigative steps. Burgess by then was out of the car and being treated by an ambulance crew and State Police did not ask questions about whether she had been using her state-provided cellphone while driving or was distracted in any other way, a State Police spokesman said.

State Police did not ask whether she was wearing a seat belt. The spokesman said the accident was handled the same way “as any other crash with sim­ilar circumstances.”

“The operator observed an unknown vehicle traveling towards her in her travel lane,” the report says.

“Operator swerved to the right to avoid a collision, causing her vehicle [to] run off the roadway on the right side, striking a boulder on the side of the road.”

Officials at the state Office of Public Safety and Security, where Burgess has worked since 2007, said the Ford Taurus she was driving is being repaired. In addition to the highway safety division, state public safety secretary Mary Elizabeth Heffernan also oversees the State Police.

When asked whether Heffernan was comfortable with Burgess’s long driving record, spokesman Terrel Harris said that she “was comfortable knowing Burgess has had no driving issues between the date of her hiring and the time of her [Aug. 24] accident.”
 

Burgess was not talking on her state-provided phone at the time of the crash, but she used it numerous times that day for phone calls, phone records show. State officials declined to release a record showing the number of times, if any, she sent text messages during the monthly billing period that included the Aug. 24 crash date. Cellphone records do not include a list of when text messages were sent, but simply report how many were sent in the course of a month.

At the time of the crash, Burgess’s license was active but had been flagged for nonrenewal because of failure to pay local excise taxes. After the Globe began making inquiries, the taxes were paid and her license status was cleared.

As highway safety director, Burgess is the Patrick administration’s chief safety officer for drivers. In a recent newsletter mailed to hundreds of police departments statewide, she ­articulated a clear message on safe driving. “Remember: drive safely, soberly, and distraction-free. And always buckle — every trip, ­every time,” she wrote last spring.

Burgess manages a staff of about six, and helps parcel out more than $2 million a year in grants to state and local police departments for public awareness programs on safe driving, including money to underwrite overtime for police.

Her resume, which she distributed to staff members, lists her as a former executive director and aide for five years to former Representative J. Joseph Moakley. It says she was Moakley’s campaign manager in 2000.
 

Her resume cites, among other duties, that she “facilitated all fund-raising and events for the congressman as well as other candidates as required.” Moakley died in May 2001.
 

As a paid fund-raising consultant, Burgess worked for, in addition to Murray and McGovern, Senator John Kerry, gubernatorial candidate Chris Gabrieli, former Quincy mayor James Sheets, former state treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Shannon O’Brien, and state Senator Thomas McGee of Lynn, according to her resume.

She lists among her affiliations the “Kerry for President Finance Committee” and the “Shannon O’Brien Finance Committee.”

McGovern was a close confidante and aide to Moakley before being elected to Congress in 1996. McGovern and Murray, both Worcester residents, are close political allies, as are McGovern and Patrick. All are Democrats.
 

Burgess lists herself as principal of SHB Consulting/Mass Strategy Group. Campaign ­finance records show Mass Strategy Group was paid $11,414 for fund-raising consulting during Murray’s 2003 campaign for Worcester mayor. (He was first elected mayor in 2001.) The firm was paid $6,000 by Murray’s mayoral campaign committee in 2004. Murray was reelected as mayor in 2005 and ran successfully for lieutenant governor in 2006.

A spokesman for Murray’s campaign said that while Murray has no recollection of Sheila Burgess working as a consultant, he does remember her sister, Coleen, as doing so. Mass Strategy Group lists Coleen Burgess as president of the firm and Sheila Burgess as registered agent, state corporation records show.

Last year, another state employee in a sensitive public safety position was forced to resign after the Globe reported his long record of driving violations. In that case, it was Murray who in 2008 recommended the hiring of the employee, Matthew McLaughlin, as a $60,000-a-year appointee to the Board of Appeals, which hears appeals from drunken drivers who have lost their licenses. McLaughlin’s driving record includes a license suspension for refusing to take a breathalyzer test and six speeding tickets.

Matthew McLaughlin is the son of Michael McLaughlin, the former Chelsea Housing Authority executive director now under federal investigation for apparently using government money intended for fixing-up public housing apartments to jack up his own salary to $360,000 a year. Investigators are also scrutinizing Michael McLaughlin’s involvement in fund-raisers for Murray.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2012/11/18/state-highway-safety-chief-has-long-driving-record-recent-accident/4HPRt0xv2Bqu3rsonuY3sJ/story.html