Posts filed under 'Deval Patrick'
It’s good to be friends with Beacon Hill pols if you want a job–and it’s great to be the neighbor of the governor if you want a job when 1,000s are being cut due to budget shortfalls.
As Gov. Deval Patrick grapples with layoffs and budget deficits, he has hired a close neighbor in Milton to be the state’s $120,000 director of real estate services, the Herald has learned.
Attorney and real-estate consultant Dana Harrell, 60, a frequent contributor to Patrick’s campaign coffers, was introduced Oct. 27, less than two weeks after Patrick announced 1,000 jobs would be lost to the state’s $1.4 billion budget crunch.
Harrell lives less than a quarter mile from Patrick.
He was brought into the Division of Capital Asset Management to help turn the state’s real estate assets into moneymakers. It appears the post is new, though repeated requests to Patrick’s administration for clarification went unanswered.
DCAM Commissioner David Perini said this in a statement: “This position filled a much needed role at DCAM, particularly at a time when we are trying to maximize our state real estate holdings to ensure we are finding expanded revenues, savings and efficiencies during these tight fiscal times.”
Perini praised Harrell as “extremely well qualified.”
“With over 30 years of experience in both the development and management of major real estate assets, he has quickly become a valued member of the team at DCAM,” he said. “As the administration continues to make substantial investments in the commonwealth’s infrastructure, Dana’s expertise will be essential.”
Patrick spokesman Cyndi Roy said despite the dire economic forecast, “The state has not implemented a hiring freeze at this point.
Since 2005, Harrell and his wife, Jean, have donated $1,450 to Patrick’s campaign and another $700 to the Democratic State Committee.
This is the same Deval Patrick who promised to end “politics as usual,” isn’t he?
Tags: budget, Deval Patrick
December 29th, 2008
When Joe the Plumber asked Barack Obama a tough question, Barack Obama attacked Joe the Plumber.
The citizens of the Commonwealth are complaining about Pike toll increases, Bechtel Parsons getting a $30 million parking garage contract, the Turnpike Authority giving out raises, all this while Massachusetts is losing jobs and trying to impose a gas tax hike, and Deval Patrick is calling us cynics, and stupid.
Enough with the “cheap shots,” said Gov. Deval Patrick, complaining again about media coverage and blaming criticism of his proposals on “cynicism.”
Oh yeah? Enough with the whining, countered a couple of critics.
Patrick was at Suffolk University to mark the state’s No. 1 ranking in a national survey of economic competitiveness when he made his remarks.
“We are awash in cynicism in the commonwealth, but the cynical are not smart; they’re just pretending to be,” Patrick said. “The truth is, we’ve got big problems, and we better start thinking big about the solutions. Ideological purity from the left or the right, in times like these, is like trying to put a Band-Aid on a broken bone.”
He wouldn’t say who he was talking about. Some pols have criticized Patrick’s proposal to abolish the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, and other plans out of the Corner Office have been tossed back and forth on talk radio and in the opinion pages. GOP political consultant Holly Robichaud and state GOP party chair Barney Keller said Patrick has been his own worst enemy, citing unkept promises, such as lowering property taxes and adding 1,000 new cops.
Governor Patrick, GO SCREW! Who do you think you are calling stupid? Take a long, hard look in the mirror buddy, because staring back at you is the face of a man who will undoubtedly go down in Massachusetts history as the worst governor…ever. Go screw, Governor. We are tired of your broken promises.
If you are fed up with Deval Patrick and these cockamamie plans to jack up the Pike tolls while the Turnpike Authority is giving out raises, and Beacon Hill schemes to raise our taxes, think about attending the ‘Stop The Pike Hike’ Rally on December 3rd. For more information on the rally, visit stopthepikehike.org.
More on this story at Deval Patrick Watch.
Tags: Barack Obama, Barney Keller, broken promises, Deval Patrick, Deval Patrick Watch, Holly Robichaud, Joe the Plumber, property taxes, tax hike
November 22nd, 2008
Governor Deval Patrick is making headlines proclaiming that people are going to “freeze to death” this winter due to high energy costs.
Governor Patrick says there’s a real possibility that people in America could freeze to death this winter due to the soaring cost of home heating fuel. Patrick met with members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation on Capitol Hill and later testified before a House panel on the need for heating aid in cold-weather states.
Patrick said the cost of heating a home — whether by electricity, gas or oil — is expected to cost between 20 and 31 percent more than a year ago. He said that will have an impact on many families, and not just those who are defined as low-income.
The House has approved legislation to double the government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to 5.1 billion dollars for the coming winter. According to the Associated Press, Massachusetts would receive 163 million dollars under the plan, an increase of 36 million dollars from the last fiscal year. The Senate must still sign off on the measure. Meantime, Maryann Covalanski, who runs the Springfield Fuel Assistance Program says that it will help…but even more is needed.
Don’t put on extra sweaters or anything…
Tags: Deval Patrick
September 26th, 2008
Governor Deval Patrick is concerned about the safety of his buddy, Barack Obama.
Gov. Deval Patrick, one of Barack Obama’s closest political allies, says he’s concerned for his friend’s safety in light of an alleged racially fueled threat to the presidential candidate but thinks race won’t be a major factor in the election.
“Of course,” Patrick said when asked if he was personally concerned about Obama. “It’s not so unlike my own election. Race is with us. But I think the American public is a lot further along than the media gives them credit.”
Responding to reports that three Colorado men were plotting to kill Obama because he’s black, Patrick said, “It’s not unfamiliar to me. But you just keep going.” The governor declined to elaborate or say if he’s been the target of any race-based threats here or at home.
Amid reports of the Democratic National Convention being a secure fortress, and Obama’s Secret Service protection, what does Patrick have to fear? Is this a genuine concern, or is this meant to drum up racial sympathy?
Tags: Barack Obama, Deval Patrick
August 28th, 2008
While Deval Patrick is basking in national limelight following his prime time speech at the DNC, his lack of political influence and support from members of his own party at home is quite embarrassing for guy who allegedly raised the roof in Denver. Patrick’s influence is so poor, he had more support from Republicans on Beacon Hill for his vetoes than from members of his own party.
Gov. Deval Patrick got more support from Republican lawmakers than his own party when it came to slashing pork from the state budget this year, according to a Herald review.
Republicans backed Patrick’s $250,000 cut for bullying prevention and $511,634 targeted for osteoporosis education while Democratic legislators overturned more than 70 of his vetoes.
“He was wrong on those,” said Sen. Steve Baddour (D-Methuen) when asked why he didn’t support vetoes from the first Democratic governor in the Corner Office in 16 years. “We would have done more (overrides) if we had more time.”
All told, the largely Democratic House and Senate voted to override 74 of Patrick’s 116 vetoes, approving $56 million in spending as watchdogs sounded alarms about the state’s fiscally stormy outlook.
“I was pretty surprised that no one stood to defend the governor, let alone vote with him,” said Sen. Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield). “It’s embarrassing that (Patrick) couldn’t coerce anyone to give him any support.”
It’s pretty sad considering the paltry number of Republicans on Beacon Hill.
Now that I think of it, it is appropriate that Governor Patrick gave such a high profile speech at Barack Obama’s convention. They both have the exact same number of accomplishments: zero.
Tags: Barack Obama, Deval Patrick, Richard Tisei, Steve Baddour
August 28th, 2008
Last week, the Boston Herald reported that Deval Patrick’s transportation secretary, Bernard Cohen, has given his his own staff 195 pay increases, even after he pressured MBTA general manager Dan Grabauskas into rescinding pay raises to his own employees.
The state transportation chief who pressured T general manager Dan Grabauskas into rescinding pay raises this week said he won’t halt 195 pay hikes he granted his own staff.
“I think it’s pretty hypocritical for the secretary to look at other agencies and departments and grandstand when he has different standards in his own shop,” said Sen. Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield).
Transportation secretary Bernard Cohen asked Grabauskas to halt the raises the T chief gave 273 employees this week as an effort to “leave no stone unturned in restoring fiscal health to all transportation agencies.”
But at his own transportation agency, Cohen granted pay hikes ranging from 1 percent to 7.5 percent last year. Some of the annual raises far exceed the hike given to Grabauskas staffers, who were supposed to get a 3 percent raise each of the next three years.
[...]
The annual raises, which Cohen has final say over, are based on merit and performance evaluations. Employees must be in the bottom half of the agency’s salary range and produce exceptional work in order to get more than a 6 percent raise.
Grabauskas granted an automatic 9 percent raise to non-union staffers to keep them in line with a recent union pay hike last week, but then rescinded most of the raises when Cohen leaned on him. News of the pay hikes broke shortly after Grabauskas hinted at a potential fare increase unless the state helped with an $8.2 billion debt load.
Adding insult to injury, the Herald reported today that the state payroll has exploded, even with the current economic downturn.
Gov. Deval Patrick has added almost 2,000 new workers to the state payroll in the past year even as he warns of dire budget cuts in the face of a $1 billion deficit, a Herald review shows.
And his administration continues to dole out millions in overtime, with nearly 80 prison guards raking in more than $100,000.
A mid-year Herald payroll analysis reveals that since July 2007, the number of state jobs has jumped by about 1,900, many of them new hires in the Department of Correction and MassHighway.
The soaring payroll comes at a time when the state is stepping in to bail out a debt-ridden Mass Pike and being asked to do the same for the MBTA, and the governor is requesting special powers to cut the budget this fall if the local economy continues tanking.
“It’s very worrisome,” Jim Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute, said of the hiring frenzy. “It’s a problem, given that we’re probably heading into a recession, and we’ve been borrowing extensively.”
Barbara Anderson, of Citizens for Limited Taxation, told the Herald it’s time for state officials to get off “the gravy train.” They’re riding the gravy train alright… and Deval Patrick is the engineer.
Tags: Barbara Anderson, Deval Patrick, MBTA
August 25th, 2008
I was very surprised to see that Governor Deval Patrick vetoed state pension hikes.
Gov. Deval Patrick has vetoed a pension increase for retired teachers and state workers that could have cost the state more than $3 billion over 20 years.
The measure would have boosted benefits by $120 annually at a time of rapidly rising prices for life’s staples.
The Democratic governor, who had at first supported the proposal, said in a message written to the Legislature to explain his veto that he was concerned about adding costs to the state’s already unfunded retirement liability.
Patrick had suggested that the cost-of-living increase be restricted to retirees with pensions less than $40,000.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimated the measure could have cost as much as $3.5 billion by 2026. President Michael Widmer called the veto “the responsible course.”
This was certainly a smart decision by Patrick, but will the Legislature override his veto?
Tags: Deval Patrick
August 13th, 2008
…which basically means “tax increases are coming.”
Gov. Deval Patrick says he doesn’t have any plans for additional tax increases — but also won’t rule them out.
Increasingly Patrick is walking a tightrope when it comes to taxes — reassuring taxpayers that there are no increases in the works, while openly talking about the possibility of new taxes in the future.
It’s a balancing act that is becoming harder to maintain as Patrick’s ambitious agenda bumps up against a sluggish economy.
Patrick tells The Associated Press that he won’t take the same “no new tax” pledges of his Republican predecessors, but is instead focused on improving the state’s economy and looking for other ways to generate new revenues.
But Patrick also said it’s important to keep taxes on the table as an option.
No, it’s not important to keep new taxes on the table…it’s more important to keep new taxes off the table. Perhaps you should stop creating new high salary positions, and maybe even lessen or eliminate bonuses and raises on the state payroll before you worry about taking more of our money from us.
Cut spending, don’t increase taxes. Keep new taxes off the table.
Tags: Deval Patrick
August 11th, 2008
Holly Robichaud explains why.
Who isn’t for lower health care costs? But sometimes the best intentions don’t produce the best results.
Section 14 of the Senate Bill 2863, An Act Promoting Cost Containment, Transparency and Efficiency in the Delivery of Quality Health Care would require public disclosure of payments valued at $50 or more between pharmaceutical research companies and health care providers. Physicians’ names would appear on public websites. As you may suspect this could hurt ongoing clinical research in Massachusetts.
Last month Governor Patrick signed into law the bio-tech bill containing $1 billion worth of incentives for that industry to grow here. However, if Section 14 of S. 2863 is implemented we will see a significant loss of clinical trials which have in the past lead to important discoveries. Aren’t we trying to encourage life science development?
According to the National Institute of Health, there are presently 5,673 clinical trials being conducted in the Commonwealth. Many studies are recruiting patients. Moreover, biopharmaceutical jobs are on the rise and we can expect another 15,000 jobs to be added by 2014. Unfortunately, these gains will not be realized if the Governor signs into law section 14 which will deter doctors from participating in research.
Dr. Anil Nair, an Assistant Professor at Boston University’s Department of Neurology has written an open letter to Deval Patrick, which I’m publishing in full in the extended entry:
Dear Governor Patrick,
As a practicing neurologist and a clinical researcher at Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center, I’d like to thank you for the leadership you’ve exhibited to build upon the Commonwealth’s already strong presence in the life sciences. I was proud and deeply encouraged when you signed the related legislation into law less than two months ago.
This amazing commitment to create the nation’s premiere environment for the advancement of life sciences provides optimism to those of us who have a vested interest in a strong and vibrant research community. And importantly, it offers great hope for patients who anxiously await new cures and treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other devastating ailments.
However, I am deeply concerned that the great promise afforded by this initiative could be endangered by subsequent healthcare legislation (S 2683) awaiting your signature. While I fully endorse the underlying intent of the legislation – lowering healthcare costs in the state – Section 14, which requires disclosure of payments valued at $50 or more by pharmaceutical companies to physicians and other healthcare professionals, is troublesome.
Posting this information – essentially a list of companies, dollar figures and doctors’ names – on a public Web provides a one-dimensional window into the existence of a professional partnership. It offers little if any useful information and threatens to raise unnecessary suspicions and misinterpretations.
Of particular concern is the fact that those who access and make judgments on such information may lack the context to understand the true nature of the payments.
For example, in many cases a payment provided by a pharmaceutical company to a physician is used to cover the hospital and staff expenses necessary to conduct the research, as opposed to being actual compensation to the individual physician. Some hospitals or academic research centers even insist that the physician take the payment in his or her name, so that the institution can avoid the appearance of having received payment from a company.
The disclosure requirement disregards such complexities and nuances in the partnerships between researchers, institutions and companies. If enacted, it is possible – perhaps even probable – that an entire grant will be linked to an individual physician’s name, creating misimpressions in the public eye as to the level and purpose of the compensation. Such misperceptions could unfairly impact the physician’s reputation, and more alarmingly, could jeopardize the relationship shared with his or her patients.
If Massachusetts adopts this disclosure requirement, I fear future research, patient access to clinical studies and the state’s life sciences program would suffer irreparable harm. I urge you to return S 2863 to the legislature with an amendment to eliminate Section 14.
Sincerely,
Anil Nair MD.
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology Boston University School
Boston, MA
So, Deval, what are you going to do?
Tags: biopharmaceutical jobs, Deval Patrick, Holly Robichaud
August 7th, 2008
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