Where's the Public Outrage? The Most Corrupt Administration in Recent History

With his sights on higher office, another book, Governor "Slot Barns" knee jerk reaction is defense, a cherubic smile and denial.

That ignores Lt. Governor Tim Murray's previous bad decision:
Buying a judgeship for $39,775?

And then there's that whole Secretary Bialecki casino stock investment scandal, papered over by Beacon Hill. And Senator Rosenberg aided that scandal.

Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Senator Anthony Petruccelli fueled the flames.

Surrounded by corruption or at the least QUESTIONABLE CONDUCT, are investigations called for? 'Course not!

The Gubernatorial Candidate who proclaimed transparency, an end to corruption and the "Big Dig Culture".....?

What a SCAM!

Sorry, Governor! Cherubic smiles and cute responses don't work!

It's time for some housecleaning, honest answers and an investigation.

Since you have conducted your own back room deals, secret meetings and made promises you don't intend to keep, in my book, you've flunked.

You've done more to stoke the flames of public cynicism than any of your Republican predecessors.

What else don't we know?

Murray tied to ex-Chelsea official
Lieutenant governor, housing chief called each other more than 80 times in 7 months
By Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick was so furious over the Chelsea Housing director’s extraordinary $360,000 salary that he called for Michael E. McLaughlin’s immediate resignation and launched a state takeover of the entire agency.

But Patrick’s second in command, Timothy P. Murray, has remained publicly silent about the alleged abuse of housing money for more than two weeks even though he has often advocated for public housing. McLaughlin once called him “the best friend public housing has ever had.’’

Now, it is becoming clear what a good friend Murray has been to McLaughlin: the two called each other more than 80 times over the last seven months, McLaughlin’s cellphone records show. When the Globe began asking McLaughlin about his true salary and why he told the state that it was only $160,000, McLaughlin called the lieutenant governor each time within hours, according to the phone records.

After the Globe printed his actual income on Oct. 30, McLaughlin told colleagues at the housing authority that he was in constant touch with Murray, assuring Murray that the controversy “was a two-day story’’ that would “blow over.’’ McLaughlin urged Murray to “stay out of it and not come to [his] aid,’’ said a person with direct knowledge who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation.

“He was adamant that Murray should stay out of it and that he could make it go away,’’ this person said.

But the controversy did not go away, and McLaughlin resigned on Nov. 3 under pressure from Patrick.

Murray declined to be interviewed about his relationship with McLaughlin, but he said in a prepared statement that the former Chelsea housing director was “a supporter’’ and said he felt betrayed when he learned about McLaughlin’s compensation, which may be the highest of any US public housing official.

“Mike McLaughlin was a supporter and volunteer during my campaign in 2006,’’ wrote Murray, referring to his first campaign for lieutenant governor. “Since then, I stayed in touch with him, as I do with many of the people who volunteered for me and with local officials across the state.

“Like most everyone else, I had no idea how high Mike McLaughlin’s salary was or that he was misleading the state about it for years, which is outrageous and unacceptable. When we discovered that, this administration took swift and decisive action. I support and am proud of our response to date, and we’re going to continue to investigate what happened at the Chelsea Housing Authority,’’ he wrote.

Murray said that he is “frustrated’’ on a “personal level’’ because of what he has learned about someone with whom he thought he had a “straightforward relationship.’’

The FBI and several other state and federal agencies are investigating McLaughlin and the housing authority amid allegations that employees shredded and removed documents around the time of McLaughlin’s resignation. On his last day, McLaughlin cosigned checks for more than $200,000 to himself for what he said were unused vacation, sick, and personal days - though the records that would confirm that have been destroyed.

McLaughlin almost immediately applied for a state pension that would be the largest in state history, based on his income. Yesterday, the Chelsea Retirement Board tabled discussion of McLaughlin’s application for a $278,000 pension after the attorney general warned the board that McLaughlin may not be entitled to the money.

McLaughlin was much more than just an ordinary supporter and volunteer for Murray, according to several Merrimack Valley politicians with direct knowledge of the relationship who asked not to be named because of fear of retaliation. He was a key operative in 2006 as Murray, then the mayor of Worcester, built a statewide organization, according to these people, and McLaughlin acted as master of ceremonies for Murray fund-raisers more than once.

“He’s the lieutenant governor’s guy in the Merrimack Valley,’’ said one political figure “Everyone knows that.’’

McLaughlin liked to brag to colleagues that “Murray needed him’’ for “putting together little deals’’ such as finding jobs for supporters, said a person who heard McLaughlin make those remarks but asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation.

McLaughlin was in touch on the phone with Murray more than anyone else, based on an analysis of 12 high-call-volume days when McLaughlin and Murray connected 41 times. McLaughlin typically was in contact with Murray three times a week over the seven months of the records, even calling Murray while McLaughlin was vacationing in Naples, Fla.

McLaughlin, his wife, and two children have donated $3,725 to Murray since 2006, though the Murray campaign late last night announced that they were returning some of the money.

A spokesman for Murray’s political committee said the $900 McLaughlin contributed to Murray was donated to the Chelsea Boys & Girls Club in light of McLaughlin’s “deception’’ in not revealing his actual compensation. Cohen said an additional $700 donated by two Chelsea Housing Authority board members was also sent to the club. Murray’s committee has kept the rest of the McLaughlin money.

Several sources said they believe Murray helped McLaughlin’s son Matthew obtain a $60,000-a-year job in 2008 as a member of the Board of Appeals, which hears appeals from drunk drivers who have lost their licenses - despite the concerns of the state Registrar of Motor Vehicles at the time, Anne Collins.

Collins worried about hiring Matthew McLaughlin because of his lengthy driving record that included a license suspension for refusing to take a breathalyzer and six speeding tickets, according to McLaughlin’s driving record and a source with direct knowledge of the appointment. But Collins felt she had no choice but to hire him, according to someone with knowledge of the appointment.

Matthew boasts that Murray is his “godfather,’’ according to former co-workers, and takes advantage of the connection to spend a lot of his time elsewhere. He has posted photos from Florida on his Facebook page when he was scheduled to hear some of the tens of thousands of cases before the Board of Appeals, the former co-workers said.

Frustrated officials complained directly to Murray, but McLaughlin’s work habits did not improve, said former co-workers.

Neither Michael McLaughlin nor his son, Matthew, returned calls from the Globe.

In a transcript from an interview with the Lowell Sun earlier this month, Murray said he knew Matthew McLaughlin, but would not say whether he recommended him to Collins.

“We get lots of people seeking jobs and referrals,’’ he said. “We referred it out and it’s up to whoever the hiring entity is to make the decision.’’

More generally, Murray campaign spokesman Michael Cohen denied that McLaughlin played a major role in Murray’s political operation.

Asked whether Murray was aware that McLaughlin has a long history of attracting controversy and investigations dating back to his days as a Middlesex County Commissioner in the 1980s, Murray campaign spokesman Cohen said: “We have had thousands of supporters and volunteers over the years. We don’t know the personal histories of them all.’’

McLaughlin’s cellphone records, obtained in a public information request, cover the period from March 29 to October 27 and do not cover the period after McLaughlin’s salary became public and his agency was engulfed in controversy. However, sources with direct knowledge of McLaughlin’s actions at the authority say that McLaughlin’s contacts with the lieutenant governor continued.

But Patrick administration spokesman Brendan Ryan said just because McLaughlin had contact with Murray doesn’t mean he found sympathy.

Murray “doesn’t like people taking advantage of his friendship,’’ said Ryan.

Matt Carroll of the Globe staff contributed to this report.


Patrick defends Murray on calls
By Sean P. Murphy and Glen Johnson

Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray today strongly denied that there was anything improper in his relationship with the former Chelsea Housing Authority director who resigned abruptly after the Globe revealed he was making $360,000 a year.

Murray and former Chelsea housing director Michael E. McLaughlin called each other 83 times during the past seven months, McLaughlin’s cellphone records show, including several calls after the Globe began asking questions about McLaughlin’s salary, which he had reported to the state was only $160,000.

Speaking before an annual ceremony to recognize police bravery at the State House, Murray and his boss, Governor Deval Patrick, insisted that Murray was only doing his job in talking to McLaughlin.

“Part of my portfolio is working with local officials - elected and appointed and others. I have dozens of phone calls on a day-to-day basis with lots of officials across the state including Mr. McLaughlin,” Murray explained.

Murray said he was outraged to learn McLaughlin’s true salary, which may be the highest for any public housing official in the United States.

McLaughlin “was a political supporter. As I said, he’s someone on housing issues that I would talk to from time to time, but I was not aware of the full extent of his contract, like everyone else, until that Globe article appeared on” Oct. 30, Murray told reporters. “He misled me. He misled other people. I’m disappointed. I’m frustrated, and I’m angry.”

McLaughlin resigned on Nov. 3 under pressure from Patrick, but not before co-signing checks to himself for more than $200,000 for what he said was unused vacation, sick, and personal time. However, the authority’s accountant has said he destroyed the payroll records that would have confirmed that McLaughlin was owed the money.

Now, the FBI has launched a criminal investigation into McLaughlin and the Chelsea Housing Authority, while Attorney General Martha Coakley is expected to petition a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court on Monday to appoint an outside receiver to oversee management of the authority.

The state Department of Housing and Community Development plans to recommend Judy Weber, now a consultant on housing management issues, to serve as the Chelsea receiver. She previously worked for Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency. She is a former aide to former Congressman J. Joseph Moakley.

McLaughlin’s conduct has inspired at least one legal reform already, a change in pension rules signed by Gov. Patrick yesterday. McLaughlin has applied for the biggest public pension in state history, $278,000, based on his actual compensation. Under the new law, a retiring employee’s pension would be based on the salary reported to the state – in McLaughlin’s case, $160,000 – penalizing public employees who attempt to conceal their true income.

In McLaughlin’s case, Coakley’s office has asked Chelsea retirement officials not to authorize any retirement payments to McLaughlin until the investigations are complete.

Records of McLaughlin’s housing authority cell phone, which cover the period from March 29 to October 27, show that the men called each other about three times a week, including while McLaughlin was in Naples, Fla., where he owns a condo. Several Merrimack Valley politicians said the frequency of the calls reflect the fact that McLaughlin is one of Murray’s main political operatives north of Boston.

The records show that, on two occasions, McLaughlin called Murray within hours of being asked questions by a Globe reporter about his salary and efforts to conceal the true amount from state officials. A Murray campaign operative has said the lieutenant governor made no further calls to McLaughlin after the Globe revealed his salary on Oct. 30.

Patrick stoutly defended his second in command, bristling when a reporter asked why the lieutenant governor would need to call a Chelsea housing official so frequently.

“Do you know how much phone tag we play around here?” Patrick asked. “We and in particular the lieutenant governor is in constant contact with local elected officials all around the Commonwealth. And let me tell you what I don’t like, what I don’t appreciate, is insinuation when there is nothing.”

At the statehouse press event, Murray also denied that he had done anything improper in helping McLaughlin’s son, Matthew McLaughlin, get a job as a member of the Registry of Motor Vehicles’ Board of Appeals, which hears appeals from drunk drivers who have lost their licenses.

Several sources told the Globe that Murray helped Matthew McLaughlin to obtain the $60,000-a-year job despite concerns about McLaughlin’s lengthy driving record, which included a license suspension for refusing to take a breathalyzer test.

Former co-workers of the younger McLaughlin said that he referred to Murray as his “godfather,” something the lieutenant governor said today that he had never heard before.

“We make referrals on a day-to-day basis,” said Murray, referring to the practice of recommending job candidates to other government agencies. “I never tell anyone to put a square peg in a round hole. It’s up to the people making decisions to decide whether someone is qualified or not and then, from there, are they doing their job?”

At one point during the four-minute discussion of Murray’s relationship with McLaughlin, Patrick put his hand on Murray’s shoulder, eased him out of the way, and stepped in front of the cameras and microphones to defend his second-in-command against against some of the criticisms in yesterday’s Globe.

The story included unnamed sources who said Murray continued to advise McLaughlin after the Globe revealed his true salary - and the governor had called for McLaughlin’s resignation, complaining he was “boiling” mad by the revelation.

“I do not believe in guilt by association,” said Patrick, growing animated. “This is a fabulous lieutenant governor who runs to work every day to do the best he can by the people of the Commonwealth. I am proud of him and I am proud to serve with him. And the Chelsea Housing Authority executive director who breached the public’s trust has some consequences - and he should.”

But Massachusetts Republicans said that Murray has some explaining to do, both about his relationship with McLaughlin and his serious car accident that occurred two days after the first Globe story on McLaughlin’s paycheck was published. Murray has said that his unmarked State Police cruiser rolled over at 5:30 a.m. after he hit a patch of ice while surveying damage from a fall snowstorm and fetching coffee and newspapers.

“There is a disturbing pattern here where the administration is doing everything they can to suppress information while at the same time claiming that they have nothing to hide,” said Nate Little, executive director of MassGOP. “It is time for Tim Murray to come clean about these lingering questions.”