Jack Authelet, the retired managing editor of the Foxboro Reporter weekly newspaper, filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission after what he said were inappropriate remarks by a commission […]
Ethics and Open Government
Posted inPolitics
BPL, ex-Rep. at odds over lobbying contract
The Boston Public Library , which is preparing to shut down four branches and lay off close to 80 employees to balance its budget, says in a court filing that […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Galvin gets less secretive about tax credit recipients
secretary of state William Galvin is starting to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding his management of the state’s historic rehabilitation tax credit program, which provides financial incentives for developers […]
Posted inPolitics
Hidden treasure
A sense of awe envelops Nancy Powell as she waxes eloquently about The Birds of America, a multi-volume set of John James Audubon’s hand-painted prints of life-size images of 435 […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Politics
Economic development reform bill missing key transparency provisions
Senate President Therese Murray’s economic development bill scheduled for debate this Thursday includes a number of smart ideas. Topping the list are proposals to make state economic development spending more effective […]
Posted inPolitics
You win, you’re fired
UPDATE: On January 26, the day of our release of CommonWealth’s winter issue, the Patrick administration announced that the governor was filing new pension reform legislation. The governor’s bill, which […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
A near disclosure
UPDATE: An official at the U.S. Senate Office of Records said the financial disclosure form form Stephen Pagliuca arrived in the office on Tuesday, one week after the extension Pagliuca's […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Appeals court investigates term paper writer
By Colman Herman The Massachusetts Appeals Court is investigating a report by CommonWealth magazine that a senior staff attorney working for the court ran a side business writing term papers […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
An ethics dilemma: Do as I do or do as I say?
What would be the official reaction if someone had a court date for a speeding ticket but showed up a couple days later, maybe as much as three weeks after […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Public spaces, private rules
many government agencies are quietly redefining themselves as private, nonprofit businesses. Citizens are learning that, at some agencies, public accountability laws no longer apply, or never existed. Our proven tools […]
Posted inPolitics
Lawmakers cagy on how they use expense stipends
massachusetts lawmakers receive a $600 monthly stipend for expenses, even though nearly all of their needs, including office supplies, stationery, postage, and telephone service, are paid out of other legislative […]
Posted inPolitics
Missed opportunity
INTRO TEXT In the wake of the indictments of former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson and former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, a State House under siege by a fed-up public recently […]
Posted inPolitics
SFI filings
There are nearly 4,900 elected and appointed state and county officials required to file annual Statements of Financial Interest (SFI), and all public employees at all levels are subject to […]
Posted inPolitics
Disclosure is the best policy
It was grafifying to see the Legislature pass tax credit transparency legislation as part of the state budget, but it was disappointing that lawmakers opted for the “lite” version. The […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The shadow over ethics reform
The elbows came flying out, with everyone rushing to take credit for the ethics reform bill that emerged from the State House this week. And it is, by all accounts, […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Did the pension bill go far enough?
NECN's Jim Braude talks with CommonWealth executive editor Michael Jonas about the public pension reform bill signed by Gov. Patrick. Jonas says that the bill mostly goes after "low-hanging fruit." […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Public records politics
By Colman M. HermanRepublican state senators are pushing an ethics amendment that would mandate Gov. Deval Patrick's office to follow the Public Records Law. Sources say Senate Democrats, weary of […]
Posted inPolitics
Email exchanges reveal Wilkerson’s tenacity
the federal affidavits filed in conjunction with the bribery investigation of former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson reveal how relentless she could be in pursuing policies and projects of interest to […]
Posted inPolitics
Strings attached
Illustration by Travis Foster It had been a rough year for Speaker Sal DiMasi, but you never would have known it when members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives gathered […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Walshing to and fro
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 It seems citizens are now supposed to be about one-third less disgusted by the patronage appointment of state Sen. Marian Walsh to a high-paying post that […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Pension reform questions for Patrick and Cahill
Some straightforward questions for Gov. Deval Patrick, as well as for Treasurer Tim Cahill, in light of the governor's unusual Sunday press conference at the State House to announce his support for […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
An increasingly ordinary leader
From "No Ordinary Leader" to "Business as Usual." It's hard not to see that as the trajectory Gov. Deval Patrick is on after the latest slap in the face to those expecting […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Follow the money
Follow the money. That was the advice Bob Woodward received from "Deep Throat" during the Watergate scandal and it's the advice reporters should be following on Beacon Hill during the upcoming debate […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
State’s Public Records Law in need of repair
The state's Public Records Law is in desperate need of repair, according to a group of panelists who discussed the law today at a State House forum sponsored by CommonWealth […]