The administration of Governor Deval Patrick, embarrassed by revelations that the state highway safety director has a driving record that includes seven accidents, four speeding violations, and two failures to stop for a police officer, announced today that the director will be removed from that job.
Sheila Burgess, the top safety officer since 2007, is on medical leave recovering from an Aug. 24 one-car accident in Milton in which she drove off the road and suffered a head injury. She told police she swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle in her lane.
Comments
So she got caught. Big deal. Do you know how many hacks there are in state government that are out there? What experience in public safety does Hefffernan have? She got caught, there will be another standing in line to take her place.
Exactly. My impression of the Parole department, before they got caught, was that it was known to everyone on Bacon Hill as the place you could reward your supporters or get your stupid nephew a job. The only difference in these things is if they get caught.
Reassigned is Democrat for doing even less work and still collecting a paycheck.
This is probably one of the few times that you and I will be in agreement, though I would probably replace "Democrat" with "political slug" here. Since it's an overwhelmingly blue state, Democrats are what you get when this happens in Massachusetts. It's the same in Alabama, Georgia, Arizona, etc., just involving people with (R) after their names.
The state needs a more viable two party system to minimize this nonsense. Voters are willing to put Republicans like Weld, Romney, and even Cellucci (ugh) into high office here, so let's at least spread the blame around: when will the opposition start consistently putting up more viable candidates, too?
Like Charlie Baker or Tiesi ?
WesternSuburbDad has it right!! Exactly what is she qualified for?? Another corruption connection for Tim Murray-didn't take him long to say he neve heard of her!!!
I have 0 entries on my driving record. Can I have the job since it is now vacant? I have the same qualifications as entries on my driving records for the job but that shouldn't disqualify me should it?
First and formost you MUST be a political hack.
Don't know, any experience in the hack-o-rama? Ever deny voters access to the cars black box or cell phone records for Crash Murray? Ever nod your head in agreement with Marsha Coakley when she said that it's not illegal to be illegal? Ever pat Devolve on the back when he worked hard for crooks via CORI reforms, holding off Secure Communities or hiring bureacrats who let cases get bungled for years at the state crime lab?
We have a very good record of revealing political corruption in this state. We must especially thank the Boston Globe for this. The more we uncover, the more we clean house. If all was quiet and we didn't hear about crooked politicians, we should be very concerned.
How about not continuing to vote these crooked politicians into office just because they have a D after their name? As many have pointed out, this is what you get in a one-party ruled state.
Very strange situation over at the Globe. You've got the Political wing endorsing and making excuses for every Democrat that cares to run. Then you've got the investigative wing pointing out the crimes of those very same pols. One side feeds the horse and the other cleans the stall I guess.
I think the team of "Crash" Murray and "Boom Boom" Burgess would make an excellent Gubernatorial- Lt. Gubernatorial ticket for the Dems in 2014. But even more appalling than this poor woman's driving record (if that's possible), is the fact that she was given an unnecessary, make-work patronage job in state government by people who should know better. Worst of all, that bogus job gave her the authority to waste $2M in taxpayer funds on equally bogus public awareness programs.
Reassigned? Not good enough. Cesspool from the very top Gov.
Gee, I wonder why she never got any more tickets/violations after she became head of Driver Safety? Ever hear the "Do you know who I am?" line. She was also the person who freely doled out OT grants to Police Dept.s to enforce traffic rules. No cop is going to give a ticket to the person that's handing out extra cash for just doing the job they should be doing anyway! It would be enlightening to know from PD records how many times she was stopped but given the wink/nudge/kiss.
I think the worst of all of it was the failing to stop for an officer. Could you imagine that level of self-indemnification that would allow one to do this? And finding out why this happened, the chain of "connecteds" will likely reveal more of the same culture that brought us limo drivers as parole board members, drug lab employees who know the problems and the weird circumstances and do nothing, drug compounding boards that allow conditions that went on to kill people, and a labor board head that didn;t know that it was her role to deal with improper procedures. Does anybody in the leadership of this state understand that issues are to be dealt with before they manifest into dead bodies? No...Tim Murray reports to work this week and gets paid for last week. We'll wait until he kills somebody, too. Lies have ways of ferreting out the liars. Be careful of Tim, he's the icon of all of this...the proverbial head of the rotted fish.
I think the worst of all of it was the failing to stop for an officer. Could you imagine that level of self-indemnification that would allow one to do this? And finding out why this happened, the chain of "connecteds" will likely reveal more of the same culture that brought us limo drivers as parole board members, drug lab employees who know the problems and the weird circumstances and do nothing, drug compounding boards that allow conditions that went on to kill people, and a labor board head that didn;t know that it was her role to deal with improper procedures. Does anybody in the leadership of this state understand that issues are to be dealt with before they manifest into dead bodies? No...Tim Murray reports to work this week and gets paid for last week. We'll wait until he kills somebody, too. Lies have ways of ferreting out the liars. Be careful of Tim, he's the icon of all of this...the proverbial head of the rotted fish.
The streams of corruption are going to envelop Deeval before his Chicago bosom bud, Barry, can jerk him into a lifejacket.
Unqualified, Overpaid - BUT very well connected.
Sheila Burgess was away from work for 4 months.
Was Sheila Burgess working on the Nov. 2012 elections while she out of work on 'sick-time?'
Sean Murphy - Keep up the excellent work. Burgess should have NO ROLE in the Office of Public Safety and Security. For her to have a "different role" is still a travesty. I would claim that anyone who thinks that this blatant cronyism is specific to Democrats is uninformed, cynical or delusional. Doesn't anyone remember Bill Weld's chauffeur and the bang-up job he did as Logan's security chief on Sept. 11? Democrats are indeed responsible for most of the flagrant patronage in this state, because they are the dominant party. But the culture of patronage and corruption is pervasive, and the solution can and should be independent of party politics. All political appointees in this state should, by law, be subject to certain requirements prior to being hired, including: (1) Some actual qualification for their role. An appointee does not need to have performed the exact same type of job before, but there should be some substantial overlap between their experience and the position. (2) No clear disqualification for the role - no person with a deplorable driving record in change of highway safety, for example... (3) A thorough legal background check - not just criminal but driving, involvement in civil suits, etc. (4) A through review of the veracity of the candidate's resume (5) All of the above needs to be audited. Perhaps some of these requirements are already on the books, but they are clearly not being enforced. It doesn't really matter, for example, whether McGovern knew about Burgess' driving record or not; there should have been a system in place to catch this.
What happened to the old fashioned "value" of firing this totally unqualified person? And please investigate and tell us what her qualifications are for her new position. I concur with dotrat ( ScreenName below ) that her habits didn't end with her new job, she got more favors due to her title. Thank you, Sean, for your work, obviously, unlike Sheila Burgess, you're qualified.
Narrowing away all the clutter, one name stands out amongst all in yet another tale of Deeval administration corruption - Lt. Gov. 'Tiny Tim' Murray, the guy who said just last week that he wants, demands, seeks, to be the absolute ruler of Massachusetts, aka governor. Just think of Timmy's connections: McLaughlin, the overpaid Chelsea Housing Authority honcho, and now, the sister of Sheila Burgess, the state's highway safety chief with 13 driving violations and an until recently refusal to pay her vehicle excise tax. And just so much more emanates from the political county of Worcester.
This job has been a hack position for many years. Go back and look as far back as the Weld adminiatrtaion and you will see how this patronage position has been handled by its occupants. Time to eliminate the department which is redunadant to about four other departments within Public Safety, and whose responsibilities could be handled by one employee (not six).
I wonder how many similarly unqualified appointees are hiding in the vast folds of flab that is the Massachusetts state government. This is what happens in a corrupt, one-party state.
Fantastic reporting - this is why I can't bring myself to cancel my globe subscription even though they seem to be unable (or unwilling) to deliver the print edition on time.
Reading this article, I ask: 1. Why move her around within the department? MORAL ISSUE PROBABLY ALREADY EXISTS. 2. Remove her as she never should have had this job to start with. 3. How much will she make if she is moved within the department? JUST GET RID OF HER FOR NOT HAVING THE PROPER CREDINTALS TO START. 4. Does government have a backbone? Do the right thing as it is embrassing to have this situation 5. I could go on, but enough said.
Because this is what you get when you raise money for candidates. Look at McLaughlin and the Chelsea Housing Authority. Another fund raiser given a sweet deal. Happens all the time.
Where else but in Massachusetts? Hiring Burgess for the $87K / year position was a travesty in the first place, she took the job under false pretenses, she's been on medical leave (fully paid and insured) since August, she didn't pay her excise taxes, therefore her license was flagged for non-renewal (read: she was forced into paying the excise taxes, or they would have gone unpaid) -- all this, as the Director of Highway Safety -- *AND* (let's not forget this part) following her removal from her top dog position, she will be re-assigned to a different role?? I want to say "are you serious?" but this is Massachusetts, so of course they're serious.
This is what happens in a one party state. Great work Mr McGovern. Great work to all the Democrats in MA who vote the party not the person time and time again. And I am sure this but the tip of the iceburg.
Doesn't this story just REEK of the general contempt public officials have in this state for taxpayers? The top "safety officer" not only doesn't have an iota of credentials for the job she's an ongoing RISK to public safety! This is so ridiculous you couldn't sell the idea for a comedy! Then, when she does what she does BEST, they don't remove her but just stuff her down the black hole that is the Massachusetts public sector. How many more stories (and these are great "truth to power stories" if there are such things in the media anymore) are there just waiting for the next "accident" to occur? This state is run by the public workers FOR the public workers, first, last and forever. Those who abhor the crimes of the private sector should be even more outraged by the crimes of the public sector. Why? Because all we hear from the politicians in this state is how much they "care" about.....well, EVERYTHING. The truth is their "compassion" is very selective; its virtually completely about elevating compensation, power and control for themselves, their "friends" and then those who can do favors for themselves. At least with privitized services those doing actual WORK have incentives to perform and can be FIRED when they don't. Burgess personifies the public sector "accountibility". She's unqualified, doesn't do anything and yet when she performs outrageously she still can't be fired.
No experience + poor driving record = $87,000 Director of Highway Safety hire. Another black eye for MA! I realize that other governors have stumped for candidates out of state but with what's been going on with oversight within his administration Patrick really needs to spend some time in MA reviewing what those he put in charge are doing. Seems like he's got some real lightweights in positions of authority. Clearly doesn't reflect well on him. Enough with the book tours and political stumping. Time to govern, Governor!
This saga raises several troubling questions for me: 1. Why was Burgess given a job for which she had no obvious qualifications? 2. Is she being rotated to another sinecure? 3. Finally, if as the GLOBE recently reported, the Governor will soon propose increased transportation-related levies (e.g., a higher gas tax), how confident can the public be the extra funds will be well spent? The Burgess saga leaves me wondering.
Anyone who has any confidence in public sector spending in Massachusetts probably works in the public sector in Massachusetts. They have confidence that the gravy train will continue indefinitely, and as long as this is a one party state, they're probably right.
Why should this woman have any role at all? I deeply resent my tax dollars going towards the salary of someone who is so very obviously incompetent.
Whoa, how can the Governor remove this worman from her important job? Does that mean she is a non-essential employee , or opps is the term non-emergency employee? Maybe her not being int he office makes here a no show employee? Perhaps the afct that it realy doesn't matter ewhich of these she is, becaouse what she doesn't do but is pad for, desn't matter?
From Tim Murray to Joanne Goldstein to Jean Pontikas to...on and on goes the list of incompetent, un-performing empty suits. The more truly "no show" these many State employess are, the better off the public is. Too bad they get paid.
Patrick stated, "When she comes back, she’s going into a different job. I think it was a screw-up for her to be in that job with the record that she had.” ______________________________________ This is exactly what's wrong with this absurd one-party rule state. Screw up, no problem, slot the bad hire someplace else in state government and have the taxpayers pick up the tab for a second made up job. Pathetic. Thanks again to all you Democrat moonbats, union hacks, political hacks and urban sheeple for giving us a state government we can all be ashamed of. Note: Maybe the fake Indian needs a driver
She'll never work for the Commonwealth again -- she'll play the system, use her injury to get Workmen's Comp, disability, etc, will collect a good portion of her salary and benefits forever. She'll just have to complain of headaches, dizziness, all those things that no doctor can ever find or resolve. The Globe should check back in a few years, she'll certainly have gotten her "consulting" gig going again, probably under a different name, probably making more than ever. When confronted, she'll tell some sob story about her lingering medical issues.