One name illustrates why taxpayers might not trust a governor who insists he needs $2 billion in new revenue: Sherri Killins.
Killins stepped down as commissioner of early education and care after the Boston Herald reported that she was participating in a superintendent training internship with Ware schools at that same time she held a $200,000-a-year position in the Patrick administration.
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Again, to all the elected officials reading. Patrick is leaving. If you want to join him, vote for this ridiculous tax increase. The next couple dozen commenters begging to be taxed back to the stone age is not reprentative of voters in this state.
I think any elected official not supporting Gov. Patrick's tax plan should be primaried out. It's only a matter of time before one of the many rusting and crumbling bridges gives out in a tragic accident.
Ah, cordgrass...but the sales tax increase paid to fix all the crumbling roads and bridges...remember, that is what Deval told us that money was for? Step away from the kool aid...
Patrick also is being less than honest when he stresses only the income and sales tax changes in his proposal. He also is proposing eliminating multiple current deductions and credits that are important to middle class families. Would like to see the press and commenters focus more on those and the total impact of his plan. I think many people blindly rallying for tax changes now will be spitting mad if/when the full impact of Patrick's plan hits them.
We'll have to vote for it to know what is in it.
Situations like this do make it hard to line up behind Patrick's initiatives. Voting for increased public transportation is an easy one (I'm sick of driving), but more money for education seems like diminishing returns sometimes. Ironically the one area where increased funding does make sense is with early education. Whoops..
Who cares what this bombastly Democratic lackey likes or dislikes. He is predictaly naught but a party (aka Deville Deval) hack.
Don't Blame me I voted for Charlie Baker.
Thank you Joan for a good article.
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Joan, Why didn't you or anyone at the Globe cover this story when the Herald did! Why didn't you cover the whole mess with the welfare deprtment when the faux Indian's daughter forced the voter registration mailing for welfare recepients and over 45,000 adreeses came back as UNDELIVERABLE and his appointment has! When asked about these things, he gives people a dirty look, gives an arrogant and smug answer and walks away. Sort of like the Globe reporting, nothing to see here folks, move along. Joan why didn't you point out that the state received 1.97% increase in revenue, but Deval budgeted for 3% increase! So he doesn't know how to manage money! So we are to believe his projections? When told about the waste and abuse in welfare, he said it was anectdotal!! We spend the 4th largest per capita in the country and he said we are in the middle of the pack in detecting fraud. so that means we are not doing the job!!! It doesn't take courage to propose higher taxes, it takes courage to say we have not managed things as well as we should and we are going to have to make cuts in welfare and other things! They could implement a program that says EBT cannot take out cash, can only be used for food, buit he doesn't want to do it it? Why? We all know why. Typical Globe and liberal theory. If your college age student wasted money and didn't spend correctly, giving them more money doesn't make them smarter. Deval and the Globe would have you believe that giving them more money, makes them into Warren Buffett! Why is it that those people in favor of higher taxes were at the state house at 2:00 in the afternoon? They don't work! The 50 economists who signed the pledge saying it would help the economy, 29 worked for UMass, 12 from UMass boston and two of the 50 were not economists!!! When the people reportinf the news are less honest than the ones they are suppose to be watching, that is the problem!!!!
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Bravo, Joan. Everyone, most importantly this newspaper, painted this rosy picture of the tax increases and how these increases will deliver "progress." You know, Republicans believe in progress, too. As long as there is accountability. In this state, there's nothing but rubber stamps. I don't blame Deval 100% for this. This is an example of the Massachusetts political machine that eliminates opinion to the contrary.
What Republicans are you talking about? Certainly not the National leadership.
Joan - its not "one name"...its "one label"...and that is: DEMOCRAT
The article has no comments about Ms. Sherri Killins performance in her Commonwealth position. Prespectives from knowledgeable persons in her field might have been helpful. There is no indication revealed that her "internship" resulted in decreased performance. The article is a mess of insinuation. Interested readers will find an extensive discussion of alternatives, including avoiding the extinction of several impportant middle and poorer class state tax deductions, by the Massachusetts Busget and Policy Center, at www.massbudget.org. It is possible to achieve much of what Gov. Patrick desires without harming these classes of citizens. The wealthiest 40% of us must pay more state income tax, if we are to address successfully our many pressing needs.
You're clearly delusional, or just a Patrick apologist. She lives in New Haven CT. but works full time in Boston except that she's spending at least 300 hours shadowing the superintendant in Ware. It takes 2 1/2 hours to drive from New Haven to Boston. Three hundred hours at forty hours a week is nearly eight weeks where she is on the clock for the state full time job while she's down in Ware working on her next gig. She's ripping off the taxpayers and there is no way to put lipstick on this pig.
JEM007...
As a taxpayer, having money taken out of my pocket to pay this woman...I expect her sitting in her plush office in boston...and not on an internship, nor sitting down there in connecticut.
Speaking of which...think she files for mileage reimbursement on the days she bothers to come to work?
And lastly.... nothing prevents YOU from writing a check to the Treasurer. Make it out to "commonwealth of massachusetts - general fund"....
You have nailed it, Joan. This governor's dismissive attitude with respect to citizens who call "foul" when appropriate shows an incredible lack of leadership; it is a pattern with him. Retaining Killins as a consultant is adding fuel to the fire - she needs to be cut loose entirely.
Lack of trust and loss of credibility can be used to describe the collective actions of state government over the years, not just the governor. I'm am amazed that advocates for activist goverment don't realize that their positions are undermined by the many documented acts of political and financial abuse that takes place seemingly on a weekly basis in this state. I always get a laugh out of these mid-workday events where hundreds of people show-up described as a "broad base" of supporters, while private sector and non-union workers are at work, generating income from which taxes are withheld. Although 48% may support some, if not all, of the tax increase Patrick wants (assuming the stat Joan cites is accurate), that would mean 52% don't. While some percentage of those don't like taxes at all, I'm convinced most would support prudent investments if there was a solid track record of good judgement and respect for the funds already collected. The governor is nice person, intelligent, charming; a great campaigner. However, his track record shows that he has been and continues to be a lousy manager. And lousy managers should not get rewarded with more money to spend.
We do need more money for the MBTA and our roads. I'd rather the money for the MBTA be spent increasing service, especially buses running more frequently, and repairing existing infrastructure rather than extending subway lines.
But you are right, we need better auditing of how our tax dollars are spent. I'm a liberal and a progressive, but I too want accountability. I think Gov. Patrick's tax plan is the right one, but the money needs strict oversight.
Cordgrass, should people in Western Massachusettsw be taxed to support the MBTA?
Governor Patrick has done a lot to bring diversity to state government. It used to be only politically connected white males who got the cushy six figure no show state government jobs. Now there are two new qualifications, you have to be black and from out of state to qualify for the cushy six figure no-show state government jobs. That's progress, I guess.
Deville Deval could bring some of the little green men from Area 51 to add to his administration's "diversity". The joker has done little to improve much of anything - except his flunkies' paychecks - during his tenure. Send him to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue so he can advise his good bud, Barry the O, on how to campaign for huge tax hikes.
$200,000 for a no-show job? That's just "leakage".
What is most infuriating is keeping Ms. Killins on the payroll as a consultant. If she wasn't performing her duties when a full time employee, what incentive does she have to ever leave her home in New Haven or real job in Ware to do any "consulting"? Instead of being a consultant, she should be a defendant.
Severance is just a euphimism for hush money when you get right down to it.
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Joan. Good column. However, in a one party left-wing state, it does not take courage to call for an increase in taxes. With all due respect to you, the Boston Globe Editors showed a lack of guts as they buried the news story and did not publish an Editorial. I commend you for noting that the Herald broke the story. While I subscribe to the Globe, I thank God that I can still buy the Herald. The Herald is shining a light on the mis-administration (or is it mal-administration) of Governor Patrick. The Globe Editors are pained to print anything that makes the Governor look bad. BTW, the pro-tax rally was not attended by small business people. At two in the afternoon, we are working to pay the taxes to support the "advocates" of higher taxes. The room was packed with union members in their matching t-shirts, as well as by public sector employees and vendors who live off the state. Emperor Patrick has no clothes, but the sycophants at the Globe (with the exception of you) will not let him know. The Governor is an arrogant and smug person who really does not care about middle class taxpayers. He thinks that we are here to serve him, rather than the other way around. Sherri Killins is just a tip of the iceberg. The taxpayers will punish any state reps who continue to support the Governor's delusional tax and spend policies.
No_ Kennedy 11, you are Wrong! Taxpayers will NOT punish any state reps who continue to support the Governor's delusional tax and spend policies, because the majority are labeled, "Democrats." A reader claimed MA voters would vote for a ham sandwhich if it was labeled, "Democrat."
Not surprisingly, perhaps, Joanie fails to mention that the Killins and Burgess stories were uncovered by the Herald. Neither garnered much coverage from the Globe, which has consistently applied a lower level of scrutiny to the Patrick administration.
tom... stop gobbling... Joanie babe did, indeed, mention the crosstown tab related to the Killins saga.
A rally at 2:00? How many working taxpayers can attend? It's kind of like the EBT "feedback" sessions, again at 2:00. What, does this administration thing we're stupid? While Joan mentioned the Herald broke the story, I'm still waiting for the Globe to do some follow up on this Killins lady and maybe the Globe will mention the $25+ million in wasted welfare funds?
I have written my two reps and I hope everyone does the same. They need us (well, our votes anyways) more than we need them.
The Governor's campaign to raise revenue is an effort to make Massachusetts a better place to live for most people. The increase in the income tax will affect primarily people who make over $100,000 per year. Investment in transportation will be done throughout the state, not just in Boston. Right now we have a wait list of 30,000!! children for pre-school programs and many of our third graders don't read up to grade level. Children in the US are falling behind high school graduates of other countries. And many high school grads are being priced out of even community colleges. The need is huge and the benefit will be even bigger. The Governor does have a blindspot about salaries of state employees which I think comes from his many years working in corporate settings where a salary of $200,000 is not much money.
Except if you have student loans (deduction eliminated) or kids with college scholarships (they will be taxed as income)...so we won't be able to afford to send our kids to college...but those teachers will still make $70k+ to do what you are describing as a crappy job...and if we are cutting foreign language and sharing textbooks in higher grades, then we can not afford to add preschool programs. Besides, the money will go into the general fund and disappear into salaries and free healthcare, so this is really a useless argument...that is just the button he pressed that you identified with. He promised this money to everyone and it can only go so far. Remember how the sales tax fixed all the bridges and roads and fixed the T....
I worked--diligently and creatively--for the state for almost twenty-five years. The amount of waste I saw was obscene. I papered the walls of my office with thepostage of mail and packages sent to me from the central office of my agency--one floor above me, where people came and went all day. When the Dukakis bubble burst the Commissioner of that agency, to "raise morale," had the central office folk engage in a Christmas decorating contest, covering every inch of every office and every hallway with decorations (this was 150 Causeway Street, if anyone remembers how long a building that was--must have taken them two weeks. I could have fired every third person in my office and saved the rest of us the work of re-doing or doing their work. Supplies disappeared. Contracts outside the rules governing contracts were awarded to "special" agencies. Etc etc etc. And this was one little state agency. Sorry, I wouldn't vote for or support a legislator who voted for a tax increase because I KNOW how much waste and loss and corruption there is in state government. If they cleaned it up they could CUT taxes.
You are Soooo right: Managers & Supervisors claiming they 'work at home." However, their staff are never able to contact their Managers, while they are supposedly "working at home." Then the sarcastic secretaries who refused to answer their phones or process work if they didn't like the employee who gave it to them. But they brought their nail polish to work on Fridays, claiming they worked "hard-enough" from Mon to Thurs. so Fri. was their nail-polishing day and 1 hr+ lunch & shopping on Fridays.
The sad part about state management is they are politically connected, and know it.
Sorry, lacus. Your observations are "just an anecdote"
Joan and Scot Lehigh are starting to restore my faith in the Globe.
Too little, too late.
Since the Herald actually broke the story and forced the Globe to cover it, I would emphasize your word "STARTING"
While I don't think Ms Killins should be living out of state and work here, I have seen no evidence that she did not do her job. The outrage over her work in Ware is foolish. All over the private sector, employees perform internships while being employed. It does nothing but enhance their skills. As far as I know, she was quite good at her job. These complainers should join the twenty-first century. Jobs are no longer just performed in offices. If she sat in an office all day, the critics would have been on her for that. Maybe she learned something in Ware that would add to her job performance. The mistake was not publically announcing that she was doing this internship and explaining how it would help her perform her job. Just an aside, the person who worked so diligently while all around him just fiddled while Rome burned should have been a grown up and blown the whistle.
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A 200K a year job in the private sector is a 24/7 job - on call - all the time - there is no way she was doing her job - or her job should not exist.
The sheepish Democratic voters of this state will nod their heads at Deval's explanation of Killins' resignation and do as they are told. How the voters of this state continue to support the current one-party system is beyond words.
The Office of State Auditor, currently Susan Bump, should make regular highly publicized reports about the states spending on all major departments. This should not just be emphasized at election or re-election time as former State Auditor DiNucci did. I swear he out did what Cahill did in using his office for political advertising for re-election by miles and miles and dollars too. Nice column.
Auditor DiNucci failed to find big problems! How did McLaughlin manage to increase his salary and steal millions (still not found)?
Suzanne Bump couldn't write a report about the state spending if she tried. She is no auditor and should never have been elected. But she had the magic "D" after her name, so now we have her. And nothing will change. She will not investigate anything of substance in this state unless the legislature lets her do it.
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Be interesting to see the list of awful appointments he has made over the years
Joan, you shock me!!! Great column. And they keep her on as a consultant??? Deval, you are one arrogant dude!!
Are we all noticing the similarities between Deval and Obama-- no experience, don't know what they don't know (arrogance) and have the press in the bag. We get what we vote for.
Glad to see your column, Joan. Like others, I was wondering if the Killins issuewas just a Globe oversight, maybe it went right by the understaffed newsroom, or a deliberate omission on the news pages so as to not undermine the good governor's pursuit of the tax package. On the other hand, did the Globe welcome your column buried in the op-ed section, proving that the newspaper really was all over the story, without having to run it on page A1 or B1.
Great column today as usual. This governor and his administration hasnt held anyone accountable, doesnt enforce immigration laws, oversight of probabation dept or housing authority or pharmacy labs or transportation and so on ...but needs more money! to do what exactly? so corrupt and wasteful, and so much needs to be done and fixed in our state...but lets give illegal in state tuition!
"How many more Sherri Killins are out there?"
The over-under is 44.
Truly, truly outrageous. Governor Patrick's administration has been plagued with this type of scandalous abuse time after time. I voted for him, twice. But I disapprove of his tax increase proposal: it's excessive and it's the wrong time to ask for more out of taxpayers. Enough! And Sherri Killins's contract needs to be cancelled immediately.