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Police lieutenant claims he's been passed over for promotion because he supported Michael Flaherty

Joseph Gillespie, president of the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation, charges he's been passed over for promotion several times now because he threatened to lead a boycott of the 2004 Democratic National Convention and because he convinced his union to support Michael Flaherty in the 2009 election for mayor.

In a lawsuit filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston, Gillespie charges he's now stuck as a lieutenant even though he tied for seventh on a civil-service exam for captain in 2008 - and had risen to first on the list by 2010. Gillespie alleges the city is now letting captains' positions go unfilled rather than promote him.

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Comments

This has been going on forever. Guys used to try to find out how they scored compared to the connected guy. If you did better than the connected guy, you were promoted, because they'd to down to his score to get him the job. On the other hand, if you were below a guy they had a grudge against, they would only promote down to the guy ahead of him. You can't take the politics out of it, even with Civil Service.

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Menino has raised the kowtow level around here to that not seen for generations, if at all. It's not a function of years in office either. From the very begining the word came down that if you had worked in the White administration you were not welcome. Only exceptions I've heard about were hired to put out serious fires. Consider Sam Yoon. I seriously doubt he was imagining that he had been blackballed by the Mayor.

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shalom

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If your man won. You would be on top. and the other side would be complainig. what did you think would happen. its not right but to the victors yada yada yada.

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Civil Service does have the ability to make scores more precise. I think they stopped giving out fractions with scores a few years ago. If you added fractions and just promoted by score, things like this wouldn't happen. It is also up to the Union to make sure positions are filled when they become vacated so this very thing does not happen.

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The most vindictive, petty MF out there. Payback is always a biatch with Tom. The dancing monkey in Hyde Square of yesteryear is getting the ultimate revenge of the nerd.

Also, promotions are already a rigged game because of the antiquated, anti-Constitution affirmation action that often results in another Ervin Burrell---a guy in over his head because he's not equipped to do the job. Public safety comes second to political correctness.

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(not Ray Flynn, but another Flynn) which set the tone, early on, for an unaccountably patronage-rife administration. Coincidentally, the dubious opinion was written by Richard Stearns, the same judge who let John Forbes off with a probation for dealing oxycontintin out of City Hall. I'll try to find the link later.

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By Richard Stearns. Interesting stuff- sorry it took so long to post.

If this stuff is to be believed, the following is a pretty sordid chronicle of hackery:

Flynn and Wolfson were senior employees of BCC. Flynn served as the Associate Director for Administration and Finance. Flynn's responsibilities included oversight of BCC financial and personnel matters. Wolfson served as Associate Director of Field Services. Wolfson oversaw the operations of twenty community centers. Both Flynn and Wolfson reported directly to BCC's Executive Director. Flynn and Wolfson did not endorse or campaign for any candidate for Mayor during the 1993 mayoral campaign.

In January, 1994, after winning election as Mayor, Menino appointed Riesenberg, one of his special assistants, as Executive Director of BCC. Upon assuming her new duties, Riesenberg asked Wolfson to gather information on the political loyalties of BCC employees. Amended Complaint, P 19; Wolfson Dep., at 238-241. Riesenberg also asked Flynn how she could fire the entire staff and replace them with her own or the Mayor's people. *fn3" Flynn Dep., at 231. One of Riesenberg's first acts as Executive Director was to hire Charles Clabaugh, a Menino precinct captain, as her Special Assistant. Riesenberg hired Clabaugh without requiring him to submit a resume or a City of Boston employment application. Riesenberg Dep. I, at 56-59. *fn4" Riesenberg became angry when Wolfson and an interview committee rejected an applicant for an athletic director's position backed by the Mayor. Wolfson Dep., at 152-157. *fn5" Riesenberg hired the candidate nonetheless, although for a position with less responsibility. Wolfson Dep., at 158. Wolfson states that she overheard Riesenberg order Clabaugh not to interview an applicant who might have supported one of the Mayor's opponents. Wolfson Dep., at 250-251. *fn6"

Shortly after Riesenberg arrived at BCC, Flynn and Wolfson briefed her on a sexual harassment complaint previously filed by a female employee against her supervisor. Wolfson Dep., at 326-327. According to Flynn, the alleged offender had served as a ward coordinator in Menino's mayoral campaign. Flynn Dep., at 173. Wolfson recommended that the complainant be supervised by someone else. According to Wolfson, Riesenberg replied that the "woman couldn't have [her] position if she couldn't be supervised by him" and "suggested that [she] be moved into a different position." Wolfson Dep., at 327-328. Plaintiffs told Riesenberg that the supervisor had failed to reveal on his employment application that he was on probation for selling drugs, and that Riesenberg's predecessor had not handled the case "appropriately." *fn7" Wolfson Dep., at 330. The plaintiffs also informed Riesenberg of an allegation that the same supervisor had been observed using drugs in a city vehicle, a matter they thought should be investigated. Riesenberg's response was "noncommittal." Wolfson Dep., at 331. Riesenberg suggested that Wolfson might have a "personality conflict" with the man. Id. Wolfson states that Riesenberg "effectively excluded her from [further] involvement in the matter." Plaintiff's Opposition at 8. Some time thereafter, Riesenberg relieved Flynn of [ILLEGIBLE SENTENCES] oversight of sexual harassment matters. *fn8" Clabaugh assumed Flynn's duties in this regard. Clabaugh Dep., at 148.

One month after Riesenberg's appointment, she ordered Flynn to process a pay raise for a union employee. Flynn objected on grounds that to do so would contravene the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. Flynn Dep., at 149-153. Flynn also objected to Riesenberg's decision to hire a second person on a federal grant when Flynn believed that only one was authorized. Flynn Dep., at 133.

In late July of 1994, Riesenberg gave both Flynn and Wolfson termination notices, citing plans to reorganize BCC. On August 12, 1994, the plaintiffs, through counsel, delivered a letter to Mayor Menino notifying him of Riesenberg's actions and demanding that he countermand their impending dismissal. The Mayor referred the letter to the City's Corporation Counsel, who, in a reply dated August 19, 1994, rejected the plaintiffs' demand. In his letter, the Corporation Counsel attributed plaintiffs' discharge to a "reorganization within the Boston Community Centers and an evaluation of their performance." The letter was, plaintiffs allege, a "cover-up" for the unconstitutional actions taken against them and an affirmation of the policy of the Mayor and the City "to make political service a condition of employment." Amended Complaint, P 35. The plaintiffs were fired on August 19, 1994, and filed this lawsuit on August 30, 1994.

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