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Another City Hall official indicted in Boston Calling investigation

The US Attorney's office reports Timothy Sullivan, acting director of the city’s office of Intergovernmental Relations, was named in a two-count indictment charging he pressured Boston Calling to hire union workers.

The indictment against Sullivan, 36, of Dorchester, also adds a new extortion charge against Kenneth Brissette, the city's tourism director, who was indicted last month on charges he also pressured Boston Calling - and the producers of a reality-TV show filming in Boston.

Mayor Walsh issued a statement this morning:

I am deeply concerned about these allegations. It is a great privilege to serve in City Hall and I will not allow anyone to squander that privilege. I expect everyone to perform at the highest ethical standards. There is no room in my Administration for the type of behavior that is alleged here.

That is why I have called for an independent ethics training program for all of the City's department heads. And its why I have outside counsel looking into how these events have been managed. We need to ensure that the right practices are in place and the right safeguards. We are having a panel of experts review how things are done and help improve policies. I will not pre-judge anyone's guilt or innocence. Nor will I tolerate anything less than the highest ethical standards.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

As Marty Walsh's neighbors the New Kids once sang, "Step by Step." As I predicted here last month on the Brissette indictment, the feds like to climb the ladder. It's almost impossible to lose the Mayor's seat via vote given the state of the Boston electorate but Walsh may exit in handcuffs. Hard to believe these buffoons were operating without his knowledge and/or direct orders. Tito Jackson on WRKO this AM "shocked, shocked" at the latest indictment. Good for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz again, taking down another fellow Democrat. It's not hard (fish in a barrel) but refreshing to see that at least one Democrat has integrity. While the media celebrates David's last season, I will miss Carmen more.

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I for one will NOT miss Carmen! Don't people in this town remember that she has the blood of Aaron Swartz on her hands???

If not for the Marathon bombings occurring a few months later, I think she would've been driven out of office. Speaking of which, take a look at any press conference given about the bombings and she's sure to always be within view of the camera.

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I know, she didn't go after anyone else in regards to the Probation Scandal.

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I'm no fan of Ortiz, but "blood of Aaron Swartz" on her hands is a bit hyperbolic.

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seems to have an agenda which seems to conflict with the oath she took.

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While the Menino administration wasn't 100% scandal free, I seem to remember some ticket-fixing and email problems, it's really hard to imagine something like this happening under TMM's watch.

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Not really - just hard to imagine someone getting caught.

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Ask Chiofaro or the people at Chik Fil-A how good Menino was with shaking people down and ensuring that private businesses that ran afoul of him weren't allowed to operate. Heck, in his autobiography he notes with pride that he kept a business out of Roslindale Square solely to prevent competition for one of his friends.

The key is in how you do it. That's the difference in the administrations.

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Bwahahaha! Mumbles knew enough to wink and nod when necessary. He didn't block development when union layabouts weren't hired. He blocked developments when his ring wasn't kissed properly. Entire business cycles went through while Mumbles held up developments, and then he'd have the balls to accuse the developer of not doing anything with the property. All the insiders knew him for the petty, vindictive tyrant he was, and all of them kept their mouths shut.

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Tito is the same way too. You should have seen his behavior at some Roxbury development meetings. Aligning himself with Diane Wilkerson to top it off.

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...on what particular issue at that time?

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job?

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It looks like people have said that they aren't going to endure anothe 20 years of Meninoesque corruption, denial of legitimate requests for permits, etc. They're nipping it in the bud.

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On the probation thing?
I think she's a Loser.

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Things are not looking good for you lately.

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Mayor Wu will be sure to fully investigate where the feds leave off.

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I just threw up a little in my mouth.

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Things I don't regret:

IMAGE(<a href="http://i66.tinypic.com/vxdnwx.jpg)">http://i66.tinypic.com/vxdnwx.jpg[/img]

Things I don't enjoy: having to see my worst fears of a Walsh administration come to fruition.

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That there's union hackery going on in the administration of a career union hack.

Shocked

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What's next, Boston 2020?

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Is there grandfathering in of the Vendor for Stenographic Services at Boston City Council and then Council Election Campaigns Contributions by the Vendor? More up to date Stenographic technology and software are available as well as Scopists that can make available online the Stenographic Record of Public Meetings of Boston City Council for hard of hearing folks, for The Deaf Community, for ESL English as Second Language folks.

Bids Advertisement for Stenographic Services at Boston City Council should be distributed more widely for the best up to date technology and software, or Scopist
http://scopists.com/library/pro/scintro.html

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That is exactly what the feds should be investigating, not this union mumbo-jumbo.

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I am Doctor Remulak

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That made my morning, thanks!

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thezak, you deserve a lot of credit for your advocacy and I would call Carmen Ortiz on this. St. Francis De Sales (patron Saint of the deaf) has a special place for you. I worked with some great deaf people when we went to the Enhanced 911, allowing the hearing impaired to type in emergencies that would then appear on the dispatcher's screen. When I started, the deaf didn't even have reliable access to 911, they had a special, obscure number and many officers/dispatchers didn't know how to handle those calls that required putting the phone on an awkward TDD "cradle" that would spit out a small tape of what they were reporting. If City Hall is unresponsive, I would call the US Attorney's office under the ADA, I believe she has their ear by now (pardon the pun).

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Mayor Mahhhty is calling for an independent ethics training program for all department heads!

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he signs up for the first class!

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But not for himself.

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Will the indicted heads attend the training along with all the other heads? That would make it interesting.

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You can't get a training certificate unless you hire some no show union workers....I mean qualified Ethics trainers.

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He just pulled in another $175k in campaign contributions from 6/1-6/15. Most from outside the city of course. Looks like he had a very productive fund raiser in North Easton....

http://www.ocpf.us/Reports/DisplayReport?menuHidden=true&id=575584#sched...

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He's fine barring a personal indictment.

The outside union PACs ensured his election last time and they'll do the same this time. The progressives would seemingly rather spend money and time on statewide and national stuff and the minority vote is disorganized and at a huge fund-raising disadvantage.

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The only way Marty leaves is in the back of a cruiser. Businesses don't like change and while few like Mr. Walsh he's not horrible to them so they'll keep donating to stay on his good side. Unions are the same way: He's been good to them and they know it.

The sad part about local elections is that businesses and community leaders don't want to be seen supporting the losing candidate for risk of political retribution. So the incumbent has a huge advantage and generally will keep winning indefinitely as it's a huge challenge for money and publicity from the opponent.

Boston could really use term limits but good luck getting any politician to support a proposal which will put them out of office.

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Contributions to Election Campaigns by Vendor of Stenographic Services
http://www.ellenmfritch.com/ at Boston City Council and to Mayor listed at
http://www.ocpf.us/Reports/SearchItems

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Looking more and more like a one term Mayor for Marty!

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Is Healey too busy banning the transfer of "unsafe" handguns to be doing this job?

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In Massachusetts, the position of Attorney General is a ceremonial one.

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If the MA AG actually did their job too many politicians, donors, friends, and family would face state charges.

The position desperately needs reform and to be turned into a nonpartisan office. We have not had a professional AG doing their job and not abusing their position as a political pulpit for a future gubernatorial campaign in decades.

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I expect everyone to perform at the highest ethical standards. There is no room in my Administration for the type of behavior that is alleged here.

So where's your resignation then?

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Hey Timmy, I took care of thing for ya. Gotta get the papers get the papers!

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Why shouldn't companies that work for the city be required to hire a percentage of union employees? There is a lot of information out there the shows that Boston Calling is "hiring" free volunteers in exchange for admission. Why is this practice allowed?

In light of recent Supreme Court rulings, it doesn't seem that they can call it bribery either.

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Why is illegal to extort companies that do not hire people you approve of? Do you really not know?

The city is free to pass laws that dictate contract hiring requirements, people that work for the city are not free to extort people with their own rules.

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who work for admission. That's a common practice everywhere.

The problem was the Mayor's Office allegedly withheld permits until some union stagehands were hired by Boston Calling. The problem was Boston Calling had already hired stagehands and were forced to hire the extra help, although they weren't needed, to "expedite" the permitting.

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If someone wants to set up tables/chairs in return for a $300 ticket, why shouldn't that be allowed?

Why should a government force an employer to hire one group of people over another?

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Why shouldn't companies that work for the city be required to hire a percentage of union employees?

There would be nothing wrong with the city council passing a law that places certain hiring conditions on permittees using city space. But that's not what happened.

There is everything wrong with a city official, absent any law or policy on the subject, deciding to withhold approval of a permit unless the applicant hires his friends.

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Union employees. Just like everyone in a union is not a hack, that are not all friends.

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If the building code says you need 1 smoke detector per floor, and some building inspector says, "I'm not going to sign off unless you put 8 smoke detectors on a floor," it doesn't matter whether 8 smoke detectors is a good idea or a bad idea; it doesn't matter if the smoke detector company is his friend or not; that building inspector is illegally holding up a permit and needs to be brought to heel.

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Extortion is the crime of obtaining money or property by threat to a victim's property or loved ones, intimidation, or false claim of a right.

is it a "false claim of right"?

Did the accused obtain money or property?

In light of recent Supreme Court Decisions this case is not certain.

And your example is kind of silly unless you make the inspector a smoke detector salesman.

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If I say "i'm not going to give you a a permit unless you pay my friend $5,000", it's still extortion, even if I'm not the one that benefited.

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All City of Boston Job Descriptions are public record and available by email request at
http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/?id=27

please see also
http://www.cityofboston.gov/intergovernmental/

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Racks up quarters toward his pension.

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They should investigate how many entities like the Olympics, Indy Car, and other ones were strong-armed into putting city hall compadres on their payrolls, who were farmed back to do city hall duties. These people learned the corruption craft by watching Menino and thought they could step in and pick up where he left off. This investigation hasn't even scratched the surface.

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Please give us an example from the Menino administration.

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Chiofaro, private sales of city land to his Rozzie Pub pal.

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...page is devoted to the Herald's mission to post public payrolls and databases using the state Public Records Law and federal Freedom of Information Act. The data is updated often and new information added as new stories break. If you have a database you'd like to see, email
joed at bostonherald.com
or call 617-619-6493
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/databases/payroll?database=-1&y...

City Hall Public Payrolls and Databases available to all, request at
http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/?id=24

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You can also look up payrolls on Open Checkbook. No need to see what the herald picked to show. Look up names yourself.

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Does anyone else get the feeling these guys had no idea at all that they were conmitting a crime? Not that it matters, "ignorance of the law...", etc., but still. Did they profit from this at all? Also, change "union guys" to "city residents" or "minorities" and do you think there is still an indictment?

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Yes, I do think there should still be an indictment if a city official decided to start making up his or her own criteria independent of any law or regulation, and started withholding permits unless those criteria were met.

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In that they didn't do this for personal enrichment but thought they were doing the right thing.

That said, I see why they were indicted.

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If the union folks had been part of the police or firefighters unions there would be no problem. Companies are legally forced to add unnecessary people to their wage costs when it involved details. The several buildings rising in the Seaport are testimony. It's funny to see 4 cops standing around, playing with their phones, scratching themselves and looking pretty redundant. Given that details are legal it is understandable why local officials would think that the same kind of treatment with other unions is legal.

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state and municipal governments. These "economic development" folks are lauded as leaders and innovators. Unions? Why they are filled with "thugs".

The Government/Business lobby for GE relocation = genius

The Government/Union lobby for some guy to get three days working a Boston concert = crime

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Government bringing the headquarters of a multinational corporation to Boston = genius

Government forcing a private enterprise to hire unnecessary employees who belong to an organization that supports the elected mayor financially = illegal.

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or just not free?

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Boston Calling hired all the labor they needed from a non-union company. They were then told they had to hire union employees, so they hired 8 additional union workers. Clearly those workers were not necessary, or they would have been hired initially.

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There has never been an accusation of no-show jobs with this. The people hired were hired to do jobs. The issue is that those putting on the event were told to use essentially one contractor- the trade union that does the work, quite possibly at a higher hourly rate- or they wouldn't get the permits to put the show on.

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in such a case, the wage is set union or not.

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It was stated in the indictment. They were forced to hire 8 workers and a foreman THEY DID NOT NEED. That's the definition of unnecessary.

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because they planned to have unskilled volunteers instead?

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Reading your posts, you're obviously trying to defend a practice most of us can see is wrong. It is not the way we want our government employees to behave.

That being said; how are you connected, if at all? A state employee? Union employee?

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How do you know they were unskilled? What stagehand skills did these union employees possess that the nonunion workers didn't have?

Also, they weren't volunteers. They were paid employees, they just weren't union.

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These volunteers got tickets for all 3 days in exchange for working the event. The union employees were stagehands. It hasn't been said how many stagehands that Boston Calling had hired to start with.

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Or will it be decided by a court?

Yes I am in a union and I work for the state. I don't know how that connects me to this. Maybe you are just fishing for my identity. It is very clear that the majority of people think that supporting union hiring is wrong. I don't agree.

I also don't think this was bribery. I believe that if this court convicts on the evidence that they shown so far, it will be overturned on appeal.

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They needed the workers. Local 11 told them to hire their workers. As part of some kind of compromise, they hired the 9. They could have let 9 that they hired already go (or, specifically, sever the contract) and would have had the same number of stagehands. The press release does not mention "unnecessary" workers.

I'm not saying it was kosher, but the event needed workers, and Local 11 wanted them to hire their members to do the job.

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They needed X workers. They hired X workers. The City then said that in order to get the permits, they would have to hire "8 additional workers and a foreman" from Local 11, or they wouldn't receive said permits. Therefore, they hired 9 additional, unnecessary workers at an additional, unnecessary expense. You can't always sever signed contracts just because the City demands you do so.

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Local 11 had attempted to obtain work from the company since March 2013. The company told Brissette and Sullivan that it had already entered into a contract with a non-union company and hired all of its labor. Nevertheless, Brissette and Sullivan allegedly insisted that half of the company’s labor force consist of union members, although they ultimately agreed that eight members of Local 11 would suffice. As a result of these City officials’ demands three days before the music festival the company entered into a contract with Local 11 for eight additional laborers and one foreman. Shortly thereafter, the City of Boston issued the necessary permits.

If they had gone through Local 11 to start, they would have had exactly the number of workers they would have needed. No more. No less. That they could not have worked things out with the other company is on them. A union person would say they should have talked to Local 11 to start with. The defendants would have been more than okay with the organizers canning the 9 scheduled nonunion workers they contract with.

And a "your welcome" in advance for including the final line in the paragraph.

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indictment you need a name of a subject with a pulse. Grand jurors, lay persons are told by a well dressed representative of the government that the subject broke a law(s). A federal judge, or for the purpose of a grand jury a potted plant, is a referee in a one sided game. Once we have discovery for the defense, or another well planned leak by the government to the Globe, one should not jump to legal conclusions.

If people are naive enough to believe that the government cannot be used as a weapon then you need to re-read your history.

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the chamber of commerce or business lobby interaction with government at all levels.

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