Holmes: ‘Not a surprise’ to be stripped of leadership post
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo is denying that he stripped state Rep. Russell Holmes of a vice chairmanship post in retaliation for comments the Mattapan Democrat made to the Herald last week.
“It’s not a surprise, honestly. Any discussion around switching leadership has consequences,” Holmes told the Herald last night. “It’s not a good thing to take a starting player off the field because I made comments about how you manage the team, it’s inappropriate. My constituents are very upset ... I will never be silenced”
Holmes said DeLeo’s choice of Rep. Jeff Sanchez as the new Ways and Means chairman was a more progressive choice, as Holmes had called for.
State Rep. Brian Dempsey yesterday formally stepped down as House Ways and Means chairman, a move that triggered a reshuffling of committee leadership posts by DeLeo. The speaker moved Everett Rep. Joseph McGonagle into what had been Holmes’ seat as vice chair of the Housing Committee. Asked yesterday afternoon if Holmes was demoted because of his remarks, DeLeo said, “No, no, not at all.”
“You have to look at this as a holistic approach, and you have to look at the team as a whole in terms of what is best to serve the House, and nothing at all relative to that,” DeLeo told reporters.
After Dempsey announced his resignation last week, Holmes told the Herald, “The speaker when I arrived told us he was on a term limit. This is why you see so many people in the building leaving already. The next speaker conversation begins in earnest this moment. Something this surprising and shocking means conversations that have been happening behind closed doors will become more public.”
DeLeo said he makes his decisions around committee assignments “in terms of putting the best team together that you see and fitting people into places with their expertise and whatnot.”