COUNCILORS PIPE UP ON PATRONAGE
Lt. gov. says it’s business as usual
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito is brushing off criticism of her close associates landing high-salary court jobs, saying the patronage pipeline is time-honored business as usual on Beacon Hill — even as some members of the Governor’s Council say they’re “troubled” by what’s going on the board Polito chairs.
“It stinks to high heaven,” Councilor Robert Jubinville told the Herald. “I am troubled with what I see and what I’ve seen, but I’m only one vote.”
Two out of three recent clerk-magistrate candidates with close personal ties to Polito landed a lifetime appointment to the more than $152,000-a-year post.
A third, Governor’s Councilor Jen Caissie, will go before the very council she sits on — and which Polito chairs — for her own nomination in Dudley District Court Wednesday. Caissie, a Republican, was a supporter of Gov. Charlie Baker and Polito when they first campaigned together in 2013.
Councilors Jubinville, Christopher Iannella and Marilyn Devaney criticized their fellow board members for acting as a rubber stamp for Baker-Polito administration appointments.
“There’s a lot of good people on the council who make great speeches that they struggle, that they’re not sure what they’re going to do, but at the end of the day they’re five people I really like, but they can never vote no,” Iannella said.
Councilor Eileen Duff noted that the members “unfortunately” don’t get to see other candidates for any of the positions, just the administration’s nominee.
“It is not our job to punish people because of the manner in which they got there. Our job is a simple and narrow one — to decide if the person sitting in front of us has the qualifications to do the job they were nominated for,” Councilor Terrence Kennedy countered. “Whether they happen to know Karyn Polito or Charlie Baker or anybody else, has nothing to do with what we evaluate.”
Polito on Tuesday told the Herald the “practice predates our administration.” She cited the “blind” application process through the Judicial Nominating Commission, composed of 21 people appointed by the governor to screen candidates, and noted that the candidates need sign-off from the Joint Bar Committee and the vote of the Governor’s Council.
“I believe in the process. It’s one that’s been tested over time and over different administrations and it’s one that we will continue to use,” Polito said. “If there is a person that’s known to either the governor or me, I would hate to see a qualified individual held back because they have some knowledge of who we are in our communities.”
Shrewsbury Police Detective Lt. Joseph McCarthy Jr., who coached Polito’s son in youth football in their hometown, won the Westboro District Court clerkmagistrate job earlier this month. Sharon Shelfer Casey, Polito’s college friend and former executive director of the Judicial Nominating Commission, landed the top clerk’s post at Cambridge District Court in May. There are currently nine clerk-magistrate positions still open.
“It certainly can come back to haunt her in the future, that’s for sure,” Jubinville said of the political nominations, pointing to the timing of Taunton Mayor Thomas Hoye’s appointment to Bristol County register of probate and Republican state Rep. Shaunna O’Connell’s quick candidacy to replace him.