Monday roundup: Pension talk still driving sheriff's race

If a small snapshot is any indication, the political talk around Worcester  is still centered on the Worcester County Sheriff's race, where discussion of Governor's Councilor Tom Foley (D-Worcester) and his disability pension continues as we begin a new week. The topic was discussed this morning on WCRN-AM's The Midday Report with Hank Stolz. While there is no podcast of the show available, most of the callers sounded like they were more apt to blame Foley for running for office while collecting disability than to blame the odd pension system that would allow him to collect while being sheriff (should he be elected).

For better or worse (depends, I suppose, or which candidate you support), today marks the fifth day of discussion of Foley's disability pension. Dianne Williamson broke the ice in the Telegram with a column on Thursday, followed by notes from Shaun Sutner on Telegram.com on Friday and in the print edition on Sunday.

Coincidentally, Foley's supporters have come out in force over the weekend. Whether in response to the stories or because of the calendar (yesterday was 30 days before primary election day), Foley lawn signs have been sprouting like clover in this area. This morning I drove through Clinton on my way to 495 and counted 24 Foley signs in the 2.6 miles between the Lancaster town line to the west and the Berlin town line to the east.

Speaking of the Telegram, if you are trying to access the stories lined above and find yourself banging your head against the (fire)wall, it's because the T&G has begun charging non-subscribers for online access to most locally-produced articles. I have an on-line account and will continue to include links to the Telegram in my stories, but how much access you, the reader, will have is anyone's guess.

On to a very short roundup...

Third Congressional District
The Telegram keeps up its profiles of Congressional candidates, this time checking in on Brian Herr (R-Hopkinton). Herr briefly outlined some of his positions:

Like his opponents in the primary, Mr. Herr wants to cut government spending. He supports unemployment benefits in this “scary time,” but doesn't support borrowing money to extend benefits. He believes the government should provide services for vulnerable populations such as people with disabilities, as long as cuts are made elsewhere.


Schools, he contends, are best run at the local level, so he wonders why the country needs a U.S. Department of Education with a budget in the tens of billions of dollars.

He slammed a bill Congress passed last week to restore public jobs as more unnecessary spending.

He believes spending cuts need to come before new tax cuts.

Herr also claims to have more than 4,000 Facebook friends.

Fifth Congressional District
Sam Meas (R-Haverhill) has added former Haverhill Mayor Mike Sullivan as an advisor. He is also apparently "Bad to the Bone."

Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Senate District
Fifth Worcester House District
Sen. Stephen Brewer (D-Barre) and Rep. Anne Gobi (D-Spencer) spearheaded a bill to allow the Worcester County 4-H Club to lease land from the state for the next 25 years.

Cross posted at CMassPolitics.com.
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Weekend roundup: I've been everywhere, man

It's awfully difficult for a challenger to dominate the media cycle against an well-financed, high-ranking incumbent, but Tom Wesley (R-Hopedale) managed to do just that Friday in his Second Congressional District race against Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield). We'll start with the Telegram, where Wesley was the feature of Friday's candidate profile:

Mr. Wesley explained that these are tough economic times and that people have to be careful with their finances. He quickly added, however, that this election is about more than raising money.

“I see it as my patriotic duty,” he said when asked why he was running. “I'm fighting for unborn generations.” termed a lynchpin election, which means in his opinion the American way of life is at stake and people are angry with what has been happening on Capitol Hill.

In addition, Wesley was all over the radio, appearing on Springfield's WAQY-FM and WHYN-AM. He has also continued videotaping while driving.
 
For his part, Neal has received praise from the unlikeliest of sources. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has endorsed Neal's bill to provide for automatic enrollment in IRAs for employees of small businesses:

The Automatic IRA is a conservative, market-oriented solution to help address our retirement savings crisis. It would increase the proportion of Americans who can save for retirement at work from 50 percent to 90 percent, make it simple for small business owners to offer IRAs to their employees, and create low-cost accounts that an employee can understand and use without having to be a financial expert.

Neal's proposal has also been endorsed by the more liberal Brookings Institution.

Elsewhere...

Third Congressional District
Rep. James McGovern (D-Worcester) continues to keep the pressure on Congress and the Obama administration over the cut in food stamp aid that was part of the $26 billion jobs bill:

"President Obama pledged to end childhood hunger by 2015," McGovern pointed out. "It's hard to see how you do that while you're cutting food stamps.''

Fifth Congressional District
In the Sentinel, columnist Peter Lucas calls Tom Weaver (R-Westford) "the most qualified candidate you never heard of."

Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) was in Harvard to tout federal funding for a 220-kilowatt solar power facility at Carlson Orchards.

First Middlesex District
Tony Saboliauskas (D-Pepperell) is part of a group trying to get permission to erect a "Support our Troops" sign on town land in Pepperell.

Second Franklin House District
Earlier this week, David Roulston (D-Greenfield) became the latest candidate to criticize the proposed biomass plant in Greenfield.

Middlesex and Worcester Senate District
The communications director for Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) is taking time off during the fall recess to work for the campaign of Ninth District Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston).

Worcester County Sheriff
Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden) recently visited the Hampden County Sheriff to get some tips on programs for inmates.

Cross posted at CMassPolitics.com.
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Scot Bove on Tom Foley's disability and retirement

In the Telegram's daily ElectionNet report, Shaun Sutner looks further into the ramificaions of Tom Foley's disability retirement and it's role in the race for the Democratic nomination for Worcester County Sheriff. Yesterday, Foley spoke with Telegram columnist Dianne Williamson. Today, Sutner wrote:

So far, Foley's opponent for the Democratic nomination, Scot Bove, has not talked about it publicly, including at a sheriff's debate Thursday night in Harvard.

It might look petty or negative for Bove to bring up questions about whether Foley, the retired state police superintendent who gets a $112,000 tax-free pension because of a heart condition but says his doctors have cleared him to return to work.

Perhaps Bove (D-Holden) has decided to take a low profile on this issue as spring turned into summer, but in May, Bove had some pointed words for Foley in a Democratic candidates' debate I moderated for Sterling-Lancaster Community Television.

At the event, I asked Foley about the charges that he would be "double-dipping." The exchange devolved into the candidates levelling charges back and forth, with Bove questioning Foley's assertion that the job was purely administrative (and implying that Foley wasn't phsically up for it) and Foley accusing Bove or forcing correctional officers to contribute to his campaign.

Here is the entire exchange:

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Thursday roundup: A new sheriff in town

The Telegram really brings it today with a bunch of stories on area politics in their Thursday edition, led by a look at last night's Sheriff's debate in Harvard:

Three candidates for Worcester County sheriff last night promised to kick politics out of the Worcester County Jail and House of Correction, while the fourth candidate, an assistant deputy superintendent at the facility in West Boylston said the jail has already been professionalized.

The emphasis at a sheriff candidates forum at the Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church was more on individual qualifications to run the Sheriff's Department than differences over issues. The forum was sponsored by the Worcester County Chapter of the Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, with Ronal C. Madnick, director of the chapter, posing questions to the candidates.

Madnick (U-Worcester), you may remember, is a candidate for state rep. in the 13th Worcester district. His participation as a moderator in this debate has sparked some discussion of a conflict of interest.

The Telegram's lead columnist, Diane Williamson, also took a look at candidate Tom Foley. Specifically, she examines the questions surrounding his retirement from the State Police due to a heart problem and the effect that issue is having on the race:

When Foley retired at age 50, he filed for and was granted a disability pension due to a heart condition. Under state law, he receives a tax-free pension — $112,000 — equal to 72 percent of his salary. The sheriff’s salary is $123,000, although under law Foley would only be eligible for about $93,000.

His opponents raise valid questions. If someone is so disabled that he must retire from one public job, how can he take another one? Is he disabled, or isn’t he? Just this week, while endorsing [Scott] Bove, the Worcester County Superior Officers Union said Foley couldn’t meet the “basic requirements” for sheriff because of his health, as the sheriff must also be a correction officer.

Williamson concludes that Foley's health is less of an issue than a flawed pension "system that encourages excess and abuse."
 
Elsewhere...
 
Third Congressional District
Brian Herr (R-Hopkinton) says the appropriations bill that passed congress earlier this week was akin to a shakedown:

It's no surprise that Jim McGovern voted for this bill...during his political career he has received $1,176,725 in contributions from labor unions. This year alone, he has received $2,500 from the American Federation of Teacher, $2,500 from the National Association of Firefighters, and $2,000 from the National Education Association.

It looks like the vote for this bill was nothing more than a $26 billion political payback.

Robert Delle (R-Westboro/Wayland/Paxton) talks about his upcoming move to Paxton and his campaign for office. He also says he "considers President Obama a socialist and is so wary of government spending that he believes people are 'stealing' federal stimulus money, though he didn't say who."

In an op-ed for the MetroWest Daily News, Michael Stopa (R-Holliston) argues that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is crowding out private investment and hurting the economy.

Fifth Congressional District
The four candidates for the Republican nomination discussed their ambitions at a debate in Concord:

When it came time to ask questions to one another, the candidates touched on tort reform for the healthcare bill, cost of living increases and the first piece of legislation they would file if elected.


Repealing the healthcare bill would be first on Golnik’s list, while Weaver said he would like to establish and chair an anti-appropriations committee to look at the books and cut unnecessary expenses. Shapiro would start by slapping a dollar limit on the federal budget and keeping bills under 100 pages, and Meas said he would seek to become the Ways and Means chairman and simplify the tax code to stimulate the economy.

13th Worcester House District
Mike Perotto (D-Worcester) visited Worcester Community Cable Access's "What It's Worth" show.

Shaun Sutner of the Telegram checks in on the relationship between Joff Smith (D-Worcester) and Worcester Mag columnist and former city councilor Gary Rosen. Sutner also looks at the efforts of Paul Franco (R-Worcester) in Paxton.

Cross posted at CMassPolitics.com.
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Forum tonight with Sheriff candidate Scot Bove

Scot Bove, Democratic candidate for Worcester County Sheriff, will speak at an open forum hosted by the Sterling Democratic Town Committee tonight at 7:00 pm at the Butterick Building Room 205, 1 Park Street, Sterling. The committee will hold it's monthly business meeting following the forum.

This is the first of our committee's series of candidate forums. Future forums will include other candidates for office, including candidates for sheriff, state representative, auditor, treasurer, and hopefully governor. If you are in

Each of our forums will be televised on Sterling-Lancaster Cable TV and will be posted on You Tube (and here) as well.

Hopefully you can come down to town hall to catch the discussion later tonight.