The only person he's likely fooling is himself, if Rep. John Keenan truly believes that House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi's resignation does not represent yet another black eye for the Legislature.
"I don't think it's a black mark on us," the Salem Democrat remarked to reporter Ethan Forman Monday regarding DiMasi's departure.
DiMasi yesterday became the third consecutive speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives to leave office under suspicion of ethical misbehavior. A State House News Service poll released Monday indicated that DiMasi was viewed favorably by only 9 percent of Massachusetts voters.
So how do you suppose that reflects on the majority of Democrats, including all of those in the North Shore delegation, who supported him for speaker just weeks earlier?
The people of Massachusetts deserve better. It should not be too much to ask of legislative leaders that they put the good of the public over their own interests.
DiMasi insisted to the end he did not leave the speaker's post and the North End representative's seat he has held for more than 30 years because of the ethics investigations surrounding him. That's hard to swallow.
DiMasi is being investigated by the state Ethics Commission over his involvement with the awarding of a $13-million management software contract to Cognos ULC of Burlington in 2007. The day the state paid Cognos its money, the company paid $500,000 to Richard Vitale, DiMasi's friend and former accountant. Around the same time, Vitale granted DiMasi a $250,000 third mortgage on his condominium.
The state later canceled the Cognos contract.
Both DiMasi and Vitale say they did nothing wrong. A federal grand jury is investigating Vitale and the awarding of the Cognos contract. Vitale has also been indicted on charges he secretly lobbied DiMasi on ticket reselling legislation.
The two speakers prior to DiMasi both left office under ethical clouds.
Thomas M. Finneran resigned in 2004 while under investigation and later pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. Finneran admitted to lying under oath in a lawsuit involving redistricting. An effort to win a pardon from President Bush in the final days of his administration, went nowhere.
Charles F. Flaherty resigned in 1996 after being charged with tax evasion.
Former state Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, a member of the panel recommending ethics rule changes to Gov. Deval Patrick, told the Associated Press in November that the low turnover among state elected officials is a problem that contributes to abuses. There is too much power concentrated in the hands of the speaker and the Senate president and that makes them targets for those peddling influence, Harshbarger said.
He's right. The speaker of the House, by filling key (and financially rewarding) chairmanships with his closest allies, wields absolute power.
If the speaker does not approve of a particular piece of legislation, it disappears forever. And he can punish anyone who dares oppose by removing them from the legislative posts that add thousands to their salaries.
Until that grip on power is weakened, until there's a return to a true, two-party system in Massachusetts, future speakers will continue to be prime targets for lobbyists and influence-peddlers.
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