Senate asks Wilkerson to resign
By Ron Newman - Thu, 10/30/2008 - 12:40pm.
From Boston.com: The state Senate passed a unanimous resolution this afternoon asking Democratic Senator Dianne Wilkerson to resign immediately.
(And yet they've let Jim Marzilli keep his seat until his term expires in December.)
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BIG difference Jim Marzilli
BIG difference Jim Marzilli is a bit of a sleeze, no a big sleeze, but it was a different story. He is more akin to Larry Craig, someone who embarresed the whole chamber but doesnt make the rest of them look so bad.
Dianne Wilkerson on the other hand did something that was illegal, and made the whole chamber look corrupt. Its much more relevant to her job as a legislator then the other guys problem.
Marzilli is mentally ill.
Marzilli is mentally ill. Wilkerson is a corrupt, amoral, general-all-round-bad person. There is a difference.
Marzilli is mentally
Marzilli is mentally ill.
Well, that's Marzilli's (and his supporters') side of the story, anyway.
It doesnt matter, it didnt
It doesnt matter, it didnt happen in the State House and there is no real connection to the State House other then the fact he was "abusing" his power, but I think he would have done that even if he werent a legislator. I dont care if he is mentally ill, not my problem.
Wilkerson on the other hand was doing something that she could only do if she were in the State House. If she were some random Roxbury lawyer she could take all the money she wanted.
Marzilli isn't campaigning
Wilkerson still thinks she can win her seat back, despite being flushed in the primaries. Jim is gone when his term is gone.
It is a far messier business to try to force out a senator when he became an inpatient in a mental institution shortly after his arrest, than to let him fade away quietly without reelection. It doesn't raise the same red flags and side issues to censure a senator who took bribes in exchange for legislative favors.
Marzilli's bizarre behavior doesn't make us think that that must be the way that all senators find dates. Wilkerson's behavior could make one wonder if this is simply the way that things get done in the legislature.
confirmed, not wondered
Wilkerson's behavior could make one wonder if this is simply the way that things get done in the legislature.
More like "confirmed."
First we had "The Vault", now we just have various Boston city groups using all sorts of tricks to do their business in secret (like that crap with rotating people in and out of a room to assure a number below the quorum) and endless "horsetrading."
Ever notice that Somerville and Cambridge are models of municipal efficiency compared to Boston? That's because shit gets done because it needs to get done, not because Joey called up his brother who called his old boss who called his softball team coach who called Mumbles.
Ever notice that Somerville
It also helps that comparativly speaking Cambridge has a tiny population compared to its business and industrial districts and is currently floating in more money then you could even imagine. On top of all that they recieve all sorts of municiple aide that they are no longer qualified to recieve. Cambridge is great, dont get me wrong, but it should not be compared to any other city around it because it is simply just too different.
I also think its funny that you dont think Joey calling his cousin Tommy who is best buds with someone in Government works in Cambridge like it does in Boston. The big difference (besides that huge money influx) between the two is Cambridge has a City Manager who is quite strong and Boston has a Mayor that is quite strong. The City Manager takes alot of those decisions out of the hands of the council, but what you should know is a strong City Manager makes alot of decisions on his own, or with his staff, with input from other members of city government, in a dark room with limited open meeting rules to get in his/her way. If your an advocate for open meetings just to have open meetings the problem has been solved, but if your an advocate for open meetings because you want to know whats going on in your government its much worse.
but Marzilli still can't do his job effectively anymore
which is why, imho, he should have resigned (months ago).
Its not the chambers
Its not the chambers business if you do your job well...
Read the entire resolution
Blue Mass. Group's posted a copy. She's asked to resign not just because of this week's arrest, but because of her 1997 income-tax conviction and her 1998 and 2008 agreements with the state to stop violating state campaign-finance laws.
they left off the bit about lying in a murder trial?
Oops, I mean, "manslaughter" trial? For which she's most likely going to be disbarred?
Seems like that might be a good reason as well. As was her failure to pay her mortgage and condo fees...
For which she's most likely going to be disbarred?
I looks like lying in court and obstructing justice is A-OK
with the Boston Board of Bar Overseers. Click through.
Its still related to her
Its still related to her tenure at the state house...
Still its a bit funny and shows how State House politics can work. Even when they do the right thing they do it in a weird and almost shady manner. They are so obviously not asking her to leave because campaign finance stuff that happened a decade ago.
She's being asked to resign
She's being asked to resign because of Question 1 on the ballot next week. We wouldn't want anyone to think this was business as usual at the state house, would we?
Follow the money. In the state house, that means tax money.
Wilkerson: Hell no, I won't go
Refuses to step down, says she'll fight to the end for the good of her district, PolitickerMA reports.