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State Sen. Dorcena Forry stepping down to take a job with John Fish
By adamg on Thu, 01/25/2018 - 3:57pm
Linda Dorcena Forry announced today she formally resigns tomorrow to become a vice president at Fish's Suffolk Construction.
Dorcena Forry, then a state representative from Dorchester, won her senate seat in 2013 over two challengers from South Boston, becoming the first black senator to ever represent the district that includes that neighborhood.
In a statement, she said:
The foundation of my public service career has revolved around creating opportunity and access and giving a voice to those who have none and this work will continue for the rest for my life.
After much consideration, I proudly joined Suffolk’s Leadership Team as Vice President of Northeast Region, Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations. During this time of reflection, it has reaffirmed what I have always known, that there is nothing more precious or important than family. For me this is my four young children and my husband Bill. It is also my parents, who filled our home with love and laughter and now I watch in awe as my 80 year old mother cares for my father who is living with Alzheimer's. Also it is sitting quietly with my 103 year old grandmother in my childhood home in Dorchester. They have all sacrificed so much to make me who I am; it is now my turn to truly put them first.
She added:
I am excited to begin the next chapter in my family’s story by joining Suffolk, an organization at the forefront of economic growth and social activism in Boston and nationally. John Fish is someone whom I admire and trust as a business and philanthropic leader. Under John’s leadership, Suffolk has established a long history of civic engagement and I look forward to being part of the team and helping Suffolk to continue to make a positive difference in our communities and make an impact on future generations.
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Comments
this is depressing.
this is depressing.
Adult much?
She wants to get paid! Like everyone else. You want someone to kneel at the altar of public service and devote their lives to their constituents? Run for office.
?
You read a lot of accusations into my comment. That reflects your thoughts, brave anon, not mine.
Accusations?
Accusations? No, just an observation on Sen. Forry's move. I knew the day would come. It happens. That was my point. No need to get emotional about it. You must live a sheltered life if this depresses you.
And you keep going brave anon
And you keep going brave anon. you must be one of those pathetic people that are intimidated by number of thumbs ups. you can keep bullying me for expressing my feelings, its a free country.
Sorry to see this. She has done an outstanding job.
Bill Forry can you talk her out of it?
: (
Anyone can be bought.
That's your lesson on Sesame Street today, boys and girls. We all have a price.
We aren't losing a State Senator. We're gaining a paid influence peddler at the State House.
And as long as we allow politicians to resign
before they serve out the full term the voters elected them to - excluding cases of death, serious illness or injury, this sort of thing will continue to happen.
But hey, some charity is about to score a windfall by receiving unspent campaign funds that should rightfully go back to the donors instead.
Better a person like this
Better a person like this resign early, then stay in office in the State House after they've been corrupted, no? At least now this person will be recognized as the lobbyist they are when they're slithering around the State House.
What would it matter?
Resign now or resign in 2 years -- it's the same outcome.
Companies should be banned from bidding on government contracts if they employ former elected officials or spend money on lobbying.
Anyone know if state ethics
Anyone know if state ethics law applies any differently to legislators (re going to work in private sector for somebody with business before the state, waiting period, etc...) than they do to general state employees?
I've met Linda and her husband. They're pretty stand-up. I don't anticipate trouble in her case. Once somebody raised the point I realized I have no idea if/how the law applies in her case.
As for her, given her statement... Sounds like an opportunity for something with more regular hours.
Somewhere in Milton
Plates are being smashed in a jealous rage.
Shirley Leung, Boston Globe employee
with a sideline in Boston Olympics Construction & Landgrab Marketing Services.
So am I reading this
So am I reading this correctly, that because the resignation is before February 1, there will be an election between 145-160 days from now?
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVIII/Chapter54/Sec...
Wrong Section
The section you linked to seems to apply to Senator in Congress (i.e. Warren, Markey) and not State Senator (Senator in the General Court?).
However, I was unable to find a corresponding section for State Senator.
Wish Linda the Best
Because she was the Best!
Good timing, she just vested in state pension system for life
Dorcena-Forry has either 11 or 12 years in the legislature, counting her time in the House of Representatives and Senate. One needs a mere 10 years service to collect a pension and health care for life. I'm not sure if she had any state jobs before getting elected. If so, those years would add to her monthly check. She has to wait until she's 55 to begin collecting but it must be nice.
full pension?
80% after 10 years?
He's thinking
Law Enforcement pensions.
She would max out at 27.5% if she wait until she's 65. If she tries to take it now, my guess is that the person at the retirement board would be really nice, since Sen. Forry is a nice woman, but would be silently chuckling to themselves when they give her the nice round number of her monthly check.
Nobody's more cynical
Than me when it comes to politicians. I've worked for and against the best.
Linda's a class act with a great family.
Good luck to you.
Awwww.......
And after all the ass kissing Shirley Leung does to that maggot Fish, the least he could have done for all that toadying was throw her a job before Linda gets sick of her.
Two things
1. I suppose this helps Fish build a more minority-based work force, which it appears everyone wanted after The Globe's racism series. But it's at the cost to her constituents, who lose a voice where it could've affected change in a better way for them. I suppose, it's an unintended consequence of the minority-percentage guidelines for developers that city councilors were clamoring for recently.
2. Likely not a coincidence that she takes the job the same day UMass Boston puts 20 acres of land near the water on sale. If Fish can get his hands on that, Forry will be important in pushing it through neighborhood approvals—especially with her husband's media influence.
Another thing
Fish was THE champion for the Olympic bid because...construction...and legacy.
The biggest turning point for the bid was when everything started becoming public and Fish couldn't manipulate the political process with money like he does for every Suffolk project ever built. If he'd had a popular politician in both state and city politics like Forry at the time, then he wouldn't have had to hire Patrick at an exorbitant cost and tip the bid into a nose dive with the public. If he had the politicians on his side, even with much of the public outcry, then we might still have become the home of the 2024 Olympics.
That's the biggest reason for hiring her. She's going to "community relation" whatever next fingerprint he wants to put on Boston to secure his Boston legacy.
Read this and every time the bid starts to go south in the article, imagine if Forry was out in front of it instead of Fish...talking to the State House, talking to Walsh, talking to the public, etc.
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2015/05/21/john-fish-olympics/
She just dumped the entire
She just dumped the entire Haitian Community in Boston right when the Temporary Protected Status for Haitians has been terminated by the Trump Administration and people are terrified of ICE. People are getting pushed out of the neighborhoods and she will be representing a DEVELOPER, not the State. Fish may be powerful, but he is not interested in these issues, that was her job. Please, we all have kids to send to college but we do not all runaround asking people to support us and then walk away from our obligation to them. She did not have to run in the last election. She will not be as big a hit in the neighborhoods now.
Technically
Her job as a state senator gave her zero input into the future of the Temporary Protected Status for Haitians or any other nationality.
You might want to research Mia Love. She’d be the person you think Forry is.
Linda Forry has to do what she thinks is best for herself and her family. I hate to see her go, but like Marie St. Fleur and a host of non Haitian politicians, she’s gotta do what she’s gotta do.
Thanks for letting me know
Thanks for letting me know that my opinion has no merit. You could research this;
http://www.wbur.org/news/2018/01/26/linda-dorcena-forry-haiti-boston-rea...
You have your opinion; I have mine
I disagree with WBUR, too. If Capuano’s office has no one to help Haitians, that’s the worse travesty, since again this is not a state issue. Not even Charlie Baker can help. If the Haitian American community thinks it’s so important to have elected leaders, why was Forry the only Haitian holding elected office in Massachusetts?
But there’s always groups like the Irish Immigration Center who deal with issues like this. Perhaps people might want to talk to them.
A strong voice that has VOTES
A strong voice that has VOTES behind it can sway policy makers, that is why they are called leaders.
Sure
And again how powerful is a state senator when federal issues are concerned? Much less than say the Haitian American Congresswoman from Utah, I’d say.
How much influence will he
How much influence will he have now that she has no power or platform?
When corporations started
When corporations started feeling the heat to hire minorities back in the previous century, they generally filled the HR chair with their nearest black person. So not only did they have at least one black person in 'management,' but they put a black person between them and the black help. Guess who laid off black workers?
PR came next - think Deval Patrick at Texaco, Coca-Cola, and Ameriquest Mortgage Co. They called it 'General Counsel.' More like 'You can't accuse us of racism - we've got our own black guy!'
I see no reason why Ms Dorcena Forry shouldn't be able to get her snout into the trough - it's the Boston Way.