Items From Today's Papers
--Mitchell Adams, head of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative -- and certified Friend of Bill (Weld, that is) -- negotiated a half-million-dollar severance deal if the new governor fires him, Frank Phillips reports in the Globe. That's two years' worth of his whopping quarter-mil salary. Adams made a brief but critical cameo appearance in my recent article about state senator Therese Murray and the Massachusetts Tourism scandal, which is now the subject of an Inspector General inquiry. Adams served as chair of the tiny Trade Council that was tasked with awarding the bid for the international tourism marketing contract in 2004. As I reported, Adams resigned from the board that November; sources suggest that he did so to avoid making that decision. They argue that Adams feared angering Murray if the contract went to a different bidder other than Mass Tourism -- and specifically feared that Murray would use her power as Senate Ways & Means chair to cut funding to the MTC, which, as we see in Phillips's report, was quite a lucrative gig for him.
--Phillips also reports that UMass is likely to announce today that Congressman Marty Meehan is the board's selection to be the next chancellor of its Lowell campus. Assuming he accepts, the sprint for his seat commences in full. (BTW, I didn't really mean yesterday that our state senators are wimps. Just poking a little fun.)
--Our own former US Attorney Donald K. Stern weighs in on the firing of eight US Attorneys by the White House, in a Globe op-ed. Elsewhere in the paper we get a Washington Post report that the White House originally wanted to fire ALL the USAs. Nice. Next question: what did the others on the chopping block do to prove they were worthy of keeping?
--I like Margery Eagan, but I'd ask her to rethink her advice to Diane Patrick to embark on a depression-awareness speaking tour. We have no idea of her condition, but Eagan's suggestion trivializes the difficulty and severity of the illness, by assuming that one can just hop out and start speaking to audiences about it so quickly. Mrs. Patrick is a patient who needs to get herself healthy before she starts thinking about helping others.
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