Nearly eight years ago, I sat at a small table at a Peet's Coffee shop across from a pretty, pert, smart and saucy woman, the former head of the state Attorney General's Civil Rights Division and chief of its Business and Labor Bureau. A former Hale & Dorr attorney, her greatest satisfaction, she said, came …
Tag: Scott Harshbarger
This week’s poll: Charlie Baker still coated with Teflon
The Massachusetts Governor was halfway through his second term. While things were going reasonably well, he was still dogged by dramatic shortcomings in the Department of Children and Families, fraud at the state drug lab, and incompetence with the online state health insurance system, and a growing unease among the public that, despite his personal …
Continue reading This week’s poll: Charlie Baker still coated with Teflon
Clock ticking on state gov. candidates
Democratic gubernatorial candidate state treasurer Steve Grossman has narrowed the gap between Attorney General Martha Coakley and him, but it's unclear if he can make up a remaining 12-point deficit in the last two weeks before the state primary. Right now, however, those same polls show Coakley holding a 23-percentage lead over Grossman among women voters, some …
Healey a worthy addition to Dems’ AG race
Former state rep and state senator Warren Tolman, whose bid for state attorney general has the backing of four former AG's, has always said he was taking candidate Maura Healey seriously, and well he should. While Tolman, who previously ran for lieutenant governor (on the ticket with Scott Harshbarger) and for governor, has been working as a consultant, …
Running for A.G. – a familiar face stands out
On April 19 last year, longtime political activist, former elected official and Watertown resident Warren Tolman found himself 300 yards from the capture of Marathon bomber Zhokar Tsarnaev. With a helicopter roaring overhead, police on both sides of his driveway and in his backyard, Tolman listened as a swat team worked its way through his basement searching for the …
Continue reading Running for A.G. – a familiar face stands out
MassInc shows how humor can bridge the political divide
The unidentified “they” have often said that Boston’s three favorite pastimes are sports, politics and revenge – and not necessarily in that order. Thursday night’s MassInc’s 15-year anniversary celebration at the Kennedy Library brought together media and pols to wallow in a hilarious celebration in a bipartisan spirit of humor and across-the-aisle friendship that, I …
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Scott Harshbarger for casino czar
It’s amazing that so much of the negotiation of a casino-and-slots bill has gone on behind closed doors. After proposals had sucked much of the oxygen out of the air last year, Governor Patrick and legislative leadership, especially House Speaker Robert DeLeo, collaborated secretly to reach agreement before a bill reached the legislative floor.During the …
Lesson of DiMasi: we can’t always bet on the character of those who lead us
If there’s one thing to be learned from the sad demise of former House Speaker Sal DiMasi, it’s the need for transparency, doing the people’s business in the people view. If there’s one place it should be applied immediately, it’s in the dealings around casinos for Massachusetts that surely are going on behind closed doors.There …
Continue reading Lesson of DiMasi: we can’t always bet on the character of those who lead us
Shirley Sherrod incident shows race in U.S. remains touchy subject
Sometimes you just have to pile on, which is why I feel compelled to weigh in on the firing and potential rehiring of Shirley Sherrod by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The executing arm may have been that of Secretary Tom Vilsack, but the Obama administration is on the hook for this unprofessional and …
Continue reading Shirley Sherrod incident shows race in U.S. remains touchy subject
Casino gambling: providing informed consent
Reasonable doubts remain about the studies touting the benefits of casino gambling to Massachusetts, especially if today’s Boston Globe is correct that the legislature only asked for an analysis of benefits and not a cost-benefits analysis. Former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger and former Governor Mike Dukakis have raised significant warnings about the economic payoff, citing …
Continue reading Casino gambling: providing informed consent
Marjorie Arons-Barron 