Money: the milk of politics, the root of all evil, so they say.
The Big Dig, not too much different.
According to the Massachusetts Lobbyist and Employer Search System, the following lobbyists were doing work for Bechtel/Parsons/Modern Continental:
Patrick Huntington, of Mass Bay Associates
Thomas P. O'Neill, III, of O'Neill and Associates
Andrew Paven of O'Neill and Associates
Robert Emmett Hayes of Mass Bay Associates
Garrett Trierwiler of Mass Bay Associates
Sean Curran of O'Neill and Associates
William Holland of O'Neill and Associates
Laura Waters of O'Neill and Associates
Here are some key Big Dig players worth noting:
Morris Levy, Senior Vice President of Parsons Brinckerhoff
John A. MacDonald, President of Bechtel
Charles F. Madden Jr., Executive Vice President of Modern Continental
You may also add to this list Jay Cashman of Jay Cashman Inc., who was noted in a December 3rd, 2004 Boston Globe article as being associated with Modern Continental.
A search of public data available from the Office of Campaign Political Finance shows that these individuals, with interests in the Big Dig, have donated quite heavily some lawmakers on Beacon Hill--close to $120,000. While the entire list is impressive, there are a few key people who have received big dollars from the aforementioned registered lobbyists that deserve some honorable mentions.
House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi - $2,200
Speaker DiMasi's Committee for a Democratic House PAC - $925.00
House Majority Leader John Rogers - $1,200
Senate President Robert Travaglini - $1,950
Assistant Senate Majority Leader Marian Walsh - $700
Steven Baddour, Senate Chairman of Transportation - $1,525
Joseph Wagner, House Chairman of Transportation - $1,800
Walter Timilty, House Ways and Means - $700
Attorney General Tom Reilly - $5,600
Chris Gabrieli - $525
Let's look into some of these.
Of course, it comes as no surprise that Attorney General Tom Reilly has taken in quite a bit of cash from Big Dig lobbyists. Considering Reilly's other pathetic attempts at trying to get restitution for poor construction in the Big Dig, it has also come to light that Reilly was pushing for a deal with Bechtel that would have given them safe harbor from future liabilities in tunnel for a mere $85 million.
The runner-up in this contest is House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, who is stuck in his own political web with Matt Amorello, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Chairman who Romney is trying to give the boot. As Boston Herald Howie Carr noted over a week ago, "Sal is a bust-out lawyer who once represented a Winter Hill thug named Joe Yerardi, whose wife (until her indictment) worked for state Auditor Joe DeNucci, whose brother was hired as a Turnpike toll taker by...Fat Matt Amorello." DiMasi and Senate President Robert Travaglini, the next in line for receipts from Big Dig lobbyists, have been trying to sound tough on Amorello, are nonetheless being quite cushy to him, despite tough talk, advocating that Amorello keep his $223,000 a year salary, but be given a different position with the turnpike. That's not even a slap on the wrist.
Who's next? Joseph Wagner and Steven Baddour, House Chairman of Transportation and Senate Chairman of Transportation, respectively. One can only imagine the impetus behind the Big Dig Lobbyists checks to these guys, but for starters, these two gentleman helped pass off the investigation into the Big Dig to Attorney General Tom Reilly, who's received $2,000 from Charles F. Madden Jr., the Executive Vice President of Modern Continental, not to mention an additional $3,600 from other registered Big Dig lobbyists. You need not take my word for it, just read the January 8, 2005 article from the Boston Globe.
Senator Steven A. Baddour and Representative Joseph F. Wagner, who are the cochairmen of the Joint Transportation Committee, held a press conference to say they no longer believe the Legislature should play a major role in establishing a new cost-recovery process, because Reilly assured them that he would remain fiercely independent from the Turnpike Authority, which currently handles such work. The two Democrats said Reilly also told them he would keep the Legislature apprised of his actions.
Baddour, a Methuen Democrat who formerly was a prosecutor under Reilly, said yesterday that his support for any deal between the agencies was contingent on Reilly's total independence from the Turnpike Authority. It is only Reilly, as the state's top law enforcement officer, who has the credibility with the public to shepherd such a high-profile, controversial legal process, Braddour said.Neither lawmaker was willing to speculate about how much money Reilly would need to win back from contractors before his efforts would be deemed a success. However, Wagner said it was clear that Reilly would have to overcome the public's high expectations after years of ugly headlines about cost overruns and, most recently, leaks.
"It could be his blessing or his curse," said Wagner, a Chicopee Democrat.”
Of course we know how well throwing the investigation into Tom Reilly's hands will help... a whopping $85 million.
We have only examined less than 15% of the nearly $120,000 worth of donations from the Big Dig lobbyists listed above. There are plenty of Beacon Hill legislators who got the same Big Dig money, but that's a story for another day.
