FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 25, 2010
Jill Stein for Governor
www.jillstein.org
Contact: Daryl Sprague, Campaign Manager, 617-459-0784

JILL STEIN CALLS PROBATION SCANDAL "THE TIP OF AN ICEBERG OF WASTE AND ABUSE ON BEACON HILL"

BOSTON - Green-Rainbow Party gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein cited recent revelations of patronage and pay-to-play promotions in the state Probation Department as underscoring the need for sweeping changes on Beacon Hill. “This is just the tip of an iceberg of waste, fraud, and abuse that will continue to steal from the taxpayers of the commonwealth until we have new leadership committed to changing the insider culture on Beacon Hill.”

“Anyone who watches Beacon Hill knows that Commissioner O'Brien's appointment of Democratic Party friends, family, and political allies to jobs in the Probation Department - and the collection of campaign donations from employees - are routine practices," Stein said. "This problem is not limited to one 'rogue' agency, or even to the Democratic Party. There are flagrant examples of this practice occurring under Republican administrations. For example, we had patronage appointments and lax oversight at Massport under Governors Weld and Cellucci and the problems Joe Malone faced with employees stealing from the Treasury."

Regarding the practice of squeezing state employees for campaign donations in exchange for promotions, Stein observed that "The Legislature voted in favor of corruption in 2003 when they repealed the voter-approved Clean Elections Law on an unrecorded voice vote. That vote continues to reverberate with a continuing series of scandals and indictments and sweetheart deals secured through campaign donations - from Big Dig contracting to Deval Patrick’s footbridge for Robert Kraft.”

Stein pointed out that "Simply replacing Commissioner O'Brien doesn’t solve the problem as long as the Legislature - which controls Probation funding - remains in the grip of the pay-to-play culture.” She also noted that moving the department from legislative to executive control offers no guaranteed protection, considering the power of special interest money in the Governor's office.

Stein said the first step to ending patronage is straightforward - “We need to end the one-party rule on Beacon Hill that has been giving comfort and cover to corruption. We desperately need the checks and balances that can only be provided by a truly competitive democracy with multiple parties giving real choices to voters. And we urgently need clean money parties, like the Green-Rainbow Party, that can offer us principled candidates who don’t take millions of dollars in legalized bribes before they even take office. “

Stein noted that her commitment to clean government was reflected in the fact that she is the only candidate in the gubernatorial race who is refusing money from lobbyists or from corporate executives who hire lobbyists. “After all the recent scandals, I think the voters deserve that kind of commitment from anyone who asks for their trust and their vote.” she added.

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