Romney used recreation funds for Patriots rally

[ohkay]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/06/romney_used_recreation_funds_for_patriots_rally/

BOSTON -- Gov. Mitt Romney used Conservation and Recreation funds to throw the New England Patriots a send-off party days before he fired that department's commissioner for failing to adequately plow streets, a published report said.
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Romney spokesman Eric Ferhnstrom told the Boston Herald he doesn't know the cost of the Patriots rally but that it was paid for with funds from the Conservation and Recreation department and other state agencies.

More than 2,000 fans attended the rally outside Gillette Stadium last Sunday before the team departed to Jacksonville, Fla., to prepare for the Super Bowl.

Katherine Abbott, at Romney's request, resigned Friday after four high school students were struck by a pickup truck on a Boston road maintained by the department.

The accident occurred near the entrance to West Roxbury High School. School officials had complained that the sidewalks along the VFW Parkway in front of the school had not been cleared of snow, forcing students to walk in the busy street.

The Boston Globe also reported that the Conservation and Recreation department has had its funding slashed by 37 percent since 2001, despite having to maintain parks and roads across the state.

Sen. Jarrett Barrios, D-Cambridge, said his Public Safety Committee would hold an oversight hearing this week to consider the accident and whether the agency has enough money to do its job.

"Doing a full investigation gets to the root of the problem; firing somebody offhand without any investigation smacks of scapegoating," Barrios said. "Maybe it was bad management, but maybe it wasn't. They don't have the ability to rub two sticks together and make a snowplow."

Ferhnstrom dismissed any suggestion that the department is underfunded.

"The Department of Conservation and Recreation has the resources it needs to do its job," he said. "Gov. Romney insists on high standards of performance and accountability in government, particularly when public safety is involved. The governor felt it was time to make a change in leadership."

Romney said last week that the problem with snow removal on roads maintained by the department, which was created to replace the former Metropolitan District Commission, has been building since a blizzard two weeks ago dumped about two feet of snow on the region.

None of the injuries to the four students were life-threatening and the worst injury was a broken leg.

Romney appointed Abbott to be the first commissioner of the newly created department in 2003, after the MDC was eliminated.

[chelsea0011]

1. Romney is an effin jerk. I hope the Globe does him in.

[paineinthearse]

2. Students hit on parkway; official quits Romney faults snow removal perform

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/02/05/4_students_hit_on_road_stirs_furor/

Students hit on parkway; official quits Romney faults snow removal performance
By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff | February 5, 2005

Governor Mitt Romney demanded the resignation of a state official yesterday hours after four West Roxbury High School students were struck by a pickup truck while walking to class in the busy travel lanes of the VFW Parkway. The accident occurred just days after their headmaster asked for better snow removal on nearby sidewalks and crosswalks. ''Our focus has to be on public safety," said the governor. ''That comes first, and there really can't be any latitude on that front."

Romney blamed Katherine F. Abbott, commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, for failing to clear the snow, but some environmentalists accused the governor of grandstanding in his termination of Abbott, whom they considered to be highly effective in managing the parks. Abbott handed in her resignation yesterday afternoon. ''The administration's tactics of severe underfunding and then heaping criticism on DCR management functions is a cheap shot and deserves to be opposed by all who care for the parks," said James Gomes, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts. ''Kathy Abbott has taken seriously the job of improving the Department of Conservation and Recreation, perhaps too seriously for some in the governor's office."

A state representative also accused the governor of trying to deflect attention from criticism of his own job performance. ''He's just making an example of her," said Representative James Marzilli, Democrat of Arlington. ''It's not surprising in a week where Gillette has merged and the governor has been getting battered around for job loss in the state. It's not leadership to deny adequate funding for agencies and then blame people you appoint, especially considering how much improvement has occurred at that agency under her watch."

The Department of Conservation and Recreation is responsible for snow removal on the state-owned parkway and its adjacent sidewalks. Donald Pellegrini, headmaster at West Roxbury High, said he had called the department Monday asking it to clear sidewalks and crosswalks around the school's entrance, but the work was not done until Wednesday, and even then a sidewalk across the street from the school was left buried in snow.

more.......

Tracy Jan and Beth Daley of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Janette Neuwahl contributed to this report. Glen Johnson can be reached at [e-mail].