Certainly Appears That Way
By Josh Resnek
The mayor is planning a fundraiser in November at Anthony’s in Malden on the same evening the E-Club is having its annual dinner and scholarship awards night.
The convergence of these two events attracting so many of the same people has raised some eyebrows in local political circles.
The mayor’s campaign account is apparently close to empty and in need of a shot in the arm in order for the mayor to continue paying criminal attorneys who represent him.
The mayor has been paying criminal attorneys for the past year and longer from his campaign account, as reported in the Leader Herald in May.
Councilor Mike Marchese asked his colleagues in government to question the mayor about the large payments being made from month to month last May.
“Are you under criminal investigation or not?” Marchese asked.
There was no reply.
The Leader Herald showed that the mayor has been paying about $10,000 a month from his campaign account, according to records on le with the Massachusetts Office of
Campaign and Political Finance. Traurig Greenberg, a worldwide legal giant is representing the mayor, again, according to les on record at the MOCP and printed in the Leader Herald.
Tickets for the mayor’s time are said to be available in denominations beginning at $100, $250, $500 and going as high as $1,000.
State law forbids the sale of tickets inside city hall. It also forbids direct solicitations of every kind for city employees, many of whom will be attending the time, said several city officials who asked not to be identified.
“Do all the councilors make a contribution to the mayor,” a councilor was asked. “I know I don’t,” he said, asking at the same time for his identity to remain unknown.
The Leader Herald will publish a list of all those who attend and how much they have donated following the next opportunity to examine the mayor’s political files which comes in January.
A call to the mayor’s communications chief Tom Philbin asked him to detail how the mayor handles the strictly political angle of his fundraisers.
Does he solicit city employees? Does he do this at city hall? Who exactly has been mailed invitations?
Does the mailing include city employees?
How exactly does the mayor’s political apparatus raise the money without con icting with the state’s strict campaign and nance laws, Philbin was asked.
Also, why would the mayor schedule his fundraiser on the same night as the E-Club’s?
Philbin didn’t return the Herald Leader’s call.