Will Brownsberger — State Senator, Democrat, 2d Suffolk and Middlesex District

While the problem of patronage in probation may have been substantially addressed by changing leadership, it still may make sense to reorganize the system.

Tom Keane’s op-ed piece, http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2010/12/04/politicians_no_more_favors, copy and paste to read, is spot on and I hope Rep. Brownsberger takes it to heart and introduces legislation that will institutionalize it’s message. Key take away: “Exceptions create the appearance — if not the reality — that the rule of law doesn’t apply to all. They breed cynicism [...]

The vast majority of state job openings are posted on the Commonwealth Employment Opportunities web site, mass.gov/finding a job/public sector jobs.  The site has separate listings for openings in state government, federal government, K-12 educators, state colleges and universities, authorities and quasi-state agencies and the court system.  The Job Quest section also allows applicants to [...]

it is interesting to read previous posts…. it does seem that MA state government has always had shameless patronage. When incompetent or even dangerous people are given jobs that endanger public safety a line has been crossed. Has that woman who provided information to criminal boyfriends been fired as yet?

Given the complexities of  job procurement and the fact that most legislators have little training in personnel, it would be be wise for legislators to be prohibited from participating in the  process for public employment. Certainly if a legislator knows of a position they can inform a potential applicant and that is where they should [...]

Will, It is time to clean house. The report on the Probation Department released this week by Independent Counsel Paul F.Ware, together with the Globe Spotlight Team’s report on Rep. Thomas Petrolati published in October and the Globe’s earlier report on Probation Department Commisioner John O’Brien paint a depressingly familiar picture of how business is [...]