Governor Vetoes Pension Exemption for City Worker

By Tammy DanielsPrint Story | Email Story
NORTH ADAMS - Gov. Deval Patrick couldn't forgive a city worker's past conviction, dashing his hopes to retire with a pension in a move described as "callous." The governor vetoed a home rule bill late Wednesday that would have reinstated the retirement rights of Highway Superintendent Leo Senecal. "This is the most callous act I've ever seen by a governor," said Mayor John Barrett III on Thursday. "He's hurt someone who doesn't deserve to be hurt." Senecal pleaded guilty in 1998 to burying hazardous waste (oil) at the city yard. He said at the time that he was trying to save the city money. He was fined $9,000 for the cost of the cleanup, suspended and demoted, and placed on probation. He served no jail time for the criminal conviction. State Rep. Daniel E. Bosley, D-North Adams, said he was frustrated and disappointed by the governor's action and vowed to override the veto. "This is a case of redressing a wrong. It's very frustrating," said Bosley, who filed the bill. "I'm bound and determined to override this thing. ... We'll carry it over [into the new year]." Pension Revoked Senecal, a 40-year city veteran, continued to pay into the city's pension fund but was stripped of his rights earlier this year because of his conviction. Retirement Board members had reportedly been told they could be jailed if they OK'ed the pension in defiance of a 1996 law that prohibited convicted felons from receiving state pension benefits. Bosley filed the bill asking the Legislature to exempt Senecal. The Public Employees Retirement Administration Commission had explained the particulars to the governor's people in support of the bill, he said. The City Council had voted 9-0 in support of the measure. But what angered both Bosley and Barrett was that the governor never communicated with either one about the bill - or his decision to veto it. "He never called anybody to find out what the situation was," said Barrett. The mayor said he learned of the veto Wednesday and spent a sleepless night before informing Senecal on Thursday morning. The governor also didn't return a call from Barrett, instead having his chief of staff respond - which didn't sit well the the state's longest-serving mayor. "I don't know where this guy's coming from," said Barrett, adding that the governor he supported has done little to back up his claim of bringing compassion to his office. In his message to the Legislature on the veto, the governor wrote "I do not believe the public is well served by making individual legislative exceptions to a rule that is meant to apply uniformly." Bosley, however, said those exceptions are very much the purview of the Legislature. "This is the General Court of Massachusetts. We are the court of last resort," he said, for people who find themselves in difficult situations, such as Senecal has. "We turn down dozens [of requests] a year. We approve precious few because they have merit." Senecal is the first - and so far only - public employee to be punished under the 11-year-old law designed to prevent corrupt public officials from retaining benefits. The Retirement Board will return the $41,000 or so he's contributed to the system, but he'll have no Social Security, no pension and no insurance. He's paid about $50,000 in attorney fees and will lose an estimated $700,000 in pension benefits, said the mayor. 'Slap in the Face' Barrett described the veto as a "slap in the face" to Bosley, and wondered why the governor would anger a powerful lawmaker and co-chairman of the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies - where Patrick's life science bill and casino initiative are currently sitting. Bosley is an outspoken opponent of casino gambling. The representative said he didn't think it was personal and didn't know why the governor would veto the bill. He and Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, a sponsor of the home rule bill, have been lining up support for a veto override. "This guy has paid a lot for one transgression in 40 years," said Bosley. "He's paid in money, and in embarrassment every time there's a story."
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New York Times Bestselling Author to Speak at MCLA's MOSAIC

NORTH ADAMS, MASS. — The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will host a special lecture, "The Acid Queen: The Psychedelic Life and Countercultural Rebellion of Rosemary Woodruff Leary," featuring New York Times bestselling author Susannah Cahalan. 
 
The event will take place on April 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the MOSAIC Event Space on 49 Main St., North  Adams. This event is free and open to the public. 
 
According to a press release:
 
Presented as part of the Politics of the Visual: Lecture Series in Visual Culture, this talk will explore the legacy of Rosemary Woodruff Leary, a key but often overlooked figure in the 1960s counterculture movement. 
 
Known primarily as the wife of Timothy Leary, Rosemary played a pivotal role in the psychedelic movement, from her participation in peyote ceremonies with Beat artists to her involvement in Leary's infamous acid commune in Millbrook, NY, and her eventual status as an international fugitive. Drawing from archival materials and an unfinished memoir, Cahalan will reconstruct Rosemary's journey, shedding light on her contributions to the cultural and political landscape of the era. 
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