First, here is the full statement from A&F spokesman Joe Landolfi. I have underlined the only parts that made it into the Globe.
The US Attorney’s indictment indicates that the initial Cognos matter began in 2004 under a prior administration. Two investigations into this matter have been concluded – by the US Attorney and the Inspector General – and there have been absolutely no allegations by the investigators of misconduct of any kind by any senior Patrick administration official. Patrick administration officials cooperated fully with both investigations. In fact, the Inspector General’s report specifically concluded that the decision to award the contract to Cognos was made on the basis of the recommendation of the then-acting Chief Information Officer – an appointee of the prior administration – who withheld information about concerns raised by the procurement team from her superiors. The Patrick administration brought in a new CIO who was made aware of irregularities with the procurement process and the administration referred the matter to an independent investigatory agency, revoked the contract and obtained a full refund of the $13 million paid to Cognos.
We are confident that senior administration officials acted appropriately at all times. In response to inquiries about the role of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, we believe that the right decisions were made given the information presented at the time. Given that this is an ongoing prosecution, we feel it is most appropriate to not interfere with the judicial process by responding to specific facts in the case until the process comes to a conclusion.
Now, I don’t expect the Globe to run the entire statement. But there’s some quite useful information in there that I would think readers would like to know about — specifically, (1) that this began under the Romney administration, and (2) that the decision by A&F Secretary Kirwan to go forward was made based on misinformation relayed by the Romney holdover CIO, Bethann Pepoli. Way down in the bowels of the article, the Globe does report that “administration officials pointed blame for the award at a holdover from the Romney administration, [acting CIO] Pepoli. Pepoli selected the winning bidder and recommended approval to higher-level officials in a bid process that has since been found to be improper.” But the Inspector General’s report is quite clear that, as Landolfi’s statement says, Pepoli gave Kirwan bad information. Whereas the Globe’s version suggests that there was some technical flaw in the procurement process, and Pepoli just passed along what the procurement people told her. That’s not the case.
Here is the relevant passage of the Inspector General’s report explaining what happened (you can read the whole thing here (PDF)):
[T]he procurement management team began but never finalized its evaluation of the bidders. Instead, after meeting with all three vendors who responded to the Request for Quotes, the team unanimously felt that much more information had to be gathered because they did not adequately understand how various agencies and administrators would use performance management software. This view was expressed in an interim evaluation drafted just before the procurement was suspended. In it the group recommended the process start over with extensive investigation of the business needs and technological requirements of line agencies, top executive branch officials and legislative users….
Nevertheless, this uniformly held opinion was not what was communicated to you. While the procurement management team had urged that the procurement be re-done, on May 18, the acting Chief Information Officer at ITD presented a status report with interim evaluation results to your deputy, Henry Dormitzer. According to each of their accounts of the meeting, the acting Chief Information Officer said that Cognos was the best choice for performance management software procurement. Dormitzer subsequently relayed this misinformation to you during a conversation in the spring, according to your memory of events. That verbally transmitted representation apparently formed the basis of your belief that due diligence had been performed to achieve “best value” for the state and that Cognos Corporation had been deemed the top-scoring vendor of the three respondents. On that basis, you signed the $13 million order agreement in August.
This outcome, no matter how well intentioned, does not comply with the enhanced procurement rules adopted to conform to Chapter 27 of the Acts of 2007 or to 801 CMR 21.00. Accordingly, this office concludes that this procurement must be voided, the Cognos software returned, the $13 million repaid to the state, and a proper procurement be conducted for performance management software.
And, of course, that is exactly what happened.
Also weirdly absent from the Globe story is any reference to the parts of the indictment that paint Secretary Kirwan as standing in the way of the Cognos deal, even though the story refers to other parts of the indictment that implicate deputy chief of staff David Morales (UPDATE: Joan Vennochi’s column does mention that Kirwan “appears to be the only person who tried to stop the Cognos deal”). For example, in a story that focuses heavily on Secretary Kirwan’s involvement, why would you not mention this (emphasis mine):
90. On or about June 22, 2007, Cognos Executive A sent an email to LALLY about the status of the deal, stating, in part: “Let’s go in and have a sales call to determine what the issue is and how to play it. My gut on this is that she [Secretary of A&F] is not a fan of how the overall deal is structured or has developed and is holding out either her support and/or multi-year budget project as a result.” LALLY responded in an email:
Sal, Dick and I discussed this last night at the democratic fund raiser…. That is the situation we are in [sic] currently involved in right now. We have a rogue Secretary that has some issues on how PM should be purchased and implemented. We are dealing with her boss [David Morales] and he is coaching us on how to handle the situation. Our consensus is to ride it out with her management for now and trust that they will come through….
Could more have been done? Sure. More can always be done. But a front-page, above-the-fold story based on “critics” like Brad Jones and Richard Tisei? Um, no. If the standard for a front-page story is that Jones and Tisei have something bad to say about the Patrick administration, we’d have one every day.
Disclosure: I have known Secretary Kirwan since I worked in the State House in the late ’90s, though not all that well. Bob has known her for many years. We have not had any communication with Secretary Kirwan regarding the Cognos matter.
ed-poon says
If the standard for a front-page story is that Jones and Tisei have something bad to say about the Patrick administration, the Globe would be the Herald.
ed-poon says
The actions of Jones and Tisei illustrate part of why we are a (dysfunctional) one-party state. The indictment and evidence show that it was Kirwan and the Patrick administration who played a role in stopping this corruption. At the very least, they played a passive an unknowing part in it. Whatever one may think of Deval Patrick, corrupt machine politican is not one them. OTOH, the indictment shows deep and systemic problems in the integrity of the legislative process, from the Speaker on down.
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p>Now, you would think from a political perspective that the leaders of the legislative opposition would want to focus on the actions of DiMasi and House Ds. If they are seriously interested in growing their caucus, that’s where the margin is. But no, they are out there carrying the water for Baker/Mihos/Sullivan/Jack E. Robinson/whatever putz they run against Deval in 2010. I don’t get it; honestly, I don’t. Can PP or someone else enlighten me.
goldsteingonewild says
The indictment is federal, right?
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p>The Globe story didn’t mention what happened/happens to the investigation Martha Coakley was doing back in October.
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p>…both legally (i.e., how do state and fed folks hash out who runs with a case?)
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p>…and politically (i.e., is there a way for Coakley’s opponents in a Senate primary to explore if she pursued it aggressively?)
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david says
I do wonder whether any of this goes back to the state constitutional issue that I was yakking about a while back. While a state constitutional provision protecting DiMasi’s records would be a problem for a state AG’s investigation, it is of course not a problem for the feds, since federal law will always trump state law in these situations.
somervilletom says
I wrote earlier that the Globe “hit a homerun” with its aggressive coverage of this entire affair. I agree with you that today’s piece was something between a foul ball and a pop-up.
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p>The facts seem to be leading towards corruption in the administration of former Governor Mitt Romney. Shocking — who woulda thunk?
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p>I share your assessment that Ms. Kirwan is a good-guy here, if not an out-and-out hero. Her courage in sniffing out and then taking effective action against this criminal conspiracy is heartening.
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p>I’m less clear about the role of Mr. Morales in the latter stages of this sad episode. Leadership and courage — especially when fighting entrenched corruption and power-politics — is something an administration either does or does not do, day in and day out. These are not qualities that can be marketed and sold, no matter how many press releases are published, constant-contact “newsletters” emailed, or orchestrated “town meetings” are conducted.
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p>My expectations at the beginning of Governor Patrick’s term were surely excessively high. Now that the honeymoon is over, I’m struggling to come to grips with who Governor Patrick really is, and whether or not his team has what it takes.
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p>So far, it looks to me like the trend is still downward. I keep waiting for an upturn, but I haven’t seen it yet. That’s not the Globe’s fault, no matter how well or poorly today’s piece was written.
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p>When I began commenting here, several months ago, I wrote that the priorities of this administration should be:
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p>1. Transportation infrastructure
2. Education
3. Affordable healthcare
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p>We are more than halfway through Governor Patrick’s first term, and I see precious little progress on any of these. His administration’s handling of the transportation infrastructure “priority” strikes me as particularly inept.
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p>It would be nice (though totally unrealistic, I’m sure) if Governor Patrick and his senior staff displayed even a little bit of the courage, integrity, and stamina displayed by Secretary Kirwan.
pierce says
The distinction drawn between the A and F chief Kirwan and this aide to the Governor, Morales, is an interesting one.
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p>Kirwan has to manage the State’s finances. To be credible in that job she needs to be seen as less political. For her, corrupting the contract-making process would compromise her standing and ability to administer the Government on behalf of the administration. A and F head, while serving at the pleasure of the Governor, is a little like being a Town Administrator vis-a-via the Selectmen.
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p>Mr. Morales on the other hand, is a political aide first and foremost. For him, worrying about whether the Speaker is happy, as the Speaker has a good deal of the Governor’s agenda in his hands, matters a lot. Di Masi’s associates knew that if the bureaucrats weren’t supportive, you can always take the issue through political channels and hope for a better result.
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p>In a perfect world, you’d like to see those channels closed as well, but Beacon Hill is of course far from that. And as I recall, Morales comes out of the legislature I think. Finneran’s staff maybe? These characters must have known him well from his previous jobs. Access matters. The question here is whether it mattered to the ultimate success of Cognos in winning the contract.
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p>The indictment doesn’t implicate the administration in any wrongdoing but of you do wonder whether staffers in the Governor’s office actively overruled Kirwan or others in awarding the deal to Cognos – to keep the Speaker happy.
That’s not corruption or criminal because they weren’t doing it for their own self-interest. It was just politics and power – deals to keep other players on side – so they may help move the Governor’s agenda.
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p>It does show the power imbalance on the Hill though. all- powerful and barely accountable legislative leaders pushing the Governor and his aides into something un-kosher. Sadly, that is what one-party rule in the legislature has wrought. And Patrick; well he ran on changing the culture of Beacon Hill but seems to have been chumped instead.
david says
Started at House Ways & Means, I think, though I’m not sure who was running it then. May have been on the Speaker’s staff in 2000-01, which would’ve been the Finneran era. Then worked for Trav in the Senate before joining the Patrick operation.
bob-neer says
For the times, they are a-changin’
shiltone says
I don’t know what pressures are bringing them to this shade of yellow in their reporting, but they need to have pressure coming at them from the other side. I basically paraphrased your post in short form as a letter to the editor, and I encourage others to do the same.
billxi says
Governor Christy Mihos is coming. You’re about to lose some of that “Absolute power” And maybe some legislature seats. You’re messing with our wallets too much. That, above all, is an attention getter.
david says
That’s what she said. BOOM!! I’m here all week, folks — try the steak!
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yellow-dog says
sloppy. When all you have for critics is the irrelevant opposition, you got an editorial aspiring to a news story. The only problem with the Patrick Administration was its tardiness on dealing with the problem.
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p>The Globe should have noted that the Patrick Administration was just getting started in the beginning of 2007 and it was staggering from the governor’s colossal gaffes. Neither his chief of staff nor his communications director were ready for prime time, and replacing them took the first quarter of the year. Morales came on board in March as deputy chief of staff, but Wallace-Benjamin was still supposedly the chief. Rubin didn’t come in as chief of staff until April. The Governor’s office was in disarray, and my guess is that they were busy just picking up the pieces.
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p>My guess is that Kirwan would have been busy with the budget for the first three months. The first 100 days of a governorship is pretty intense, and producing that first budget is pretty difficult. (As evidence of this difficulty, I offer the fact that the Governor’s budget also used the wrong numbers). Is it possible that Kirwan was too busy, getting her department up and running and producing a budget, to give all of her attention to a scam being run by a smooth operator like DiMasi?
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p>One could argue that the learning curve of the Patrick Administration was a bit longer than some, but that’s life. That part of the story, however, is over. It’s interesting history, but not news.
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p>Anyone want to bet on the Globe backing a Republican in 2010?
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farnkoff says
WERS radio news repeated the essence of the Globe’s story about ten minutes ago, complete with the somewhat dubious phrase “critics say…” You’d think that this whole angle has been sufficiently discredited by now.