Blue Mass Group

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Paul McMorrow’s King Sal

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I’m a little late to the game here but Paul has written a really good piece over at Boston Magazine on Sal Dimasi. Lot’s of inside information, background and “unnamed” sources chime in to provide balanced look at the Speaker. Check it out at here.  

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  2. Some tidbits about DiMasi from the article for those who like the cliff notes version:

    • Very popular in his North End district
    • Cloaks a sharp and pragmatic intellect with gladhanding and humor
    • Grew up poor; social justice remains a real concern for him
    • Successfully bucked powerful Boston mayor Kevin White as a young representative
    • Longtime Finneran associate – both helped Keverian depose McGee from the speakership and netted chairmanships
    • 30-year legislative veteran; believes that “big legislation has to be consensus legislation, or else it won’t survive.”
    • Missed key vote on tax increase due to being ill. Said to have told Keverian when asked to come in for the vote: “Mr. Speaker,” he said, “with all due respect, I’m home recovering from a heart attack, not a lobotomy.” Fiscal hawkishness and resistance to taxes has roots in huge purge of house that followed.
    • Won the speakership by reaching out to social progressives Finneran had shut out; has either empowered them or co-opted them, depending on perspective
    • Crafts legislation behind closed doors with extensive participation from the members but brooks no opposition once this process has concluded
    • Whiffs of corruption. Forced a vote on energy bill without giving members time to examine final amendments, including “a late rider opening the state’s coastal waters to unfettered wind-turbine development” which is seen as “as a giveaway to a DiMasi pal, developer Jay Cashman” and is now “the subject of a showdown with the Senate”
    • Doesn’t disagree with the Governor so much on issues as “details, process and who’s the big dog.”

    McMorrow works the angle of the rift between DiMasi and the Governor that has been so popular in the press.  One thing I found interesting that hasn’t been remarked on anywhere I’ve seen is that the two men apparently share the experience of growing up poor and of feeling deep obligation to give back to those less fortunate.  DiMasi is quoted, “When much has been given to you, much is expected for you to give in return. That’s what we do around here.”  I’d note my own observation that DiMasi looked winded and thoughtful after Patrick’s State of the Commonwealth address, in which of course the Governor emphasized this theme of the American dream, how far his own family had come in one generation, how far others in state government (including the Speaker) had come, how great a responsibility they had to those just embarking on their lives, and how high the costs of inaction could be.  

    I think McMorrow also gets it wrong on Patrick’s corporate background – he refers to Patrick, like Romney, as being a “CEO Governor, accustomed to being the boss, not a partner,” and discusses Patrick’s frustrations in his first year with the legislature in those terms.  Of course, unlike Romney, Patrick was never the CEO of the large corporations where he worked – he served at the highest levels and on corporate boards, but he typically was brought in to help senior management troubleshoot pervasive ethical or cultural problems without himself holding the top executive authority.  Although Patrick may not have initially realized to what extent his role as Governor would recapitulate those corporate assignments, it in no way should be unfamiliar territory to him to need to realize his agenda through motivating other leaders, such as DiMasi, who hold more organizational power.

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