Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Globe Reveals Mary ‘ZZZZZZZZZ’ Connaughton Asleep at the Switch While Lottery CFO

By

Worse still for poor Mary Z, this story of incompetence follows last week’s revelation of the key role she played as Chief Compliance Office at the Treasury in losing $16 million after she dumped the only experienced qualified vendor in favor of four inexperienced competitors.

But the real problem for Mary is that this story destroys the myth that she cares one whit about transparency in government.

In painstaking detail, the story paints a picture of a bureaucrat hell-bent on blocking and obfuscating all attempts to uncover the truth by… (drum roll please) State Auditor Joe DeNucci and his team of auditors.

The bottom line?

Joe got to the bottom of the sordid mess and Malone passed into public obscurity until he was thoroughly crushed this year by an opponent best known for failing to act while a sexual assault on a minor allegedly took place right in front on him!

It will be interesting to see if the Bump campaign decides to lay back on this, or whether they will instead make sure every voter knows that Mary is bad news.

If they’re out there, here’s one vote for REALLY BEING TRANSPARENT, and making sure as many voters read and hear about this story as possible.

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0

Comments

  1. If they’re out there, here’s one vote for REALLY BEING TRANSPARENT

    <

    p>Agreed.  

    <

    p>But weren’t you arguing recently that the Globe was too harsh on Suzanne Bump for not…being transparent?  

  2. So Mary talks up her accounting cred, but every time she has served as a government accountant her tenure has been marred by mismanagement, poor decision making, and now dishonesty. Was her license not on the line then?   I don’t know why any voter would trust her with being responsible for the whole state.  

    <

    p>There is already a nauseating amount of Dunkins in Boston. I hope Mass voters will vote against Mary and her doughnut funds. > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

  3. I complain endlessly about conservatives talking about Nancy [Pelosi], Barney [Frank], Harry [Reid], etc. as if they were too emotional to be fully adult and thus deserve a last name. I should register a request here for a little more “Ms. Connaughton” and a little less “Mary Z”.

    <

    p>Otherwise, a useful diary. Thank you for it!

    • Thanks KBush for reminding us to be respectful.
      Nevertheless I suspect Ms Connaghton might not have been able see the lottery’s damage for the hole.    

      <

      p>

      • I see signs all over the place that say “Mary Z” in huge letters, with her last name almost invisibly small under that. The right-wing bloggers and commenters I am (unwillingly) exposed to all seem to refer to her fondly as “Mary Z” — it seems to be her chosen moniker.

        • with a lot of Italian voters. She’s Italian, and married her “C” surname. Emphasizing the “Z” is a politician’s name of saying “I’m one of you” to an ethnic voting bloc.

          • Those signs should be in areas with a lot of Italian voters. She’s Italian, and married her “C” surname. Emphasizing the “Z” is a politician’s name of saying “I’m one of you” to an ethnic voting bloc.

            <

            p>I’ve seen them in suburbs not well known for their Italian populations, so while that may have been the intent, it’s not the practice.

  4. You say

    It will be interesting to see if the Bump campaign decides to lay back on this, or whether they will instead make sure every voter knows that Mary is bad news.

    I face no personal indecision. As a huge supporter of Suzanne’s, I will be sure that everyone I know will hear of this!

  5. Unfortunately, today’s Boston Globe piece on Mary Connaughton just scratched the surface of her train wreck of a career.  For example, this South Coast Today piece from 1999 reveals that, despite a budget of over $3 billion, Mary Connaughton never thought to subject the Lottery to an outside,  professional audit:

    <

    p>

    Newly-inaugurated Treasurer Shannon O’Brien yesterday said she will bring in outside auditors to review state Lottery operations, including $13 million in debt incurred by ticket vendors.

    “You have a $3.2 billion a year business that really does not — on an annual basis — do an audit,” O’Brien said in a news conference. “We’re going to change that.”

    <

    p>The question is – what was Mary Connaughton trying to hide?  Anyone around back then remembers the scandal-plagued Lottery that Shannon O’Brien took over from Joe Malone and Mary Connaughton – missing scratch tickets, inadequate internal controls, sloppy management – all things that the Lottery’s CFO should have been on top of, at least if she had had a minimal amount of competence.  It’s all laid out in Auditor DeNucci’s 1999 report.  Here are some tasty tidbits from that audit:

    <

    p>

    Inadequate and Inconsistent Internal Controls, Security, Oversight, and Monitoring Practices over [the Lottery’s] Sales Office Exposed Millions of Dollars in Revenue to Loss or Theft

    <

    p>

    Poor Management of Hundreds of Millions of Instant Game Tickets Rendered Them Vulnerable to Theft and Misuse

    <

    p>

    Questionable Payroll Practices

    <

    p>Mary Connaughton running on her competence as an auditor would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

Archives