GROSSMAN CAMPAIGN DEMANDS THAT POLITO GIVE BACK LOW-NUMBER RED SOX PLATES TO AUCTION OFF FOR JIMMY FUND
Globe reports that two-thirds of low-number plates intended to raise funds for children’s cancer charity instead were diverted to Rep. Polito, family, and contributors
Expressing shock at a Boston Globe story this morning that Rep. Karyn Polito of Shrewsbury, the Republican candidate for Treasurer, had grabbed 68 of 100 low-number Red Sox license plates for herself, her relatives, her contributors, and her friends, Kathryn Burton, campaign manager for Democratic candidate Steve Grossman, demanded that Polito return her family’s plates so that they could be auctioned off for the Jimmy Fund as intended.
“These plates were designed to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for children’s cancer research,” Burton said, “The first 100 were supposed to have been auctioned off to the highest bidder. But only six were. According to the Globe, more than two-thirds went to Rep. Polito – who has plate #2 – her family and her pals.”
“This is an outrageous violation of the public trust and an abuse of power. The plates that were auctioned off raised as much as $140,000. Polito and her associates paid $40,” Burton said.
“The only way to rectify this outrageous situation is for you and your family to give the plates back and let them be auctioned off to the highest bidders – starting with your #2,” she said.
Burton added that “Beacon Hill pols handing out low-number plates is an old-time political abuse that was supposed to have ended long ago. Your actions in returning to this brand of self-serving politics makes a mockery of your claim to be a watchdog.
The proclivity towards self-destruction in the current crop of Republicans is stunning.
she did the work to get the patrons enlisted to giving so the plates would be issued, which raised $5 Million for Charities. Come on—this stinks. So when patrons of the BSO or Boston Pops get 1500 people to issue a plate to benefit their “favorite charity” they don’t get the plates they desire? On Beacon Hill–to the victor go the spoils. not a story.
This is relatively small-bore stuff, but it’s exactly the kind of inside-the-building BS that drives everybody in the real world crazy. Applications are tagged “per KPolito” and they magically get super-low numbers, even though they were filed days or weeks after ordinary folks who love the Sox apply and get #1912 or whatever.
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p>It’s classic hackery, and it’s exactly what the so-called “reformers” of your party claim to be running against.
Today you can see low number plates on discreet dark cars driven by grey hairs who worked for Frank Sargent. Even Mike Dukakis could not stop comletely the RMV practice of rewarding contributors or volunteers with this painless gift. I know a guy who is clinging to a low plate he got from Foster Furcolo when he was 16.
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p>Who was the RMV director at the time again?
that’s a great one—its when Fenway Park was built.
Is that the best you got on KP ? If so, she’s our next Treasurer
This plategate business is classic hack behavior and you know it. Is it the worst ever to hit Beacon Hill? Obviously not. But it still stinks.
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p>I sure hope our next Treasurer doesn’t think that cutting the sales tax to 3% is a good way to get it to 5%. That’s Polito’s position. Genius.
and calls for returned plates so the Jimmy Fund can hold an auction (while spinning the hell out of the facts) is classic election eve crap that distracts from the real issues. Once again, those concerns should be addressed to the Jimmy Fund. Not a reality based analysis of the important issue, i.e. who would be the better Treasurer.
If we can’t trust you with the little things (ie handling a fair and reasonable process for charity vanity plates) then how do we trust you with the big things? You can’t pretend that Ms. Polito didn’t engage in some time-honored hackery here, while running as a “outsider” and “ready to clean up Beacon Hill culture.” With all due respect, she’d have to clean up her own closet before she tends to anyone else’s. Just saying…
by Kathryn Burton, of the Grossman campaign, that there was supposed to be an auction of the first 100 plates? The Globe article clearly states:
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p>If it’s up to the Jimmy Fund, don’t we have to assume they know what they’re doing? Just because a subsequent auction was held and a few high profile high rollers chose to donate huge sums to the charity does not mean that: A) The Jimmy Fund was somehow wrong to allow an early champion of their effort to direct choice plates to friends or family; B) Representative Polito somehow got a STATE advantage; or C) that this advantage cost the STATE a penny.
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p>If the Grossman campaign doesn’t think the Jimmy Fund strategy for the first 100 plates was fair or productive in the long run (Who knows? Maybe it helped lead to later bidding frenzy) then they should bring that up at the next charity fund raising seminar. As opposed to planting a last minute story in the Globe and issuing their pre-drafted expressions of shock and outrage.
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p>CAVEAT: I still haven’t decided for whom I am going to vote. I just hate to see this election eve crap. That’s the only “outrageous situation” I’d like to see rectified. In fact, I demand that the Grossman campaign surrender its credibility, to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Don’t think it is rocket science to figure out that such numbers as 8, 9, 27 etc. have uber value over a random number under 100. HOF retired numbers went for the big bucks in the auction (no kidding). Just because a 41 or a 12 may be low doesn’t mean they had any significant auction value.
the reason some people are wrapped around the axle is because it was advertised as “first come, first served.” In actuality, however, the applications of certain people were bumped to the front of the line, to receive the coveted low number plates. People with earlier applications were given higher numbered plates (one of them was over 1,000) than the connected few. “Per K Polito” on the applications gives away the game. If it’s not “first come, first served,” then it shouldn’t be advertised that way. While it’s not huge, it just makes people cynical. The rules are, once again, for everybody else.
Polito said she wanted to make sure they got the required 1,500 pledges so she went to….her family. Please. You could get 5,000 pledges in an hour outside Fenway. And guess what, then they pledges would be made by citizens who have probably been supporting the Jimmy Fund for years instead of connected hacks.
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p>It’s just another glaring example of pols saying, let me take the steak and I’ll leave you the gristle.
Is this news? How about we revoke ALL low numbered license plates. Seriously, make everyone have a regular plate number. I think it’s just silly to fight over a low number plate. What is the benefit? Does it make your car drive better, do you get less tickets?
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p>Take them all away. Streamline the process. Save money.
Ask the folks who paid tens of thousands of dollars for low-number plates.
what was the state’s benefit? By no means am I claiming the state got the short end of the stick; I’m wondering: does the state get the short end of the stick?
Why is it worth a ton of money just so your number can be low?
A bunch of intangibles like that. Why do old baseball cards of players that have been dead for years that originally cost like ten cents now sell for thousands of dollars? Same general idea.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOU COMING BACK TO THE SITE WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING ELSE YOU WANT TO BLAST US WITH.
I’m sorry, but a culture that is willing to pay “tens of thousands of dollars” for “special” license plates — especially in connection with professional sports — is a culture that, by construction, can afford to pay more in taxes.
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p>We have bridges falling down, worn-out and decrepit trains, and poor and sick people suffering in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
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p>Against that backdrop, every aspect of this mini-scandal is disgusting. Twenty thousand dollars buys a fair number of foreign language lessons at a struggling public middle school, and that’s just one plate.
Then let the culture pay the taxes.
claim as completely baseless and false. The Jimmy Fund acknowledges it was in complete control of the plate assignment process and that they decided not to auction any other plates than the few retired numbers that they did.
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p>http://www.jimmyfund.com/
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p>I suppose Mr. Grossman is making such a big deal about this, spinning lies and negative ads because his campaign is lacking of any substance or ideas so he must therefore resort to the old style, gutter politics. Massachusetts deserves better than Steve Grossman. Take the ads down and start being honest!!