The Lowell Sun just gave a rousing endorsement of Michael A Sullivan for Middlesex County DA. It emphasized his long record as a county wide manager, Cambridge Mayor and councilor, and his advocacy record and relations with the ADA. Michael has the most endorsements of law enforcement and people associated with the DAs office like former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger. The appointed incumbent has well documented credibility issues, has driven away hundreds from the department, and has responded with coverups rather than accountability. It’s time for the voters to hold her accountable and restore the office to the gold standard it had. This is why it’s vital we elect Michael A Sullivan this primary.
In the aftermath of the Remy case, Ryan worked hard to undo the damage and helped author a new domestic-violence law approved by the state Legislature.
However, recent revelations that Ryan withheld from the public 19 pages of a 36-page report on her department’s handling of the Remy case are deeply troubling. The report is a public record demanding full transparency, yet Ryan elected to pick and choose what she thought was good enough for disclosure while locking away the rest in secrecy. We believe Ryan violated the state’s public records law and seriously undermined the public’s trust.
Furthermore, since her appointment in April 2013, her 240-person staff has experienced a reported 25-percent turnover. While the low pay and high workload of assistant district attorneys is a contributing factor, that alone can’t explain this employee exodus. It’s also illuminating that Lisa McGovern, the Middlesex assistant district attorney who prosecuted the Remy case, has resigned and and is now a Sullivan supporter.
In our view, the DA’s office needs a fresh start. Michael Sullivan has demonstrated he can manage people, handle budgets, and produce results over a broad spectrum of public service jobs. His skill-set promotes both understanding, collaboration and transparency, key traits for turning a good DA’s office into a great one for the public’s benefit.
Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/opinion/ci_26423002/sullivan-middlesex-da#ixzz3BopHnLOE
I asked her point blank for her side of the story regarding the release of the Remy report. She acknowledged that bad calls were made in the investigation itself, but insists it is her job to take responsibility for it and not throw 20-somethings on her staff under the bus by blaming them. She told me she released all the findings of the report, but not all of the report itself in order to shield her staff. She said she did not want media parked in their driveways like they have been in hers. While different judgements could have been made in the investigation (and she did hint that some things may have fallen through the cracks in the transition from Leone), she is comfortable and confident that she did the right things regarding the release of the report.
The report only named those people by title, not by name. It seems that the reporters parked in her driveway are there because of the transparency issue, not because of what’s in the report. For me, that answer is not satisfying.
I was just trying to get her side and do my best to pass along what she told me.
Which reads:
And then discusses why Sullivan is better:
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