Thursday, March 14, 2013

Killins Me Softly

In case you missed it, The Boston Globe’s Joan Vennochi wrote a great column today about the outgoing, seemingly part-time Commissioner of the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), Sherri Killins and how this scandal could throw a wrench in Governor Patrick’s tax plans.  For those who don’t know, she’s the state employee who is currently participating in a superintendent training internship in Ware, living in New Haven, Connecticut and in charge of a state agency, headquartered in Boston, earning $200,000 a year.  She resigned on Monday, but will still collect a salary for two months, essentially working as a consultant.  It seems that her superiors, Education Secretary Matthew Malone and our tax-pushing Governor, were not aware of her internship. 

As Ms. Venocchi wrote in her column, “It also looks like the governor for whom she worked doesn’t respect the taxpayers enough to acknowledge the reality of the situation.”  At a time when Governor Patrick is aggressively pushing his $2 billion tax plan and asking the hard-working residents of the Commonwealth to open up their wallets for his grand plans, this scandal is another example of the waste, fraud and abuse that must be addressed before we can even begin to discuss tax increases.

Click here to read Ms. Venocchi's column in its entirety.