Longtime business owners in Ludlow still praise Petrolati as the consummate hometown legislator and dismiss the investigation as a "political head hunt."
State Rep.Thomas Petrolati, hands out candy to students from St. John the Baptist School, as part of the annual Ludlow tree decorating ceremony Thursday morning. While there, he spoke briefly with a reporter about an investigation of the Massachusetts Probation Department.LUDLOW - Beleaguered state Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati gamely distributed candy among elementary school students participating in the town’s annual tree-lighting ceremony on Wednesday morning, an annual event sponsored by the Ludlow Business Action Committee, a coalition of primarily mom-and-pop businesses in this tight-knit town.
Though Blow Pops and Butterfingers were the draw among the young set, Petrolati, D-Ludlow, conceded a burgeoning joint state and federal investigation into an alleged “rigged” system of doling out probation and court jobs in which he reportedly had a major role was taking its toll.
“If I ever thought that 24 years ago, when I took office, I’d be under this spotlight for helping people, for seeking jobs ....I'd have said: no way,” Petrolati said, pausing during the festivities as children sheathed Christmas trees in the business district on East Street with hand-painted ornaments.
“Recommending for jobs; they were only recommendations,” Petrolati’s chief of staff, Colleen Ryan, interjected. “You were never part of the hiring process.”
Ryan’s husband, Robert P. Ryan, also works as a $93,000-per-year probation manager while Petrolati’s wife, Kathleen, holds a probation job at the same salary, according to public records.
Petrolati essentially stepped down from his longtime post as House Speaker pro tempore, the third-ranking position in the body on Nov. 23, after a withering 300-page report by special investigator Paul F. Ware focused on probation hiring practices was released.
“I understand. I understand the dynamic ... I don't want to take the focus off the issues. And they’re major issues. Economic development has not progressed as we had hoped. We expect to be worse off this year than we were last,” he said.
Business owners including “Purple Bob” Starzyk of Purple Bob’s Ludlow Flowers and Chairman of the Ludlow Business Action Committee, said the investigation is nothing more than a “political head hunt.”
“I’m very upset about this,” said Starzyk. “Beacon Hill just doesn’t like a guy from western Massachusetts taking the number three spot.”
It was the first time Petrolati talked publicly about the Probation Department probe, and was hesitant to answer specific questions about the investigation.
When asked how he felt, in retrospect, about invoking his 5th amendment right not to incriminate himself when subpoenaed during the Ware inquiry, Petrolati shrugged and said: “I was advised by counsel to do that. I don’t know how to feel about it.”
The legislator said constituents appear unconcerned about the report and allegations he slid unqualified candidates into court jobs, which he denies.
“They haven’t found one (unqualified person) yet,” he said. “I’ve always looked at the power of government through a parochial lens: district first, district first.”