House Speaker Robert DeLeo appointed Democratic House members to leadership jobs.
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, left, ousted state Rep. Thomas Petrolati from his leadership team Friday.BOSTON - House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo ousted Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati from his leadership team Friday, in the aftermath of Petrolati becoming a focus of a patronage investigation in the troubled Probation Department.
DeLeo, a Democrat from Winthrop, stripped Petrolati of his $15,000 bonus and demoted him to rank and file committee assignments including one on public service and another that controls spending. DeLeo, elected speaker in 2009 with the help and support of Petrolati, promoted other Western Massachusetts House members with less seniority than Petrolati but no involvement in the probation investigation.
Petrolati did not return a telephone call and an e-mail to an aide who serves as his press contact. Petrolati has not returned numerous phone calls on the probation issue.
“I think the leadership team we’ve put together is a good one, as we’ve had in the past,” DeLeo told reporters after a meeting with House Democrats to release his appointments. “I think considering what our major objectives are, in terms of job creation, ... parole and probation change, we’ve decided to make some changes, reshuffling some people in various positions.”
DeLeo appointed about 50 Democratic House members to committee chairs, vice chairs and other leadership posts. The positions generally pay $7,500 to $15,000 a year more than the regular legislator’s salary of $61,132. He also appointed Democratic members such as Petrolati to regular committee assignments that carry no extra pay.
Joseph F. WagnerDeLeo appointed Rep. Joseph F. Wagner, D-Chicopee, as the new House chairman of the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, which would oversee a casino bill. Wagner supports casinos, as did the prior committee chairman appointed by DeLeo, a strong casino backer.
In late November, Petrolati, a Ludlow Democrat, and DeLeo “mutually agreed,” according to DeLeo, that Petrolati would relinquish his No. 3 leadership position in the state House of Representatives - called speaker pro tempore - following an independent counsel’s report that outlined Petrolati’s extensive role in patronage hiring in probation.
DeLeo took away Petrolati’s leadership job even though the speaker himself is facing scrutiny in the probation controversy.
DeLeo, for example, recommended his godson, Brian Mirasolo, the son of an aide for the speaker, for a probation job. Mirasolo later became one of the youngest acting chief probation officers in the state, but DeLeo said he had nothing to do with the promotion.
DeLeo didn’t say in November whether he would give Petrolati another leadership post. DeLeo Friday did not appoint Petrolati to leadership, but he named him as a member of some key committees including Public Service, the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees spending on Beacon Hill, the Rules Committee and Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.
DeLeo replaced the 24-year member Petrolati with a new speaker pro tempore - Rep. Patricia A. Haddad, of Somerset. DeLeo did not discuss Petrolati specifically on Friday, but previously has said that Petrolati was hurting public opinion of the state House of Representatives.
“It was my feeling this was putting a cloud in the House in terms of how people view us,” DeLeo recently told WBZ radio 1030 in explaining the decision to have Petrolati step down from leadership following release of the probation report.
It’s the first time Petrolati is without a leadership position in the House in at least a decade.
Petrolati has spent about $97,000 in campaign money on legal fees since late 2008 including about $57,000 of campaign funds to Fierst, Pucci and Kane in Northampton, the law firm representing him on the investigations into the state Probation Department. It is legal for elected officials to spend their campaign money on fees for lawyers and is a longtime practice on Beacon Hill, especially for legislators involved in investigations.
DeLeo also demoted Rep. James E. Vallee, of Franklin, the now-former majority leader who had been jockeying behind the scenes to possibly succeed DeLeo if DeLeo steps down.
DeLeo assigned Vallee as chairman of the lowly Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs, cutting his premium pay by $15,000 to $7,500.
DeLeo also extricated Rep. Charles A. Murphy, another possible candidate for speaker, from his position as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. DeLeo named his former casino point man, Rep. Brian S. Dempsey, D-Haverhill, as the new chair of Ways and Means, and put Wagner in charge of casinos.
John W. ScibakDeLeo named Murphy as assistant majority leader, a position that keeps him in the speaker’s cadre of top advisers. Murphy’s bonus was cut to $15,000, a $10,000 pay cut.
DeLeo told reporters it wasn’t a question of him punishing possible rivals, “It was just a question of where I could fit people in to move our agenda forward.”
Michael F. KaneDeLeo elevated two Western Massachusetts House members to their first chairmanships. Rep. John W. Scibak, D-South Hadley, will be House chair of the Public Service Committee, and Rep. Michael F. Kane, D-Holyoke, will be House chair of Municipalities and Regional Government.
Stephen KulikRep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, was promoted in the leadership ranks. DeLeo named Kulik as vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, up from assistant vice chairman the prior term.
Rep. Benjamin Swan, D-Springfield, stayed in his leadership position as vice chairman of Post Audit and Oversight.
Benjamin SwanRep. Peter V. Kocot, D-Northampton, was shifted to another committee chairmanship, after having been House chair of the Ethics Committee. DeLeo appointed Kocot to be the new House chair of the Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.
Rep. Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera, D-Springfield, was reappointed to her leadership job as chairman of the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development.
Cheryl Coakley-RiveraJeffrey S. Ciuffreda, president of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, and Allan W. Blair, president of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts, said they were very pleased that Wagner, Coakley-Rivera, Kulik and other top Democratic House members from the region were given major committee chairs. “We believe we will have an opportunity to really engage in the issues which are so important to the business community,” Blair said.
Peter KocotWagner, who was House chairman of the Transportation Committee for the past eight years, said he is pleased with his new chairmanship. Wagner received $15,000 bonus, up from his old bonus of $7,500.
“It’s a terrific assignment,” Wagner said.
Casinos would be a single component of a larger effort at job creation and economic development, Wagner said.
Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst, kept her $15,000-a-year leadership bonus. She was reappointed as a floor leader.
Rep. Anne. M. Gobi, D-Spencer, was selected as House chair of the Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture.