Tag: Sean Murphy

A sickening tale of abuse

Kudos to Boston Globe reporter Sean Murphy, who has produced a stomach-churning two-part series (part one; part two) on the phenomenally expensive health-insurance plans that are routinely given to public employees in Massachusetts.

Appalled as I am that state and local employees are having as much as 90 percent of the health-care costs covered by taxpayers, that really pales in comparison to those receiving free health care for serving a few years in part-time, mostly voluntary elected positions.

I’d like to see newspapers and bloggers in every city and town in the follow up by reporting exactly what the situation is in their community.

Sean Murphy responds to Totten

Boston Globe reporter Sean Murphy, who was the prosecutor in the Boston Newspaper Guild’s ouster of president — now former president — Dan Totten, spoke with me a little while ago. Murphy is highly critical of remarks Totten made in an e-mail reported yesterday by the Boston Herald’s Jessica Heslam. Says Murphy:

All I want to say is that this was a prosecution, not a persecution. Mr. Totten was not the victim of a political vendetta. He was a victim of his own bad conduct. I was asked to be the prosecutor and agreed to do so. It was done by the book. There was no personal animosity. Any suggestion otherwise is false. Any suggestion that I was biased is false. I was well known to be a “no” vote on both contract proposals, which was in line with the position of Mr. Totten. I did not participate in any recall efforts. I was known to eschew recall.

Murphy adds that, though he did attend a meeting to discuss Totten’s possible removal, Totten “knows full well I expressed great skepticism.”

I asked Murphy whether there has been any talk about whether the accusations made against Totten by the union could result in the involvement of law enforcement. Murphy’s response: “I have not broached that subject nor has anybody in my presence.”

Earlier coverage.