Watch Mike Albano's speech at the Longmeadow High School 1996 Graduation.
Time to Pardon Mark Wahlberg
Last week, all seven Pardons Governor Maura Healey recommended won
approval from the Governor’s Council, cementing the first Pardons
awarded by a Massachusetts Governor during their first elected year in
office in 30 years.
Healey had recommended the Pardons based on the unanimous support of
the Advisory Board of Pardons. The Governor also announced she is
planning to reform the clemency process to make it fairer, more
timely, and minimize racial disparities.
It’s about time.
Pardons were a routine practice of Governors until Bill Weld took
office in 1991. Since then, the practice of Pardons has been few and
far between during the administrations of Governors Cellucci, Swift,
Romney (zero), Patrick, and Baker.
During Governor Patrick’s final days in office in 2014, a potential
Pardon of Actor Mark Wahlberg was floated. As a Member of the
Governor’s Council at the time, I offered my full support.
In 1988, Wahlberg attacked two Vietnamese men while high on the drug
PCP. He called one man, Thanh Lam, racial slurs and knocked him
unconscious with a five-foot wooden stick, while punching another man,
army veteran Johnny Trinh, in the eye later in the same day.
Wahlberg was 17 at the time of the attacks.
And, the incidents were not the first racist attacks on Wahlberg’s
record.
Due to his previous civil rights injunction prohibiting him from
assaulting, threatening, or intimidating anyone because of race or
nationality, he was found to be in contempt of court and was sentenced
to a two-year prison sentence.
Ironically, I was on the Parole Board at the time, appointed by
Governor Dukakis. As I recall, Walhberg received a split sentence of 2
years-90 days to serve at the Deer Island House of Correction. He
waived his Parole Hearing, completed his sentence and the probationary
period following release.
Since that time, as they say, “the rest is history.”
An incredibly successful acting career, and more importantly, his
charitable work, Mark Wahlberg is most worthy of consideration for a
Pardon.
From the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation - to Tunnels To Towers - to
the following organizations:
• A Place Called Home
• The Art of Elysium
• The Gentle Barn
• Tony Hawk Foundation
St. Francis Food Pantries and Shelters
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America
• Elevate Hope Foundation
• Felix Organization
• LIVESTRONG
• Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation
• Red Cross
• Saban Community Clinic
makes Mark Walhbery a qualified candidate for a Pardon, in my opinion.
He has atoned for his egregious and racist behavior as a 17-year-old
growing up in Dorchester.
Hopefully, Governor Healey will agree.
Last week, all seven Pardons Governor Maura Healey recommended won
approval from the Governor’s Council, cementing the first Pardons
awarded by a Massachusetts Governor during their first elected year in
office in 30 years.
Healey had recommended the Pardons based on the unanimous support of
the Advisory Board of Pardons. The Governor also announced she is
planning to reform the clemency process to make it fairer, more
timely, and minimize racial disparities.
It’s about time.
Pardons were a routine practice of Governors until Bill Weld took
office in 1991. Since then, the practice of Pardons has been few and
far between during the administrations of Governors Cellucci, Swift,
Romney (zero), Patrick, and Baker.
During Governor Patrick’s final days in office in 2014, a potential
Pardon of Actor Mark Wahlberg was floated. As a Member of the
Governor’s Council at the time, I offered my full support.
In 1988, Wahlberg attacked two Vietnamese men while high on the drug
PCP. He called one man, Thanh Lam, racial slurs and knocked him
unconscious with a five-foot wooden stick, while punching another man,
army veteran Johnny Trinh, in the eye later in the same day.
Wahlberg was 17 at the time of the attacks.
And, the incidents were not the first racist attacks on Wahlberg’s
record.
Due to his previous civil rights injunction prohibiting him from
assaulting, threatening, or intimidating anyone because of race or
nationality, he was found to be in contempt of court and was sentenced
to a two-year prison sentence.
Ironically, I was on the Parole Board at the time, appointed by
Governor Dukakis. As I recall, Walhberg received a split sentence of 2
years-90 days to serve at the Deer Island House of Correction. He
waived his Parole Hearing, completed his sentence and the probationary
period following release.
Since that time, as they say, “the rest is history.”
An incredibly successful acting career, and more importantly, his
charitable work, Mark Wahlberg is most worthy of consideration for a
Pardon.
From the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation - to Tunnels To Towers - to
the following organizations:
• A Place Called Home
• The Art of Elysium
• The Gentle Barn
• Tony Hawk Foundation
St. Francis Food Pantries and Shelters
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America
• Elevate Hope Foundation
• Felix Organization
• LIVESTRONG
• Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation
• Red Cross
• Saban Community Clinic
makes Mark Walhbery a qualified candidate for a Pardon, in my opinion.
He has atoned for his egregious and racist behavior as a 17-year-old
growing up in Dorchester.
Hopefully, Governor Healey will agree.
Governors - A Satire (1959-1978)
June 25th, 2012
Governors. Unique in their abilities, styles, policies and ultimately leadership skills. It seems as though I’ve been around Governors all my life.
My first recollection of meeting a Governor was in 1959 at the age of 8 when John Foster Furcolo visited our home in Longmeadow. Governor Furcolo, also a Longmeadow resident, was a close friend of the family and rewarded my father for his political support by having the Registry of Motor Vehicles issue special license plates which symbolized being a friend of the Governor. Governor Furcolo hand delivered the license plates to our home at 408 Maple Road. Hence, the plates X408 and Z408.
The practice of giving low number license plates to special friends of Governors became a tradition until Michael Dukakis put an end to it in 1975. Despite the Dukakis order, our family still has the plates today.
My next interaction was when Governor Endicott “Chub” Peabody visited our home in 1963. I will never forget looking down from my bedroom window as the Governor, being driven by a larger than life State Trooper, arrived at 1am in a State car with the distinguised “S1″ license plate to play poker and drink scotch with my father. The game lasted until 5am. Later that week, my dad was named as a Commissioner Against Discrimination for the Commonwealth, after a nationwide search.
Peabody also awarded our family with another low license plate, which is still in our family’s possession: Q8.
There was a standing joke about Peabody which went something like this: “Isn’t there a City in Massachusetts named after the Governor? Yes, was the reply. Marblehead.”
Interestingly enough, Peabody was defeated for reelection in the 1964 Democratic Primary by his own Lt. Governor, Francis X. Bellotti. Bellotti went on to lose to John Volpe that year who later became Secretary of Transportation in the administration of Richard M. Nixon; opening the door for Volpe’s Lt. Governor, Frank Sargent to become Governor. Governor Sargent, a likeable Moderate Republican defeated Boston Mayor Kevin White and his Lt. Governor candidate Michael Dukakis in 1970. Dukakis, however came back to defeat Sargent in 1974 with a young Lt. Governor by the name of Thomas O’Neill III, the son of soon to be House Speaker Tip O’Neill, who had succeeded John F. Kennedy in his Boston congressional seat.
Governor Dukakis “I.” Mike Dukakis defeated the Democratic establishment candidate, Attorney General Robert Quinn that year in the Primary. Governor Dukakis was set on changing the way business was done on Beacon Hill. He brought in the “best and the brightest” to his Cabinet to dictate new public policy on everything from housing, to banking to the criminal justice system - and, they were not going to consider any other points of view. After all, they were smarter than everyone. You just had to ask them.
For example, my father, the acknowleged leader in the western Massachusetts labor movement asked the Governor for consideration to be reappointed to the Commission Against Discrimination, where, by all accounts he did an admirable job. Dukakis responded in a Sunday meeting in our Longmeadow home ”Jack, that’s not the way we do business in this administration.” It wasn’t so much that he was not appointed to the MCAD, it was the attitude of the Governor.
Coupled with the labor record of Dukakis, which was marginal at best toward working families, caused a general lack of interest in labor circles for his re election campaign.
Dukakis managed to upset not just my father, but virtually everyone in the Democratic party and paid the price in the 1978 Primary by having not one, but two opponents: from the right,conservative Edward J. King; and from the left, former Cambridge Mayor, liberal Barbara Ackerman. King, The former Executive Director of the Port Authority easily defeated the Governor and went on to beat Republican Frank Hatch that year. King won on three issues: restoring the death penalty, raising the drinking age from 18 to 21, and his opposition to abortion on demand. No matter what the question that was asked, ie urban sprawl, job development, judicial appointments - King would respond by answering with one of his three focus point answers. While he drove the media crazy, the voters responded. In the end, his campaign manager Frank Rich said, “we put all the hate groups into one pot and stirred it. ”
Rich would later deny he made the comment, but most people thought it was true.
Dukakis was to be a one term Governor and dead politically, or so we thought.
Stay tuned for more stories on Governors.
June 25th, 2012
Governors. Unique in their abilities, styles, policies and ultimately leadership skills. It seems as though I’ve been around Governors all my life.
My first recollection of meeting a Governor was in 1959 at the age of 8 when John Foster Furcolo visited our home in Longmeadow. Governor Furcolo, also a Longmeadow resident, was a close friend of the family and rewarded my father for his political support by having the Registry of Motor Vehicles issue special license plates which symbolized being a friend of the Governor. Governor Furcolo hand delivered the license plates to our home at 408 Maple Road. Hence, the plates X408 and Z408.
The practice of giving low number license plates to special friends of Governors became a tradition until Michael Dukakis put an end to it in 1975. Despite the Dukakis order, our family still has the plates today.
My next interaction was when Governor Endicott “Chub” Peabody visited our home in 1963. I will never forget looking down from my bedroom window as the Governor, being driven by a larger than life State Trooper, arrived at 1am in a State car with the distinguised “S1″ license plate to play poker and drink scotch with my father. The game lasted until 5am. Later that week, my dad was named as a Commissioner Against Discrimination for the Commonwealth, after a nationwide search.
Peabody also awarded our family with another low license plate, which is still in our family’s possession: Q8.
There was a standing joke about Peabody which went something like this: “Isn’t there a City in Massachusetts named after the Governor? Yes, was the reply. Marblehead.”
Interestingly enough, Peabody was defeated for reelection in the 1964 Democratic Primary by his own Lt. Governor, Francis X. Bellotti. Bellotti went on to lose to John Volpe that year who later became Secretary of Transportation in the administration of Richard M. Nixon; opening the door for Volpe’s Lt. Governor, Frank Sargent to become Governor. Governor Sargent, a likeable Moderate Republican defeated Boston Mayor Kevin White and his Lt. Governor candidate Michael Dukakis in 1970. Dukakis, however came back to defeat Sargent in 1974 with a young Lt. Governor by the name of Thomas O’Neill III, the son of soon to be House Speaker Tip O’Neill, who had succeeded John F. Kennedy in his Boston congressional seat.
Governor Dukakis “I.” Mike Dukakis defeated the Democratic establishment candidate, Attorney General Robert Quinn that year in the Primary. Governor Dukakis was set on changing the way business was done on Beacon Hill. He brought in the “best and the brightest” to his Cabinet to dictate new public policy on everything from housing, to banking to the criminal justice system - and, they were not going to consider any other points of view. After all, they were smarter than everyone. You just had to ask them.
For example, my father, the acknowleged leader in the western Massachusetts labor movement asked the Governor for consideration to be reappointed to the Commission Against Discrimination, where, by all accounts he did an admirable job. Dukakis responded in a Sunday meeting in our Longmeadow home ”Jack, that’s not the way we do business in this administration.” It wasn’t so much that he was not appointed to the MCAD, it was the attitude of the Governor.
Coupled with the labor record of Dukakis, which was marginal at best toward working families, caused a general lack of interest in labor circles for his re election campaign.
Dukakis managed to upset not just my father, but virtually everyone in the Democratic party and paid the price in the 1978 Primary by having not one, but two opponents: from the right,conservative Edward J. King; and from the left, former Cambridge Mayor, liberal Barbara Ackerman. King, The former Executive Director of the Port Authority easily defeated the Governor and went on to beat Republican Frank Hatch that year. King won on three issues: restoring the death penalty, raising the drinking age from 18 to 21, and his opposition to abortion on demand. No matter what the question that was asked, ie urban sprawl, job development, judicial appointments - King would respond by answering with one of his three focus point answers. While he drove the media crazy, the voters responded. In the end, his campaign manager Frank Rich said, “we put all the hate groups into one pot and stirred it. ”
Rich would later deny he made the comment, but most people thought it was true.
Dukakis was to be a one term Governor and dead politically, or so we thought.
Stay tuned for more stories on Governors.
The look of Boston, thanks to Curley
By C. J. Doyle and Larry Overlan
November 15, 2008
AN ECONOMIC crisis, corruption-plagued politics, crumbling infrastructure, and a debt-burdened and deficit-ridden transportation system are a troubling but not unprecedented set of circumstances confronting the Bay State today. These conditions also prevailed three-quarters of a century ago, during the heyday of James Michael Curley, the most colorful and controversial chief executive in Boston’s history.
Curley, who died 50 years ago this month, was an unparalleled political phenomenon. His career spanned six decades. He first ran for Boston Common Council (the lower house of a then-bicameral city council) in 1897. He last ran for mayor in 1955. Between 1914 and 1950, he served four terms as mayor of Boston (and may have served longer had his Republican enemies in the Legislature not term-limited the mayor’s office). He served one term as governor and was elected four times to Congress. In all, he served 35 years in elective office, and one year in appointed office (1957-1958) as a state labor relations commissioner during the Foster Furcolo administration.
Curley ran for office 32 times. Counting state and federal primary and general elections, and municipal preliminary and final races, he contested 47 elections for office, along with six caucuses before that Progressive Era innovation, the primary, was established.
His 16 years as mayor was equaled only by Kevin White. In July, their record will be broken by Thomas Menino.
Longevity is not unknown in politics. What made Curley unique, however, was his seemingly inexhaustible ability to resuscitate himself from apparent political death. When he was reelected to Congress in 1942 at age 67, he made a comeback after four failed campaigns for senator, governor, and mayor.
The conventional story of James Michael Curley is a tale of vivid personalities, heartrending tragedies (seven of his nine children predeceased him), vexing scandals (he went to jail twice), and turbulent bare-knuckle politics. Lost in all of this drama, however, is Curley’s substantive and strikingly progressive record on a host of social justice issues including the rights of labor, access to healthcare (Boston City Hospital was the object of his untiring devotion), and equal pay for women.
Curley not only merited the title that adorns his headstone, “Mayor of the Poor,” but deserves another, that of Boston’s master builder. Curley was the city’s most indefatigable constructor of great public works. Historian Charles Trout wrote that Curley rivaled Caesar Augustus as a monumental builder. Curley widened Charles Street and Cambridge Street downtown, built the Sumner Tunnel, and replaced the mud flats of South Boston with a splendid three-mile-long strandway to Castle Island.
Nowhere is his legacy more apparent, however, than in the expansion of the city’s public transportation system, where Curley’s achievements are unequaled. The extension of the Red Line from South Boston to Dorchester; the Red Line’s Charles Street Station; the Huntington Avenue subway from Copley Square to Northeastern University; and the extension of the Green Line’s Boylston Street subway under Kenmore Square to new tunnel portals on Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue were Curley accomplishments. The conversion of the Blue Line from light rail to rapid transit, the construction of Maverick Square station and the extension of the Blue Line to Orient Heights are also part of his legacy. The removal of the Orange Line’s elevated structures in Roxbury and Charlestown was accomplished decades after he first proposed it, as was the extension of the Red Line beyond Harvard Square to Alewife.
In Edwin O’Connor’s novel of Boston politics, “The Last Hurrah,” Charlie Hennessey, referring to Curley’s fictional alter ego, Frank Skeffington, tells Festus Garvey, “You could live to be a hundred and twenty-five . . . and still they wouldn’t think of you as often as they will of Frank Skeffington when he’s been dead fifty years.”
With the passage of those 50 years, perhaps it is time to resist the temptation of defining Curley by the controversies that enveloped him and reexamine him in light of the accomplishments of his long career, many of which continue to benefit the citizens of Boston today.
C. J. Doyle and Larry Overlan are writing a book about James Michael Curley.
By C. J. Doyle and Larry Overlan
November 15, 2008
AN ECONOMIC crisis, corruption-plagued politics, crumbling infrastructure, and a debt-burdened and deficit-ridden transportation system are a troubling but not unprecedented set of circumstances confronting the Bay State today. These conditions also prevailed three-quarters of a century ago, during the heyday of James Michael Curley, the most colorful and controversial chief executive in Boston’s history.
Curley, who died 50 years ago this month, was an unparalleled political phenomenon. His career spanned six decades. He first ran for Boston Common Council (the lower house of a then-bicameral city council) in 1897. He last ran for mayor in 1955. Between 1914 and 1950, he served four terms as mayor of Boston (and may have served longer had his Republican enemies in the Legislature not term-limited the mayor’s office). He served one term as governor and was elected four times to Congress. In all, he served 35 years in elective office, and one year in appointed office (1957-1958) as a state labor relations commissioner during the Foster Furcolo administration.
Curley ran for office 32 times. Counting state and federal primary and general elections, and municipal preliminary and final races, he contested 47 elections for office, along with six caucuses before that Progressive Era innovation, the primary, was established.
His 16 years as mayor was equaled only by Kevin White. In July, their record will be broken by Thomas Menino.
Longevity is not unknown in politics. What made Curley unique, however, was his seemingly inexhaustible ability to resuscitate himself from apparent political death. When he was reelected to Congress in 1942 at age 67, he made a comeback after four failed campaigns for senator, governor, and mayor.
The conventional story of James Michael Curley is a tale of vivid personalities, heartrending tragedies (seven of his nine children predeceased him), vexing scandals (he went to jail twice), and turbulent bare-knuckle politics. Lost in all of this drama, however, is Curley’s substantive and strikingly progressive record on a host of social justice issues including the rights of labor, access to healthcare (Boston City Hospital was the object of his untiring devotion), and equal pay for women.
Curley not only merited the title that adorns his headstone, “Mayor of the Poor,” but deserves another, that of Boston’s master builder. Curley was the city’s most indefatigable constructor of great public works. Historian Charles Trout wrote that Curley rivaled Caesar Augustus as a monumental builder. Curley widened Charles Street and Cambridge Street downtown, built the Sumner Tunnel, and replaced the mud flats of South Boston with a splendid three-mile-long strandway to Castle Island.
Nowhere is his legacy more apparent, however, than in the expansion of the city’s public transportation system, where Curley’s achievements are unequaled. The extension of the Red Line from South Boston to Dorchester; the Red Line’s Charles Street Station; the Huntington Avenue subway from Copley Square to Northeastern University; and the extension of the Green Line’s Boylston Street subway under Kenmore Square to new tunnel portals on Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue were Curley accomplishments. The conversion of the Blue Line from light rail to rapid transit, the construction of Maverick Square station and the extension of the Blue Line to Orient Heights are also part of his legacy. The removal of the Orange Line’s elevated structures in Roxbury and Charlestown was accomplished decades after he first proposed it, as was the extension of the Red Line beyond Harvard Square to Alewife.
In Edwin O’Connor’s novel of Boston politics, “The Last Hurrah,” Charlie Hennessey, referring to Curley’s fictional alter ego, Frank Skeffington, tells Festus Garvey, “You could live to be a hundred and twenty-five . . . and still they wouldn’t think of you as often as they will of Frank Skeffington when he’s been dead fifty years.”
With the passage of those 50 years, perhaps it is time to resist the temptation of defining Curley by the controversies that enveloped him and reexamine him in light of the accomplishments of his long career, many of which continue to benefit the citizens of Boston today.
C. J. Doyle and Larry Overlan are writing a book about James Michael Curley.
A Mayor’s Mayor
February 17th, 2012
America lost a class act with the passing of former Boston Mayor Kevin White.
Mayor White died last month after a ten year battle with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 82. Kevin White served the City of Boston as its Chief Executive from 1968 to 1984, the first four term Mayor in the City’s history.
White was one of the first modern day Mayors who acted on his vision of what a city should be; turning Boston from a second tier City to one of the great urban centers in America today. White’s tenure was not without controversy - from the busing of students under a Federal Court Order to achieve racial balance - to dealing with an over zealous prosecutor by the name of William Weld, who became obsessed with ”getting” the Mayor to make a political name for himself- to bruising re election battles every four years - Mayor White handled all of the challenges with grace and dignity and, most importantly, kept the city moving in the right direction.
One of his many accomplishments was the development of the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, also known as Quincy Market. A national tourist attraction, comparable to Disney, White actually had to assist in the securing of the finances for the project from Wall Street in New York, not State Street in Boston. There was simply not enough confidence in the economic climate in Boston for this type of project, which later turned into an economic development model for the nation. Other notable White accomplishments include Copley Place, Rowes Wharf and Park Plaza, all of which completely changed the character of Boston.
Each development had its share of political challenges. However, in the end White held on to the vision he had for Boston as a world class city.
Ironically,had it not been for poor political timing, Kevin White would never have become a legendary Mayor. Mayor White took on the Democratic political establishment in 1970 and won the nomination for Governor after losing the Convention to the President of the State Senate, Holyoke’s Maurice A. Donahue. He then teamed with a little known State Representaive from Brookline named Michael S. Dukakis as his Lt. Governor running mate. They lost the election that year to Republican Frank Sargent and another Holyoke favorite son, Donald Dwight. Some Democrats who had supported Donahue in the primary voted for the likeable Sargent, using the excuse they preferred to keep White as Mayor of Boston rather than electing him Governor.
In 1972, Mayor White was actually the Vice Presidential selection of Senator George McGovern…..for about 2 hours. It seems the Democratic Presidential nominee did not consult with Senator Ted Kennedy before he offered the position to White. Unfortunately, Kevin White was with Eddie McCormick against Ted in the 1962 Senate race to fill the seat of President Kennedy. The Kennedys never forget. McGovern then offered the Vice Presidency to Missouri Senator Tom Eagleton, who accepted, then withdrew after records were released revealing he had undergone electric shock treatment for depression. Sargent Shriver, Senator Kennedy’s brother-in-law, was then selected as McGovern’s Vice Presidential running mate after a “national search.” President Richard Nixon was re elected that year carrying 49 states. Massachusetts went for McGovern.
Mayor White was gracious enough to spend time with newly elected officials during his teaching tenure at Boston University. I first met Kevin White in 1995, after my election as Springfield’s 52nd Mayor. Following an introduction by BU President John Silber - a separate story in itself - Mayor White spent two hours with me offering invaluable advice. His main theme, however, was to develop a vision for the City and follow that vision no matter the political opposition or financial obstacles that would stand in the way. He also shared his experiences with former US Attorney William Weld, who was now Governor William Weld.
As Mayor, I recalled the advice of Mayor White in dealing with the Governor. Weld sat in my office and offered me a choice: funding for the new Basketball Hall of Fame; or, funding for a new Civic Center. Responding in Kevin White style, I told the Governor that Springfield and western Massachusetts should not have to choose between the two projects when Boston and Mayor Menino was scheduled to receive nearly $700 million for a new convention center. Eventually, with the assistance of the Speaker and the Legislature, Springfield prevailed.
I’d like to think of that time as a Kevin White moment.
I last spoke to Mayor White at the 70th birthday celebration of Governor Michael Dukakis in 2003. Suffering from the early stages of Alzheimers, Mayor White recalled our 1995 conversation and had followed the progress we made in Springfield. “Keep the vision going” he said, “keep it going.”
The many friends and supporters of the Mayor often referred to him as “Kevin, from Heaven.” I’m sure he is there now - planning a redevelopment project.
Kevin White - a visionary Mayor. A Mayor’s Mayor.
February 17th, 2012
America lost a class act with the passing of former Boston Mayor Kevin White.
Mayor White died last month after a ten year battle with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 82. Kevin White served the City of Boston as its Chief Executive from 1968 to 1984, the first four term Mayor in the City’s history.
White was one of the first modern day Mayors who acted on his vision of what a city should be; turning Boston from a second tier City to one of the great urban centers in America today. White’s tenure was not without controversy - from the busing of students under a Federal Court Order to achieve racial balance - to dealing with an over zealous prosecutor by the name of William Weld, who became obsessed with ”getting” the Mayor to make a political name for himself- to bruising re election battles every four years - Mayor White handled all of the challenges with grace and dignity and, most importantly, kept the city moving in the right direction.
One of his many accomplishments was the development of the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, also known as Quincy Market. A national tourist attraction, comparable to Disney, White actually had to assist in the securing of the finances for the project from Wall Street in New York, not State Street in Boston. There was simply not enough confidence in the economic climate in Boston for this type of project, which later turned into an economic development model for the nation. Other notable White accomplishments include Copley Place, Rowes Wharf and Park Plaza, all of which completely changed the character of Boston.
Each development had its share of political challenges. However, in the end White held on to the vision he had for Boston as a world class city.
Ironically,had it not been for poor political timing, Kevin White would never have become a legendary Mayor. Mayor White took on the Democratic political establishment in 1970 and won the nomination for Governor after losing the Convention to the President of the State Senate, Holyoke’s Maurice A. Donahue. He then teamed with a little known State Representaive from Brookline named Michael S. Dukakis as his Lt. Governor running mate. They lost the election that year to Republican Frank Sargent and another Holyoke favorite son, Donald Dwight. Some Democrats who had supported Donahue in the primary voted for the likeable Sargent, using the excuse they preferred to keep White as Mayor of Boston rather than electing him Governor.
In 1972, Mayor White was actually the Vice Presidential selection of Senator George McGovern…..for about 2 hours. It seems the Democratic Presidential nominee did not consult with Senator Ted Kennedy before he offered the position to White. Unfortunately, Kevin White was with Eddie McCormick against Ted in the 1962 Senate race to fill the seat of President Kennedy. The Kennedys never forget. McGovern then offered the Vice Presidency to Missouri Senator Tom Eagleton, who accepted, then withdrew after records were released revealing he had undergone electric shock treatment for depression. Sargent Shriver, Senator Kennedy’s brother-in-law, was then selected as McGovern’s Vice Presidential running mate after a “national search.” President Richard Nixon was re elected that year carrying 49 states. Massachusetts went for McGovern.
Mayor White was gracious enough to spend time with newly elected officials during his teaching tenure at Boston University. I first met Kevin White in 1995, after my election as Springfield’s 52nd Mayor. Following an introduction by BU President John Silber - a separate story in itself - Mayor White spent two hours with me offering invaluable advice. His main theme, however, was to develop a vision for the City and follow that vision no matter the political opposition or financial obstacles that would stand in the way. He also shared his experiences with former US Attorney William Weld, who was now Governor William Weld.
As Mayor, I recalled the advice of Mayor White in dealing with the Governor. Weld sat in my office and offered me a choice: funding for the new Basketball Hall of Fame; or, funding for a new Civic Center. Responding in Kevin White style, I told the Governor that Springfield and western Massachusetts should not have to choose between the two projects when Boston and Mayor Menino was scheduled to receive nearly $700 million for a new convention center. Eventually, with the assistance of the Speaker and the Legislature, Springfield prevailed.
I’d like to think of that time as a Kevin White moment.
I last spoke to Mayor White at the 70th birthday celebration of Governor Michael Dukakis in 2003. Suffering from the early stages of Alzheimers, Mayor White recalled our 1995 conversation and had followed the progress we made in Springfield. “Keep the vision going” he said, “keep it going.”
The many friends and supporters of the Mayor often referred to him as “Kevin, from Heaven.” I’m sure he is there now - planning a redevelopment project.
Kevin White - a visionary Mayor. A Mayor’s Mayor.
Rally presses for Senate drug vote
Members of both parties agree there are enough votes to pass the bill.
By JO-ANN MORIARTY
[email protected]
WASHINGTON - Former Springfield Mayor Michael J. Albano yesterday joined Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle's campaign to press the GOP leadership for a vote on legalizing importing prescription drugs into the United States.
Albano, Daschle and members of the AARP, the Alliance for Retired Americans and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare ended their rally on the Capitol chanting: "We want a vote."
Daschle said Senate Leader Bin Frist, R-Tenn., isn't honoring a promise to bring a bipartisan prescription drug bill to the Senate floor before it recesses this fall. The House passed its version in July 2003.
"I just don't think by bringing this vote up to the floor ... without sufficient attention to safety first, that that is the right thing to do," Frist said this week on the Senate floor.
The Senate bill is sponsored by Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and John McCain, R-Ariz. Members of both parties agree there are enough votes to pass the bill.
Albano, who was mayor of the first city to implement a drug importation program in July 2003; Peter Rost, a medical doctor and a vice president with the world's largest drug manufacturer, Pfizer; and Helen Clark, 78, a registered nurse and grandmother from Kennebunk, Maine, were invited to the rally to add their insights and experiences that contradict the Bush administration's claim that drug importation raises safety issues.
"This is the number one consumer issue in America today," Albano said.
He said that in the Springfield program - which allows municipal employees, their families and retirees to buy their prescription drugs through a network of approved pharmacists in Canada - has never produced a safety issue.
"Not one concern about safety," said Albano, who buys insulin for his son from Canada. "Let's dismiss that safety argument once and for all."
Albano, who now runs a consulting business out of Springfield, said Springfield has done well by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate health committee.
"But in this instance, Kerry and Kennedy can't help," Albano said, "because they are not in control of the leadership in the United States Senate. Think about it, a gentleman running for president of the United States and a senator with over 40 years (in the Senate) cannot help this citizen from Massachusetts."
"I am not here asking for anything that involves money," Albano said. "All I am here for is asking for a vote in the United States Senate."
Clarke, who introduced herself as a registered Republican, said her income is $15,000 annually. She takes nine medications for ailments head to toe, and her prescriptions cost $7,800 here and $5,000 in Canada. She said.
Consequently; she buys her medications from Canada. "I am not an outlaw," Clark said, adding that it doesn't make any sense "that I am not allowed to buy safe, high-quality medicines at a lower price."
"Together, we must demand that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist end his obstruction," Clark said. "Frist, if you are listening, please don't protect the drug industry at the expense of access to medicine at fair prices."
Rost, who has marketed prescriptions for 20 years in Europe, still works for Pfizer. He told reporters that as an individual he supports the importation of drugs into the United State because the practice in Europe has proven to be safe, and drug prices are dramatically less.
Rost said that it is simply the ethical thing to do: drug manufacturers can make their products more affordable and still reap a healthy profit.
Members of both parties agree there are enough votes to pass the bill.
By JO-ANN MORIARTY
[email protected]
WASHINGTON - Former Springfield Mayor Michael J. Albano yesterday joined Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle's campaign to press the GOP leadership for a vote on legalizing importing prescription drugs into the United States.
Albano, Daschle and members of the AARP, the Alliance for Retired Americans and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare ended their rally on the Capitol chanting: "We want a vote."
Daschle said Senate Leader Bin Frist, R-Tenn., isn't honoring a promise to bring a bipartisan prescription drug bill to the Senate floor before it recesses this fall. The House passed its version in July 2003.
"I just don't think by bringing this vote up to the floor ... without sufficient attention to safety first, that that is the right thing to do," Frist said this week on the Senate floor.
The Senate bill is sponsored by Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and John McCain, R-Ariz. Members of both parties agree there are enough votes to pass the bill.
Albano, who was mayor of the first city to implement a drug importation program in July 2003; Peter Rost, a medical doctor and a vice president with the world's largest drug manufacturer, Pfizer; and Helen Clark, 78, a registered nurse and grandmother from Kennebunk, Maine, were invited to the rally to add their insights and experiences that contradict the Bush administration's claim that drug importation raises safety issues.
"This is the number one consumer issue in America today," Albano said.
He said that in the Springfield program - which allows municipal employees, their families and retirees to buy their prescription drugs through a network of approved pharmacists in Canada - has never produced a safety issue.
"Not one concern about safety," said Albano, who buys insulin for his son from Canada. "Let's dismiss that safety argument once and for all."
Albano, who now runs a consulting business out of Springfield, said Springfield has done well by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate health committee.
"But in this instance, Kerry and Kennedy can't help," Albano said, "because they are not in control of the leadership in the United States Senate. Think about it, a gentleman running for president of the United States and a senator with over 40 years (in the Senate) cannot help this citizen from Massachusetts."
"I am not here asking for anything that involves money," Albano said. "All I am here for is asking for a vote in the United States Senate."
Clarke, who introduced herself as a registered Republican, said her income is $15,000 annually. She takes nine medications for ailments head to toe, and her prescriptions cost $7,800 here and $5,000 in Canada. She said.
Consequently; she buys her medications from Canada. "I am not an outlaw," Clark said, adding that it doesn't make any sense "that I am not allowed to buy safe, high-quality medicines at a lower price."
"Together, we must demand that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist end his obstruction," Clark said. "Frist, if you are listening, please don't protect the drug industry at the expense of access to medicine at fair prices."
Rost, who has marketed prescriptions for 20 years in Europe, still works for Pfizer. He told reporters that as an individual he supports the importation of drugs into the United State because the practice in Europe has proven to be safe, and drug prices are dramatically less.
Rost said that it is simply the ethical thing to do: drug manufacturers can make their products more affordable and still reap a healthy profit.
Reimportation of drugs supported
By KEN ROSS
[email protected]
WEST SPRINGFIELD - Former Springfield Mayor Michael J. Albano and others yesterday denounced a recent report critical of reimporting drugs from Canada, calling the report "bogus" and "irresponsible."
"We need lower prices for prescription medications," Albano said. "No one wants to go to Canada. We want to support local pharmacies. But the prices are so much lower."
Isaac BenEzra, president of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council. Agreed.
"It is not the solution, but it is an immediate fix for people who need drugs now," he said. BenEzra and Albano made their comments during a press conference at the West Springfield Council on Aging organized by the Action Council, a nonprofit organization which supports drug reimportation and other efforts to lower health-care costs.
The press conference was directed at a report released Sept. 22 by Suffolk University's Beacon Hill Institute and the conservative Institute for Policy Innovation.
According to the report, allowing reimportation of low-cost drags would cost Massachusetts 3,957 jobs and $246.9 million in lost economic activity by 2010.
Such figures are "based on several things that are just not true," said John W. Bennett, president of the Springfield chapter of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council. Bennett said the study does not factor in federal subsidies for medical research, and fails to mention that drug companies spend two to three times as much on marketing as on research.
"If you start with false assumptions, you get false conclusions," Bennett said.
BenEzra called the report "bogus" and filled with "false, irresponsible statements"
Carol J. Stefanik, 59, of West Springfield and Sebastian J. Tarallo. 70, of Longmeadow attended the press conference and spoke in support of drug reimportation, something both of them have done.
"There's no reason why the American public should have to subsidize prices in Canada and around the world," Tarallo said.
Last year, Albano called attention to high prescription drug prices when as mayor of Springfield he created a program allowing municipal employees, retirees and their families to buy drugs from Canada. More than 3,000 signed up for the voluntary program, the first of its kind in the nation. Other cities have since adopted similar programs.
By KEN ROSS
[email protected]
WEST SPRINGFIELD - Former Springfield Mayor Michael J. Albano and others yesterday denounced a recent report critical of reimporting drugs from Canada, calling the report "bogus" and "irresponsible."
"We need lower prices for prescription medications," Albano said. "No one wants to go to Canada. We want to support local pharmacies. But the prices are so much lower."
Isaac BenEzra, president of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council. Agreed.
"It is not the solution, but it is an immediate fix for people who need drugs now," he said. BenEzra and Albano made their comments during a press conference at the West Springfield Council on Aging organized by the Action Council, a nonprofit organization which supports drug reimportation and other efforts to lower health-care costs.
The press conference was directed at a report released Sept. 22 by Suffolk University's Beacon Hill Institute and the conservative Institute for Policy Innovation.
According to the report, allowing reimportation of low-cost drags would cost Massachusetts 3,957 jobs and $246.9 million in lost economic activity by 2010.
Such figures are "based on several things that are just not true," said John W. Bennett, president of the Springfield chapter of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council. Bennett said the study does not factor in federal subsidies for medical research, and fails to mention that drug companies spend two to three times as much on marketing as on research.
"If you start with false assumptions, you get false conclusions," Bennett said.
BenEzra called the report "bogus" and filled with "false, irresponsible statements"
Carol J. Stefanik, 59, of West Springfield and Sebastian J. Tarallo. 70, of Longmeadow attended the press conference and spoke in support of drug reimportation, something both of them have done.
"There's no reason why the American public should have to subsidize prices in Canada and around the world," Tarallo said.
Last year, Albano called attention to high prescription drug prices when as mayor of Springfield he created a program allowing municipal employees, retirees and their families to buy drugs from Canada. More than 3,000 signed up for the voluntary program, the first of its kind in the nation. Other cities have since adopted similar programs.
Leaving office, but not the fight
Outgoing mayor says drug industry tactics can't go unchallenged
By Christopher Rowland
GLOBE STAFF
Mayor Michael Albano cleaned out his desk at Springfield City Hall yesterday in preparation for giving up his office on Monday, but he loaded boxes with memorabilia and accepted calls from well-wishers, and he made it clear he will remain a thorn in the side of big US drug companies.
Albano burst onto the national media stage In July with his one-of-a-kind program to Import prescription drugs from Canada for city employees, and retirees, launching the money-saving plan even though the Food and Drug Administration said it was illegal.
Now having ridden a wave of publicity for six months, he is stepping down after deciding not to seek election to a fifth term. He is opening his own political consulting and lobbying firm In Springfield, a block from City Hall. He also plans to establish a nonprofit organization to help low-income people get free medications through little-known programs already offered by drug companies. And he said he will testify around the country against the pricing tactics of the US pharmaceutical industry.
"Someone has to take the Industry on." Albano said. "It's clear they have gotten away with quite a bit."
Albano refused in a telephone Interview to identify prospective clients of his lobbying practice, saying he had not signed any deals. He said he door not expect to represent any Canadian pharmacy interests, but he did not rule It out. Broadly, Albano said, he wants to counteract the influence the drug Industry exerts on US and state lawmakers.
"You follow the money, you follow the profits, and you follow the lobbying, and they've been very successful," he said. "You have to give their lobbying team credit for protecting the high profits of the pharmaceutical industry."
He has appearances planned in coming weeks to talk about importing drugs from Canada before state lawmakers in Connecticut and Rhode Island. California legislators have also contacted him about a possible appearance, he said.
Albano said he wants to develop software that would enable the elderly and people with no health insurance to gain access to free drugs. Pharmaceutical companies offer the drugs at no cost to qualified individuals, but the rules for obtaining them are not uniform, and the applications can be complex.
What's more, Albano said, few people in Springfield and surrounding communities know that the industry gives away free drugs, because the industry doesn't publicize it.
"And those who do know about It." be said. "Find it extremely cumbersome. The application is 13 pages for one of them. I can't think of anything that requires 13 pages of an application, whether it is a student loan or a mortgage."
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry lobbying group, defended the distribution system. It estimates that 6.2 million patients received free drugs directly from the industry in 2003, worth more than $2.5 billion. PhRMA offers a website, www.helpingpatients.org, where people can learn about the giveaway programs. The group also estimates that of the $10 billion in free samples given to doctors for marketing purposes every year, two-thirds wind up in the hands of patients who can't afford their medications.
Mark Grayson. A PhRMA spokesman said studies have shown that 50 percent of patients don't know about government drug-assistance program, either.
"Instead of just concentrating on company programs, he should concentrate on all programs, because many people don't know about them." he said.
As for pharmaceutical profit margins, Grayson cited a federal government report that found drug companies' net is similar to corporations in the high-tech sector.
Albano was elected mayor in 1996 and easily cruised to his last victory reelection in 2002. He became interested in drugs from Canada after his son was diagnosed with diabetes and he began to research the cost of maintenance medications like insulin. Because Canada has a national healthcare system with proven controls on prescriptions, prices are 20 to 80 percent lower than in the United States.
Outgoing mayor says drug industry tactics can't go unchallenged
By Christopher Rowland
GLOBE STAFF
Mayor Michael Albano cleaned out his desk at Springfield City Hall yesterday in preparation for giving up his office on Monday, but he loaded boxes with memorabilia and accepted calls from well-wishers, and he made it clear he will remain a thorn in the side of big US drug companies.
Albano burst onto the national media stage In July with his one-of-a-kind program to Import prescription drugs from Canada for city employees, and retirees, launching the money-saving plan even though the Food and Drug Administration said it was illegal.
Now having ridden a wave of publicity for six months, he is stepping down after deciding not to seek election to a fifth term. He is opening his own political consulting and lobbying firm In Springfield, a block from City Hall. He also plans to establish a nonprofit organization to help low-income people get free medications through little-known programs already offered by drug companies. And he said he will testify around the country against the pricing tactics of the US pharmaceutical industry.
"Someone has to take the Industry on." Albano said. "It's clear they have gotten away with quite a bit."
Albano refused in a telephone Interview to identify prospective clients of his lobbying practice, saying he had not signed any deals. He said he door not expect to represent any Canadian pharmacy interests, but he did not rule It out. Broadly, Albano said, he wants to counteract the influence the drug Industry exerts on US and state lawmakers.
"You follow the money, you follow the profits, and you follow the lobbying, and they've been very successful," he said. "You have to give their lobbying team credit for protecting the high profits of the pharmaceutical industry."
He has appearances planned in coming weeks to talk about importing drugs from Canada before state lawmakers in Connecticut and Rhode Island. California legislators have also contacted him about a possible appearance, he said.
Albano said he wants to develop software that would enable the elderly and people with no health insurance to gain access to free drugs. Pharmaceutical companies offer the drugs at no cost to qualified individuals, but the rules for obtaining them are not uniform, and the applications can be complex.
What's more, Albano said, few people in Springfield and surrounding communities know that the industry gives away free drugs, because the industry doesn't publicize it.
"And those who do know about It." be said. "Find it extremely cumbersome. The application is 13 pages for one of them. I can't think of anything that requires 13 pages of an application, whether it is a student loan or a mortgage."
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry lobbying group, defended the distribution system. It estimates that 6.2 million patients received free drugs directly from the industry in 2003, worth more than $2.5 billion. PhRMA offers a website, www.helpingpatients.org, where people can learn about the giveaway programs. The group also estimates that of the $10 billion in free samples given to doctors for marketing purposes every year, two-thirds wind up in the hands of patients who can't afford their medications.
Mark Grayson. A PhRMA spokesman said studies have shown that 50 percent of patients don't know about government drug-assistance program, either.
"Instead of just concentrating on company programs, he should concentrate on all programs, because many people don't know about them." he said.
As for pharmaceutical profit margins, Grayson cited a federal government report that found drug companies' net is similar to corporations in the high-tech sector.
Albano was elected mayor in 1996 and easily cruised to his last victory reelection in 2002. He became interested in drugs from Canada after his son was diagnosed with diabetes and he began to research the cost of maintenance medications like insulin. Because Canada has a national healthcare system with proven controls on prescriptions, prices are 20 to 80 percent lower than in the United States.
Exit laughing: Springfield's lame-duck mayor relishes his feud with the FDA
By Christopher Rowland, Globe Staff, 10/7/2003
Television lights for two national networks clicked on and boom microphones swooped in his direction as Mayor Michael Albano of Springfield strode into a State House hearing room and struck a defiant pose in his battle over Canadian drugs with the Food and Drug Administration.
"We are going to forge ahead, despite the opposition of the FDA," Albano declared last week as he told a group of social activists and union officials about Springfield's groundbreaking program to import prescription drugs from Canada for city employees.
A lame-duck mayor with just three months left in office, Albano has seized the national spotlight on the drug issue with an all-consuming gusto. In the process, Albano, a focus of FBI investigations in 1983 and 2001, appears to be enjoying a laugh at the expense of the federal government.
"He's having a lot of fun with it," said Springfield City Councilor Timothy Ryan, a frequent opponent in budget and policy battles whose father, Charles V. Ryan, is running to succeed Albano. "He's getting great press, he's back in demand, and he gets to thumb his nose at the United States of America."
Albano, 52, denies that an element of payback has contributed to the spring in his step. After all, the FBI, which probed his relations with alleged organized-crime figures, has nothing to do with the FDA. He launched his drug program in July, he said, strictly as a money-saving measure, not realizing it would generate so much attention. But Albano does concede that he is suddenly having a ball as he prepares to step aside after eight years leading a tough, sometimes troubled city.
"It's been enjoyable," he said. "It's bigger than I ever imagined. Much bigger."
As a leading advocate for the importation of Canadian drugs, Albano was embraced by members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, including US Representative Richard Neal, the Springfield Democrat, during a recent trip to Washington. The national news media have been swarming around Springfield. Albano told his own story about ordering prescription drugs for his son, Mikie, a diabetic, in The Washington Post. He has given interviews to CNN, CNBC, National Public Radio, and newspapers across the country. Camera crews from NBC and ABC dogged him at the State House.
Still, in Springfield, Albano faces challenges. In response to big budget shortfalls, the mayor has presided over the layoff of scores of city workers in the past two years, including 190 teachers, 75 police officers, and 53 firefighters. The city teachers union, its contract talks bogged down, picketed Albano at a School Committee meeting Thursday night.
Albano said all the attention he is paying to Canadian drug imports is aimed at helping him leave his eventual successor a balanced budget for next year and avoid further layoffs. The city is hoping to save $4 million to $9 million a year with the move.
But some critics say his focus has drifted too far from local problems.
"Mike Albano is bored with what is going on in the city," said Paul Caron, a former state representative whom Albano trounced in the 2001 mayoral race. "He wants to go out in a blaze of glory."
Springfield pharmacists, whose business could suffer, are also critical. Nicholas Creanza, the pharmacist at Campus Pharmacy & Medical Services in Springfield, echoed an FDA warning about counterfeit, expired, or adulterated drugs coming from Canada, and accused the mayor of acting recklessly.
"He's a politician, not a healthcare provider," he said. "I pray every day that no one dies, but if they do, it will be on his conscience, not mine."
Albano says the safety concerns raised by the FDA and pharmacy operators like Creanza are greatly exaggerated. To reassure city workers, Albano has personally visited pharmacies in Windsor, Ontario, which hold contracts with the city's supplier, CanaRx Services Inc. He said the Canadian pharmacies are no different from their US counterparts, and like them offer secure handling and shipping.
Albano is sometimes compared to another urban Italian politician with a flare for publicity, Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci of Providence, who remained popular among voters while being repeatedly investigated. In fact, Albano points out that the FBI targeted Springfield City Hall around the same time it was probing Cianci in Providence. (The key difference: Albano has never been charged with a criminal offense; Cianci has been convicted of two felonies.) Although lacking Cianci's flamboyance, Albano is an adept politician, a master of the inside game in a rough-and-tumble city where his father, Jack, was head of the local AFL-CIO. He graduated from Springfield College, worked as a probation officer, and in 1982 was appointed to the state Parole Board.
Just five months after his appointment, Albano supported parole for a convicted Mafia figure, Peter Limone, in defiance of the FBI's recommendation. In what Albano believes was retaliation, the FBI launched an unsuccessful investigation.
In 2000, Albano received vindication of sorts when the Justice Department determined that Limone and three co-defendants had been framed by a notorious mob killer and government witness, Joseph "The Animal" Barboza.
A second probe was launched in 2001. Two days after Albano cruised to a fourth term, agents investigating gambling in Springfield descended on City Hall and began carting away records.
While Albano has not been named as a target, the investigation, an expansion of an organized-crime gambling case, involves allegations that Albano's administration gave favorable loan treatment to the operators of certain Springfield restaurants and bars.
This year, as Albano landed on the radar of another government enforcement agency, the FDA, he has gone on the offensive. He criticized the FDA for "underhanded" tactics when it conducted a sting operation against Springfield's Canadian drug supplier. And he has pushed his fight into the financial realm, urging the city Retirement Board to divest from pharmaceutical stocks.
During an interview in his City Hall office last week, Albano seemed relaxed. A golf club leaned against his desk. A half-dozen signed basketballs, mementos from the Basketball Hall of Fame, were balanced in a glass case. Speculation about what Albano will do after he leaves office is rampant in Springfield. The mayor has set up a consulting firm, Michael Albano & Associates, but he said he has neither consulting jobs lined up nor associates.
"I don't see any angle. Who's going to hire me?" he said. Then he added, slyly, "I'm kind of waiting for an offer from the pharmaceutical industry -- to shut up."
Christopher Rowland can be reached at [email protected].
By Christopher Rowland, Globe Staff, 10/7/2003
Television lights for two national networks clicked on and boom microphones swooped in his direction as Mayor Michael Albano of Springfield strode into a State House hearing room and struck a defiant pose in his battle over Canadian drugs with the Food and Drug Administration.
"We are going to forge ahead, despite the opposition of the FDA," Albano declared last week as he told a group of social activists and union officials about Springfield's groundbreaking program to import prescription drugs from Canada for city employees.
A lame-duck mayor with just three months left in office, Albano has seized the national spotlight on the drug issue with an all-consuming gusto. In the process, Albano, a focus of FBI investigations in 1983 and 2001, appears to be enjoying a laugh at the expense of the federal government.
"He's having a lot of fun with it," said Springfield City Councilor Timothy Ryan, a frequent opponent in budget and policy battles whose father, Charles V. Ryan, is running to succeed Albano. "He's getting great press, he's back in demand, and he gets to thumb his nose at the United States of America."
Albano, 52, denies that an element of payback has contributed to the spring in his step. After all, the FBI, which probed his relations with alleged organized-crime figures, has nothing to do with the FDA. He launched his drug program in July, he said, strictly as a money-saving measure, not realizing it would generate so much attention. But Albano does concede that he is suddenly having a ball as he prepares to step aside after eight years leading a tough, sometimes troubled city.
"It's been enjoyable," he said. "It's bigger than I ever imagined. Much bigger."
As a leading advocate for the importation of Canadian drugs, Albano was embraced by members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, including US Representative Richard Neal, the Springfield Democrat, during a recent trip to Washington. The national news media have been swarming around Springfield. Albano told his own story about ordering prescription drugs for his son, Mikie, a diabetic, in The Washington Post. He has given interviews to CNN, CNBC, National Public Radio, and newspapers across the country. Camera crews from NBC and ABC dogged him at the State House.
Still, in Springfield, Albano faces challenges. In response to big budget shortfalls, the mayor has presided over the layoff of scores of city workers in the past two years, including 190 teachers, 75 police officers, and 53 firefighters. The city teachers union, its contract talks bogged down, picketed Albano at a School Committee meeting Thursday night.
Albano said all the attention he is paying to Canadian drug imports is aimed at helping him leave his eventual successor a balanced budget for next year and avoid further layoffs. The city is hoping to save $4 million to $9 million a year with the move.
But some critics say his focus has drifted too far from local problems.
"Mike Albano is bored with what is going on in the city," said Paul Caron, a former state representative whom Albano trounced in the 2001 mayoral race. "He wants to go out in a blaze of glory."
Springfield pharmacists, whose business could suffer, are also critical. Nicholas Creanza, the pharmacist at Campus Pharmacy & Medical Services in Springfield, echoed an FDA warning about counterfeit, expired, or adulterated drugs coming from Canada, and accused the mayor of acting recklessly.
"He's a politician, not a healthcare provider," he said. "I pray every day that no one dies, but if they do, it will be on his conscience, not mine."
Albano says the safety concerns raised by the FDA and pharmacy operators like Creanza are greatly exaggerated. To reassure city workers, Albano has personally visited pharmacies in Windsor, Ontario, which hold contracts with the city's supplier, CanaRx Services Inc. He said the Canadian pharmacies are no different from their US counterparts, and like them offer secure handling and shipping.
Albano is sometimes compared to another urban Italian politician with a flare for publicity, Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci of Providence, who remained popular among voters while being repeatedly investigated. In fact, Albano points out that the FBI targeted Springfield City Hall around the same time it was probing Cianci in Providence. (The key difference: Albano has never been charged with a criminal offense; Cianci has been convicted of two felonies.) Although lacking Cianci's flamboyance, Albano is an adept politician, a master of the inside game in a rough-and-tumble city where his father, Jack, was head of the local AFL-CIO. He graduated from Springfield College, worked as a probation officer, and in 1982 was appointed to the state Parole Board.
Just five months after his appointment, Albano supported parole for a convicted Mafia figure, Peter Limone, in defiance of the FBI's recommendation. In what Albano believes was retaliation, the FBI launched an unsuccessful investigation.
In 2000, Albano received vindication of sorts when the Justice Department determined that Limone and three co-defendants had been framed by a notorious mob killer and government witness, Joseph "The Animal" Barboza.
A second probe was launched in 2001. Two days after Albano cruised to a fourth term, agents investigating gambling in Springfield descended on City Hall and began carting away records.
While Albano has not been named as a target, the investigation, an expansion of an organized-crime gambling case, involves allegations that Albano's administration gave favorable loan treatment to the operators of certain Springfield restaurants and bars.
This year, as Albano landed on the radar of another government enforcement agency, the FDA, he has gone on the offensive. He criticized the FDA for "underhanded" tactics when it conducted a sting operation against Springfield's Canadian drug supplier. And he has pushed his fight into the financial realm, urging the city Retirement Board to divest from pharmaceutical stocks.
During an interview in his City Hall office last week, Albano seemed relaxed. A golf club leaned against his desk. A half-dozen signed basketballs, mementos from the Basketball Hall of Fame, were balanced in a glass case. Speculation about what Albano will do after he leaves office is rampant in Springfield. The mayor has set up a consulting firm, Michael Albano & Associates, but he said he has neither consulting jobs lined up nor associates.
"I don't see any angle. Who's going to hire me?" he said. Then he added, slyly, "I'm kind of waiting for an offer from the pharmaceutical industry -- to shut up."
Christopher Rowland can be reached at [email protected].
Mayor Albano proud of legacy: The departing Springfield mayor cited city construction plans among his accomplishments since 1996.
By BEA O'QUINN
Staff writer
[email protected]
SPRINGFIELD - As the City begins to prepare for a new administration, a new style of leadership and a new set of political priorities, Mayor Michael J. Albano has begun to pack. Photographs that once adorned the office mantel… Albano stood alongside such prominent political figures as President Bill Clinton, the late Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, have been removed.
Memorabilia and plaques have been boxed on the office floor.
“I think I'll be most remembered for the vibrancy of my administration.
For getting the job done, said Albano,52. 'This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, being Mayor.”
As for regrets, Albano said he wished he had developed a citywide program for the homeless and tackled ongoing education problems such as underperforming schools.
Albano, who chose not to seek reelection has as served as Mayor since 1996 He was on the City Council from 1991 to 1995 and the School Committee from
1986 to 1990.
Mayor Charles V. Ryan Jr. who held the chief executive's seat in the 1960’s, defeated State Senator Linda J. Melconian in the November election for Mayor. Ryan will be inaugurated Jan 5.
Albano’s work as a public figure will continue, however in his ongoing effort to champion the purchase of lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada. Springfield was the first city in the nation to adopt a Canadian drug plan for thousands of city employees and retirees. Despite warnings by the Food and Drug Administration, other cities have followed suit, including Boston and Burlington, Vt.
Albano has become the focus of national publicity for his effort, recently filming a segment of "60 Minutes" the weekly CBS television news show, to discuss the city's program. He has appeared on news talk programs on MSNBC, CNN and Nightline, among others.
All the positive attention focused on Albano has deflected some of the controversy over his final years in office due to an on-going FBI corruption probe.
Federal prosecutors have said indictments for civil rights violations are anticipated by Jan. 15 against former Police Commissioner Gerald Phillips.
Phillips and three others were charged with participating in a no-show job scheme at the Massachusetts Career Development Institute where Phillips was the $111,000-a-year director. Agents also have raided numerous city agencies and departments, including some at City Hall.
Albano called the probe exaggerated and said it has not sullied his term of office.
Rather, he lists a string of accomplishments
• Achieving eight consecutive years of a balanced budget
• Building or rebuilding 10 city schools
• Constructing and opening the new Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
• Reconstruction of the Civic Center and construction of the Convention Center
• Redevelopment of the river-front
• Establishing the arts and entertainment district
• Hiring more than 100 police officers.
Veteran City Councilor William T. Foley Jr. a 20-year council member said hiring 100 additional police officers was one of the Mayor's worst decisions.
He said the Mayor took too many risks with city coffers--Mike did have a vision for Springfield." Foley said. "My concern as a City Councilor was how much is (the vision) going to cost. No matter who the Mayor is, sometimes you get too caught up in that vision.
Albano considers hiring additional police and building schools among his best decisions.
At the time of Albano's election, the city's crime rate had escalated to a point where residents feared living here, and city schools were decrepit, Albano said.
“There was no greater high than cutting a ribbon for a new school," Albano said, noting the completion of the Edward P. Boland Elementary School, named after the late Congressman who served in office 36 years as a favorable memory.
As for hiring police, Albano said. "Literally, tears came to my eyes when we inducted the first class of 60 police officers in 1997."
With 65 percent of the city's budget dependent on state aid, City Councilor Angelo Puppolo said the Mayor should have been better prepared for the state's downturn.
"There were some missed opportunities along the way to put away some money and be a little more fiscally prudent." Puppolo said.
City Councilor Domenic J. Sarno complimented the Mayor, saying many of his decisions enhanced city life.
Sarno credited Albano's strong relationship with state and federal leaders as key to securing crucial funds needed for many economic developments.
State Rep. Thomas Petrolati D-Ludlow, said Albano had a favorable rapport with members of the State Legislature, including key leaders such as House Speaker Thom. Finneran. Petrolati said Albano was respected and considered a man of his word.
“Based on those relationships he gained a sense of credibility when looking for money for projects in Springfield." Petrolati said.
Albano said he has no plans at this time for a future in elected office
"Nothing has captured my attention," Albano said, still leaving the door open for any “unique opportunity.”
Albano's rule as a political player is hardly over.
He has begun handing out business cards for "Michael Albano and Associates," a political campaign and government related consulting firm on State Street in Springfield.
The firm will work with local, state and national political figures pursuing public office, he said after being prodded. Albano said he has one local client, although he declined to reveal names.
Albano said he also may return to teaching.
Prior to political office, while serving on the Massachusetts Parole Board, the Mayor worked as an adjunct professor teaching criminal justice at Springfield Technical Community College, Asnuntuck Community College and the University of Massachusetts.
Albano said his initial career aspiration was to teach. Many others could see he had a fascination with politics.
Albano recalled standing outside the Longmeadow Community House carrying a sign that read “John F. Kennedy for President" in 1960, at age 9.
At age 12, Albano supported Ted Kennedy in his first run for office, despite his father's support for opponent Edward J. McCormack, the State Attorney General who was a staunch labor advocate.
Entering politics may have been natural for Albano.
For years his father, John, a Commissioner for the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination was loyal to politics and the labor movement. His father served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1960 and 1976 and held close family friendships with prominent political families such as the Kennedy's. Albano has fostered that relationship.
His mother, Mafalda 'Muffie" Albano, has been a fixture in Democratic Party politics in Hampden County for decades. An uncle was the late state Rep. James L. Grimaldi, who served in the State Legislature for 20 years, on the City Council for 12 years and ran unsuccessfully for mayor five times.
By BEA O'QUINN
Staff writer
[email protected]
SPRINGFIELD - As the City begins to prepare for a new administration, a new style of leadership and a new set of political priorities, Mayor Michael J. Albano has begun to pack. Photographs that once adorned the office mantel… Albano stood alongside such prominent political figures as President Bill Clinton, the late Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, have been removed.
Memorabilia and plaques have been boxed on the office floor.
“I think I'll be most remembered for the vibrancy of my administration.
For getting the job done, said Albano,52. 'This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, being Mayor.”
As for regrets, Albano said he wished he had developed a citywide program for the homeless and tackled ongoing education problems such as underperforming schools.
Albano, who chose not to seek reelection has as served as Mayor since 1996 He was on the City Council from 1991 to 1995 and the School Committee from
1986 to 1990.
Mayor Charles V. Ryan Jr. who held the chief executive's seat in the 1960’s, defeated State Senator Linda J. Melconian in the November election for Mayor. Ryan will be inaugurated Jan 5.
Albano’s work as a public figure will continue, however in his ongoing effort to champion the purchase of lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada. Springfield was the first city in the nation to adopt a Canadian drug plan for thousands of city employees and retirees. Despite warnings by the Food and Drug Administration, other cities have followed suit, including Boston and Burlington, Vt.
Albano has become the focus of national publicity for his effort, recently filming a segment of "60 Minutes" the weekly CBS television news show, to discuss the city's program. He has appeared on news talk programs on MSNBC, CNN and Nightline, among others.
All the positive attention focused on Albano has deflected some of the controversy over his final years in office due to an on-going FBI corruption probe.
Federal prosecutors have said indictments for civil rights violations are anticipated by Jan. 15 against former Police Commissioner Gerald Phillips.
Phillips and three others were charged with participating in a no-show job scheme at the Massachusetts Career Development Institute where Phillips was the $111,000-a-year director. Agents also have raided numerous city agencies and departments, including some at City Hall.
Albano called the probe exaggerated and said it has not sullied his term of office.
Rather, he lists a string of accomplishments
• Achieving eight consecutive years of a balanced budget
• Building or rebuilding 10 city schools
• Constructing and opening the new Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
• Reconstruction of the Civic Center and construction of the Convention Center
• Redevelopment of the river-front
• Establishing the arts and entertainment district
• Hiring more than 100 police officers.
Veteran City Councilor William T. Foley Jr. a 20-year council member said hiring 100 additional police officers was one of the Mayor's worst decisions.
He said the Mayor took too many risks with city coffers--Mike did have a vision for Springfield." Foley said. "My concern as a City Councilor was how much is (the vision) going to cost. No matter who the Mayor is, sometimes you get too caught up in that vision.
Albano considers hiring additional police and building schools among his best decisions.
At the time of Albano's election, the city's crime rate had escalated to a point where residents feared living here, and city schools were decrepit, Albano said.
“There was no greater high than cutting a ribbon for a new school," Albano said, noting the completion of the Edward P. Boland Elementary School, named after the late Congressman who served in office 36 years as a favorable memory.
As for hiring police, Albano said. "Literally, tears came to my eyes when we inducted the first class of 60 police officers in 1997."
With 65 percent of the city's budget dependent on state aid, City Councilor Angelo Puppolo said the Mayor should have been better prepared for the state's downturn.
"There were some missed opportunities along the way to put away some money and be a little more fiscally prudent." Puppolo said.
City Councilor Domenic J. Sarno complimented the Mayor, saying many of his decisions enhanced city life.
Sarno credited Albano's strong relationship with state and federal leaders as key to securing crucial funds needed for many economic developments.
State Rep. Thomas Petrolati D-Ludlow, said Albano had a favorable rapport with members of the State Legislature, including key leaders such as House Speaker Thom. Finneran. Petrolati said Albano was respected and considered a man of his word.
“Based on those relationships he gained a sense of credibility when looking for money for projects in Springfield." Petrolati said.
Albano said he has no plans at this time for a future in elected office
"Nothing has captured my attention," Albano said, still leaving the door open for any “unique opportunity.”
Albano's rule as a political player is hardly over.
He has begun handing out business cards for "Michael Albano and Associates," a political campaign and government related consulting firm on State Street in Springfield.
The firm will work with local, state and national political figures pursuing public office, he said after being prodded. Albano said he has one local client, although he declined to reveal names.
Albano said he also may return to teaching.
Prior to political office, while serving on the Massachusetts Parole Board, the Mayor worked as an adjunct professor teaching criminal justice at Springfield Technical Community College, Asnuntuck Community College and the University of Massachusetts.
Albano said his initial career aspiration was to teach. Many others could see he had a fascination with politics.
Albano recalled standing outside the Longmeadow Community House carrying a sign that read “John F. Kennedy for President" in 1960, at age 9.
At age 12, Albano supported Ted Kennedy in his first run for office, despite his father's support for opponent Edward J. McCormack, the State Attorney General who was a staunch labor advocate.
Entering politics may have been natural for Albano.
For years his father, John, a Commissioner for the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination was loyal to politics and the labor movement. His father served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1960 and 1976 and held close family friendships with prominent political families such as the Kennedy's. Albano has fostered that relationship.
His mother, Mafalda 'Muffie" Albano, has been a fixture in Democratic Party politics in Hampden County for decades. An uncle was the late state Rep. James L. Grimaldi, who served in the State Legislature for 20 years, on the City Council for 12 years and ran unsuccessfully for mayor five times.