Tags
Billerica School Department, billerica schools, corruption, Marie Blanchette, MEC, MSEC, Pension Fraud
Recently, retired former current Billerica School Committee member and former chairman, Marie Blanchette, has been in discussions with the Commonwealth’s Ethics Commission regarding possible violations of law surrounding misuse of taxpayer funds and possible pension fraud. The charges in and of themselves are disturbing enough, but if true, the funds in question will have come from the Billerica based Merrimack Special Education Collaborative (MSEC) which exists to service special needs students – a program that has been controversial to some for its very existence and for them and others, for the additional, narrow use of taxpayer money outside of the everyday school department budget.
Ms. Blanchette, while actually working for the private, non-profit Merrimack Education Center (MEC), was apparently simultaneously listed as a payroll employee on the taxpayer funded collaborative. As such, her pension has received a significant boost that would not have come had she been listed as an employee of the MEC. To be clear, I am not implying that she, specifically, did anything wrong; I am only stating that she is being talked to about this state of affairs by the Commonwealth’s Ethics Commission as part of a much wider probe [I hope].
As always, there is a presumption of innocence that must be respected, and at the moment; there is no evidence in the public domain to indicate that anything Ms. Blanchette did was illegal, immoral or improper. There is only suspicion that something greater than the alleged embezzlement of $37 million that appears to have occurred under the leadership of John Barranco during the period he was inexplicably allowed to head both organizations. More disturbing to me is the fact that Ms. Blanchette, concerned about a possible conflict of interest, invited a Commonwealth Ethics representative to look into her job [an indication of genuine concern on her part] as transportation director for the special education program when she was elected to the Billerica School Committee (Department) in 2001.
The Commonwealth’s Ethics Commission, after looking at Ms. Blanchette’s request for an opinion regarding a possible conflict, apparently did not see any conflict at all. The commission found no fault with her dual role of overseeing special education transportation and being on the school committee, whcih oversees funding for all school department funding and expenditures. They also did not find fault with or even notice the fact that she was on the roster of the two separate agencies, simultaneously – again, one private and the other publicly funded – and in line for a State pension at the taxpayer’s expense. Perhaps they missed this glaring discrepancy by conducting only a cursory, superficial “investigation” and rendering an opinion missing significant factual information. In any case, their final opinion was that the entire school board was to be designated as “special municipal employees” [whatever the hell that means] to avoid conflict. The board complied.
It is obvious now that had the Commonwealth’s Ethics Commission performed its oversight function competently, the conflict between Ms. Blanchette’s employment status as either a private corporation employee or as a publicly funding civil servant would have been uncovered a decade ago. The fact that she seemed to be aware that she was hired by a private company, but was on the books as a civil servant also indicated that perhaps she was somewhat aware that there may be a potential conflict at some point with her pension entitlement. This is evidenced by the fact that she was astute enough to understand the possible existence of conflict when she summoned an opinion from the ethics commission.
The Commonwealth is investigating the alleged misappropriation of funds and pension abuse as it relates to the MEC and the MSEC. But what about the direct tie between the MEC and the Billerica School Committee, particularly during the time of her Chairmanship? The Commonwealth is appropriately making a big deal about the potential loss of some estimated $37 million taxpayer dollars; money Billerica and the entire valley can hardly afford to lose. However, Commonwealth teasurer and justice officials do not seem to be interested in performing a forensic audit on the Billerica School Department – a potential source of losses that could reach billions hundreds of millions of dollars over the years between when Ms. Blanchette worked in the Billerica School Department’s business office, which she has been overseeing via the school committee during her simultaneous years at both the MEC and as an active member of the Billerica School Board. Both positions have some oversight or influence in school department funding, expenditures and record keeping.
So, the question is why is a full forensic audit of the Billerica School Department at the expense of the Commonwealth not under consideration. Also, why are those advocates of transparent and accountable government not asking for such a review? From previous comments from prominent members of Town Meeting and self-professed taxpayer advocacy groups, the Town Meeting felt that spending thousands to assure that billions were safeguarded was not practical considering the current financial situation in Billerica. It seems to me that this is an ideal time for these budget hawks to have their cake and eat it too by getting the Commonwealth to both perform the audit and to pay for it.
What do you think? Is this issue worth a few minutes of your time to make a local call, write a locally deliverable letter, or send out a pithy e-mail to your Town Meeting member demanding that they propose and pass legislation that would <strong>require</strong> that the corporate town write the State’s Attorney General and demand that the Commonwealth investigate the entire town’s activity regarding taxpayer fund collections and expenditures over at least the past decade? At the very least, a full, comprehensive forensic audit of the School Department appears to be completely justified, and as taxpayers, we have a right to confidence in our town leadership and their stewardship of our hard earned resources. If not now; then when?
Comments?
Tony said:
I believe Ms. Blanchette is still a member of the school committee. A full audit should be done on educational public funds, but highly unlikely to occur. You also give the Commonwealth’s Ethics Commission too much credit. In all the various situations the Commonwealth’s Ethics Commission has been brought in, I have never seen any in-depth report or investigation. When individuals are found to be in violation, a small fine is issued by the board. Nothing to really prevent future incidents.
--Rick said:
Ms. Blanchette is, of course, still a member of the Billerica School Committee. I misspoke in that she has retired from the MEC/MSEC transportation job for which she is drawing the “controversial” pension. My apology to all for that error,and my thanks to you, Tony, for pointing it out.
As to the Ethics Commission, I agree that they were incompetent and believe that I made that clear with the following statement: “It is obvious now that had the Commonwealth’s Ethics Commission performed its oversight function competently, the conflict between Ms. Blanchette’s employment status as either a private corporation employee or as a publicly funding civil servant would have been uncovered a decade ago. I do hold out hope that they will properly investigate this matter now; however, I don’t have full faith and confidence that will be the case. For that reason, I have called for pressure on the State’s AG to conduct a forensic audit, even though, I admit to having little confidence in the highly political “citizen’s advocate”, Martha Coakley.
I have had very little success in convincing the citizens of Billerica to pressure their political leadership, e.g., the Board of Selectmen/Town Meeting to call for a forensic audit of the school department [and the corporate town if they are so inclined] to no avail. Although, some agree with the need for an audit, and that there is sufficient probable cause to initiate one [not that probable cause is needed - episodic audits are just a good business practice]; I hear plenty of excuses as to why this action is not possible as evidenced by the comment link I provided in the main article.
I share your cynicism with government and its response to misadventures on the part of individuals and/or boards; however, cynicism is not sufficent reason to just give up. Although, I admit that I am near to point of giving up, but that is more related to voter/citizen apathy than anything else. At some point, if one is content to wallow in the muck and the mire or a pig sty, then, why put the effort in to give them a better quality of life and a cleaner pen?
Thank you, again, Tony, for expressing your concern for this issue and for the town in general. It’s people such as yourself who will force any change that may occur. Unfortunately, at the moment, there are more for the status quo than for accountability in Billerica and until that changes, I’m feel as if I am whispering into a howling wind and missing the ears and the conscience of those who can help.
masshelp said:
Rick,
I came across your blog about a month ago while researching different issues on Billerica and am very happy that I have done so. I am a town meeting member. I too am disgusted by this and feel that this is an important time to bring this up. I don’t know if you know this, but starting last year, they have started a new forum for questions, requesting that members send questions ahead of time, which I feel is a way for them to get out of people hearing actual important questions and answers. I’ve been with town meeting a couple years now, but it has always bothered me how quick they try to shove everything through. To me it would make sense to spend a little bit of time on stuff that affects the whole town between new laws and financial issues.
I am going to use the articles that ask for yet more money for the school, to bring up the mec issue and the need for an audit as both superintendents have been suspected of unethical behavior and they have been in charge of the final budge line for at least the last 10 years. I’m not sure if you are familiar with the fact that when town meeting votes on the school budget, we are only allowed to vote on the final budget line, not on an itemized one. The school committee and superintendent are the ones in charge of that and have been for a while. To be honest, I would truly like to have a forensic audit of both the town and the school budgets. They have risen from 69 million in 2001 to 120 or more in 2011. The towns population has not fluctuated by more than a thousand people in the last 25 years or so. Something sketchy is going on
This is from the school committee meeting minutes from Feb 28, 2011
Paul Szymanski, Business Manager gave an overview of the budget indicating the 72% of the budget was allocated to salaries with $272,000 earmarked for transportation costs. Town Meeting Articles need to be delivered to the Town Manager on March 12, 2011 for Town Meeting presentation.
http://news.billerica.k12.ma.us/category/school-committee/
The minutes have proved to be very interesting reading. I believe Symaznski was also the one who I talked to at town meeting when the Parker School issue came up. I had no issue with a new school, it was obvious that through lack of proper maintenance which they seem to do with everything in this town, it was needed. I did have an issue with the size, the amount of money, especially with the high rate bond we had to take out, the fact that there wasn’t a set amount, the fact that the last board like the MSBA went bankrupt, etc. I had looked up the MSBA reports on the school and found that they had amounted to about 28 million or so for both the construction and the demolition of the school, where they had figures of 33-37 million at points, a 5-9 million discrepancy. When questioned they replied it was for furniture and design and had repeated it a few times, which to me I found odd. I later found that with amount of kids, about 500, by school law, there could only be 1.2 million allocated for technology and since the had the blueprints or so one would assume, the other say 3.8 mill-7.8 is quite a bit much for design don’t you think? When I was in line to talk, I overheard one of the selectman mention that 140,00 of the feasibility study was missing. There are multiple causes, I believe would be a red flag for an audit.
Right now, it has been a bit frustrating with town meeting. They seem to know what they can and can’t get away with and seem to want to get away with as much as possible. Its very sad that doing your civil duty has turned into a free for all for these people. I have lived in this town since my parents moved here in 86. I am 26. I have gone through the school system, though to be honest, dropped out in 11th grade. I had become very disillusioned by the school policies and the quality of the teachers. I will never forget my guidance counselor, who my older sisters boyfriend had seen more than once drinking on a school night, told me the best I could hope for was community college, even though I was in multiple honors classes. I took my GED a few months after I dropped out and scored in the 99th percentile, which I believe more than adequately shows that I could do much better than community college. I also got a job that same summer working in a political non-profit for 4 years and learned alot about politics there, including the fact, that I don’t ever want to be a career politician. I do however feel it is important to do your civil duty and I feel that this is one way at least to try and keep an eye on things and keep things at least from getting worse, though hopefully moving towards getting better. I too have started to become disillusioned with the whole political process. I know that there is only so much one person can truly do, but I do have faith that if we make a concerted effort, that there is still enough people in this town that know what is going on or at least a suspicion and are sick and tired of being taken advantage of.
I do apologize for the long comment but I again want to say that I truly am happy that I came across your blog. It has been and I’m sure will continue to be an inspiration. As the old saying goes, a stick alone is easy to break, but a bundle is much tougher
Brittany
--Rick said:
Good afternoon, Brittany,
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and for the kind words regarding it’s content and my contribution toward your thinking. Having you visit is truly my pleasure. As a retired member of the United States Navy, I would like to thank you for your service in the political arena. At this point in time, the town, the Commonwealth and the nation needs to be invigorated by young, open-minded, free thinking and philosophically ethical people serving in government, and from reading your comments; it is my view that you certainly meet of the preceeding criteria.
My service was long ago in the past and has no bearing on today’s need, regretfully. Mankind still seems hellbent on self-destruction and I suppose that will be the case until us sheep learn that it is better to live closer to a cousin of the symbol of our nation – the golden eagle.. We need to emulate the eagle’s patience, it’s sharpness of vision in uncovering deception, it’s strength and perseverance as a free individual to survive and to grow even stronger without the support of the crowd (government, statists), and it’s willingness to attack in its own rational self-interest. As I read the sketchy story of your background, I see shade of a young eaglet blossoming into a full patriot – liberal or conservative, aside. You seem to have the heart of your ancestors in that you are willing to stand up alone, speak your mind, absorb the consequences and fight on until you are either the victor or become convinced that the other side is the right side of an argument. For that alone, I applaud you.
We do have something in common that some people may be surprised to read. I, too, took off a year from my formal education in high school. I was so bored with teachers who preferred their student’s read textbooks during class hours while they read their newspapers, or who came to teach unprepared for questions outside of the textbook’s range of coverage, that I deliberately got tossed from all of my classes in protest, and spent the majority of my junior year in study hall. It was there that I really began my journey on the road to seriously studying and finding my academic stride. It was there that I found the proof I needed that beyond the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, I didn’t need teachers to learn. I just needed to buckle down and work hard; a principle that ultimately led me to Objectivism and a far better life of independence.
I also had a guidance counselor who thought I would never amount to much; he didn’t even suggest community college for me. I think he saw me as just another project kid suitable for a daily appearance in one of society’s many human zoos. Of course, he was incorrect. So, don’t let your past slow you down; instead, be proud of your decision and work hard to prove all of the doubters wrong. Because I was able to do, I have faith that you will do at least as well as I.
There is no need to apologize about the length of your commentary on this site. You chose your topic, presented it well and justified your position with facts and vigor. I appreciate that more than anything else when I read other people’s opinion. Sometimes being pithy is more of a disservice than a valued skill.
Again, thank you for your service on behalf of myself and the entire town of Billerica. I have faith that you will successfully argue your position sufficient to at least get a dialogue percolating on the front burner regarding the completion of a forensic audit of Billerica’s government spending. In the interim, I hope to help by continuing to post pleas of my own when events occur that are conducive and timely enough to do so without sounding like some tiresome harridan. In fact, I have just sent a letter to the Department of Education and to the Justice Department requesting that they consider ordering Treasury to pay our town a visit. I think there is enough probable cause documented in our various minutes, and enough recalcitrance from within our government to suggest that the town is not being transparent or forthcoming to those it is sworn to represent and whose resources it is obligated to safeguard: we, the taxpayer.
Best wishes in the future,
–Rick
PS: My views and I can also be found on Twitter: Twitter