As elsewhere, Massachusetts GOP'ers rail against patronage, pork, and pension padding. Small government and all that. Two years ago, when Gov. Deval Patrick attempted to appoint supporter State Senator Marian Walsh to a long unfilled job, they raised holy hell. It became a part of last year's gubernatorial campaign. Tea Partiers railed against it most vociferously.
One of those Tea Partiers railing was 10th CD GOP candidate, and tea party poster boy, Jeff Perry.
When last we heard of him Jeff Perry was trying to explain why he stood by while a fellow cop molested a 14 year old girl. The cop went to prison, Perry managed to avoid any punishment.
But, alas, in GOP Land, where it's only pork and patronage if YOU get it and not me, it's "different" for Mr. Perry. Mr. Perry has been appointed to the long unfilled position of Special Sheriff by his buddy and supporter, Republican Barnstable County Sheriff James M. Cummings. (Story here). What a "special" sheriff really does, and how it differs from the second-in-command Deputy Sheriff position remains unclear.
Not only is he getting $110,000 a year (double what the former Deputy Sheriff made), but he'll get a very nice bump in his pension. Stopping pension abuse was a key part of TP'er Perry's campaign. The one that also complained about hack patronage hires.
Even the reliably conservative and Republican Boston Herald has a problem with this appointment. Even our friends at RedMassGroup are having hard time with this, though the mental gymnastics are amusing. They are getting good at mental gymnastics in support of Mr. Perry.
Seems the good sheriff did his due diligence and hired and ex-FBI agent to conduct an investigation of Perry's role in the assault and considers Perry exonerated. The sheriff has not released the report, or what evidence exonerates Perry.
And the icing on the cake:
Barnstable taxpayers should be horrified, too. County Sheriff James Cummings said the county’s so broke he hasn’t been able to hire a correction officer in three years. He’s racking up 5,000 hours a month in overtime. Plus he’s had to cut crucial programs, such as one that keeps tabs on convicted sex offenders.
How 5,000 hours of overtime is cheaper than hiring full-time officers only the GOP would know. But since he's buddies with at least one sex offender, Perry should be good at keeping tabs on them.
Only in GOP Land.