“Staff are required to work in person Monday to Friday with very few exceptions,” said Karissa Hand, a spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey’s office. “The governor’s office is a fast-paced, high-demand work environment. We believe that having employees working in-person is beneficial to our efforts to meet these demands.
Colman M. Herman
Posted inCriminal Justice
Putting police officers to the test
Enrique Zuniga, the executive director of the commission, said recurring physical and mental health testing is needed to make sure police officers are up to their job. But he said getting a testing regime in place will be a “big lift.” He is leaning toward making the periodic testing voluntary rather than mandatory.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: Super PAC shower in SJC clerk race | Healey’s departure bonus
In filings with state campaign finance regulators, Chinese Progressive Political Action (CPPA) and Ironworkers Local 7’s super PAC reported spending $4,000 and $3,000 on their respective candidates of choice. CPPA, which has money to spend thanks to a $10,000 donation from the health care workers union SEIU 1199, is backing attorney Allison Cartwright, while the South Boston-based ironworkers union is supporting Boston Councilor Erin Murphy.
Posted inEconomy
Boston Common restaurant closing, city seeks new tenant
After spending $1 million in 2013 to transform a long-closed, octagon-shaped bathroom called a “comfort station” into a restaurant and then incurring total losses of $2.2 million over the past 11 years, the Florida-based Earl of Sandwich chain asked the city of Boston to allow it to shut down its Boston Common location at the end of next month, four years before its 15-year lease was due to expire.
Posted inPublic Records
Court orders DiZoglio to remove audit redactions
A judge ordered state Auditor Diana DiZoglio to release unredacted reports on two Massachusetts sheriffs’ departments, ruling that public disclosure of the information that had been blocked would not pose a risk to public safety or cybersecurity.
Posted inGovernment
Abolishing BPDA costing many employees their strong job protections
The loss of the job protections has received no public attention, but it has stirred anxiety among some of the affected employees, all of whom declined to comment for fear of alienating their new city bosses.
Posted inState Government
No evidence Fiandaca did any work during transition
“For the purposes of a smooth transition, it’s important that when there’s a departure of someone so senior that we be able to call upon that person,” Gov. Maura Healey said. “So it’s normal. You see that in a lot of departures.”
Posted inBy The Numbers
How do Mass. academic medical centers stack up?
According to an analysis of the data, the 10 academic medical centers in Massachusetts generally performed poorly compared to 200 other peer institutions around the country when it comes to patient outcomes and patient safety, but fared well in avoiding the overuse of certain “low-value” medical procedures.
Posted inEducation
Boston schools grudgingly release some sexual misconduct data
The numbers, which were released grudgingly after a six-month public records battle, begin to paint a picture of how prevalent sexual misconduct, bullying, and biased-based incidents are in the Boston schools.
Posted inHousing, State Government
Reckoning looms over ‘home equity theft’
IN LATE MAY, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of 94-year-old Geraldine Tyler, a Minnesota woman who did not get the surplus back after her condo was foreclosed on and sold off for $40,000 — $25,000 more than what she owed. By keeping the excess, the court held the Minnesota county where Tyler lived […]