Submitted by throwsplasticattrees t3_120v6k1 in massachusetts
Comments
SomeSortofDisaster t1_jdj67yf wrote
Easiest way to convince an Auditor that you're hiding something: refuse to comply.
Icy-Neck-2422 t1_jdj7cmo wrote
"I don't need to talk to you, jerky"
CheruthCutestory t1_jdjbx65 wrote
But they can't prove it if you don't comply.
SomeSortofDisaster t1_jdjci51 wrote
Incorrect.
Findings: organization did not comply with Audit's requests. See pages x-y for requests and refusals.
KayakerMel t1_jdjck3t wrote
DiZoglio included planned auditing of the Legislature as a central plank of her campaign. Did Speaker Mariano not notice this?
H2Omekanic t1_jdjdcv6 wrote
As the least transparent state legislature, I expect some juicy information will be revealed. Is it true they have not been audited for 100 years?
Audioengineer68 t1_jdjeyv5 wrote
"What do ya say liverlips?"
[deleted] t1_jdjg6cg wrote
Vote him out. Bye bebe!
cmajka8 t1_jdjjmrr wrote
Surprise surprise…i wonder why
paddenice t1_jdjpo3j wrote
Bet you he just assumed he could squash the campaign promise behind closed doors. That didn’t happen, so he’s going the public route. Quite a poor look. I wouldn’t vote for the guy his name were to appear on my ballot.
Ikirio t1_jdjpx09 wrote
Single party dominance always leads to corruption. It really is that simple. Humans do humans.
PM_me_PMs_plox t1_jdjr68w wrote
Gives them time to cover up the evidence better though.
NativeMasshole t1_jdjrvly wrote
Are they still trying to claim that she doesn't have the authority to audit them?
Easy-Progress8252 t1_jdjxj9d wrote
The irony is the State Auditor is elected by the people too, to do the job she’s trying to do now. People shouldn’t underestimate her either.
sullguy t1_jdjyyx1 wrote
I mean, if they’re actually audited by a third party every year his pushback kinda makes sense. Better them then someone in the govt tied to a political party do it.
shyjenny t1_jdk2w3k wrote
Speaker Mariano has been serving Quincy, Weymouth and Holbrook for over 30 years and has mostly run unopposed
He's not on my ballot, and he sounds like a blow-valve, but I voted for Auditor DiZoglio and want her to do her job and earn her paycheck. I also want my representatives to be transparent so I will ask mine to work on complying with the audit
Thisbymaster t1_jdk5ohq wrote
Haha, sounds like he has something to hide.
ebow77 t1_jdk96kc wrote
Well open records laws don't apply to them, so it's worth a shot. /s but not /s
DryAfternoon7779 t1_jdkafs6 wrote
They're exempt from Public Records Law. Audit them.
Plsmock t1_jdkawkx wrote
This attitude leads to shitty republican governors. See mbta-a god awful mess for reference. Also see the Chelsea soldiers home-nepotism kills.
craigawoo t1_jdkbxdt wrote
Congressmen are not celebrities.
Thiccaca t1_jdkdjnj wrote
Uhhh....it wasn't just GOP governors who fucked up the MBTA. It was decades of politicians simply refusing to invest in the MBTA, and decades of them using it as a way to funnel money to big donors in the form of contracts and consultantancies.
Plenty of blame to go around...
Plsmock t1_jdkf3bt wrote
You're right
Thiccaca t1_jdkh3fg wrote
That said, the Republican governors are super shitty and never help anything
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[deleted] t1_jdkj5t0 wrote
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[deleted] t1_jdkjuq4 wrote
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ReporterOther2179 t1_jdkpevn wrote
Financial issues are very difficult to cover up, as they are cross referenced every which way.
Rindan t1_jdkv9vq wrote
And your attitude leads to straight up corruption. A "honorable opposition" is absolutely essential for good democratic governance. The implosion of the Massachusetts Republican Party into an unelectable MAGA cult is a large part of the reason why we have corruption like this. A healthy Massachusetts would have a left wing Republican Party in the form of Baker and Weld like Republicans. They might not win, but they'd at least be a check on the near open corruption that we see under single party rule.
andrewb610 t1_jdl4hu2 wrote
In the usual US system, the Congress overseas the Executive Branch, not the other way around.
The state auditor is going to see her budget shrivel up very quickly. I admire her courage but her attitude of “I’m not asking for permission” is going to end with “and now I’m not getting a paycheck”.
andrewb610 t1_jdl4qa3 wrote
> Section 6. Every department, board, commission or office of the commonwealth or of a county, city or town, for which no clerk is otherwise provided by law, shall designate some person as clerk, who shall enter all its votes, orders and proceedings in books and shall have the custody of such books, and the department, board, commission or office shall designate an employee or employees to have the custody of its other public records. Every sole officer in charge of a department or office of the commonwealth or of a county, city or town having public records in such department or office shall have the custody thereof.
Legally the Legislature is exempt from the State’s open record laws.
ChainmailleAddict t1_jdl8c3d wrote
Keep in mind that this is the same Ronald Mariano that something like 70% of state house Dems vote practically-identically to. The level of control without actual representation is insane.
NECESolarGuy t1_jdmgxvb wrote
He was Deleo’s hand picked successor. No one should be surprised by this. I do hope she is successful and exposes some of the petty shit the all powerful speaker gets away with. Like if you don’t toe the line, you get a shitty office, or lousy subcommittee appointments…. Or or or….
And she did say she was going to look at how committee chairs get assigned. That’s got to rattle mr mariano….
NECESolarGuy t1_jdmh9oj wrote
Well they vote that way so they get good offices, nice committee assignments, the kiss of death in the MA house is to piss off the speaker. Legislators get pay bumps based on the committees they serve on. So the speaker has lots of leverage over members of he house…
great_blue_hill t1_jdmhfxx wrote
Yay let’s roll over to government corruption
andrewb610 t1_jdmmc8l wrote
I’m not saying you shouldn’t push for a new way for legislative oversight, I’m just saying the system isn’t inherently set up the way the State Auditor wants it to be.
You should push for a voter initiative to fix it!
ChainmailleAddict t1_jdmne7y wrote
There was a bloc of Dems primarying said cronies, who didn't care about pissing him off. Unfortunately, complacency won. I think about how stacked the cards are against people not in the establishment and it's frustrating. They have it WAY too easy.
Potential-Village-61 t1_jdmp04e wrote
I am from Massachusetts What does Mariano have to hide. Is someone dirty in Massachusetts . Of course there is. One man's opinion.
Vivid-Mammoth-4161 t1_jdmxu82 wrote
Those kinds of republicans no longer exist…..until proven otherwise
[deleted] t1_jdsgvdv wrote
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Potential-Village-61 t1_je85cq9 wrote
if her budget and pay shrivel for that reason then the people of Massachusetts should march. It is still the people's government .....or is it? Wake up Massachusetts.
andrewb610 t1_je880am wrote
You’re absolutely right. I’m not saying the legislature should respond that way, but the way things work is that the legislature writes the laws that tell the auditor what authority the position has and doesn’t have. Usually the executive branch can have oversight from the legislative branch, not the other way around.
What I haven’t yet found, which could change my opinion entirely, is the law providing for the powers of the state auditor. If the legislature gave the auditor power to audit them then case closed for the auditor. If not, then the speaker is right.
throwsplasticattrees OP t1_jdj4o9j wrote
This should be interesting. State Auditor Diana DiZoglio responds that "we are not asking for permission". The classic, if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't be concerned.
I would believe Speaker Mariano that the "people of the Commonwealth are final arbiters of the performance of their duly elected representatives" if every time I went to vote there was more than one option to elect a representative. It's hard to take this position seriously when the vast majority of elected representatives run uncontested election after election. It's difficult to arbitrate performance when the elected representatives only need their own ballot to win their seat.