As the Sept. 14 primary election fast approaches, the six candidates for Hampden County District Attorney have been taking their turns in the harsh spotlight.
First to feel the heat: Democratic candidate Stephen Spelman, who offered a less-than-flattering description of Springfield at a late August candidates’ forum held by the McKnight Neighborhood Council. At the forum, Spelman, a veteran who’s spent time in Iraq, said of the city, “People feel as though they are living in a war zone. The tough law-and-order strategies that we used in Iraq, a society under extraordinary stress, will work here in Springfield and other places in Hampden County that are not under that kind of stress.”
Spelman’s rivals were quick to express their righteous indignation over his comments, accusing him of speaking disrespectfully of the city; state Sen. Stephen Buoniconti, who lives in West Springfield but whose district includes parts of Springfield, even called for an apology. Spelman held firm, however, saying later in the forum, “People say parts of Springfield aren’t a war zone. I disagree.”
Spelman, perhaps, might have employed a little more political nuance in his choice of words. (He did later temper his comments, saying, “There are places that are great, there are places that are not. The places that are not are poisoned by guns and drugs.”) But talk to residents of some of the city’s rougher neighborhoods—places where burned-out buildings dominate blocks, where late-night gunshots are not uncommon and parents hesitate to let their kids play outside—and you’ll likely hear his sentiments echoed. Perhaps more worrisome is Spelman’s call for a militaristic approach to law enforcement—although for residents of those beleaguered neighborhoods, that might sound like a pretty good idea.
As the dust around Spelman finally began to settle, fellow Democratic candidate Michael Kogut was the next to find himself up against the ropes, courtesy of blogger Tom Devine, a longtime observer of Springfield politics.
In a Sept. 1 post titled “Kogut’s Dark Past,” Devine excoriates Kogut for his role in the Gerry Daniele fiasco of 1996. Daniele was the one-time Springfield city auditor who lost his job after being accused of sexual harassment by two city employees, Kathy Kelly and Joanne Reilly. In the end, Daniele was cleared of the charges by the Mass. Commission Against Discrimination, which described the case against the auditor as “totally lacking in merit.” Daniele subsequently sued the city and won a settlement. He’s since passed away.
Of Kogut—who at the time served as then-Mayor Mike Albano’s city solicitor, a job the City Council eventually pushed him out of—Devine writes: “When justice was at stake, Kogut did nothing and an innocent man was made to suffer. Just imagine what it must have been like for Danielle [sic] to have had to go home and tell his wife and family that he not only had been fired from his city job, but had been accused of sexual harassment. Of course this was all over the media as well.”
Perhaps the biggest blow during this rough news cycle was leveled at Buoniconti, who failed to properly report more than $100,000 in income in state ethics reports, according to a lengthy article last week by Springfield Republican reporter Jack Flynn.
In addition to serving in the state Senate (an $80,000-a-year gig), Buoniconti has worked since 2006 as an attorney for the Hampden County Regional Retirement System, “[d]espite limited experience in pension law,” Flynn wrote. By law, that income should have been reported as coming from a taxpayer-funded public agency; instead, Flynn found, Buoniconti reported it as income earned in the private sector.
“In an interview this week, Buoniconti said his legal skills, not political connections, won him the pension board job,” Flynn wrote.
“Explaining why he never mentioned the post on his ethics forms, the three-term senator said he was relying on a verbal opinion from the Ethics Commission. ‘My understanding was that I didn’t have to disclose …. not if you’re an independent contractor and it’s not a state agency,'” the article continued.
As candidate after candidate suffers from uncomfortable moments in the public spotlight, who stands most to benefit? Independent Mark Mastroianni, who will face whichever of the five Democratic candidates emerges from that bloody party primary next week. In particular, Mastroianni would be well served if Buoniconti—the presumed frontrunner in the Democrat race—continues to face ethics questions.
