Old hacks never die – they just plead guilty to corruption charges, move out of the city and get a job with the local Democrat hack sheriff, file for workmen’s comp, pocket a $70,000 settlement, then wait for a new Republican hack sheriff who’s also from Boston but now lives in the same suburban neighborhood as you.
And sure enough, your old pal the new sheriff from Boston immediately puts you, the Boston hack, back on the public payroll as a “contractor” for $32.45 an hour.
We’re talking multiple nationwide searches here, so c’mon down ex-state rep. Brian P. Wallace of South Boston.
Before reading further, check out this classic photo of Wallace from 2008 doing one of his favorite things – sunning himself on a Suffolk County hack holiday like an overstuffed lizard. This one photo sums up his extinguished career better than a thousand words.
Wallace was a whale of a legislator on Beacon Hill, tons of fun at the State House. But then the inevitable happened after his “retirement.”
Headline: “Former Southie rep indicted.”
The solon and his campaign treasurer – a sprinkler-maintenance man – pled guilty in state court to some minor campaign-finance violations. The prosecutor charged Wallace with “ambiguous” expenses of $35,329 and not reporting more than $6300 in campaign contributions.
Most of which he probably spent on Twinkies, Ho Ho Cakes and Little Debbies.
Actually, it was rather absurd to bring criminal charges against the little fat man. At the time, Wallace bemoaned the injustice of it all: “I’m a small-timer.”
Yep, he was, and is. But that didn’t mean that in his humiliation Wallace would ever consider removing his snout from the public trough in which he’d been wallowing his entire life. Moving out of Southie to Westwood, he was hired by Norfolk County Sheriff Michael Bellotti as a “caseworker.”
Hey, who better to work with crooks than another crook, right?
But then tragedy struck, as does so often with natives of South Boston. Wallace was injured on the job, and received a workman’s comp settlement of $70,000.
Fast forward to last December. Bellotti resigns to take over some local college, and Tall Deval appoints a new sheriff, former Boston city councilor Gerry McDermott, once a Democrat, now a Republican and, by an amazing coincidence, a neighbor of Brian Wallace’s in Westwood.
A month after taking the sheriff’s job (which may soon pay $169,914 a year), former Bostonian McDermott conducted his own nationwide search and found, right under his very nose in his new hometown of Westwood… former Bostonian Brian P. Wallace, whom he hired as a “contractor” for “Public Community Outreach.”
At his $32.45-an-hour pay rate, Wallace can make up to $67,496 a year doing “Public Community Outreach” for the new sheriff… after grabbing that $70,000 settlement from the old sheriff.
Now, McDermott took some heat a few days ago in the Globe for hiring Republican hacks. McDermott was a Scott Brown fanboy, so he took care of another Brown minion, Greg Casey, as his $97,500-a-year chief of staff. His big favor to Tall Deval, though, was handing Kirsten Hughes, the former chairman of the state GOP, a $137,500-a-year hack job as “special sheriff.”
That should tide Kirsten over until Tall Deval can get her that clerk-magistrate’s slot she’s been dreaming of all these years. McDermott also hired a couple of other GOP hacks, including one of Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito’s former campaign managers.
But the big thing to remember here is that McDermott is running a bipartisan hackerama. To research this, I had to deal with one Kara Nyman, his $65,000-a-year flack.
Does that name ring a bell? Her father was Bob Nyman, the state rep from Hanover until he was found dead in his swimming pool in 2010. He was succeeded by Kara’s mom, Rhonda, until she retired from the legislature in 2014 due to ill health – the voters got sick of her.
Democrat Rhonda was immediately plucked off the waiver wire by the hack Republican sheriff of Plymouth County, Joe McDonald. Rhonda Nyman now makes $84,017 a year doing… something.
Kara Nyman tried to reclaim the family House seat in 2016 at the age of 24. No go, the voters were Nyman’ed out. Bellotti spared Kara the ultimate indignity of having to work for a living by hiring her last year.
Also toiling in Sheriff McDermott’s office is Cindy Glennon, making $93,000 a year. She’s the daughter of Fran O’Brien, the 89-year-old Norfolk County commissioner, another Democrat.
But wait, there’s more. McDermott has to run next year, and there’s no way he should win countywide. I mean, a Republican governor once appointed a former Democrat as the sheriff of Norfolk County, back in 1996.
That ex-Democrat rep’s name was Jack Flood, and compared to McDermott, he was a statesman of Churchillian stature. Flood actually… thought about issues, and other stuff. He was crushed by Bellotti.
But McDermott has at least a slight chance, because his likely Democrat opponent is named… McDermott. That would be Patrick McDermott, the Norfolk County register of probate. No one knows why he’d want to give up a job that pays $155,084 a year to take over a snake pit like the Dedham House of Correction. But hey, that’s Norfolk County for you. It’s the answer to the question, “Where did the old Boston go?”
I asked Kara Nyman to provide a statement from the sheriff about why he hired his fellow Westwood-by-way-of-Boston hack.
“Due to his compassionate leadership on the issues of addiction and recovery,” the sheriff said through Nyman, “Brian was brought on as a contractor.”
I just hope Wallace has fully recovered from that terrible injury for which he received the $70,000 settlement.
