Colman Herman of Commonwealth magazine reports about the difficulties facing Boston Globe business reporter Todd Wallack in obtaining severance agreements of state employees from the governor’s office.
Herman writes, “In an appeal filed with Secretary of State William Galvin’s office, Wallack seeks unredacted versions of the documents, noting the settlements involved millions of taxpayer dollars. In one case, according to Wallack, an employee was awarded more than $300,000. ‘I can’t imagine the courts intended to give the state a loophole to hide deals involving millions of dollars in taxpayer funds,’ Wallack writes in his appeal.
“Patrick claims that, as governor, he is exempt from the Public Records Law as a result of a 1997 court case (Lambert v. Executive Director Judicial Nominating Council), although aides maintain Patrick voluntarily complies with most records requests.
“Last October, Alan Cote, who handles public records appeals on behalf of Galvin, ruled in Wallack’s favor, ordering the governor’s office to produce the records for Wallack in unredacted form.
“Cote also took note in his ruling of a side issue raised in a letter he received from Richard Barry, Jr., general counsel to the National Association of Government Employees, which represents about 12,000 state employees. Berry said he opposed Wallack’s appeal because nearly all the settlement agreements reached between the state and employees include ‘a confidentiality provision in which both parties agree that the terms of the agreement shall remain confidential.'”
Read more here. Despite the ruling, Wallack still has not received the documents.
