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POLITICAL CAPITAL
Choate Hall & Stewart, the Boston law firm, is beginning to show some political savvy. First, the firm rallied to the aid of a former partner, Margaret Marshall, last fall when her nomination by Governor Paul Cellucci to become state Supreme Court chief justice was under fire.
Now, the partner who heads up the firm's New Hampshire operation - former Granite State attorney general Jeff Howard - appears ready to jump into the race for governor to unseat Democratic incumbent Jeanne Shaheen. Howard, a Republican and general counsel to George W. Bush 's New Hampshire presidential campaign, has created an gubernatorial exploratory committee.
Cellucci aide assists Bush campaign
Speaking of Bush, Rob Gray, Governor Paul Cellucci's top political aide, has a new title. For the next two months, Gray will serve as executive director of Bush's Massachusetts primary campaign.
Meanwhile, employees in the Department of Social Services are wondering whether Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift had anything to do with one of their own getting a salary-doubling promotion.
Jacqueline Rufo - a bridesmaid at Swift's wedding and a donor to her campaign - was making $755 a week as a clinical social worker before the lieutenant governor was elected in 1998. After the election, Rufo got bumped up to assistant to the commissioner, earning $1,576 a week, payroll records show.
Grossman is beginning to speak, act like a candidate for governor
Former Democratic National Committee chairman Steve Grossman is acting more and more like a candidate for governor in 2002. Grossman is accepting many speaking engagement invitations, has pledged personal and financial support for the campaign to oppose Governor Paul Cellucci's ballot initiative this fall to roll back the state income tax, and is meeting with potential fund-raisers. Last Monday, Grossman had lunch with about 10 top money people from the 1998 gubernatorial campaign of Scott Harshbarger. The meeting was arranged by Boston attorney Richard Glovsky, who has pledged his support if Grossman, as it appears he will, decides to make his first run for public office. Glovsky was chief fund-raiser for Harshbarger, who has said he is not considering a second campaign for governor.
Sullivan looks ready to fight Kennedy
Plymouth County District Attorney Michael Sullivan met with top Republican operatives last week and gave all the indications he was ready to officially launch his campaign against US Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
That announcement will likely come sometime in February, after the hoopla of the New Hampshire presidential primary dies down, sources said. Sullivan has already hired a full-time staff person and continues to raise funds for his obviously uphill race against Kennedy.
Menino has big plans for a new job, but the council wants something, too
Doing the City Hall shuffle: Members of the City Council were intrigued by Mayor Thomas M. Menino's plan to hire a chief planner to guide the city's building boom. The new position, which is in addition to the still-unnamed director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, would be funded directly out of the city's operating budget. That means the council would have to approve it as part of the budget. ''When we get our attorney, he'll get his chief planner,'' quipped one member. The council wants to hire its own full-time lawyer, but Menino has staunchly resisted the idea. Meanwhile, the search continues for the new BRA director; some insiders say top Menino aide Peter Welsh is still a possibility, though others say it will be someone from the private sector. Either way, veteran BRA planner Linda Haar would be given duties as a deputy planner-in-chief, and BRA board secretary Harry Collings might step up a notch to handle project review. The replacement for ousted BRA press secretary Kelley Quinn might be John Toll from the State House, a former Menino campaign aide. Toll was touted by intergovernmental affairs chief Howard Liebowitz to be Menino's new press secretary, but that job went to Tab publisher Carol Brennan.
Reaction precedes fire panel's report
The O'Toole commission report spelling out radical changes for the Boston Fire Department isn't due out until this week, but the behind-the-scenes maneuvering has already begun. First, Mayor Menino had breakfast with firefighters at the Dudley Square station last Sunday, part of a campaign to convince the rank and file that the problems are in top management, not with them. Then Councilor at Large Stephen J. Murphy, prompted by union members, called a hearing to grill members of the commission about how they came up with their findings. The commission, led by former state public safety secretary Kathleen O'Toole, is expected to call for sweeping managerial changes and a civilian fire commissioner to replace Martin E. Pierce, who resigned in advance of the report's release.
Marijuana legalization issue crops up at Bradley campaign stops in Iowa
It seems there's a new burning issue on the presidential campaign trail in Iowa: marijuana. Traveling through the state last week, Democratic candidate Bill Bradley fielded two questions about legalizing the drug for medicinal purposes. The first came from a smart-alecky Atlantic High School student, whose inquiry prompted snickering from his classmates, if not a week's detention.
Bradley curtly told the teenager he opposes legalization. But when a questioner asked about the topic the next day, saying his cancer-stricken mother might have benefited from the drug, Bradley said he was open-minded and would be willing to read up on the issue. So the questioner urged that Bradley refer to a 1993 issue of the fabled hippie rag High Times. ''High Times,'' Bradley deadpanned. ''OK, thanks.'' Later, reporters speculated that Bradley's subscription may have run out in 1992.
Frank Phillips, Brian C. Mooney, Tina Cassidy, Anthony Flint and Michael Crowley contributed to this report.
This story ran on page B03 of the Boston Globe on 1/16/2000.
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