Campaign donations used for pricey perks

By Shaun Sutner and Thomas Caywood, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
ssutner@telegram.com
tcaywood@telegram.com

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When supporters give money to state legislative candidates, they might expect the cash to be spent on campaign basics such as mailings, bumper stickers and voter databases.

But hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent so-called campaign expenditures, in fact, went toward pricey perks for local candidates ranging from overnights at four-star hotels and expensive meals to gift cards that function like cash and airline tickets to far-flung cities.

Local lawmakers also routinely pay for liquor out of campaign funds, wedding gifts to supporters, fees for high-priced lawyers, car lease and insurance payments, storage units and even meat for a barbecue, according to a Telegram & Gazette review of the spending patterns of Central Massachusetts legislators from the start of 2012 to mid-2013.


Despite persistent calls from campaign finance system critics to tighten up regulations, such free spending is perfectly legal. And it's all on top of legislator base salaries of $61,133 a year and other benefits of elected office including travel per diem payments of up to $100 a day, district office expenses and leadership stipends.

Campaign contributions routinely are spent on items that burnish the lifestyles of lawmakers, who write the state's campaign finance laws and have established a system so permissive that nearly any expense can be justified.

The only requirement is that expenses provide "for the enhancement of the political future of the candidate" and not be primarily for personal benefit, as spelled out by the state's decades-old campaign finance law.

For example, rather than commute daily from his home in rural Barre to Beacon Hill during busy budget sessions, state Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, spent 44 nights at various Boston hotels in the past two years. The veteran Democrat spent a total of about $6,700 in campaign contributions on rooms at 4-star luxury hotels such as the Omni Parker House, Bullfinch, Onyx and Boston Park Plaza.

Mr. Brewer, Central Massachusetts' most powerful lawmaker as chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, also spent $35,000 — in three payments on July 27 and Oct. 30, 2012, and Jan. 4, 2013 — on lawyers from the Boston office of the international law firm Ropes & Gray.

The senator declined to be interviewed about his campaign account spending. A written statement provided by his spokeswoman didn't address the nature of the $35,000 in legal work performed on his behalf.

"It is a benefit to the myriad of responsibilities that I face in my position to seek impartial and independent legal counsel," the statement reads.

The spokeswoman, Meghan Kelly, didn't respond to follow-up questions about specifically why he hired the lawyers.

Mr. Brewer was named prominently in the 2010 report of the Ware Commission, a 400-page account of alleged pervasive corruption and patronage in the state Department of Probation. He was listed as one of the 10 most influential legislators who most often "sponsored" candidates for jobs in the department and who received the most campaign contributions from probation employees.

The report led to the March 2012 indictment of the former probation commissioner, John O'Brien, who was acquitted on state corruption charges in April 2013 after a grand jury heard more than two years of testimony from witnesses. Mr. O'Brien is facing a new federal trial on racketeering and mail fraud charges.

No legislator has been charged in connection with the scandal.

In the written statement provided by his spokeswoman, Mr. Brewer attributed the six weeks he spent in hotels paid for by his campaign supporters to his work as chairman of an important committee.

"As the Chair of Senate Ways and Means I often work very long and gruesome hours. Sometimes after these long days and late nights I will go on Hotwire and find a hotel for the night," the statement reads.

While state Rep. James J. O'Day, D-West Boylston, less frequently opted to stay in hotels courtesy of his supporters' largesse, he often racked up sizable restaurant bills, including a $1,500 tab at Worcester's swanky 111 Chop House and a $240 dinner check at Abe & Louie's, a Newbury Street steak house.

Mr. O'Day, a liberal activist and chairman of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs, stood out among Central Massachusetts lawmakers, having amassed more than $10,000 in restaurant and food expenses during the 18-month period examined by the Telegram & Gazette.

"My colleagues in Worcester, there's five of us. We're not necessarily all at the Statehouse at the same time. So, when there's issues we want to all be appraised of, we'll come together and talk over a meal," Mr. O'Day said in an interview.

Meanwhile, the long-serving "dean" of the Worcester Statehouse delegation, Rep. John J. Binienda, also did his share of restaurant-going with campaign funds, spending more than $6,200 on food bills during the 18 months.

Unlike many other local legislators, the Worcester Democrat also gave supporters, constituents and staff members gifts and gift cards, for which candidates do not have to keep records as to whom they were handed out.

Mr. Binienda has been in office for 25 years and chairs the influential Committee on Rules. With a campaign war chest of about $375,000, he is the most well-financed lawmaker in the region and one of the most flush in the state.

Mr. Binienda spent $3,060 on the unitemized gift cards purchased from such establishments as Macy's and city restaurants such as the Boynton, Webster House and Wexford House. He also handed out more than $2,800 worth of candy and wedding and Christmas gifts to individuals.

"I always give the chocolates and gift certificates to my employees," Mr. Binienda said.

He said taking constituents and people in his district out to lunch and dinner is a key part of his job.

"It's a way to figure out what people say they need done," he said.

Campaign finance reform issues such as gift restrictions have long been on the agenda of good-government advocates. But a recurring bill that would require expenses to be more directly campaign related dies at the end of every legislative session, acknowledged the measure's main backer, Pamela Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts.

"Frankly, it doesn't have a lot of support in the Legislature, probably because having campaign contributions support a broader lifestyle is particularly attractive for a lot of legislators who wouldn't normally have the opportunity otherwise," Ms. Wilmot said. "The standard is so broad that it can really come close to augmenting a salary rather than paying for reasonable expenses."

Jason Tait, a spokesman for the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, described the campaign finance law created by the Legislature as "fairly open-ended."

The agency can only administer the law as written by lawmakers, Mr. Tait said. "And that's how they want it."

Not all legislators choose to dine out on their backers' dime.

Harriette L. Chandler of Worcester, the fourth-ranking Democrat in the Senate as assistant majority leader, rarely does so, though she presides over Central Massachusetts' second-biggest campaign war chest: $170,309, according to her most recent public filing.

Mrs. Chandler said that when she goes out to eat, she almost always pays for it out of her personal funds.

"I live a simple life. Maybe I don't socialize as much," she said. "I've had a family and children and a husband at home, and I feel like I have to go home. When I have meetings, it's at VFW halls, the library, senior centers. I'm here to do my job."

Mrs. Chandler tends to spend her money on elections and contributions to youth sports, women's groups and causes and campaigns of other Democratic candidates whom she supports.

Some Central Massachusetts Republicans also use the loose campaign finance rules to their advantage.

Rep. George N. Peterson Jr. spreads his campaign cash all over his district, giving hundreds of dollars in donations to youth baseball teams, community centers, charities, civic groups, political candidates and others.

The Grafton lawmaker — the second-ranking GOP House leader — handed out roughly $19,000 in donations and contributions from his campaign account last year and the first half of this year, records show.

Last year, for example, Mr. Peterson made three donations totaling $2,215 to the Upton Men's Club.

"When I do that, I get the name recognition for being a supporter of those groups and organizations. It benefits me and my campaign and, in essence, raises my profile in the community," Mr. Peterson said. "For me, it's been an effective tool."

Mr. Peterson noted he's rarely had to run against challengers in his decades in the Legislature.

Campaign cash even pays for one local lawmaker to commute in comfort.

Sen. Richard T. Moore taps his campaign account for lease payments, car insurance premiums, the bill for a car phone beyond his regular mobile phone, and also a SiriusXM satellite radio subscription for his Chrysler 300 sedan.

The Uxbridge Democrat spent nearly $16,000 in political contributions on automobile expenses during the most recent year and a half for which campaign finance records are available.

Mr. Moore said he reimburses his campaign account for personal use of the full-size sedan.

"We go through the records to find out what portion of my time would be attributable to political purposes, campaign purposes. Often I'm going to events that are political in nature," he said.

Mr. Moore reimbursed his campaign account about $4,500 for car lease payments in the first half of this year and all of last year, campaign finance records show.

The senator also charged $2,600 in rent for two storage units in Uxbridge to his campaign account during the period.

Mr. Moore said he mainly stores campaign signs in them.

"We've got some big 4-by-8 signs and a lot of yard signs," he said, adding that his garage is full of lawn mowers and other household items.

The campaign spending of another Central Massachusetts senator, Democrat Jennifer L. Flanagan of Leominster, has been marked by a steady stream of excursions to political conventions and conferences of state legislators and women in government.

Ms. Flanagan, vice chair of the Ways and Means Committee, traveled to Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta, Phoenix, Providence and Springfield in 2012 and 2013, spending more than $5,500 of contributors' cash on the trips.

She said the events have improved her understanding of problems such as human trafficking and also allowed her to share the Massachusetts experience with policy matters like welfare reform and prescription drug monitoring with colleagues from other states.

"The leadership conferences I've been sent to are very public," she said. "My constituents know that I attend leadership conferences."

Ms. Flanagan noted that she makes a point not to distribute gifts paid for from her campaign account.

Among the region's lawmakers, Sen. James B. Eldridge, a self-described progressive Democrat from Acton, spent the most — $174,065 — during the last election cycle.

But Mr. Eldridge, who also represents Northboro, Westboro, Harvard, Hudson and part of Southboro, was left with only $1,927 at the end of his 2012 victory over Republican challenger Dean Cavaretta.

He said he spent down his account to one of the lowest balances in the region to defeat what he saw as a serious political threat. A notable part of that spending involved dining out at restaurants with campaign volunteers and supporters, he said.

Mr. Eldridge, a longtime advocate for public campaign financing, said he dislikes the fundraising part of politics and sees it as a necessary evil.

"It not only takes away from my official duties, but it also inevitably creates conflicts of interest," he said.

But taking people out for meals is just part of the job, he said. "More often than not, it's reasonable."

Contact Shaun Sutner at ssutner@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @ssutner. Thomas Caywood can be reached at tcaywood@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasCaywood.