Celtics study the hunting tactics of killer whales | Boston teachers jump on Gaza propaganda bandwagon | Dan Rivera’s reign of spending at MassDevelopment | Rate relief unlikely for battered real estate industry |
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Old-time government hackery? Dan Rivera, the recently ousted MassDevelopment chief, oversaw a reign of spending on everything from hotel rooms to hefty paychecks for allies
Dan Rivera didn’t manage to do much to make a dent in the housing crisis during his time as head of MassDevelopment.
At a time when rents and prices have gone haywire, the former mayor of Lawrence was AWOL when it came to efforts to open the door to thousands of new housing units at the old Devens army base.
Rivera’s three year tenure ended abruptly in late April with his sudden resignation, a story that Contrarian Boston was the first to report.
But Rivera sure did manage to spend a lot of money on high-priced salaries during his years on the job, as well as on hotel rooms for stays for himself and his staff across the state, records reviewed by Contrarian Boston show.
Now former Gov. Charlie Baker nominated Rivera, a Democrat and a close ally, to the $242,000 MassDevelopment post in 2020.
Rivera, in turn, went on to create a mini Lawrence City Hall inside MassDevelopment, consisting of top aides who had once worked for him when he ran the old mill city, one of the poorest communities in the state.
In 2021, Rivera hired Theresa Park, a former Lawrence planning director, as the agency’s $226,600 a year deputy director. That year he also hired Tania Hartford as his chief of staff and chief operating officer, a post that pays $227,000 a year.
During a previous stint at MassDevelopment, Hartford headed the agency’s regional office in Lawrence when Rivera was a city councilor and then mayor.
Both Park and Hartford departed the agency under uncertain circumstances within days of Rivera’s resignation.
A year later in 2022, the MassDevelopment chief also hired two other former colleagues from his mayoral days: former Lawrence City Councilor and one-time mayoral candidate David Abdoo, as Hartford’s replacement as chief of staff, to the tune of $190,000 chief.
Additionally, Rivera hired Amanda Wall as the deputy general counsel, for more than $178,000 a year. Wall had served as director of support services for the Lawrence Police Department when Rivera was mayor.
In addition to some hefty paychecks, Rivera and some of his top lieutenants also racked up nearly $69,000 in expenses over a three year period, records reviewed by Contrarian Boston show.
While reimbursements for mileage and rental cars was the biggest category, MassDevelopment shelled out well over $10,000 on hotel rooms, airfare and meals out.
At one point, Rivera and top staff were renting out hotel rooms the night before MassDevelopment board meetings in various cities across the state.
Rivera charged up more than $2,100 for nights at hotels across the state over a period of a year ending in spring of 2022, when, sources say, he was apparently dissuaded from continuing the practice by the MassDevelopment board, which includes prominent developers.
The spree included one $248 a night room at the Hilton Garden Inn at Springfield - which sounds rather pricey for the Western Massachusetts city.
However, Marcos Marrero, MassDevelopment’s $191,000-a-year-plus director of a new community development division based in Springfield, apparently didn’t get the memo.
The agency forked over more than $4,600 for hotel rooms for Marrero over a two year period, including $568 for a stay at the Ritz Carlton.
Unlike Rivera’s other hires, Marrero, the former economic development director for Holyoke didn’t have any apparent Lawrence connections. However, like Rivera, he did have ties to the Baker administration.
For his part, Rivera, the former MassDevelopment chief, may be out out, but he has had the benefit of a cushy landing.
Rivera stepped down as CEO on April 26 amid unhappiness by the MassDevelopment board over, among other things, a lackluster performance on pushing for new housing at Devens, sources say.
However, Rivera has remained on the payroll as a “special advisor” to the agency, with Friday slated to be his last day. He’ll also receive three months’ severance, which certainly gives the impression that his departure was the result of internal pressure.
The former MassDevelopment chief will likely walk away with as much as $90,000, based on his current rate of pay.
Add to that unused vacation time, and we are looking at very hefty payday indeed for Rivera.
Classroom teaching or indoctrination? Another local teachers union jumps on the radical, anti-Israel propaganda bandwagon
That would be the Boston Teachers Union, which until now has been relatively quiet on the Gaza war compared to its statewide counterpart, the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
The MTA faced significant backlash, including from a pair of prominent progressive state senators, after a controversial workshop that critics contend featured anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda.
Now the BTU is gearing up for its own “teach-in” at 1 p.m. this Saturday at the East Boston library.
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