After public data revealed workers turmoil, together with a fired common counsel Michael Flaherty, a suspended HR director and purported cronyism, Mayor Michelle Wu stated she shall be taking a more in-depth have a look at the Boston Water and Sewer Fee.
“I have had many things on my plate and have not delved into the details of exactly what’s been going on under the hood of that agency, and that is going to be a place that I spend more of my time thinking about understanding what’s happening, and the oversight that’s needed,” Wu stated Tuesday on GBH’s Boston Public Radio.
Wu stated her “primary interaction with the agency to date has been around the services that they deliver,” resembling ensuring that town’s water system is working effectively, elevated flooding is managed, and “moving to a stormwater fee that is equitable.”
“They have been excellent on that front,” Wu stated. “Some of the other pieces around how the organization is run and the staffing challenges — that is certainly concerning and deserves more of a look.”
Wu was requested about Flaherty’s quarter-million greenback payout via a severance settlement, and purported cronyism revealed by Fee data that present the company’s Government Director Henry Vitale had two sister-in-laws and a nephew on the payroll final 12 months.
Wu had beforehand sought to distance herself from the staffing points on the Water and Sewer Fee, saying that she was not concerned within the severance settlement that noticed the quasi-public company pay Flaherty $253,630 on situations that he gained’t sue or disparage the company.
“Water and Sewer is its own entity, and they function and make their own personnel decisions,” Wu stated final month.
Flaherty, a previous mayoral candidate and Wu ally, was fired by the Water and Sewer Fee on Jan. 10, after a couple of 12 months on the job, resulting from a “breakdown” in his “working relationship” with Fee Government Director Henry Vitale, per public data offered by the company after a proper request.
The ex-city councilor was employed in January 2024 as deputy common counsel of the Water and Sewer Fee, at a $164,000 wage. Payroll data present Flaherty was later elevated to common counsel, and was paid $224,999 in 2024.
When the Herald reported final November on a collection of pay hikes and a promotion doled out to chief human useful resource officer Marie Theodat whereas she was embroiled in a number of civil lawsuits, together with one which alleges she swindled a house from her aged and dementia-ridden uncle, Wu’s workplace made related remarks.
Theodat noticed her wage soar 61% since 2019, from $126,000 to $202,873 final 12 months.
On the time, a trio of unions was urgent for Theodat to be suspended pending the outcomes of an inner investigation, resulting from their considerations concerning the civil litigation. Theodat is at present on paid administrative go away, Fee data present.
“The City of Boston doesn’t administer the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, fund or oversee their budget, nor handle hiring, employment, and payroll of their staff,” the mayor’s workplace stated in a press release on the time. “The Water and Sewer Commission is a separate employer with separate enforcement mechanisms, and it is not under the purview of the City of Boston.”
The BWSC was created by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1977, changing separate water and sewer divisions of town’s public works division. It’s overseen by a three-member Board of Commissioners that’s appointed by the mayor with the approval of the Metropolis Council.
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