Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Moonlighting

In February of this year, Attorney Steven A. Torres, sat before the Fall River City Council and defended his recently signed contract, for his position as the city's corporate counsel. The city councilors questioned the fact that Torres was making more money than any previous corporate counsel for Fall River. Torres and Mayor Flanagan justified the $115,000 salary by asserting that the pay reflected the fact Torres would be eliminating his private practice to focus on Fall River full time. (note: At that time, I couldn't find any information supporting the claim that Atty Torres even had a private practice and the MA board of bar overseers website indicated Torres did not carry any attorney malpractice insurance because he was a government employee.)

Consider the fact that Torres justified his increased salary with the notion that he was losing money by giving up his private practice. Then imagine my surprise when I read an article out of Wareham recently which evidenced the fact that, 10 months into his contract with Fall River, Torres was still working side jobs:

"A report on the forensic audit of town computers, which has been in progress for nearly a year and a half, is once again delayed. Town Administrator Mark Andrews and the Board of Selectmen had been told that special counsel, the Law Offices of Steven A. Torres, would be prepared to present the results of the audit on Sept. 28 or October 5."

Pretty sneaky of Torres and Flanagan considering the fact that the City Council approved Torres' increased salary based on the premise that Torres was eliminating his private practice to, presumably, focus all of his efforts on the matters of Fall River. This is clearly not the case.

I think Torres is already overextended in his capacities as co-mayor of Fall River. I kid, I kid........... However, there have been many occasions where I have read in the Herald News, or heard at city council meetings that Corporation Counsel hadn't completed some task requested of them. Also, Torres went before the city council to get approval for another $45,000 budgeted so he could hire another attorney for the office - I certainly hope the addition of a new attorney wasn't to free up time for Torres to moonlight

9 comments:

Lazurusisus said...

My only response to that isa the following:

Are you really surprised that Rat Boy lied to the City Council?
and,
God help the perpetually horribly run Town of Wareham if they are depending on legal assistance from Rat Boy!

Anonymous said...

You mean Flanagan isn't keeping his campaign promise for transparent government? The only thing transparent about him is he has turned out to be a younger version of Bob Correia except he seems to be getting much better press than Bob. He called himself "A New Hope" but he forget to tell you that he was delivering false hope, it was more like "A New Hype." Where's the real hope and change at?

Anonymous said...

The video of that council meeting should be replayed and replayed.........what else are they lying about????

Anonymous said...

JUNE 2008


Wareham — Selectmen voted 4 to 1 to fire Town Administrator John McAuliffe at the tail of their June 17 meeting.

The announcement was made at midnight, and was not listed on the agenda of the regularly scheduled selectmen’s meeting. which began at 7 p.m. Few members of the public were present for the late night announcement.

Board members cited a deteriorating relationship with the administrator, as well as a laundry list of violations of his contract and position. Selectman Brenda Eckstrom tabled the resolution to fire the town administrator after the board voted, 4 to 1, to retain special counsel Steve Torres of Taunton to represent the town in the separation.

Anonymous said...

These blogs were more active when Correia was mayor, pointing out all the stupid stuff he did. Seems like Flanagan is getting a free pass and he has committed just as many stupid acts although he does it slightly less arrogantly, he leave the arrogance to his man Steve Torres who more than arrogant enough.

Anonymous said...

Maybe people have become active in other ways. I don't think shamrock has given anyone a free pass.

Anonymous said...

Daily diatribes on Correia and once a month if that blogs about Flanagan. Seems like a virtual free pass to me. Just like the talks of recalling Brian Bigelow, opposition to Will Flanagan goes nowhere.

Anonymous said...

News
Mansfield interviews lawyers to review manager's contract
BY MATT KAKLEY SUN CHRONICLE STAFFThursday, January 8, 2009 2:12 AM EST

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AddThisMANSFIELD - In a special afternoon session Wednesday, selectmen interviewed three lawyers as they march toward hiring independent counsel to review the town manager's contract.

Selectmen asked the candidates about projected costs, their levels of experience in similar matters and how they would go about reviewing Town Manager John D'Agostino's contract.

Attorney Steven Torres spoke of his experience at city solicitor in Taunton, a position he has held for nine years. He was also special counsel to Wareham, when the town fired former Town Manager John McAuliffe over the summer.

Sheri Pizzi, a partner in the Boston- and Providence-based firm Taylor, Duane, Barton and Gilman, said her firm has extensive experience in solving employment issues for municipalities.

John Foskett, of the Boston-based firm Deutsch/Williams, said he has worked on many municipal employment cases and finding the best long-term solution for all involved. Torres estimated the work would cost about $5,635, while Pizzi estimated $4,335 and Foskett suggested $3,000.

Selectmen asked the attorneys if they would be willing to set a cap at what the town would be billed, and Torres and Foskett agreed. Pizzi said the cap would likely not be a problem, but would need to check with her partners before setting a dollar figure.

The board voted 3-2 in August to hire the independent counsel to review D'Agostino's contract, with those in favor saying they wanted to know the town's options. D'Agostino's continued employment has become controversial ever since the town lost a multi-million dollar employment lawsuit last year.

In November, the board decided not wait for the independent counsel's findings before voting 3-2 to not renew D'Agostino's contract, which expires in November 2009.

Selectman Jess Aptowitz, who formerly worked in a Boston law firm, asked for personnel rosters from the firms involved to ensure he does not have a prior relationship with anyone working at the firms.

Selectmen agreed to wait for the information before making their final decision at next week's board meeting. MATT KAKLEY covers Mansfield for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0333 or at makley@thesunchronicle.com

Anonymous said...

Has this blog been abandoned? Time for an update! So much to blog about, here's a topic for you

http://www.wickedlocal.com/newton/features/x1696240227/Newton-Mayor-Warren-seen-as-potential-Scott-Brown

The Demorats are looking at Mayor Flanagan as a possible candiate to run against Scott Brown. Guess he has done such a great job during his time as mayor he needs that promotion to Senator.