Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick "scored a $7,500-a-day consulting gig" with Boston '24, according to Cassidy & Weir of the BOSTON HERALD. Boston '24 Exec VP Erin Murphy Rafferty said Patrick will be paid “based on the amount of his travel and efforts on behalf of Boston 2024 -- the extent of which has not been determined at this time." Boston '24 "finally divulged its payroll under pressure from Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who called on the group to show its transparency." Staffers "taking home six-figure paychecks" include: CEO Richard Davey ($300,000); Rafferty ($215,000); General Counsel Paige Scott Reed ($182,500); Chief Administrative Officer Joe Rull ($175,000); VP/Engagement Strategy & External Affairs Nikko Mendoza ($120,000); and Assistant General Counsel Amy Sennett ($120,000). The combined annual staff salaries for Boston '24’s 10 employees is $1.4M, while some 16 consulting firms "are hauling in a total of $124,000 a month," but it was Patrick's rate that "lit up Twitter and shocked many State House observers." Asked if he thought the rate was too high, Walsh said, "It’s a lot of money for individual trips." He added, "I think the public has every right to be concerned about this" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/10). In Boston, Joe Battenfeld wrote the city's Olympic bid has been "exposed for what it really is -- a power and money grab for the city’s politically connected elite." Patrick’s contract is "only the most egregious example of pols and political consultants cashing in on the city’s faint hopes of hosting" the '24 Games (BOSTON HERALD, 3/10).
SHARING IS CARING: The HERALD's Weir notes Patrick's fee "has no built-in cap to keep his reported part-time role from morphing into a million-dollar gig." Boston '24 "declined to release copies of Patrick’s contract and those of 16 politically wired consultants that the group is paying a combined $124,000 a month." Davey said that Patrick's compensation "was approved" by Boston '24 Chair John Fish (BOSTON HERALD, 3/11). In Boston, Mark Arsenault reports No Boston Olympics yesterday "declined to make public its own donor list and the amount it has raised." The opposition group's co-Chair, Chris Dempsey, said that as a 501c4 organization, it "is not required to release donor information" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/11).
