Even his friends don't understand Deval Patrick on this one

[Ian David]

Submitted by adamg on Tue, 03/06/2007 - 9:14am.

Charley on the MTA wasn't concerned about the Caddy or the drapes. But making calls on behalf of a subprime lender like Ameriquest? That Charley cannot abide:

... I'm amazed and appalled that Patrick didn't just say, "Sorry, I can't make that call. I'm governor now." His constituents have a right to expect that he's going to be governor, all the time, and not take some time out to help out old employers. ...

More:
http://www.universalhub.com/node/7897

[MADem]

1. It was, in essence, an uncompensated character reference

Governor Deval Patrick, who was criticized during the gubernatorial campaign for his involvement with a controversial subprime mortgage lender, called a top official at Citigroup, former US Treasury secretary Robert E. Rubin, two weeks ago to intercede on behalf of the owners of Ameriquest Mortgage as they sought urgent financial assistance from the global financial giant.

In a statement to the Globe, Patrick said he made the Feb. 20 call to Citigroup not in his role as governor but after a personal request to him from a top official at ACC Capital Holdings, the firm that owns Ameriquest Mortgage, which has frequently been accused of predatory lending....In the conversation, Patrick vouched for the "current management and the character of the company," said Kyle Sullivan, his spokesman. Sullivan said Patrick told Rubin that he was serving as a personal reference for ACC as its owners pushed for the quick cash infusion from Citigroup that would stabilize their struggling lending firm.

A spokesperson for Rubin, who is chairman of Citicorp's executive committee, confirmed that the short conversation took place, echoing Sullivan's statement that Patrick offered himself as a character reference for the company. ACC Capital did not respond to a request for comment....In making the call, Patrick drew on his ties to Rubin, which developed when both served in the Clinton administration. Patrick was assistant attorney general in charge of the US Justice Department's civil rights division. As treasury secretary, Rubin oversaw the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and worked with Patrick on the investigations into Southern church arson cases in the mid-1990s.

Citigroup, through its subsidiaries, is heavily involved in the state's very lucrative public financing system. For example, it was the lead manager for $4.9 billion in bond issuances in 2004 and 2005 in Massachusetts, much of it for work for some of the quasi-public authorities that Patrick now controls or will at some point during the course of his term....Those agencies include the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, the MBTA, MassDevelopment, the Massachusetts Port Authority, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, and the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority....Citigroup's interests also are focused on Beacon Hill, where it employs a well-connected Democratic lobbying firm, Dewey Square Group, to look after its interests.


http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/06/governor_made_call_on_behalf_of_lender/

[seaglass]

2. I agree, what is going on with Deval? I know he can't possibly

be politically tone deaf but I don't understand what is with the missteps. Unfortunately for him, because he is the first Democratic governor in a long time he really must set an excellent example and so far he isn't.