May 13, 2005

A little something for the boss

An opponent posts the home addresses of Conte employees who gave at the office

By Noah Schaffer

Tonight, Thursday, May 12, there's an event that's an annual tradition. Worcester District Attorney John Conte will hold his campaign fundraiser at the Holiday Inn, where he'll be surrounded by friends, family and members of his staff.

It's that last group, the employees, who tend to attract the most attention. The practice of Conte staffers attending -- and selling tickets to -- their boss's political fundraisers has been an evergreen campaign issue. It's sure to come up again as Conte gears up for a likely challenge by Joe Early Jr. in 2006.

But what will make this campaign different is that donations to the race are now being electronically recorded and posted on the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance Web site (http://www.mass.gov/ocpf). Those records show that last month, even before the fundraiser, attorneys working for Conte shelled out $8,000, mostly through $500 donations. [See chart.]

Conte says that many staff members choose to pony up, but insists, "It is not expected. Having people in the office who want to contribute has, over the years, made us very independent as far as fundraising goes. This office is both a political and a judicial office, and people know the expenses of campaigns are enormous these days. You're dealing with a population of 780,000 in 60 cities and towns and that's a huge district, and people realize what it takes to run a full-fledged campaign in the district. This office is like a family and they realize what it costs to run a campaign."

Among those who work for Conte, the topic of such large donations from new hires with law school debts can be a touchy one. One former employee says the pressure is unspoken, yet intrinsic to the office culture: "No one ever threatened me or coerced me to give. On the other hand, I never not gave," says local Attorney Moe Bergman, who worked in the DA's office from 1988 to 1993. (The politically active lawyer is a supporter of Early's.) "It was always understood that if you worked there you would give something. Did anyone not give? I'm sure there were some, but I didn't know any. It was an extremely high percentage of staff who donated. So I never knew what the ramifications would be."

Even though he hasn't even formally announced his campaign, Early hasn't been shy about fundraising either. Records show he raised $12,000 in April and now has $32,000 in his coffers. Conte pulled in nearly the small amount, leaving him with $213,108 in the bank, a number that should jump after tonight's fundraiser.

Asked if he would make Conte's fundraising from staff a part of the campaign -- or pledge to change his practice if elected -- Early says, "It isn't an issue right now. We're trying to run an issues-oriented, positive campaign. This might be an issue later on, but right now we're focusing on things like the probation system and the number of people in the jails."

Campaign finance reports always show the name, address and occupation of every donor, and Conte's is no exception. But it apparently ruffled some feathers in the office when an anonymous anti-Conte Web site, www.conte2006.com, ran the names and addresses of the donors. In fact, Conte's campaign recently amended their returns and replaced the home addresses with 332 Main Street, the address of the DA's office.

Conte says that was done to protect the privacy of his prosecutors. "It is an issue I raised with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance," he says. "The public records law states that 'the home address and home telephone numbers of law enforcement, judicial, prosecutorial, DYS, DSS, Department of Correction, and any other public safety and criminal justice personnel shall not be public records.'"

The DA thinks the Web site is "in violation of the public records law. There are real security concerns for police officials and prosecutors because of the nature of the work."

The anti-Conte site states it obtained the names and addresses from the state's Web site. It also lists donations from several officers with the State Police's C-Pac unit, which Conte oversees. The officers give the unit's Auburn headquarters as their address. Those police donations have also been a past issue -- Conte says that "some of the detectives give, some of them don't. "