By: Auditor DiZoglio – (01/24) Happy 2024! It’s hard to believe it’s been just about a year since I was sworn in as Massachusetts’ Chief Accountability Officer – State Auditor. I spent 2023 working toward fulfilling my commitments to you. This especially includes making sure Massachusetts delivers on the services and programs our residents rely […]
BOSTON – Today, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio released her tenure’s first annual fraud report. The fiscal year 2023 (FY23) Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) annual report summarizes BSI’s work to help make government work better by investigating, under the law, fraud, abuse, and illegal acts involving public assistance benefits throughout the Commonwealth. This year, […]
January, 2024 It used to be that if an elected official said or did something blatantly racist – regardless of party affiliation – the leaders of the Democratic Party in Massachusetts would denounce them so viciously and so relentlessly that the offender would resign in disgrace and be completely unemployable. Now, they elect them to […]
Lenny Mirra ~ 12-23 Back in 2022 I had the honor of representing Massachusetts on an Immigration Task Force for the National Conference of State Legislators where I joined state legislators from across the country to find ways to fix our broken immigration system. What I remember most is that after just a few zoom […]
12-23 Right now, there are tens of thousands of American citizens in Massachusetts who are homeless, jobless, hungry, and in desperate need of help. This is a human tragedy, and it is 100% the fault of the Massachusetts Democrat Party. Why blame democrats? Well, democrats control every single constitutional office from governor to state treasurer. […]
PODCAST INTERVIEW HERE Nov. 2023 Last month, Lawrence Mayor Brian DePena appointed former law enforcement officer William Castro to be the acting police chief. Castro was DePena’s chief of staff and immediately came under fire from city councilors and city council candidates for being a “political appointment”. One candidate even posted on Facebook that […]
By: Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio – Nov. 2023 Hello Valley Patriot readers, Serving as Massachusetts State Auditor doesn’t just mean reviewing finances. A big part of my role, as I often speak about with folks across the state, is reviewing the performance and efficacy of the Commonwealth’s agencies and entities. A great example of […]
By: Brian Genest 10-23 There can be a fine line between good government and bad government; in Dracut, a recent meeting of the so-called Tri-Board was an example of absurd government. At that gathering about town finances and potential future budget deficits, made up of the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, and members of the […]
10-23 At the end of September, my office released an audit of the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), diving into a commission that has the responsibility to build up oversight over a nascent industry. As this industry has evolved, so too has the CCC. This most recent audit specifically honed in on whether the CCC is […]
9-18-23 Haverhill School Committeeman Scott Wood has called an end to his campaign for mayor today saying that staying in the race at this point will only “escalate the negativity, divisive rhetoric, and false allegations that have marred our campaign.” Here is Wood’s Full Statement: After a hard-fought campaign filled with challenges and divisive tactics, […]
By Brian Genest Valley Patriot DRACUT COLUMNIST The clock is ticking and the legal bills are piling up at Dracut Town Hall over a request for public records about Tony Archinski. In addition to already being a far-too-expensive and far-too-lengthy process, it’s also incredibly suspicious, based on the circumstances. If justice delayed is justice denied, […]
Also Illegally using Sewer Funds for Construction On November 2, 2022, the Newburyport Daily News reported that the new Lafayette Road Sewer Project had an initial estimated cost of $18.5 million and quoted Town Manager Neil Harrington as saying: “The project is completely funded through the town’s sewer enterprise fund and that following the project’s […]
08/23 Just minutes after posting the story on-line about Methuen Police Captain Greg Gallant (story here) winning his Civil Service case against the City of Methuen for wrongful termination, the hate mail started pouring in. People were outraged, they were confused, and they were hostile. How could this be, many asked. How did Gallant get […]
On June 17th, the Haverhill City Council violated the state’s open meeting law by secretly discussing, drafting, finalizing, signing, and circulating a letter declaring that racism is BAD – as if we are all so stupid that we really needed them to tell us that. What this was really about, was the city council capitalizing […]
Aug. 4, 2023 [updated] The Massachusetts Civil Service Commission has ruled that fired Methuen police Captain Greg Gallant must be returned to duty and given three years back pay after being illegally fired by Methuen Mayor Neil Perry. FULL RULING HERE Gallant v. Methuen, CS-22-388 Gallant was officially fired on June 9, 2022 after being put […]