New year, new court dates
by Howie Carr
Friday, January 11, 2013
And 2013 was shaping up as such an ethical year for the Legislature.
It was Jan. 5, and not a single solon had been arrested yet. But then, at 12:20 a.m. last Saturday, the hacks’ luck ran out, outside a barroom. That was where Lawrence police busted a solon emeritus who retired due to ill health — the voters got sick of him.
That would be Jose Santiago.
Of course, the voters themselves were a little sick — touched in the head you might say — because they replaced Santiago with Willie Lantigua, who is now mayor of the benighted city on the Merrimack, with at least two grand juries in hot pursuit of Hizzoner.
And now Lantigua has been sued by Attorney General Marsha Coakley for not filing a 2011 campaign finance report. Marsha Coakley, the woman who famously said, “Technically it is not illegal to be illegal in Massachusetts,” has finally found something that is illegal.
A former state rep, Santiago was charged with violating a restraining order. Yesterday, his old pal Willie fired him from his $15-an-hour laborer’s job with the city. But he’s used to getting fired — after the voters fired him, Jose tried to get his old job back with the Methuen police. They fired him, too.
Funny thing about those firings and state reps. They get canned almost as often as they get arrested.
Technically, Santiago wasn’t the first rep to go down in flames in 2013. That distinction belongs to Rep. Stat Smith of Everett, a guy so crooked he needs a corkscrew to get into his pants in the morning. Stat resigned from the General Court on Jan. 1. It was part of the plea deal.
His website says: “Stat Smith is the consummate Everett State Representative.”
Yes, he is. And now he’s copping to voter fraud — misdemeanors, inexplicably. He’s supposed to get four months in durance vile.
Next week, it’ll be Rep. Carlos Henriquez (D-Dorchester) due back in Cambridge District Court for discovery motions. He had a problem with his ex-girlfriend last summer. Now he’s charged with three counts of assault and battery, one count of witness intimidation and one count of larceny under $250. They dropped the kidnapping charges.
Yeah, 2013 is shaping up as another banner year for CSI State House. Kinda like 2012, which started with ex-Rep. Mark Carron getting arrested a fourth time for drunken driving. A police spokesman said: “They had to bang on the window several times to wake the driver.”
What a crew. These reps are all looking for the same thing. Reasonable doubt at a reasonable price. And the Probation Department indictments haven’t even been unsealed yet.
interesting
The Human Factor in Noncompete Disputes: Howie Carr Is Still
Upset Over 5 Years After His Lawsuit With WRKO
by Brian Bialis
I am a fan of talk radio, so I was sad when I heard that Boston’s WTKK-FM 96.9 had decided to switch from a talk-radio format to a station featuring “rhythm and dance music from today, along with throwbacks from the ‘80s and ‘90s.” Now I listen to WRKO-AM 680, the only talk station left in Boston.
One of the big names on WRKO is conservative Howie Carr, who also writes a column for the Boston Herald. Carr was involved in a lawsuit with WRKO in 2007 when he announced his intention to accept an offer from WTKK and move his program to that station. He lost that lawsuit because of a right-of-first-refusal in his contract with WRKO, as Michael Rosen explained here and here. He’s been with WRKO ever since.
But apparently Carr has just been waiting to make a jump to FM. About two weeks ago, he wrote a column in the Herald lamenting his loss in the lawsuit, writing “I’m still damn sorry I didn’t make good my escape from the AM band” and “WTKK wouldn’t be turning off the lights next week if I could have just gotten over there back in 2007.” He also wrote that “WTKK [has] one of the best signals in the city, on FM, and WRKO’s signal is — well, please, don’t get me started on that. My head will explode. Again.” Carr concludes by announcing that, “[i]n two years, I’ll be on FM, one way or another.”
Carr’s attitude towards WRKO highlights the human factor in noncompete disputes. Employers should be careful what they wish for when they make employees sign noncompetes. If an employee is unhappy with his job, but feels stuck in that job because of a noncompete he signed with his employer, then what the employer gets is an unhappy, often less productive, employee. Employers should balance their interests in protecting their businesses with those of having a content and productive workforce when deciding whether to have employees sign noncompetes and how onerous those noncompetes should be.