BAY WINDOWS: Enough is enough: It’s time for Senator Wilkerson to go

By Michael Ball and Ryan Adams | Thursday Aug 14, 2008

Electoral inertia, otherwise known as the power of incumbency, is massive. That’s why many voters in the Second Suffolk District may not even be aware that Senator Dianne Wilkerson is facing the primary challenge of her life. We urge Bay Windows readers in the district to choose the opponent, Sonia Chang-Díaz. In the primary, voters don’t have to choose either good positions or good leadership; they can have both by voting for Chang-Diaz.

The longtime incumbent is now known primarily for her lapses of judgment, including long-term abuse of the public trust (and law). While she has done a lot for the district and particularly the GLBT community, she is no longer fit for office. Let’s recap why:

Just this August, she reached a settlement with the Attorney General’s office over her latest violations of campaign finance law. She paid over $10,000 in fines and had to forgo over $30,000 in reimbursement for improper uses of campaign funds.

Two years ago, she didn’t bother to collect the trivial 300 nomination signatures, had to run a sticker campaign and was almost defeated by then newbie Sonia Chang-Diaz. We should expect more from such a long-term incumbent.

Also two years ago, she stopped paying her condo fees for many months, eventually owing over $13,000. Her unit faced foreclosure.

In 1997, she pleaded guilty to not filing or paying taxes for three years, from 1991 through 1994. Besides paying up, she was placed under house arrest for 30 days per a federal judge. Furthermore, she admitted not reporting $27,000 in political donations and could not account for $18,000 in reimbursements directly to her. For twice breaking curfew while under house arrest, she ended up at a halfway house for 30 days.

Unfortunately, many people, including this paper’s editorial page two years ago, seemed to believe that our community owed the senator a debt of gratitude for her progressive votes on marriage equality and other issues that could only be returned by turning a blind eye to several violations of the law and multiple lapses of judgment. Thankfully, that’s not the case. Of course, Senator Wilkerson has our thanks for her votes, but that does not excuse the fact that she has frequently abused the public trust and law - something unacceptable in a public servant.

We were told, over and over again, that she could clean up her ways. Even just before this latest deal with the Attorney General, most of us believed it. We gave her second and third chances, only to have our trust betrayed each time, most recently by this latest scandal, one that went on for a stunning five years. Enough is enough. If the senator would like to restore our trust, she should do the right thing and step down. She’ll still have our thanks for her courageous votes, but it’s time for new leadership.

Of course, the odds that Senator Wilkerson will willingly step down are slim. Obviously, our community can’t depend on her to make the right call. If she can’t manage step down on her own accord, leaders in our community and others whom we work with must stop covering for the senator’s bad behavior: it’s a detriment to the entire GLBT and progressive movements, making it appear as though we could care less about the law, so long as we get our votes.

Most importantly, there’s nothing to fear. It’s not a choice between Wilkerson and Dick Cheney, rather between two progressive candidates, one who will respect the office and one who hasn’t. If Senator Wilkerson goes, she’ll be replaced by Chang-Díaz, who nearly won two years ago, despite the fact that it was a sticker campaign, she was badly outspent and organizations representing our community and others lined up behind the incumbent.

Chang-Diaz gets that it’s not just about politics, it’s also about realizing the people deserve public servants who respect the laws they seek to represent. Wilkerson has had more than her fair share of rewards and opportunity for self-policing. She has shown repeatedly that she can’t learn. It’s time for the handshake, hug, thank you and goodbye - and it’s also time to look forward to new progressive leadership in Sonia Chang-Diaz.

Michael Ball and Ryan Adams are state politics bloggers at Marry in Massachusetts and Ryan’s Take. They also host a weekly internet radio show at LeftAhead.com and are frequent contributors at BlueMassGroup.com.

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