Abraham: For Sale: Glass House

Yvonne Abraham, Globe Columnist | October 12, 2008

Since she lost the Democratic primary last month, State Senator Dianne Wilkerson and her supporters have been blaming Cambridge philanthropist Barbara Lee.

Lee supported Wilkerson's challenger, Sonia Chang-Díaz, who squeaked past the incumbent. Wilkerson, now running a sticker campaign for the general election, has accused Lee of spending "an inordinate amount of money" on the campaign, as if "this district is for sale," she said, according to PolitickerMA.com.

It isn't?

Some of the tenants at the Roxse Homes housing development aren't so sure.

They've been in a pitched battle with property manager Cornerstone Corp. for years. In a federal lawsuit filed last year, they charged that Cornerstone and on-site manager Linda Evans have awarded desirable apartments to friends, thwarted tenants' right to representation, extorted money from them for routine services and repairs, and intimidated them with eviction threats. The suit was later dismissed, but the tenants are planning an appeal.

Wilkerson, however, seems to get along swimmingly with the Westwood-based company, which earns more than $200,000 a year managing the 346-unit development on the Roxbury-South End line.

Last October, Cornerstone managers and their spouses donated a whopping $7,000 to Wilkerson's campaign.

That's more than twice what they've donated to all other state politicians put together since 2002, according to campaign finance records.

And Wilkerson's campaign office is right in the Roxse building on Tremont Street, under an unusual rental agreement.

Cornerstone waived the first three months' rent - totaling $3,000 - allowing Wilkerson to make improvements to the office in lieu of rent.

Campaign finance laws say there should be a record for the $3,000 Wilkerson spent. Only about half that appears on the reports. But campaign manager Boyce Slayman says the rest will show up on the next filing.

Wilkerson is altogether too cozy with Cornerstone, some residents say.

"Dianne Wilkerson knows that we have a problem with Linda Evans, and Dianne Wilkerson chose to join herself at the hip with Linda Evans," says Jim McNeill, who has lived at Roxse Homes for 36 years.

McNeill and other tenants say Wilkerson has repeatedly intervened on Cornerstone's behalf in their dispute. For example, when tenants tried to exclude Evans from a meeting, says association member George Jones, Wilkerson brought her in "by the hand." Both men say Wilkerson made calls on Cornerstone's behalf to officials from MassHousing, which oversees the development and hears disputes between the parties.

MassHousing confirms that Wilkerson has been calling for at least a year to advocate for her campaign donor.

Cornerstone, which has fought the tenants' claims in court, didn't return a call.

Slayman says that if Wilkerson intervened in the dispute, she did so "in the best interests of the tenants."

"She is pained," he says, "that any tenants would think she is not fighting for them."

Maybe the senator really believes that the unhappy tenants are wrong here and that Cornerstone truly deserves her support. Maybe there is no relationship between the $7,000 in campaign contributions and the senator's advocacy for the company.

Benefit of the doubt, and all that.

Too bad Wilkerson and her supporters won't extend it to Chang-Díaz and Barbara Lee.

The story of the rich outside donor unfairly influencing the Second Suffolk has taken root, even though Lee gave only $500 to Chang-Díaz - a friend and former employee - in 2006 and 2008.

Lee donated $500 to Wilkerson in 2003 and 2004, and nobody accused her of exerting unfair influence then.

Lee also raised money on Chang-Díaz's behalf, but, in the end, Wilkerson raised more than her challenger, and spent twice as much on the primary.

Still, on Tuesday, at a South End event where state offi cials endorsed Chang-Díaz, a Wilkerson supporter held a sign that read, "We are not for sale!"

Really?

Yvonne Abraham is a Globe columnist.