CORRUPTION CHARGES AGAIN BLOT SOMERVILLE IMAGE

CORRUPTION CHARGES AGAIN BLOT SOMERVILLE IMAGE Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Boston, Mass. Author: Paul Hirshson Globe Staff Date: Jun 21, 1984 Start Page: 1 Text Word Count: 611 Document Text Only 11 years ago, Somerville was honored as an All-American City. It was climbing out from under a cloud of corruption which had seen three of its former mayors and other city officials indicted and was moving forward under a reform-minded mayor. Before the end of the decade, the city would take the bold step of converting an old, disused auto plant and warehouse into one of the region's most successful malls, Assembly Square. It seemed to many that Somerville - an older, industrial city of 78,000 bordering Boston, suffering from the old-city ills of overcrowding, corruption and poor schools - was at last pulling itself up, shining up its image. But today, two men long associated with Somerville politics stand charged with soliciting bribes in connection with obtaining a liquor license for a restaurant at the new mall. Eugene C. Brune, who is serving his third term as mayor, expressed the frustration of many yesterday. "This whole investigation has been a disappointment to me. We've been trying since the day I took office to change the image of the city." He cited such projects as increased street cleaning, a tree- planting program, major urban renewal projects in Davis and Union squares and a new wing on the high school. "We had a plan to change the city around, change the image. We were doing a great job until one day last November, an FBI agent walked into my office" to tell him about the investigation. "It took me three years to change the image of this city, and it took three seconds on television to change it back the way it was," Brune said. It was in 1971 that a Globe Spotlight Team series indicated that a number of officials were involved in questionable bidding practices, assessing property inequitably and engaging in conflict of interest. After publication of the series, 19 persons were indicted, including the three former mayors, other city officials and private contractors. Although none of those indicted was convicted, the headlines generated by the chargesput a seemingly indelible stain on the city's image. S. Lester Ralph, who served as mayor from 1970-77, was generally viewed as a reformer from outside the established old order, trying to help the city recover and restore trust to its public officials. In an interview yesterday, he said that the effort was frustrating and left him "drained and burned out." "It was continual warfare," he said, between his administration and the old guard. "There were a lot of families and cliques, such as the McKenna clan, the Piro clan and the Howe clan." "They've got their tentacles in all levels of government. They can affect you, no matter what you try to do. It was very difficult trying to govern." Describing the level of confrontation that prevailed, he said: "They were vicious to me." (The McKennas include Denis, who is a state senator, and Michael, who is an alderman. Marie Howe is a state representative, as is Vincent Piro, Democratic majority whip. Piro and Timothy Creedon, a former alderman, are under federal indictment on charges of conspiracy and attempted extortion.) Both Brune and Ralph seemed saddened and disheartened by the apparent re- spotting of the city's image. But Brune said he was relieved, to some extent, that at last all the gossip and rumor have at least taken some official form. "I'm relieved because since November, it's been almost a daily routine, What's happening in Somerville?' "Now that it's coming to a head, the people will know who's indicted and the trials will take place," said Brune. "Then we can go back to the job of putting our image back together again." Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. Abstract (Document Summary) After publication of the series, 19 persons were indicted, including the three former mayors, other city officials and private contractors. Although none of those indicted was convicted, the headlines generated by the chargesput a seemingly indelible stain on the city's image. (The McKennas include Denis, who is a state senator, and Michael, who is an alderman. Marie Howe is a state representative, as is Vincent Piro, Democratic majority whip. Piro and Timothy Creedon, a former alderman, are under federal indictment on charges of conspiracy and attempted extortion.) Both [Eugene C. Brune] and [S. Lester Ralph] seemed saddened and disheartened by the apparent re- spotting of the city's image. But Brune said he was relieved, to some extent, that at last all the gossip and rumor have at least taken some official form. "I'm relieved because since November, it's been almost a daily routine, What's happening in Somerville?'