Mayoral candidate Tom Sheff doesn’t want to tell me what he does for a living. And in a post on his campaign Facebook page he explains why.
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This seems unfair to Tom. Yes he owes voters full information and yes he should respond to questions from legitimate news reporters from recognized news organizations and/or talk shows, etc. But, really…. kinda feels like he’s being stalked and bullied. Having private emails publicly posted like that is why many people in public life don’t want to engage.
So a talk show is legitimate but not a blog?
OK, I give. apparently you can’t beat the Greg. As you know, I am vice president/co-founder of second life computers. I don’t think anyone besides Greg disputes that.
I am also in insurance. I take calls over the phone and make adjustments to people’s insurance policy, I also do the computer work to file insurance claims. They specialize in auto/home insurance. When I talked to my employer about running for this job, my employer asked me to keep the name of the company out of it, due to the fact that he has friends/relatives/clients from Newton and wishes not to alienate them.
I am absolutely abiding by his wishes even if I have to take a hit to do it.
Greg, you knew this, because you read it on my facebook. So, what now? What are you going to make me do that you refuse to make everyone else do? What hoops do I have to go through for you????
I just decided I am leaving just like Striar, Sterman, etc. Bye…how humiliating.
@Tom: Thanks for the clarification. (And thanks for revising the about section on your campaign web site since my original comment)
I never disputed your role with Second Life, although I am wondering if the organization is still active, given that you’re no longer taking donations?
My question stemmed from the fact that I’ve seen you referred to as a “small business owner” on many occasions but no mention of what that business was. (And in my experience small business owners love to talk about their business with the hope of growing customers and revenues.) We now know that those reports were wrong. Again, thanks for clarifying. I have no added questions about your qualifications.
As I’m sure you recall, candidate Setti Warren’s work history was a big issue four years ago and we all know what he does for a living now. Everybody knows Ted Hess-Mahan is an attorney and alderman. And Jackie Gauvreau Sequeira has only claimed that she’s a “plain honest woman.” So I’m surprised that you would be so surprised that this particular question was directed only to you and not your opponents.
@Greg
Fair point. I suppose people can decide for themselves if any blog is equivalent to Meet The Press. I have noticed that if someone doesn’t appear on MTP, the host doesn’t follow them over to the Face the Nation studios to hound them. The stalking/bullying/private emails going public unless disclosing that they would be public is more concerning.
Because we have such highly experienced former news/journalism professionals as admins on this blog it can easily morph into a base from which the admins launch partisan attacks. I hope that’s not the direction it goes. It reduces the number of people willing to play in the sandbox.
All that being said, if you run for office, you need to expect that current (and some former) members of the media will ask tough and personal questions. So will voters. Be ready for it.
@Charlie: I assumed by talk shows you were referring to “Newton Newsmakers,” “Veracity” or the Jackie Morrissey Show (all on NewTV) not national news programs. But yes there are national blogs (Huffington Post, Buzzfeed quickly come to mind) that have comparable value (and often more impact) to “Meet The Press,” even if they’re not exactly “equivalent.”
I was clear in my emails to Tom that I was asking him these questions in his capacity as a candidate for mayor. And I know Tom is smart enough to know that, given that he’s running for mayor, it was on the record.
As for “following them to Face the Nation” that’s simply a weird statement. Smart politicians (certainly anyone who wants people to think they are smart enough to run our city) certainly know that what they write on social media (especially their campaign Facebook page) is public. I believe Tom is smart enough to know that too.
@Greg-
So, to be clear, you are a reporter from Village 14 which you consider to be a news outlet and any conversation between any candidate, elected official or public figure should be considered on the record and fair game for publishing on this or any other blog because of your position as said reporter?
If that’s how it is, I see nothing wrong with that. But it should be stated. I just never thought of this blog in those terms before and if that’s the case, then there’s a responsibility to be fair, equal, and non-biased. And that could take all the fun out of it!
@Charlie: I would think that you, more than many people, would recognize that the media world has undergone tremendous changes and redefinition over the past decade-plus. I think of myself as a commentator instead of as a reporter here on Village 14. But I’ve been inspired by the best commentators to recognize that often you need to incorporate reporting into your commentary.
I said I’d think you’d understand this, not just because you work in media, but when you were a candidate for governor’s council last year we had a number of conversations that you wisely indicated in advance were off the record.
There is by the way, a lot of reporting — and commentary — that happens on this blog by a number of our bloggers, including by Julia Malakie, Chuck Tanowitz, Jerry Reilly, Kara Robbins, Nathan Phillips, Andreae Downs, Doug Haslam, Groot Gregory, Sean Roche and Bruce Henderson, among others. I know some folks like to refer to this as Greg’s and Gail’s blog, but that’s hardly fair to the site’s many other citizen journalists.
Is it traditional journalism or “equivalent” (your word) to a network Sunday morning talk show? Of course not. But that doesn’t mean it’s not relevant or not a place that our community turns for news, opinions and conversation.
It seems obvious to me that questions about a candidate for public office relating to that person’s work history can and should be offered up by the candidate, without someone needing to ask. So, I don’t get what the big deal here is.
If Tom wants to be taken seriously, he must be putting his best foot forward, if only from the standpoint of self interest.
Isn’t his choosing not to going to begging the question of how seriously he should be taken as a mayoral candidate?
Dan Fahey — For me the big deal is the approach and innuendo, similar to what Mr Shapiro is saying. Greg’s first post was headed: “What does Tom Sheff do anyway?”. Within the post he suggested that the question was about Tom Sheff’s qualifications. So one might more politely head the post with something like: “Is Tom Sheff qualified to be Newton’s next mayor?”. The approach also included a “60 Minutes”-style balloon headshot where if it was a picture of Tom Brady, etc, it would look just as unflattering and be news-signal for looky here, this guy is guilty of somethin…
On the qualifications and not the approach. Anyone who follows politics in Mass knows that it doesn’t take much life experience to be elected Mayor. One recent example I can think of is man elected Mayor in Mass will 80,000 residents who didn’t finish high school and aside from various elected positions, worked in a desk job without any direct reports. People vote on issues almost exclusively. (Although Newton has a particularly high level of highly educated voters who have been very successful in their career. As a result, Newton’s bar is but higher.)
@Hoss: I’ve been using hedshots on blog post for, well, as long as I’ve been blogging. Although I suspect this is the first time Tom Sheff has been compared to Tom Brady, this particular photo isn’t something I took with a telephoto lens when he wasn’t looking or stole from a police lineup. It’s Sheff’s own photo! He uses on his Facebook and Twitter feeds and has used on campaign materials in past years.
Also, no I have not asked “candidate Hess-Mahan if he practices law.”
But you just did. And I’ll bet you a nickle Hess-Mahan will answer that question as soon as he sees it.
Greg Reibman — Have you asked Candidate Hess Mahan if he practices law? His professional profile says “Of Counsel” which can mean part-time or occasional counsel (including internal counsel), and/or retired. Fair is fair, right?
This is my last post. This was not about me disclosing anything. If it were all of us would have had to disclose. This is about Greg spending years at the tab trying to put me down and knocking me out of the picture and now that we have a new staff at the Tab, a neutral staff who doesn’t come into city politics with an agenda, like the old staff, actually giving me a break. They classified me as a small business owner, which is still technically true (Second Life Computers) and they didn’t classify me as “perennial candidate” (you and Gail must have got a good laugh at that one). I caught a break because you left and a team of bright Tab staff comes in without an agenda.
As far as my past goes, as soon as I talk to all of my past employers about having their names put online, I will put out my resume.
I shouldn’t be defined by what I do this instant. I have had numerous jobs. I took a year off and tried to start my own non-profit called Alliance for Humane Healthcare, Inc. Some of my background was in raising money for non-profits and I decided to try to start my own. We were set up to raise money for people who needed life threatening procedures but either didn’t have insurance or insurance rejected their claim (as they often do the first time someone makes a claim). You should have heard the stories I was getting. But, unfortunately I was having a tough time forming a board of directors. I was trying to find doctors to be on the board, but everyone of them said they love the idea, but they found it to be a conflict of interest to be on the board that would ultimately be taking patients away from the insurance company as they get paid by the insurance co. I tried to explain that we were trying to help people that fell through the cracks and we should be working with, not in opposition, of the insurance co’s. but they were not accepting that answer. It was a great life experience, but I had to give it up as I ran out of money and had to go find another job. I would have been knocked out of business anyway when Romney/Obama care was implemented.
I’ve also been in sales in real Estate and Mortgages for years. I worked for my family law firm for 5 years. My education was that I graduated from Clark University with a BA degree in Government/public policy and I minored in Math. I attended law school for a 1.5 years, but decided it wasn’t something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
I went to Spaulding/Meadowbrook/Newton south HS.
My hobbies are sports, politics and Chess. I am 50 years old.
Is there anything else I can answer, so we can finally talk issues.
This thread seems pretty played out and I’m sorry I’m coming in late, but I’m out of town and I just caught up. And there’s something I really want to say.
Tom wrote:
I am so sick and tired of Tom blaming his political failures on Greg and me. It’s true the TAB never endorsed him when I was editor (and I’m taking full responsibility for this because I was the final decision maker on all endorsements; Greg and I did not always agree). But it’s also true that I offered repeatedly to sit down with Tom privately and explain why we didn’t endorse him. He rejected my offers. Instead he preferred to whine publicly about our agenda.
Did we have an agenda? Sure. When your local paper employs an editor and editor-in-chief/publisher who live in the community, they do have an agenda: They want their community to be the best it can be. They put a lot of effort into helping the community elect the most competent people for the job. They care, a lot.
We did not endorse Tom because I thought his opponents would be better at the job than he would. As tempting as it is, I will not list all those reasons here. But I doubt that I need to.
As for pushing for information about any candidate’s employment history, I can only say that I hope that the TAB will report more than what the candidates tell them. That’s the role of a newspaper. As former Globe Editor Marty Baron used to say, “If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.”
I’m confused about this concern of having to get permission from employers (current or past) before saying you’ve worked for them. I’ve never asked anyone if I could put them on my resume which becomes a public record any time I’m on a grant application. I’ve lived in Newton for almost 2 decades and can’t imagine anyone I know taking business away from someone just because they employ a candidate they don’t like.
mgwa,
I lost friends because 4 years ago I support Mayor Warren. You can’t understand that? I certainly can relate. Why would I push a current or former boss to do something he/she doesn’t want?
mgwa — Believe it or not, some of us are not allowed to have Facebook/Twitter accounts because of employer rules. That permission seems appropriate w/i certain industries
Hoss, you owe Greg a nickel.
Yes I practice law full-time. “Of counsel” refers to my relationship to the law firm, which means that I am not a partner or associate, nor am I involved in the day-to-day work of the firm, although I do share office space and services, and occasionally I consult and work on some cases handled by the firm as well as other lawyers who are of counsel to the firm. It is a demanding full-time job, although the nature of my practice does allow me the flexibility and independence to serve as an alderman, as well as a member of the Massachusetts Housing Appeals Committee and the Newton Fair Housing Committee. And in my “spare” time, I also blog occasionally. ;-)
Greg Reibman — The correct statement is thus “everybody knows Ted Hess-Mahan is a LAWYER and alderman.” It’s all words, but you were focusing on such words with the Tab articles
Ted Hess-Mahan — Excellent, tx. If you work law full time and do BoA stuff, I don’t need to ask if you enjoy chess.
Last comment before I go out. You heard me and Ted and occasionally Jackie blog. People say if you want to be taken seriously you have to answer tough questions. Why do we have different rules for the Mayor? He doesn’t blog now and even when he came home from Iraq he didn’t want anyone blogging on his behalf (right, Ted…didn’t you, me and Ed have a sitdown with the Mayor and he asked us to stop), and refused to blog himself. Why does he get off the hook???? Mr Mayor, maybe you can answer a question for me, you say we saved $5 million per year in cost savings, please educate me as to where that money went? That means the city got a bump in revenue of the $8 million due to 2.5% insrease of budget plus 8.4 million due to the override and the 5 million you say in cost savings. Now, I am not doubting you, I hope it’s true, but where did that money go over the past 3 years???
@Tom – I can believe losing friends over who you support. What I doubt is losing business because you happen to employ someone who’s a candidate.
@Hoss – I know about such rules re: Twitter/FB. My comment was not related to that.
Tom – Few electeds/candidates blog, and with good reason. Most importantly, there’s no fact checking on a blog. Misinformation in posts is quite common and information is taken out of context. Also, both local blogs have had their ups and downs, so people tend not to take them seriously. They seem to go in cycles. At times, they’re informative, interesting, light, heated but respectful. Other times, they’re negative, downbeat, and angry. Lately, it’s been pretty negative, and when they go through one of these periods, people tend to turn away. I check it daily but do I really read the posts? Rarely. An occasional thread will catch my fancy and I’ll follow it but it’s less and less often these days, though I like the Muni-Wonks and cultural events threads.
I don’t think it’s appropriate to expect elected officials to participate on a blog. The last aldermen I encouraged to post his/her perspective was raked over the coals. Won’t do that again. I felt very bad about leading that person to think blogging was a good idea.
I went campaigning and heard a new issue. I want to pass this issue on and it may get on my platform, but I want to see what others feel.
This issue is for the animal lovers on the site:).
I was going door to door and often I speak to people walking by. This lady was walking/jogging by and I introduced myself and as always I asked herif she has any issues in the city? She hesitantly said yes. She said for some reason stray animals always find it to her home. She calls animal control, but they won’t pick up the animal unless it’s dead. We brainstormed for a second and thought of a city shelter. The animal control person can run the shelter. We can use vacated city property and use volunteers to help from all the animal lovers in the city to work at the shelter. Once we have the animal at the shelter we can create a web site so when an animal goes missing a person can go (anytime of the day/night) and see if the animal was caught and is at the shelter. The animal will stay at the shelter for a month and then we’ll find a non-euthanize shelter to give the animal to. It might cost the city maybe $100,000 and is being done in Marblehead, so it’s not a new idea (we don’t have to reinvent the wheel)…only new to Newton. What do you all say?
Jane- why was I the only one hit for not blogging. In all fairness to Greg the original conversation started as a private email, but still. Once it made the blogs, I got hit pretty hard for not being transparent. All that I’m saying is that there should be equal rules for everyone. If one candidate doesn’t blog, I shouldn’t get hit for not blogging. I should be given credit for when I do blog. I should be given credit for making my positions known, like above, and using the blogs in a creative way and asking for input. keeping people involved. It seems like the only thing people want is to talk about the negative, the positive doesn’t get press. It should be even across the board is all I’m saying.
@Tom:
You weren’t. Reread my original post…wait, I’ll re-post it here…I wrote
No where did I demand you respond here. All I did was point out that you did respond elsewhere (where you explained that you didn’t want to tell me because I’m “locked with the Mayor,” whatever the heck that means).
I will add that your whining that I’m not asking other candidates tough questions, seems a little childish.
“Where do you work?” is not a tough question.
And, need I point out, it turns out that I was right to ask, since the reports that you owned a small business were an error.
You weren’t “hit” for not blogging. You were asked where you worked and you didn’t provide specific information. I’m in complete agreement with you that other candidates haven’t been questioned as closely as you have on either blog. None of you has been closely questioned by the TAB.
But insisting that a candidate blog? You lose me on that one. If I were running for office in this city, I’d be doing what you’re doing – walking around various neighborhoods talking to actual people with real names.
I also agree with you that there’s too much negative talk about the city. We’re lucky to live in a fine community with great resources, events, schools, villages, a fabulous location, etc. but if all you read was the blogs, you’d think otherwise.
The blogs can occasionally become what Kim referred to as the “fellowship of the miserable” or something like that. There’s a more than a bit of truth to his statement.
Greg, I am co/founder of a working non-profit. I think that qualifies me for a small business owner. But you’re whining should be taken up with the Tab, which I’m sure you’ll be shown the door.
Greg Reibman — Setti Warren’s Wikipedia page for his military title says Naval Reserve “Officer” whereas you clarified some time ago it was actually “Specialist” His campaign site says “Specialist”. Can I keep my nickle is this gets corrected before the public is mislead?
I thought Mayor Warren was a lawyer
@Hoss – Setti is not responsible for what’s on the Wikipedia page about him. It’s not “his” page. Just like I can’t go and write myself my own Wikipedia page, nor can you. If you want to see the page corrected, you can do it yourself – that’s how Wikipedia works.
@Hoss and others. I may have contributed to the belief that Setti was a Naval Intelligence Officer instead of a specialist at least in the minds of people here in Newton. I made that assertion at least two times in letters to the editor when he was stationed in Iraq during a period when very few people in Newton knew who he was. I assumed something that wasn’t true simply because I was a Naval Intelligence Officer back in the early 60’s. It was Joe Warren, Setti’s father, who corrected me on this. Setti, himself, never tried to Pan himself off as one and there is no reason he should have. Any officer who is at all truthful will tell you that it was the specialists along with seasoned enlisted personnel, who often kept “their asses out of a sling” in tight situations. I’ve never asked him specifics of what he did and quite frankly, I’ve never told him of some things I did because I’m not certain whether they are still classified, or not. The only thing he told me and others is that he came back here with greater appreciation of what we have here after seeing the violence and poverty over in Iraq. Indeed, as Jane so eloquently stated, we have so much to be grateful for living in Newton. What we bitch about can seem pretty trivial in the greater scheme of things.
I agree with many others that candidates need to disclose their occupations (for conflict reasons if nothing else), and thus Tom Sheff shouldn’t feel put upon for having to disclose his information.
I will however agree that Greg seems to enjoy the process of asking the questions of Tom, and that it comes off as a bit personal.
34 comments. 12 participants (including mine). 30,443 households. 84,615 population. Moderators of the blog: Please encourage a focus on more substantial issues to generate more interest in issues that matter from the community.
Gail-I love the last paragraph. Great quote.
I guess some of you missed the words “how humiliating”. Be reminded of basic skills of being a person, not a blogger or a journalist. The approach here was unnecessary; the piling on after you got a clear answer is disgusting.
@Hoss: And here’s a quote for you. Harry S. Truman is believed to have said, “if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
Speaking of kitchens — can you post some details on Restaurant Week? The Patch didn’t do their usual article on local participants
Greg- can you find out why the Mayor would go to Law School and Never take the Bar exam?
At least that is what is written in Wikepedia.
Joanne: Going to law school and not taking the bar happens all the time. I have multiple friends that did that, they just found better opportunities as consultants or in business and didn’t feel the need to take a summer and work to pass the bar exam.
This amounts to nothing more than a hissy fit by Tom. Why any candidate for public office would ever withhold his work history for any reason and expect everyone to look away is beyond me. You are running for office. Act like it.
Roughly 1 out of 10 CEOs at Fortune 500 companies earned a law degree. How many of them actually practiced law along the way I don’t know.
Theo Epstein is my favorite example of someone who went to law school but never took the bar exam. Knowing how to read contracts is a valuable skill.
Another group of people who may go to law school without planning to practice law are those interested in public policy. There’s no reason to subject yourself to the bar exam if you don’t intend to practice.
Does anyone else think that Theo Epstein was a great GM to the Red Sox because he was a law school graduate? Don’t the Red Sox employ people who are experts in contracts law? Sheesh…
I sure hope the Board of Directors at the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce doesn’t mind their executive director publicly and verbally persecuting individuals in the Newton community (on their dime).
Whoever made the comment about Newton’s intelligentsia voting on issues, ‘there outta be a law’! (don’t take that to heart, Ted, its just an expression…) The percentage of folks who actually show up for municipal elections in the great well-read and highly-educated City of Newton is pathetic.
As for the “WHAT DO YOU DO” question, what on earth did Setti Warren do prior to becoming Mayor (other than toting John Kerry’s overcoat and umbrella from meeting to meeting)? Let’s face it, for everyone so overwhelmingly thrilled with Warren’s ‘performance’ as Newton’s Mayor, consider this… he did not have very big shoes to fill. ;-)
The only thing relevant here is how what Tom Sheff does, or has done in his varied and episodic career, prepares him for the management and leadership responsibilities of the office of mayor. Not what he’s done, but how it helps. Everyone here, including Mr. Sheff, seems to be dancing around that issue.
Setti Warren was accused of having bounced from job to job before he was elected mayor, but he was at least able to articulate a sense of preparedness from his many experiences.
Setti Warren never declined to answer questions about his prior or current employment when he was running for mayor in 2009.
I once heard Dr. Charles Steinberg, executive VP and sr. adviser to the president of the Red Sox, speak about Theo Epstein. If I remember my details correctly, Steinberg had hired Epstein in San Diego and noticed his talent, and he was the one who told him that going to law school would help him succeed in baseball management. The logic was that you should always be able to make sure that your attorneys are right (or maybe it was…you can never completely trust your attorneys!).
So, yeah, some people think that Theo Epstein’s ability to read contracts mattered.
Call me silly but the only people IMHO that dont take the bar exam are those that dont think that they will pass or those that took the bar exam and did not pass.
Because even if you dont want to practice law isn’t it more legitimate to have a law degree and license even if you are involved in public policy etc.
@Joanne: “Silly”
Will somebody else say it please?
Joanne – Sometimes people get an education for the sake of learning.
Joanne – as the daughter, granddaughter, niece and grandniece of lawyers I can tell you that your statement about who doesn’t take the bar is just plain wrong. The bar exam is extremely grueling to prepare for (and probably not cheap to take), and there’s no point taking it unless you plan to practice especially since there’s a different bar exam for each state, so it won’t do you any good if you move. My father went to law school when I was a kid and I remember him spending more time studying for the bar after graduation than he’d spent on law school – and as soon as he took it he immediately started studying again in case he hadn’t passed (a fairly high proportion of law grads have to take it more than once).
When I was thinking of a public policy career, I considered going to law school after college with absolutely no plan to take the bar. It would have been a very helpful area of study to have for that kind of work, but there would have been no reason at all to do the exam.
Joanne, why on earth would someone be indebted on a law school education to the tune of $150,000 and not take the bar? That’s like saying I went to medical school because I like science. GMAB!
And Joanne, you are only silly if Dr. Charles Steinberg jumps off a bridge, and you do it too… :-D
(Better still, why is no one outraged at the Ruth Dain/Vicki Danberg hostas in Newton Centre?)
mgwa – I have lawyers also in my family. One graduated 25 years ago and one a year ago – both studied and passed the bar.
I don’t understand why anyone would spend so much money on a law school degree and not take the bar exam. Sorry -doesn’t make any sense at all.
So has anyone asked the Mayor if he did not take the Bar test because he only went to Law school for the fun of it??
Joanne –
His phone number is 617-796-1100.
I actually thought Greg would email him and then post it on the blog.
Unless of course the Mayor won’t answer Gregs emails either.
Joanne –
Fair enough.
Mayor Warren said that he didn’t take the bar because he was deployed to Iraq.
@Joanne: Now we can call you “silly” twice.
Joanne – there are also people who go to law school and discover part-way through that they would not like practicing law. Rather than throw away the time and money they’ve already spent, they complete law school to get the degree.
I wonder why Gail is so quick to give Setti the benefit of the doubt, but not Tom.
Sigh. I really don’t know why I bother responding to comments like the above but:
I saw Setti Warren’s resume when the TAB published it during the mayoral campaign four years ago, and I remembered the sequence of events.
Hasn’t this topic run its course?
It certainly has. This thread is closed.