A wealthy seaside town south of Boston has shown that not only can’t you fight city hall, but it will fight you back harder, using your money!
Hingham, Massachusetts officials are making news today for spending $40,000 to track down a whistleblowing letter writer who complained of corruption and malfeasance. They never bothered to investigate the corruption, wishing only to destroy the messenger.
AN EMPLOYEE OF THE TOWN OF HINGHAM stepped forward this week to say he wrote an anonymous letter mailed to the three members of the Board of Selectmen earlier this year criticizing the work histories of two candidates for police chief. The employee said he decided to come forward because he believed a $40,000 town investigation into who wrote the letter was about to finger the wrong person.
Matt Hersey, a heavy equipment operator in the Hingham Department of Public Works who is currently out on workmen’s compensation, said he wrote the letter in April to provide the selectmen with some information he felt they should have about the two of the four candidates seeking to replace retiring police chief Michael Peraino. The two candidates were then-lieutenant David Jones and deputy police chief Glenn Olsson, who was hired as chief shortly after the letter was sent.
Hersey said town officials never investigated the content of his letter, but instead took the unusual step of hiring private detectives to find out who sent it. Records and town officials indicate as much as $40,000 has been spent on the investigation, which included the hiring of private detectives and a company to do fingerprint work. According to Board of Selectmen minutes, a significant portion of the $40,000 came out of the town’s account for employee health insurance.
Hingham Town Administrator Ted Alexiades confirmed the town received a letter from Hersey taking responsibility for the anonymous letter but said he hadn’t had a chance to review it yet with the Board of Selectmen. He said the town’s investigative report on the anonymous letter has been completed and will probably be discussed at an upcoming Board of Selectmen meeting. He declined to provide details on the report’s conclusions.
“It’s a very interesting story about life in the suburbs,” he said.