Peter Quinn Resigns 129
An anonymous reader writes "Andy Updegrove is reporting on his blog that Peter Quinn, CIO of Massachusetts and focus of the recent media feeding frenzy, has decided to step down. Quinn stressed that his departure does not signal any major changes in policy nor was he forced to resign. He did say that a large part of the decision was made by the Boston Globe's unfounded (and quickly disproven) charges."
The Original Boston Globe Article (Score:3, Informative)
By Stephen Kurkjian, Globe Staff | November 26, 2005
The Romney administration has launched a review of several out-of-state trips that its top technology officer took to conferences sponsored in part by companies who stand to benefit from a change in computer software used by the state.
Peter J. Quinn, director of the state's Informational Technology Division and its chief information officer, has traveled to 12 out-of-state conferences in the last two years, visiting Brazil, Ottawa, San Francisco, Japan, Puerto Rico, and other locations, records show. Most of the conferences were sponsored by technology and information companies.
Romney administration officials are investigating whether Quinn violated travel procedures by not obtaining written authorization for six of the trips -- to Brazil, Ottawa, San Francisco, and other cities -- since September 2004. For six other trips, he received written approval from his supervisor.
The state launched its inquiry after the Globe began asking questions about the trips earlier this week; it is being conducted by Thomas H. Trimarco, the head of Administration and Finance. Two Romney administration officials, who asked not to be identified because the inquiry was ongoing, said Trimarco will seek to determine why Quinn did not obtain written authorization for the travel and whether having trips paid for by conference sponsors would have violated the state's conflict-of-interest law.
On most of the trips, Quinn said, his travel and other expenses were paid for by the sponsors of the conferences. On two of the trips -- to Tucson and Washington, D.C. -- Quinn paid his own way, according to state records and an interview with Quinn.
Eric Fehrnstrom, director of communications for Romney, said Wednesday that ''we have discovered there is not a complete record for all of Mr. Quinn's travels, and we are reviewing the matter," referring to a state requirement that employees obtain authorization for travel. State rules also require employees to provide a detailed estimate of the cost of travel sponsored by private firms and other outside groups.
Quinn was appointed in September 2002, before Romney won election. In an e-mail responding to questions from the Globe, Quinn said that former administration and finance secretary Eric Kriss had told him that he did not have to receive written authorization for his 2005 travel. He said Kriss had given him verbal approvals for the trips. Most of the trips for which he did not get authorization occurred this year.
Kriss, who left state government in September, did not return phone messages left at his home yesterday and Wednesday.
Quinn is at the center of a controversial decision to require all documents produced by the state's executive branch to be stored in a new, universal format, called Open Document, that would work with many brands of software and is less likely to become obsolete. The change, closely watched in the information technology business, would require modifications to software running on thousands of state computers and is widely seen as a challenge to Microsoft Corp., which makes the Microsoft Office software used to generate documents.
In the interview, Quinn said that he was in demand at the conferences because of the state's initiative to move toward ''open standards" for its computer systems, which would be able to read or use documents that are written with programs other than Office.
Quinn said he sought the legal advice of Linda M. Hamel, the lawyer for the Informational Technology Division, on the propriety of his appearing at a conference in which his travel and room were being paid for by the sponsors of the conference. He declined to provide the specifics of which trips he discussed with her or the advice she gave him.
But in general, Quinn said, he sought Hamel's opinion ''if I thought there might be an issue."
Hamel confirmed that she and Quinn had dis
Re:What's up with the Boston Globe? (Score:2, Informative)
bought by the NY Times (no, really) (Score:5, Informative)
In a move that didn't sit well with many Boston residents, The Globe was bought by the NY Times. Editorial standards, even just on a basic proof-reading level, seem to have gone nowhere but down ever since.
Really a shame, because the Globe's Spotlight Team was (and still is, to some degree) an excellent group; they do in-depth investigative journalism, perhaps comparable in some ways to PBS's Frontline.
Also, if you're in the Boston area and interested in commentary on news stories of the day, tune in @7for Greater Boston [greaterboston.tv], with Emily Rooney on WGBH (Channel 2), with repeats on 44, I think. The "Beat The Press" Friday episode is especially good- a panel of journalists talk about the news media's behavior over the last week. John Carroll(sp?) is a master at amusing introductions. For their end of the year episode (Dec 23, 2005) he did a complete synopsys of the White House/CIA agent leak in the style of "Hollywood Squares", which was hysterical...and very effective. It's currently watchable in quicktime format....look on the left side of the homepage for the link.
NOTE: This story was proven wrong! (Score:5, Informative)
I realize you didn't say otherwise, but I just thought it best to point that out, prominently, wherever this information is mentioned
After all, the first Boston Globe article was front page news. The retraction was burried deep in the middle of a section not many would see
Re:What's up with the Boston Globe? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:The heat of public life (Score:3, Informative)
The headline of the first story is Romney administration reviewing trips made by technology chief [boston.com].
The headline of the second story is Review backs trips by technology chief [boston.com] with a sub-headline of "No conflict found for aide."
I suspect that the first story would have been clearer if Eric Kriss, Peter J. Quinn's former supervisor, had returned the Globe's phone calls. The second article makes it clear that Peter J. Quinn was acting on bad advice from Eric Kriss.
This seems like a typical case of Massachusetts politics. I'm a bit surprised at the thought that the Globe articles had anything to do with Peter J. Quinn's decision to resign.
Finally, there are no stories about Peter J. Quinn's resignation posted at either the New York Times web site or the Boston Globe web site. It will be interesting to see the Globe coverage when it appears.
SCALE to host ODF Workshop for .gov (Score:2, Informative)
Re:The heat of public life (Score:3, Informative)
JFGI.
Though IMO the biggest torpedo that sank the Swift Vets claims came from the New York Times.
Though none of that matters. Kerry was made out to be a coward and a liar - his three Purple Hearts amounted to nothing after the character assassination - and he lost votes as a result. The Republican funding of the group was shameful yet I bet you won't see anything happen about that either.
Re:The heat of public life (Score:1, Informative)
From the same article:
Re:The cost of doing the right thing (Score:4, Informative)
Stick with legacy whenever possible. It is often cheaper and more effective.
Re:The heat of public life (Score:2, Informative)
I did. All of the rebuttals I found, and I believe all that you cited, are prior to a lot of follow-up and counter-responses from the swift boaters during the august-october timeframe. I was unable to readily find any follow-up rebuttals to the stuff they published during that timeframe.