BOSTON – Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, released the following statement today in response to Gov. Deval Patrick’s unveiling of a proposal to consolidate the state’s 240 local housing authorities into six regional housing authorities:
“I appreciate Governor Patrick’s decision to address the issue of public housing reform in light of some of the egregious cases that have been reported involving the mismanagement of public funds and resources, which has detrimentally impacted thousands of tenants across the commonwealth. Clearly, stronger safeguards are needed to protect taxpayer dollars, and to ensure that those dollars are used efficiently and effectively to rehabilitate and maintain our deteriorating public housing infrastructure.
"A significant question remains, however, as to whether replacing our current system of local housing authorities with larger, centralized bureaucracies represents the best approach to achieving increased efficiencies and needed accountability. Recent systemic failures involving the Sex Offender Registry Board, the state drug evidence testing lab and the oversight of compounding pharmacies prove that large bureaucracies do not guarantee effectiveness, efficiency or safety.
"We cannot be certain how effective the governor’s proposal will be until we have all the details, but productive reform needs to be about more than a power shift to Boston of responsibilities currently handled locally. I look forward to working with all of the interested parties to produce needed and meaningful reforms.”
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
