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August 26, 2004

Cabral says Murphy is ducking debates

Jeremy Schwab

Andrea Cabral was in her element last week as she told a crowd of Democratic activists why they should re-elect her Suffolk County sheriff.

“I eliminated patronage, which was the basis of hiring under the previous administration,” she told the crowd at a Democratic Ward 12 meeting at the Roxbury YMCA.

The overwhelmingly African American crowd broke into applause when Cabral noted that under her watch dozens of officers have been terminated or pushed to resign, and that many of these are being prosecuted in superior or federal court.

Cabral was appointed in November of 2002 by then-Acting Governor Jane Swift after a prisoner abuse scandal rocked the sheriff’s department. The longtime prosecutor fired many employees and put in place a rigorous hiring evaluation system in an attempt to increase the level of professionalism in the department.

Now, she faces her first political race and a tough challenge from Boston City Councilor Stephen Murphy.

Murphy takes a different approach to the race. Where Cabral runs on her record, Murphy has waged a campaign to discredit her.

Murphy’s effort to paint Cabral as fiscally irresponsible has been given a boost by a string of stories in the Boston Globe and Boston Herald citing Cabral for actions ranging from using the names of public employees to solicit campaign funds to denying benefits to employees for serving in the military.

Cabral counters that she has turned the department’s finances around by cutting costs and gaining an additional $2 million from the Legislature this year.

“The payment on the [prisoner abuse] court settlement was due the day I was sworn in,” she said. “I had to work really hard to get the Legislature to make a supplemental appropriation of $2 million. We realized there were certain posts to be eliminated, and we cut $700,000 in waste through sicktime buyback and sales of properties in the Boston area. We managed to balance our budget.”

Cabral criticized Murphy for not attending the Ward 12 meeting and for backing out of a debate on WHDH at the last minute.

“He’s afraid, I think it is really clear,” she said. “Because a debate makes the debater accountable for the allegations he has made in the past. I think it is unfortunate but unsurprising. If a candidate is qualified and has a record of achievements to talk about, they talk about that. In the absence of that, they shift tactics and try to get the public to think something negative about their opponent.”

In an interview with the Banner in May, Murphy sharply criticized Cabral but offered few detailed plans as to what he would do differently as sheriff.

“I would like to bring in a committee of corrections specialists,” the former businessman said during the interview. “I would create a public-private review committee and have them participate with me and analyze business practices.”

Murphy could not be reached for comment for this article, but on Monday his campaign manager, Dan Cence, reiterated Murphy’s commitment to bringing in committees of experts to look at changes at the department.

“He would clean up the fiscal mess, relying on his private and public sector business experience,” said Cence. “He would work with the leadership in the Legislature to ensure the sheriff’s department has the resources it needs. He would strengthen efforts to secure federal and state grants including Homeland Security and first reponder funds.”

Cabral received the endorsement from the Ward 12 Committee after her speech emphasizing the need to continue and enhance prisoner re-entry, recreational and educational programs.

“I question Murphy’s assertion that he could do a better job, particularly when he doesn’t come from a legal background and the candidate has not acted in good faith in coming into our ward,” said Ward 12 Co-chairman Bruce Bickerstaff.

The Democratic Primary will take place September 14.

 

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