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— Quincy Massachusetts News by Quincy Quarry News – News, Opinion and Commentary.

Piled higher and deeper
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Both the Quincy Quarry News and the South Shore broadsheet have exposéd the City of Quincy’s Director of Municipal Finance over his shoveling it during the recent city council hearings about Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch’s proposed FY 2026 budget.

Not that this was the first time that the finance director had not spoken truthfully, however.

Arguably far from it as a matter of all but indisputable fact.

In any event, what was shoveled this time? 

Fingers crossed
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When the City of Quincy Municipal Finance Director was asked during the recent so-called review of Mayor Koch’s FY 2026 budget by the city council why the City’s credit rating was hit recently with a negative outlook by Standard and Poor, something which was not duly noted within Mayor Koch’s FY 2026 budget book per past practice, the finance director asserted that the negative outlook was hung on most every municipality in the country given uncertainty care of doings and undoings in Washington DC.

Such was an canard, if not an outright canard even if DC has been fraught with disruption and worse of late.

Thumbs down
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Reality: Standard and Poor hung Quincy with a negative outlook over city’s outsized debt load, woefully thin reserves, and free spending ways.

Such was also been duly underscored directly by the Standard and Poor bond analyst who covers Quincy via a follow-up.

Now, however, came exclusive word to Quincy Quarry News that an Open Meeting Law complaint has been lodged against the Finance Director over his shoveling bovine byproduct for an arguable coup de grâce. 

Good cop, bad cop
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Simply put, a municipal finance directer is a fiduciary and thus is mandated to speak the truth, however, Quincy’s Municipal Fiance Director did not do so when asked about the city’s credit rating at the recent city council meeting.

Granted, Quincy’s municipal finance director spends much of his work time with certain city officials known for not speaking forthrightly; even so, such is no excuse nor is doing so even if the result of a compelling physiological contagion. 

It’s all good …
A file photo

Rather, the misstatement is perhaps better seen as a real life example as to what can happen if one lies down with dogs that have fleas.

Granted, it will take a while for the Open Meeting Law complaint filed against Quincy’s finance directer to cycle through the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Open Meeting Law compliance unit even if the tale of the video tape, Standard and Poor’s latest credit report on the City of Quincy, and follow up comments by the analyst confirm that the reason for the negative outlook was care of concerns about the Quincy’s financial circumstances and only such concerns.

Own up or else …
A file photo

In turn, figure on hearing word from Attorney General’s Open Meeting Law around Labor Day or thereabouts.

Also note that the private citizen complainant asked that the finance director be directed to offer up a formal statement owning up to his untrue statement.

Needless to say, ordering such a formal admission would put at least most finance directors’ continued employment elsewhere in play; however, when it comes to the druthers and practices of the Koch Maladministration, the making of such misstatements are a preferred feature as opposed to a bug. 

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