Dan Dunn

The Globe has another story about the woman who’s never seen a deadline that she can’t miss. Senator Dianne Wilkerson’s legislative agenda is on hold because she failed to file her proposed bills with the clerk on time. If I was one of her constituents, I’d be ticked – but that would be old news. Reviewing a few high points:

• November 2006: The Office of Campaign Finance (OCPF) referred her 2003 and 2004 campaign finance filings to the state attorney general for prosecution. This happened on November 1, before election day, but was only reported on November 15th, after she had been re-elected.
• June 2006: She fails to appear in court to respond to a suit filed by her condo association for failing to pay her bills. The court rules against her – but the case is kept in the judge’s office for three months, not released until September, after she survives a write-in campaign (see May 2006).
• May 2006: She misses the deadline to file her signature petition to get herself on the ballot for re-election. She decides to run a write-in campaign to retain her seat.
• 2005: The Office of Campaign Finance (OCPF) referred her 2000 and 2001 campaign finance filings to the state attorney general for prosecution.
• 2001: Fails to disclose $20,000 in income from consulting.
• 1998: As part of a deal with the OCPF regarding questionable expenditures, agrees to pay an $11,500 fine.
• 1998: serves 6 months of house arrest as part of a guilty plea to tax charges for the years 1991-94.

I can only imagine that her constituents see something in her that I’m unable to perceive. It is easy for me to understand making a mistake and learning from it. But if I had been investigated by the OCPF, I would bend over backwards to make sure there wasn’t a whiff of a controversy going forward. I can’t imagine putting myself in a position where I got investigated for 5 different years. To me, that demonstrates that she is simply unable to meet the basic requirements of her job – like filing bills on time.

At least she’s not a felon, I guess.